Darkar Chronicles: Empire's end
by godisme
Summary: Tatsumi and his friends left their village in search of fame and fortune, along their way they were separated, in a world with few good people they were fortunate to be taken in by one family that was exactly what they seemed but also something more: Welcome to a more sane world then canon and where love stands stronger over evil. Main Pairing:Tatsumi x Mass Harem, Good Aria, Seryu
1. Chapter 1

Prelude: I am Erasiel Nathan Darkar, I'm a wanderer who gets around, I've traveled the multi-verse on many journeys, I have my share of stories, and I've had my share of traveling companions, though one constant one who follows me around is Linzi: a Halfling, one of my lovely Wives and a bard of no small renown from her own world and in my home dimension. Another Journey has led me to another world, one that is no stranger to war and one where life could end rather abruptly and in a brutal fashion. As such I found myself and Linzi wandering and hearing tales of a great war, one that destroyed an Empire that had ruled this world for millennia, but had over time become stagnant, corrupt and twisted; where bedlam and lies were the norm and where the worst monsters in a world that has many monsters were people: Monsters in Human skin. Humans are the most numerous of races I've seen in the multiverse, apparently, the deities who make their universes are fond of this particular race not that I'm one to talk as I often take that form and it is the form my race takes generally, but one thing about Humans that has remained constant regardless of the universe is that their capacity for good or evil is as limitless as space itself and that their ability to come up with ways to be either is equally as limitless.

But I'm rambling, our Story begins as it always does with a hero, one of many heroes but these heroes this hero is the most famous of them, the stories Linzi and I heard about him are numerous some so fantastical you wouldn't believe, in fact, he had too many stories told about that Linzi and I were unlikely to sift between what was truth or lies. So we did what we do best when the tale is muddled by many voices, find the one person who will be able to give a full account, the best of these are usually the heroes themselves, thus we set off from the sight of our arrival to find that hero, fortunately, we didn't have to go far before we found someone who knew where he lived; a retired soldier who fought alongside the hero in the final battle in which the Empire was overthrown and replaced by a new government one with a just and wise ruler, he told me that he lived in the Capital a city named Melitine now, his old village now safe from any who would do it harm, with his large family and his friends, a place that had promised fame and fortune and a place that had been plagued by some of the most evil people I've heard of, and that is saying something considering how long I have been around.

The road to the Capital was a dangerous one but the threats were nothing that Linzi and I couldn't handle with ease, to the shock of the passerby, overall though it was a safe journey and we arrived at the capital a week from our arrival in this world. The City was in a state of reconstruction, but also in a state of general order, along the road however there had been no shortage of graveyards, which were vast and undoubtedly from the war, but there was a degree of optimism that from passerby told me wouldn't have been in existence 2 and half years ago. Within a half-hour of our arrival we were directed by a man with Green hair and goggles who owned a local shop, he told me that his name was Lubbock and that he had been one of those heroes, but he had opted for a quiet life away from the hassle with his wife a lovely young woman named Yami and his children, a 1-year-old boy, a 3-month-old baby girl and another child on the way. After a discussion, he told me that his friend, the hero we were looking for lived in a large mansion that had belonged to the former Prime minister who had died in the war and who had been a truly evil person of the sort that even the Devil would have been surprised by the sheer evil that this former minister had done. Said hero had been rewarded with wealth beyond his wildest imagination, a harem of dazzling beauties who had fallen for him over his journey, and power beyond imagination by the average person; overall he was now noble and powerful.

Within an hour we arrived at the Mansion which was actually part of a large estate which in turn was part of a large complex of many structures, part of which was occupied by a monument to those who had fallen. The guards at the gate allowed us entry after we explained who we were, and we entered the manor and were greeted by a young woman, she had long blonde hair, a blue gown and was noticeably pregnant, about three months pregnant, after a bit of explanation she told us she was the lady of the house or one of them and that she had played no small part in the story. Afterward, she led us to a large study in which the hero sat in a large chair reading a book which he looked up from his book to greet us, after some introductions we told him that we were historians who wanted to make a thorough account of his life such as it had been up to this point and that we had come to him personally because too many stories were told about him that we had no idea of knowing which were true. After this explanation he led us to a large table which was made for the purpose of writing and that a typewriter was ready for our use. Linzi and I got ourselves comfortable and as soon as we were ready, we let him tell his tale and this is how the story began

Chapter 1: A World of Blood and Lies

"We're going to get rich in the Capital" Ieyasu had remarked, before the attack by bandits, one which proved easy to repel but one that left the group split. Tatsumi was now on his own, Sayo and Ieyasu had taken different path one that he had no idea where it would take them, especially given that Ieyasu was not good with directions or maps. Granted Tatsumi still had his, and he had a decent amount of money, amassed from taking bounties on Danger Beasts, the deadly creatures that would kill anyone or anything in their path, Tatsumi was a formidable fighter, being able to kill a Class A danger beast with ease, in fact, earlier in the day he had killed one an Earth-Dragon. Tatsumi continued along the road, within an hour he met two other travelers. "You heading to the Capital?" One of them asked, the two of them were soldiers, former ones at that.

"Yeah, I'm going to join the Army and make a name for myself so that I can get the taxes lowered on my village" Tatsumi replied.

"Good Luck then" the Soldier replied, and his fellow turned to regard Tatsumi.

"Be careful the Capital is a dangerous place with its own monsters" The other Soldier warned.

"Have Danger Beasts invaded the capital too?" Tatsumi replied confused.

"No, there are worse monsters, ones that look like normal people but beneath their skin they are monsters in human flesh" The soldier replied.

"Well I'll be careful, I don't have another option though, I need the money and I need to do something for my village" Tatsumi replied.

"I guess there's no way to convince you otherwise: Good Luck you'll need it" the Soldier replied, and he and his companion went their way. Tatsumi looked at the road ahead, his green eyes focused on a hill up ahead and looking from side to side for any ambushes laid in wait by monsters, man and beast alike, he was a handsome man with medium length brown hair which was unruly with a decently pronounced cowlick that moved about as he did his features had girls always looking at him with interest. The words troubled him though and he kept a hand on his sword thru all waking hours of the day, the straight blade was keen and decently made but wasn't anything impressive but it was priceless to him as it had been made by someone he was close to who had left the village in search of adventure, Tatsumi's attire was that of a normal person with a yellow sweater, blue pants and brown leather shoes and gloves, it offered minimal protection from any real attack, the only oddity was a gold bracelet intricately crafted and studded with emeralds and peridots, it had been given to him by the Elder of their village before he left for good luck and a last resort for money, but Tatsumi was averse to doing that unless he had no other option.

But that wouldn't be happening any time soon Tatsumi had enough money to last him about a month if he was smart about how he spent it also there was the option to make more when he got to the Capital. The road to the Capital from then on proved to be most hazardous, mainly do that about a day after meeting those two travelers he was met by more people who had the same idea as he did, that being to head to the Capital, he didn't see any signs of his friends but that didn't mean anything as he figured that Ieyasu could have easily gotten him and Sayo lost, they were good fighters so there wasn't much to worry about there so if he met up with them they would likely be at the Capital because eventually Sayo would take the map from Ieyasu and drag him the right direction by his ear.

Within three days of having met the two soldiers he arrived at the Capital, which defied his expectations, not that he had any, it was large, a massive metropolis with large tall stone walls and open gates which travelers came and went thru. After entering he asked about for anyone who knew where the army was recruiting and eventually found himself at the recruiting office. "I'm looking to join the army" Tatsumi explained.

"You and everyone else, but well you seem like a good sort, here you'll start out as a recruit and be assigned to the nearest army unit" the Recruiter explained Tatsumi frowned.

"Really, I'm starting as a recruit, I can kill Class A danger Beasts with ease and that isn't enough for officer's status" Tatsumi replied the recruiter glared at him.

"It's either that or nothing; look I don't have time for wise-ass punks who think they're better than anyone else; there is a depression going on right now and a lot of people are joining the army: I'm not giving out jobs to people who think they are better than other people because of their skills nope you have to earn it now take it or leave it" The Recruiter replied.

Tatsumi shrugged. "Are you kidding me?! I had to carve my way thru about 24 Class A danger beasts on the way here: I killed an Earth Dragon in seconds and that isn't enough?!" Tatsumi replied indignantly.

"Yeah it isn't and I'll take that as no: now get out or I'll have you thrown out" The Recruiter replied, Tatsumi glared and banged the desk, three brawny guards came and flung him out of the building unceremoniously, leaving Tatsumi to steam

"I'll remember you assholes! Just you wait when I make it big you'll all be footnotes all of you" Tatsumi shouted at the guards then flipped them the birds before walking off muttering curses under his breath.

Naturally this left Tatsumi annoyed and drawing a blank on figuring out his next move, he could try another recruiter but that wasn't a guarantee no what he needed was someone to explain how everything worked in the capital. His thoughts on a solution were disrupted by a Beautiful young woman of about the same age as himself or at he thought she was she might have been a couple of years older, she was a young, curvaceous woman. She had short blonde hair with two long tufts that frame the sides of her head and golden eyes. She wore a revealing outfit with a black tube top, detachable sleeves, pants, boots, and a scarf around her neck. Her figure was strong and brawny as if she had seen her share of fights

"Having a bad day" the Blonde asked.

"So far yes, I just got rejected for joining the army; apparently the fact I can kill a class A Danger Beast isn't enough to get me an officer's rank, nope, in fact, bragging about it only gives you the boot, now I've got to think of another line of work or prove myself worthy of entry, or I don't know" Tatsumi replied.

"That's bad, but I think I can help you kid, my name's Leone, I know people around here and know that it's about connections" the Blonde now identified as Leone replied.

"That's nice but I don't know, I heard some things about the Capital, and not good things" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry I'm not one of those types, trust me I can help you, come with me lets discuss this over a drink, I know a good place to get one not far from here and we can talk more there interested?" Leone responded with a smile.

Tatsumi paused, it wasn't every day a girl offered to go with him on a date, well date may have been a strong word, to go out to eat, granted he had spent most of if not all his life and village miles from the capital and there wasn't time for that stuff.

Shortly they found themselves in a local Bar, and much quicker Leone had gotten a drink that Tatsumi had bought her, one drink lead to another and another, and before she could get fully drunk Tatsumi stopped her. "Now wait you said you know how to get me into the army, how do I go about that?" Tatsumi asked.

Leone paused from taking another drink. "Well it's all about connections, I know some people that would be able to help you out, for the right price of course, you'll need some grease for the wheels as it goes" Leone replied.

"Will this do?" Tatsumi asked bringing out a large sack of gold, practically all of the gold he had.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? How did you come by this much money?" Leone asked her eyes eyeing the money greedily. "This is almost too easy, I feel sorry for him, but he's got to learn the way the world works one way or another" Leone thought to herself.

"I got it from Danger Beast bounties along the road, so is this enough?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, it is you should make Captain at least with this, now I'll be taking this, I'll talk to my contacts and get back to you in a few hours" Leone replied, she then finished her drink and took the sack of gold and left leaving Tatsumi to wait he also had to pay what money he had left for her drinks leaving him completely bankrupt.

And so, he waited, and waited, and waited eventually night fell and Tatsumi was the only left in the pub bar the owner. "What is taking her so long?" Tatsumi said to himself.

"Kid, let me be honest with you, she isn't coming back, you got conned" The Barkeep replied, leaving Tatsumi shocked and angry.

"That, that, swindler! Damn it I can't believe I was fooled so easily" Tatsumi remarked. "And that was all my money too" Tatsumi thought.

"Well that's just the way the world works, welcome to the Capital" The Barkeep commented sweeping. "Now get out of here, I'm closing for the day" he added, Tatsumi left, albeit reluctantly and so it was he found himself on the streets, at night in early winter.

"Great, just great" Tatsumi muttered to himself then eyed the bracelet. "I can always sell this, but any person I'd sell it to is probably asleep by now, guess I'll have to sleep out here on the streets for tonight, tomorrow I'll find a fence of some kind and sell the bracelet, some luck charm it turned out to be" Tatsumi thought to himself. He then went off to find a nearby park where he found a bench and he lied down on it after noting the cobblestone roads were clear he slept hoping that he'd have a better day tomorrow.

Suddenly he found himself being awoken from a light sleep by hooves of horses and the wheels of a carriage. "Again, my lady?" A man stated.

"You know I can't help it, it's in my nature, remember our family motto" A young woman's voice replied.

"Yes, those who do good for others receive good in return" the man responded. Tatsumi's eyes awoken now focused on the speakers, an armored and well-armed guard was the man, as for the young woman she was coming his way, she stepped up to him and leaned down on his level.

"Hi, you're not from around here aren't you" the Girl stated, she had short blonde hair in which wore a curious headband with a blue ball on one side, she was beautiful and had lovely blue eyes, her figure was decently endowed and graceful, she wore a white long-sleeved shirt, with a light blue ribbon on her neck above her shirt, she wore a sleeveless light blue dress, with a black bodice, and white frills and white boots, she was about the same age as him give or take a couple of weeks.

"No, I'm from the countryside, from a village that's about two weeks away from here and you've probably never heard of, I came here to join the army and got booted out by some asshole who thought I wasn't good enough for it and at the moment I'm currently out of my money because some blonde conned me out of all my money apart from some gold and as a result left me out here on the streets and on top of that she saddled me with her bar tab so the bartender took what money I had left and threw me out that guys a heartless ass, he's on my list of footnoted assholes that will be forgotten in history and I'll get even with somehow someday, but I swear I'm going to get my money back from that blonde" Tatsumi replied half-ranting.

"I think I know who he's talking about" the Girl thought. "Well I can't just leave you out here on your own, there are a lot of dangerous people about there are also a lot of unsavory types, you'd be lucky to survive the night here on the streets, come with me you can stay at my place, my parents don't mind" the Girl replied.

"Miss, I don't have any money" Tatsumi replied.

"I know that, you already told me, also you wouldn't be here in the first place if you did, don't worry about repaying me I've got more money then I could ever spend even with my spending habits, it's in my nature and my family's to help those in need, besides we've got cookies my mother makes them herself though they are peanut butter cookies" The girl explained.

"Alright I guess I'll take your offer I like peanut butter cookies my mother made me some once and they were wonderful, besides I don't have any other options except sleeping on the streets and hoping not to run into one of those unsavory types miss-" Tatsumi accepted.

"Aria, Aria Grundel, don't worry you'll be fine" Aria replied.

Tatsumi got up and followed Aria and got into the carriage with her. "So, your guard said I'm not the first person you've brought in I'm looking for my friends too though I haven't seen hide or hair of those two" Tatsumi commented.

"Yes, you aren't I've been helping my share of folks in need, some are just people in the capital who are down on their luck and others are just and if you will pardon my bluntness 'Country bumpkins' who fell for the same trap as you did one way or another, though I'm sure you'll find your friends I've got a good intuition for these things and we'll try and help you where we can" Aria explained.

"That's nice to know, I'm glad I got picked up by someone who's actually kind, I've heard stories about the Capital, and not good ones" Tatsumi stated, Aria frowned.

"Sadly, most of them are true, there is no shortage of bad people in this city, the Empire is corrupt, the worst people are usually in plain sight and there isn't much the average person can do about them" Aria replied. "Lucky for you that you were found by one of those very rare people who actually care for people in your situation" Aria added, then smiled again.

"I guess" Tatsumi replied unsure about Aria, she had been honest with him so far, but he had no way of knowing for certain that she wasn't one of those people who hide their evil in plain sight. As if to reassure him she held his hand and huddled next to him.

"Don't worry I'll keep you safe from the monsters Tatsumi: I won't hurt you and I'll try and help you as best as I can" Aria reassured looking him straight in the eyes as she said this. "I consider it my duty to keep people like you safe from them" she added and smiled.

Within a few minutes they arrived at Aria's home, it was a large mansion on a good-sized estate, it had some additional buildings, some of which were obviously guest houses and barracks for the guards as well as a training field for them, but there was nothing even remotely out of the ordinary, the architecture was uniform, some statuary was about the place and there were some gardens and large fountains, but nothing even remotely out of the ordinary for a place of its type. The place was well guarded which was not surprising given the owners were nobility and very important ones at that. The carriage was allowed through the gates without issue, along with the guards who broke off to head to their barracks.

Aria and Tatsumi left the carriage and proceeded to head inside. "Now I hope you don't mind company, I brought in a couple of people about two days ago, they were down on their luck too" Aria explained. They entered the house and were greeted by a number of servants; maids and butlers in attire typical to their profession.

"Welcome home Lady Aria" the Servants all said at the same time.

"Good to be home, now have my parents had dinner without me?" Aria stated.

"No, they insisted on waiting until you returned home" one of the maids stated. "They're waiting for you in the den along with your other guests" she added.

Tatsumi followed Aria, they entered a large hallway that was thru a large archway, then turned right leading them to a large room that was the den, where four people were sat down, two in chairs and the other two on a couch and lounge chair, well sitting on the couch was a wrong word as the person on it was napping, there was another couch but this one was empty. The seats were centered around a good-sized coffee table in the center which sat a plate of peanut butter cookies along with a Picher of milk and a number of empty glasses. Tatsumi was shocked though as he recognized two of the people: they were his friends Sayo and Ieyasu the former being wide awake and the latter sleeping like a rock.

Sayo was sitting in the lounge chair, looking as lovely as ever; she had long black hair in which she had a white butterfly hair clip, grey eyes, and a goddess's figure her attire was not the clothes Tatsumi saw her in, she wore a red dress similar to Aria's, most likely one she loaned to her, she was currently reading a book. Ieyasu was sleeping on the couch, he too was wearing different clothing, but it wasn't too different from his ordinary attire save for the fact it was clearly made of a fine fabric and was clearly refined, he did however still wear his headband, a white strip of cloth which kept his spiky mop of black hair from spilling over; he was handsome much like Tatsumi. The other two people were clearly Aria's parents, a man in a business suit with greying hair and beard who was in his mid-forties, and a younger woman who was in her near mid-thirties, she looked a lot like Aria and was beautiful, she had long flowing blonde hair and wore a purple gown, she was currently writing in a book of her own. "Sayo!" Tatsumi shouted in happiness.

"Tatsumi!" Sayo stated and got up and hugged him.

"I was so worried about you two" Tatsumi said.

"And we were concerned about you Tatsumi; good to see you alive and with all your limbs intact" Sayo replied.

"I could say the same about you and Ieyasu, speaking of do you want to wake him up and give him the good news or should I do the honors" Tatsumi replied.

"You do it, I want to see how he reacts when you wake him up" Sayo replied.

Tatsumi stepped over to the couch where Ieyasu was snoring, then pinched his nose which woke him up. "Ieyasu wake up!" Tatsumi yelled into his ear.

"Agh!" Ieyasu yelled opening his grey eyes and getting up but stopped when he realized who woke him up. "Tatsumi?! It's so good to see you again, Sayo was so worried when you got separated from us by those bandits that she cried" Ieyasu remarked.

"Please Ieyasu, we both know it was you who freaked out and broke down into tears for about an hour on the road until we ran into that group of Chakhounds and had to fight them off" Sayo replied.

"Alright you're right Sayo, I'm just so glad to see Tatsumi is ok" Ieyasu remarked and then blushed.

"We'll take more about this over dinner for now it's best we you meet our hosts, they've been so kind to us" Sayo replied.

"Right come here Tatsumi these are my parents, I'll let them introduce themselves" Aria added.

"Take a seat please" the man stated and Tatsumi did so. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Constantine Grundel; this is my lovely wife Angela, welcome to Grundewick Manor, I'm glad to meet you" the man replied.

"It is nice to meet you as well" Angela added looking up from her book.

"I'm glad to meet you two" Tatsumi stated.

"Now that our introductions are out of the way tell us more about yourself Tatsumi, I trust you are familiar with our other two guests and have the same goals in mind?' Angela inquired.

"Well yes, we came here to Capital to join the army and help get the means to lower the high taxes on our village" Tatsumi stated.

"I see, that's a noble goal, you are aware though that the Empire is at war with three other nations you could easily end up on the front lines" Constantine replied.

"I'm aware of the risk, I wouldn't have come if I didn't" Tatsumi replied.

"I see, well I've arranged for a meeting with an associate of mine to help in that regard with for your friends, it will take me some time to get in touch with them but don't worry when I do, you'll be glad you did" Constantine explained.

"But for now, Aria will show you around, our chefs are making dinner we'll call send for you when its time" Angela added.

"OOH YUMMY!" Ieyasu commented.

Aria lead Tatsumi out of the room followed by Sayo who was not in the mood to put up Ieyasu once food was mentioned as he could be quite obnoxious. Aria showed Tatsumi around showing him the various rooms of the house, each was grandiose in design and had a number of features, one of the big surprises was indoor plumbing something which was not present in his village, also notable was a library which had a numerous books something Tatsumi could read, the fact that he Sayo and Ieyasu were literate was one of the chief reasons they were sent. Overall, he noted a view out the grand window to see backyard, which had more cloches of trees, a greenhouse with a large garden which was not in bloom during the winter. There was one oddity and that was a large statue of a knight on a horse, under which was a small shrine, when he asked Aria about it, she said it was a shrine to a revered ancestor known only as the first Grundel and that the shrine was where they paid respects to him and their other ancestors, there was also a decent sized shed that Aria explained was a secondary armory for her family's security forces and held the best equipment.

Overall the tour proved to be enjoyable, Aria showed him the room where he would be staying so Tatsumi put his remaining possessions in there, she then showed him her room which was lavishly decorated and had a number of things which were of expensive prices, her bed was large and had an ornate frame made of Redwood complete with gold painted wood and had curtains to allow her some privacy, also notable was a large heart-shaped mirror atop her vanity that faced the door, on it was her jewelry box, but also noticeable was another box which was black and had a lock on it.

Soon it came time for dinner and it was by far the best meal Tatsumi had had in his whole life. The dinner was elaborate and consisted of many things, fine cooked venison and pork, large baskets of fruit, fine wine, a number of pastries, and the centerpiece a grand cooked bird of a large size, most likely a massive turkey that had been hunted and brought there, after the initial courses came two more, and followed by that a desert of a fine chocolate cake and sherbet ice cream. Eventually all good things have to come to an end; such it was with the dinner and the time had come for the guests to go and sleep leaving Aria with her parents.

"So, what do you think about him?" Aria asked.

"To be honest he is far too innocent about how the world works, it's a good thing you found him when you did, I would hate to think what would have happened to him or his friends if you didn't find them" Constantine replied.

"Yes, the capital and world has grown darker than before, good people are few and far between, even more so with that vile creature Honest, how he got to be the Prime Minister in place of old Chouri is beyond me" Angela remarked.

"Yes, and good people need to do the things that will save them, also if anything Leone is to blame for me finding him, I'm going to have a strong talk with her the next time we meet" Aria commented.

"Speaking of do you think he'd make the cut" Angela stated.

"Don't look at me, it's Najenda who makes the calls over who gets into Night Raid and who doesn't I make recommendations and so do you two, but I don't decide who gets on the team in the end" Aria replied shrugging.

"Speaking of I noted the wanted posters, Honest has increased the price on their heads by another 20,000 per member" Constantine commented.

"Great my net worth just went up again; good thing Najenda decided to have us lay low for now but I'm glad to see that our efforts to clean our fair city of monsters are getting noted; wonder how much of that is from my handiwork" Aria replied her parents laughed.

Aria was a member of Night Raid: she was their medic and one of the group's many Teigu or Imperial Arm users, her hairband was the Arm in question, it was named Shadow's cloak: Noctis Wave and it allowed her to render herself completely invisible. In combat she had three types of weapons, her ranged weapons consisted of shurikens and throwing knives, her main weapons were a pair of Kukri daggers and a flamberge rapier which she used in prolonged fights and interrogation; as the group would employ torture if absolutely necessary to get information, something which Aria took pleasure in if asked because it was satisfying to see the scum they hunted to get a taste of their own medicine. Speaking of medicine she was their healer but also their dedicated poisoner and poison expert, to a point of using it on her weapons, her main weapons had a compartment for poison in the handles, her expertise in both fields came from her Mother who was a doctor who made numerous medical breakthroughs in her day job, the most effective thing was that she was close to figuring out how to cure Robula's disease which she also used as a potent natural poison when needing to make the death look as much like an accident as possible. Aria also had a number of syringes filled with toxins as reserve weapons including that deadly disease which actually required ingestion to contract, it don't contract from touch.

"Considering the work you and your team have done recently it's you and your team deserve the rest, even if it's just a few days" Angela replied. "Anyway, you should get some rest" Angela added.

"Yes mom, I've got some important business I'm going shopping for more stuff to use for our special project" Aria stated. "Also, for the time being, I'll keep Tatsumi on as my bodyguard like I do with his friends, besides the extra help is needed, as for Night Raid, well I'll see about putting in a word with Leone or Chelsea if I see them" Aria added, then left the room.

However, she didn't immediately go to her room she went to Tatsumi's room to see how he was doing, she found him passed out, the day had done a number on him it seemed, and it was good for him to get a good night's sleep. "He's so cute like that" Aria thought to herself, she was actually having some chemistry with him, unlike some others, there was genuine interest. She soon went to her room and changed into her nightgown and went to sleep. The night was long, and the moons were near full or rather two were full and one was near full enough.

The streets however were not safe, as there were numerous gangs afoot, as well as unsavory characters who trafficked in slaves and other goods that were frowned highly upon by most people, the Clock Tower rang. Usually, the night would be dangerous for most people; not for officer Seryu Ubiquitous of the Capital police force, a soldier for Justice and her living Imperial arm Heketonchires or Koro as she called him, she considered herself one of the few honest cops in the city and because of this she was always looking out for signs of corruption. This night was no different she had been following a merchant by the name of Gamul, a local Oil merchant and an unsavory sort who could drive a good bargain and end up with more than the worth of something he sold, recently however he had been raising his prices that wouldn't have been unusual if not for that fact a number of his competitors had been arrested and executed on crimes that seemed out of character for them, on top of this their families disappeared afterward as well, her superior Captain Ogre had tasked her with other matters which she carried out without issue but she kept working on this independent investigation in her spare time and didn't tell him about this, she looked up to him as a father figure, however, she wanted to impress him on how well he had taught her in the art of tracking down and eliminating criminals.

Seryu followed Gamul for few blocks shadowing him and not having to worry about losing him due to Koro's tracking skills, he looked like an ordinary dog, but he was anything but, he was a living superweapon capable of growing to massive size and devouring enemies whole, also he had keen senses and insane regeneration. The route Gamul took was designed to throw off pursuers if he had any but Seryu had been watching him for weeks and her instincts said to keep following him and figure out what he was planning, she wondered though why he was going to all this effort, he hadn't been a target of an investigation by the police at any point in her time on the force and she had been on it for four years; also his name only came up because he was a consistent informant and that he had been responsible for putting several of his competitors out of business which would have been normal were it not for the fact the people put out of business by being arrested and later executed, also there was the financial aspect. That financial aspect was what made her even more suspicious to the point that she was now actively tailing him, the aspect in question was that Gamul was the person who purchased the businesses of his competitors after the fact, also he was getting money that was suspicious and from a source of unknown origin, most likely black-market activity the kind Seryu liked breaking up as it shook things up and Ogre did allow her to take a share of any confiscated money much like the rest of her fellow officers.

Seryu's pursuit led her to an abandoned warehouse where she spotted Gamul, but he was talking with someone she wasn't expecting to see here, in fact someone she knew well and was like a father to her: Captain Ogre 'the Demon' called so because of his fighting skills and fiery temper. "Here is your cut from our most recent acquisition" Gamul stated to Ogre and handed him a large sack of coins which Ogre pocketed in a considerable overcoat which he was wearing over his white uniform.

"Indeed, and here's your cut from my profits, our operation is running smoothly" Ogre stated.

"Yes, money from those widows and their kids, shame to let such pretty things end up in the hands of people like Honest, but business is business, Slaves are lucrative indeed" Gamul replied, taking the money he was offered.

"I need a bit more, Night Raid is getting bolder of late and I am in need of more security, it would be a shame if someone was to let them know about your little operation" Ogre replied, Gamul handed him another large sack of money. Seryu ducked behind a corner and ran off, ran three blocks, and ducked into a back alley. She couldn't believe what she had seen, some of the most blatant corruption she had ever seen and the most blatant at that; she was right to trust her gut, and even more so her instincts; but she found herself both angry and sad, angry that someone who she considered a surrogate father could be so corrupt and had stooped low to frame innocent men, have them executed then sell their families into slavery on the black market and then intimidate his partner into giving him bribes to keep his silence, and she was sad considering the fact this man was her mentor, the person who had taught her all she knew; who made her the officer she was she wanted to kill them for their crimes to have Koro devour them but because of Ogre's relationship with her just couldn't do it and not just that this was something that had shaken her convictions to the core, in fact, she began to wonder how many people over the years she had unknowingly sent to their deaths from the corruption of these two men.

"I can't continue not in good conscious, no I can't not anymore, the day after tomorrow I'm turning in my resignation, Aria was right, the Empire is full of scum I just didn't understand that the corruption struck this close to home: I've just been blind to it the whole time Koro in fact how long was Ogre like this how many had died because of him I-" Seryu said to her Teigu who looked at her with sympathy as she teared up. "Koro, I don't know what to do next, what do you think?" Seryu asked. Koro let out a sympathetic woof, and cuddled her leg, Seryu picked him up. "You're right I should head home and tomorrow talk to Aria about it, maybe she'll know what to do she always does besides if you can't trust family who else would you trust" Seryu said to him and took off running.

The following Morning saw Tatsumi wake up to warm sheets, he was glad to see last night's experience was not a dream but reality which smoothed into place, he found a set of fine clothing set out for him, his ordinary attire having been picked up overnight and taken to be washed bar his gloves and boots, which put on, he strapped his sword to his back, then stretched a bit to wake himself up. As he was doing this Sayo came by, Tatsumi noted her change of attire and the fact that she had her bow and quiver slung over her back. "Hey Tatsumi, Aria's going shopping and she's asked us to come along as bodyguards" Sayo explained.

"I'll come too, it's the least I can do for the kindness she's shown" Tatsumi stated and got read, he arrived in the dining room where breakfast was ready, it was large and had many dishes of eggs, large amounts of bacon, large plates of toast, and other dishes, Tatsumi plated up a bunch scrambled eggs, several strips of bacon, a few loves of toast, and some pork sausages, with a side of orange juice. At the table Ieyasu was already there stuffing his mouth showing no sign of stopping while Aria's parents sat nearby, Constantine reading a newspaper and Angela drinking hot cocoa, Sayo sat down and likewise filled her plate and Tatsumi noted Aria's absence.

Aria was elsewhere in the house, specifically in her study talking with her friend and stepsister Seryu Ubiquitous who had come home to her house not feeling her usual self, and Aria knew it immediately due to years of living with her. Seryu was a tall young woman about the same age as Aria, she had long copper brown hair which she kept in a ponytail, her eyes were brown, her attire consisted of a black uniform covered by steel plates, she was beautiful. Koro sat in Seryu's lap. "You don't look so good Seryu, now what is you wanted to talk to me about" Aria asked.

"To be honest I came to you Aria because you're the only person I know I can trust you're family and you've always been there for me since you parents took me in, you insisted on having me taken in; last night I discovered something horrible, you know Captain Ogre?" Seryu replied.

"Yes, I do, he's a decent man for his position anyway what's wrong?" Aria replied.

"He was like a father to me as much of one as yours and my birth-father, he taught me everything I know, but last night he changed my view about him, I found out that his kindness is a façade, a mask, a lie, he's not a good man, he's a criminal, and worst kind and I've no idea for how long he's been one, he's been taking bribes from a Merchant named Gamul who he's partnered with in twisted racket of bribes, murder and slavery, his scheme was simple, Gamul would target his competitors and frame them for crimes they didn't commit, then have me and the other officers arrest them, Ogre would have the brought in and executed, then Ogre would find their families and sell them into slavery, a lot of the widows were purchased by- (she shivered) Prime Minister Honest, and then Ogre would get his cut from Gamul's business after he bought out his competitors' assets, you were right, the Capital is full of corruption, the city is corrupt no the Empire is corrupt and full of criminals that need to be brought to justice, but I can't do a thing, I'm quitting, leaving the force, I refuse to work for a man who's carrying out the most vile crimes possible on top associating with Honest of all people" Seryu explained.

"That's horrifying, Seryu I know exactly what to do for it, there is a way he can be brought to justice, but I'll need your help don't quit if anything his corruption shows the need for straight arrows like yourself" Aria stated.

"What is that" Seryu asked.

"Sometimes justice needs to be carried out by less than savory means, I have friends that deal with people like Gamul and Ogre, I will get in touch with them, but I need you to keep a secret" Aria stated.

"Ok" Seryu stated worried that she may have backed herself into a corner which only Aria knew the way out of but she trusted Aria with her life on a level that even Ogre didn't come close to.

"You have been my friend for years now Seryu not just that my stepsister to me you're family and that matters dearly, I trust you deeply, now I'm going to let you know my greatest secret, my parents and I support the Revolutionary Army, more specifically Night Raid, my parents use their connections to identify targets for the group to kill, I'm on their team as their dedicated medic and poison expert, I've killed my fair share of the worst the Empire has to offer, I've kept my identity secret, you want justice Seryu, Night Raid can bring it, in fact there probably the best source of justice in the Empire, we remove the worst criminals and save a lot of innocents, each mission a great success, we are a band of brothers and sisters, we've not failed a mission yet, I'll talk to Najenda but I want your approval, just say the word and Gamul and Ogre will be marked for death" Aria replied, Seryu was shocked, she had known Aria for 10 years and never thought she had supported the revolution, were this anyone else she would arrest them, but this was her best friend who was pretty much her sister in all but blood also she had seen irrefutable evidence of the Empire's corruption, something which she couldn't overlook, the Empire had lost all trust from her and were no longer able to enforce justice, something which she held dear.

"Then consider them marked, kill them and I will join Night Raid Aria-nii" Seryu replied then smirked at the thought of their death. "One thing though, make Ogre's death quick, he may be a horrible man but he was like a father to me and I insist he die quickly as a mercy" Seryu added because despite all the things Ogre had done she didn't want him to die slowly because he had once been a good person and if anything its what she would have done if she had been brave enough.

"Alright consider it done, I'll see to it personally, now I've got to go, I'm going shopping for our special project" Aria replied.

"I'm coming with you, I'll be your bodyguard" Seryu stated.

"Well I really shouldn't keep you from your duties" Aria replied.

"Not really I don't have anything to do I took a leave of absence in the meantime I'll be your bodyguard, I'm sure your parents won't mind having me around you know they certainly don't" Seryu remarked.

"I see, well I'll go let my parents know the good news and the bad, don't worry we'll do something about it" Aria replied and then left. "One more thing we're having breakfast so if you're hungry go get some" Aria added, Seryu blushed and forgot about her troubles due to hunger. Seryu followed her out, Koro at her side as her faithful companion.

"I'm glad you agree with my decision Koro" Seryu said to her companion who merely woofed at it. "Who's a good boy? Aria can you get something for him" Seryu asked.

"Of course, we have bacon" Aria answered.

Shortly the two arrived at the table, Seryu sat next to Tatsumi who she didn't know while Koro was taken aside and given a bowl of bacon by Aria which he proceeded to gobble up. "So, who are you?" Seryu asked Tatsumi.

"Tatsumi, I came to that capital looking to join the army so to see if I could get the taxes on my village reduced, got conned out of my money by someone who claimed they could get me in as an officer and ended up on the streets, Aria took me in last night and I'm staying here at the moment" Tatsumi replied.

"Well it's nice to meet you Tatsumi, I'm Seryu Ubiquitous, Capital Police, I'm Aria's best friend and her newest bodyguard" Seryu explained.

"Nice to meet, you any friend of Aria's is a friend of mine" Tatsumi replied then took a drink from his orange juice.

"Good to hear" Seryu stated. "He's cute" Seryu thought to herself then realized that calling him cute was an understatement he was handsome.

Later… They had finished breakfast and had set out, Aria having brought along a large wagon, and an armed escort, she had seen to giving Tatsumi, Sayo and Ieyasu some spare armor from the armory to allow them to blend in with her other guards. "The city has grown more dangerous of late" One of the guards stated.

"And more corrupt" Seryu chimed.

"Is it really that bad?" Tatsumi asked.

"You have no idea, my superior who was like a father to me since I was 6 I found out last night was taking bribes and was arresting and killing innocent people and then selling their families in slavery, trust me Tatsumi, if you're hoping for justice you've come to the wrong place" Seryu replied grimly, Tatsumi frowned, the capital was turning out to be a completely different place then he thought it would be; any hope he had in a fair shake was slowly declining and he wondered if joining the army was such a good idea after all, especially with the information he had received about the Empire's corruption, he then realized he couldn't in good conscience support a regime that allowed such vile crimes to be committed no his conscience told him he had to do something to fix the problems, but he was only one person.

"So what's your relationship with Aria?" Tatsumi asked on a more light-headed note.

"Oh I'm her best friend and her stepsister, her parents took me in when I was 10 about four years after my parents died: since then I've lived at their place but was raised to work in the Capitol Police force, I love law and love keeping people safe" Seryu replied

"So why is your last name Ubiquitous and not Grundel?" Tatsumi asked.

"Out of respect for my parents, and because even at heart I'm still a Ubiquitous first and foremost at heart, as much as I love being part of Aria's family, but that's enough about my personal life for now let's focus on keeping Aria safe" Seryu replied.

Aria's shopping was exceedingly huge, every time she stopped to get something, she found even a passing interest she had them stop and buy it, soon the cart was filling up. "I think we should have brought more than one cart, Aria's buying a lot of things, almost anything that she likes" Tatsumi commented.

"It isn't just her, all women are like that" a guard replied.

"Really, where I come from women are usually content with what they've got in terms of clothes" Tatsumi remarked, Seryu shrugged and restrained herself from lecturing him but someone else did.

"Tatsumi you baka! Do you really think that? Trust me since I got to the Capital I've been going out shopping with Aria whenever she decided to go shopping, I wasn't content remotely with my ordinary attire I just didn't have the luxury to go shopping, not that we had anywhere to do so in the village anyway-" Sayo rebuked and continued to berate Tatsumi until she was distracted by something rather comical, several guards carrying a massive gift-wrapped present, while Aria walked ahead of them like a giddy little girl which caused her to laugh hysterically, according to Aria a new model carriage was inside the box that was meant to transport about 10 people.

The shopping spree lasted until Aria ran out of room in the cart, during that time Tatsumi noted the coming and goings of people the most interesting thing while shopping with Aria he saw was a green-haired man with goggles run by carrying some books and being chased by an angry mob of women. "That was weird" Tatsumi remarked.

"Nothing remotely out of the ordinary, I know him, he's just a guy who gets in over his head pretty often, also he has issues with behaving around woman" Aria responded.

"That's a shock" Tatsumi remarked.

"He owns a book store; my mother and I get a lot of our reading material from there" Aria replied and they continued onward, Tatsumi stopped to note wanted posters.

"Maybe I should take up bounty hunting work; I hunted Danger Beasts on the way here, tracking people shouldn't be too different" Tatsumi remarked then went over to the posters with Aria following him. "The Masked Assassin WOW! 250,000 gold pieces dead or alive: that's a fortune" Tatsumi replied looking at a poster which depicted a masked armored figure the mask was Oni-like in appearance but left a gap for the mouth of the assassin which had a terrifying grin the kind that was stuff of nightmares in terms of dementedness. "And 500,000 for Akame the Swordswoman of Death!" Tatsumi remarked noting another poster of a rather attractive woman with a grim expression.

"Tatsumi I'd advise against that" Aria commented.

"Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"Look closer at some of them, and read the job descriptions it's never a good idea to take a job without knowing what you're up against" Aria explained and Tatsumi did so, the money had distracted him from reading the descriptions which were to the side of the picture and above the name and there was a commonality with a number of these targets; Night Raid and Imperial Arms.

"What's Night Raid? And what are Imperial Arms?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi Night Raid is a group of assassins who focus on targeting corrupt officials and nobles along with pretty much anyone else that's got a habit of preying on the defenseless; they work for the Revolutionary Army and are unpredictable; they are called Night Raid because they only operate at night which I can say is a dead giveaway by the name, it's not too imaginative on their part but it's simple and simplicity is often the best thing when naming a group" Aria replied. "As for Imperial Arms or the Teigu as they are called, they're ancient artifacts of power, some are weapons, some are armor, some are well a number of objects but they are valuable beyond measure; only thousands of them exist in the Empire with the technology required to make them being lost over centuries of internal conflicts and of those thousands only a few hundred remain that aren't lost; also they can't be destroyed by any means that is possessed in the Empire so they're pretty much indestructible" Aria explained.

"So what makes them dangerous?" Tatsumi asked.

"Teigus are relics of a bygone era and only certain individuals can use them, but when they are used they are capable of amazing feats; a martial Teigu users is easily worth 100 men; and a group armed with them is well worth an army: trust me Tatsumi; Night Raid is dangerous because of the fact that most of the people in it are Teigu users and you aren't cut out for that kind of work no matter how many Danger Beasts you've killed" Aria explained.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, still though that is a lot of money" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed it is, but if you stick with me and use the connections my family has you can make way more" Aria replied, Tatsumi nodded and they continued on.

They soon returned to the mansion while the afternoon gave way to sunset, Tatsumi looked out the window at the sight averting his sight from a book that he borrowed from the library, it was about tactics when facing Danger Beasts and other powerful enemies. "It's a wonderful sight" Aria commented entering his room.

"What are you doing here Aria?" Tatsumi asked.

"The representative my parents sent for is here for you and your friends, remember now that you have a choice here, either join the group your being assigned to or stay here as my bodyguard, either way you'll be seeing me a lot" Aria explained.

"I'm confused" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry I'll let our guest explain it to you, just a hint though we aren't what we seem; but not in a bad way just we have our secrets; my family is willing to care for those in need of help and well not just that we will protect those people by any means necessary" Aria commented, this intrigued Tatsumi even more. He was led downstairs to the living room where a mysterious figure sat down next to the fireplace with Sayo and Ieyasu sitting on the couch, Tatsumi took a seat next to Sayo.

"Well everyone is here" Constantine remarked from his chair, in the other was Angela who was writing in her journal.

"Yes, the time has come" the mysterious figure commented and threw back her cloak, to reveal a young woman, she was clad in what looked like a schoolgirls uniform she had auburn hair which was near red, eyes which were also red, she wore headphones on her forehead and had on her side a box, she had a cherry lollipop in her hand, she was beautiful and had a similar figure to Aria's own. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Chelsea, I represent a group that is funded in part by Aria's family and which Aria is a member of, we are Night Raid; we are an elite group of soldiers fighting for the Revolutionary army, we serve as Assassins who target the worst the Empire has offer, Aria and her family usually direct recruits to the revolutionary army or bring them on as bodyguards, but sometimes rarely she finds people that have the potential to join Night Raid, so far no one has made the cut and our leader General Najenda has rerouted them to main army; you three are a special case though, tells of your deeds are abuzz along the road to the capital and Aria speaks highly of you three, as such you three have been recommended to join, now you three have two options, either join us or serve here as bodyguards to Aria's family" Chelsea explained.

Tatsumi was shocked Aria had told him about the group and said they were dangerous but considering the fact that Aria was a member she was speaking from experience which meant she was dangerous; he was now worried. He had issues with this, first off if he joined them the Empire itself would be his enemy which meant he'd be a rebel and if captured subjected to a brutal public death; however there was the fact that he had seen the abuses of the Empire first hand with its high taxes, failure to patrol and protect the internal borders of the Empire and keep the provinces clear of bandits and Danger Beasts; also there was what Aria had told him about government corruption, Aria had been honest with him so far, granted she kept the Night Raid part about her life a secret but considering the fact that secrecy was key to her survival she was justified in hiding that detail. So that left him with a decision, join Night Raid or just be a guard at Grundewick Manor and given the choice between the two it was easy to make.

"I want to join, I've heard about the corruption of the Empire and I can't in good conscience turn a blind eye to the suffering of people like me, I've seen the first hand the hard taxes the Empire puts on those it rules along with the fact it doesn't hunt down the Bandits and Danger Beasts in the provinces like it should, the only way to change it is to take action, Sayo and Ieyasu are you two with me?" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm with you, it will be a suitable chance to test my skills besides Tatsumi I swore an oath to you before we left to follow you come hell or high water" Sayo replied.

"I'll join for the fun if nothing else" Ieyasu stated, his naivety showing.

"Good then, I'll be leading you to our headquarters, when we get near it you three will be blindfolded for security purposes, only our members can know where the base is" Chelsea replied.

"Alright then I'm coming with, I have something to tell Najenda, we've well best I tell her first" Aria added.

An hour later… they had left the city as soon as night fell and had gone into the country side, when they got near to the base they were blindfolded and ropes were tied to them to guide them along, soon they arrived in the base, Aria and Chelsea gave the password and they were let in, after entering the base their blindfolds were removed, and they were led to a central room, along the way Tatsumi noted the people, there were a few but they had their backs to them so he couldn't make out most of them beyond what they wore, he had noted earlier wanted posters for some of the group's members but the lack of colors hampered his ability to tell who was who. The only person he had gotten a good look at was the guard at the door, she was a woman with long dark hair and wore a white dress and strange pendent in her hair, she was beautiful and busty. Soon they were led to a room off the beaten path, which Aria knocked on. "Come in" a woman's voice replied.

They entered and found a desk at which was seated a lovely young woman, her hair was silver and short, she was missing her right eye and wore an eye-patch to cover it, her attire was very utilitarian, she also was missing her right arm which was replaced by a large green metal prosthetic, she was smoking a cigar. "Aria what do you have here, new recruits?" Najenda commented.

"Yes General Najenda, I met these three a few days ago, they made a hard journey between the Capital and their village, battling danger beasts and bandits along the way" Aria explained.

"I see, allow me to introduce myself, General Najenda, formally of the Imperial army, now of the Revolutionary army, I am the head of Night Raid and founder of it, you have already met two of our members Aria our medic and assassination specialist and Chelsea our recruiter and infiltrator, our mission is simple we are to find out the locations of the Capital's worst criminals and corrupt officials and silence them, our targets vary and usually come from our chief informants the Grundel Family; various targets have come up" Najenda stated.

"So, are we allowed in?" Ieyasu asked.

"That depends, you will be tested, pass the test and you're in, in the meantime you are to be ready; Night raid is only for the truly best, those who don't make the cut either end up in three ways, a soldier in the Revolutionary army, a guard at Grundewick manor or dead; the only way to leave Night Raid is death" Najenda explained.

"So how will be tested?" Sayo asked.

"You'll see soon, first off though you will have to wait" Najenda stated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Trial by Blood

The conversation was interrupted by the door opening and the same green-haired man with goggles Tatsumi had seen earlier in the day rushed in panting. "What is it Lubbock?" Najenda asked.

"I've detected some oncoming intruders in my strings" Lubbock replied, he was a green-haired man with goggles his attire consisted of a white shirt with a green jacket which was open as well as black pants and good quality shoes he had a sword at his side and a strange device on his wrist which golden strings were wrapped around.

"How many?" Najenda asked straight to the point.

"20 at least" Lubbock replied, Aria and the others were shocked.

"Were you followed?" Najenda asked.

"No, I made sure to take three redundant paths to throw off any tails, these people must have found out our base's location by other means" Aria stated.

"Yes, I can vouch for her, most of the time we were stealthy anyway" Chelsea added.

"I see, well new recruits he is your first test, you will help us fight off the intruders don't hesitate, Chelsea get the others, we'll split up and handle them individually" Najenda ordered.

Soon the team had assembled, and were sent off in groups of two, save Lubbock who went in alone, Tatsumi ended up with a man named Bulat, he had black pompadour hairstyle and wore a black shirt and green pants and spiked boots, his weapon was a spear of a large size. At the moment all Tatsumi got was his name, no time for other explanations, the teams split off.

Shortly Lubbock encountered his targets, a man in armor wielding a halberd and woman carrying two twin hook swords, the man proved easy to dispatch he got the drop on him and dragged him up in his Teigu strings which garroted the man and decapitated him, the young woman screamed in terror, but instead of fighting him, she begged for mercy. "Mercy!" the woman screamed.

"Sorry a friend of mine was killed by a woman who pulled that trick" Lubbock replied and readied his strings, he was surprised when the woman dropped her weapons and got on her knees begging, she had dark brown skin and short bob cut black hair she was quite attractive and wore a revealing outfit of a blue tube top, to which a white shawl was decorated with two brass pins on the shoulder, she also wore a sarong and shorts and on her feet sandals.

"Please don't kill me, I only did this for the money, I need it to free my sister from a slaver she's going to be sold off next week, I don't have anything against the revolution, the slaver who took my sister was an imperial noble, please save me I'll do anything! Anything!" the girl begged. Lubbock hesitated, his mind was telling him to kill her, but his heart and gut told him to stay his hands, this was the kind of person they were trying to protect, the woman was inexperienced and likely never killed anyone not even in anger, she immediately begged for mercy on his arrival. Lubbock was hesitating, she didn't make any moves apart from shivering in terror; she obviously was scared for her life, he then made a decision, he wasn't going to kill her but he wasn't going to let her escape and risk her revealing the location of their base, instead he took his threads and tied her to a nearby tree above the ground and secured her weapons on his back.

"Don't make me regret this" Lubbock replied, the woman smiled and wept in happiness. "Najenda is going to be angry at me," he thought, Night Raid had a take no prisoners approach yet he took one, then again none of the people he had killed and Night Raid itself had killed deserved mercy, this woman was different she clearly was just an innocent woman roped into a fight that was way out of her league, that was clear, perhaps they could save her sister from the slaver, he seemed like a worthy target to replace her.

Other things happened, the other groups were quickly dispatched, Bulat killed both of his targets without hesitation and faster than Tatsumi could react: he was surprised by that and considering the fact that when he read Bulat's bounty poster earlier it described him as 'The Hundred-Man Slayer' he realized that reputation was justified. Soon the rest of Night Raid met up minus Lubbock who was standing guard over his captive. "Wait Lubbock's missing" Aria commented.

"Hopefully he's ok" a young woman remarked, she had long shoulder-length purple hair and purple eyes and glasses, she was beautiful, she was well-endowed and wore a white dress and carried a giant pair of Scissors.

"Don't worry Sheele he's probably fine" another woman replied, she was a pinkette with long hair in two pigtails, she wore a pink dress and shoes, her eyes were pink, she held a large sniper rifle in her hands.

"Don't get cocky Mine" A blonde that Tatsumi recognized stated.

"Hey you're the woman who robbed me of my money!" Tatsumi remarked.

"And ours too" Sayo added.

"Leone" A black haired girl with red eyes wielding a Katana remarked with anger.

"Hey I can't help it Akame I'm a kleptomaniac" Leone remarked.

"Enough arguing we will have to find Lubbock and make sure he's alright" Najenda stated and the group followed her and they soon found Lubbock who was sitting under the tree where he had the woman tied up in.

"Lubbock what the hell?!" Mine commented.

"Hey Mine, hey guys, Good to see you guys have taken out the targets" Lubbock commented casually.

"Yes, and you left one alive" Najenda replied.

"I know but this one is different, she dropped her weapons once I killed her partner and didn't fight back and she begged for mercy, so I spared her and tied her up, she's our prisoner now" Lubbock replied.

"You can't be serious, we're Night Raid we don't take prisoners" Mine remarked.

"We've never been given the opportunity to" Lubbock replied and that caused them all to shrug, he was right on that fact all of their previous targets had been justified kills and thus they didn't bother or have the option to take captives.

"This is an interesting set of circumstances, for now, take her with us, we'll decide what to do with her afterward" Najenda ordered, Lubbock cut his prisoner down from the tree and cuts most of her binds save those around her arms.

Soon they went inside and after a quick breather and securing the woman in a chair the gathered in a large room, their captive hadn't put up any resistance whatsoever in fact she seemed rather terrified by the state of affairs.

"Alright first off, our new recruits you've passed your first test as far as I'm concerned and have earned the right to speak to your team, I'll introduce them to you" Najenda explained. "Alright welcome to Night Raid, Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu, you've just become a part of one of the most elite units in the Revolutionary army, we have a critical role in that army as the elite assassin unit, we find the Empire's worst and most powerful and send them to hell like they deserve" Najenda stated then stepped in front of the other members of the group. The next thing she did was stand next to each member and introduce them. "This is Akame, our dedicated elite assassin, she wields Muramase a powerful Teigu that can fell an opponent with a lethal poison from just a scratch" Najenda introduced pointing at a long black-haired girl she had blood-red eyes, and wore a black outfit similar to a school-girls uniform, she was busty and strong. "This is Bulat, our dedicated combat expert; he wields Incursio a powerful set of armor that is capable of withstanding the mightiest of blows" Najenda stated pointing to the man with a pompadour and spear. "This is Leone, our field operative, she's always watching the streets, but watch your money around her, she wields the Teigu Lionelle it increases her strength and agility to superhuman levels and allows her to regenerate even the greatest of wounds" Najenda stated. "This is Taeko; another of our field agents and assassins, she's our clandestine expert" Najenda introduced. She was a woman with short but spiky dark hair with a moon pendant in her hair. "This is Merraid Oarbaugh of the Oarburgh, she is our gate guard and one of our field leaders she came with her twin sisters Chelsea, Taeko and a few others including Taeko, she has the ability to control danger beasts" Najenda stated was a young woman with long black hair. Under her left eye, she had a birthmark. Her fingernails were long and also lacquered in purple. In addition, she wore a purple free-flowing dress with a black and white plaid belt. She had a similar figure to Akame and Taeko. "This is Lubbock my righthand man and one of our founding members, he wields his Teigu Cross Tail it can be formed into whatever Lubbock needs it to be and it allows him to detect enemies from a distance" Najenda stated. "This is Cornelia she is another brawler, she joined the same time as Akame and a few of our other members, she wields the Teigu Crushing King" Najenda added she was a young girl with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a long white shirt with black pants and shoes. She also wore silver hoop earrings. She then indicated two women who looked like twins "These are Mila and Loris they are twins" Najenda explained. Loris was a small girl with cyan hair which she keeps tied in two pigtails. On the left side of her forehead, she has a star. She wears a white shirt and a black dress. Her sister Mila was near identical with the same cyan hair which she tied in a ponytail. On the right side of her forehead, she had a moon pendant. She wears a white shirt and a black dress. "This is Gilberda she is Merraid's lover and friend" Najenda explained. Gilberda had green eyes and long blonde hair. She wore a maid's outfit. "This Poney she also joined with Akame, she is another brawler her Teigu is the Yocto-Bottoms which grant her extreme speed" Najenda explained Poney was a young girl with green eyes and long auburn hair worn in a ponytail and decorated with a few hairpins. She wore a tank top along with her Yocto-bottoms which took the form of leggings with a belt and ankle bands she also was barefoot. "This is Gin who also came with Akame she is one of our melee specialists" Najenda explained Gin was a young girl with silver hair worn in a long ponytail. She wore a sleeveless trench coat with a dark belt, black tights, boots, and gloves. "This is Tsukushi, she's our gunner, her Teigu is Prometheus it allows her an infinite supply of bullets, a number of firing modes and the rounds home in on their targets" Najenda explained, Tsukushi was a young girl with short light brown hair and amber eyes. She had a curvaceous figure and she wore a brown and white dress. "This is Martha, our multi-weapon specialist, more so than Aria in that regard, combat instructer and the mastermind behind our disguise department" Najenda explained. Martha was a younger woman with long dark-colored hair tied in a long braid. She was attractive and well endowed. She wore a bandana, a white blouse with a black buttoned sash, and a long skirt. "This is Chelsea who you've already met, she is our field agent and spy, she is most often out in the field, her Teigu is the Gaea Foundation and it allows her to turn into whatever she wants to" Najenda explained. "This is Mine she is our sniper and our resident drama queen, she wields my old Teigu Pumpkin, which never runs out of ammunition and has a variety of settings" Najenda explained indicating the Pinkette who snorted at being called a drama queen. "This is Sheele one of our dedicated assassins, she is a bit of an air-head though she wields Extase, a pair of scissors that can cut thru anything" Najenda explained referring the purple-haired girl. "Lastly is Aria, she is our medic, chief informant, and dedicated assassin, she wields Noctis Wave it allows her to become completely invisible and undetectable" Najenda stated.

"Now for a more pressing matter, Lubbock come with me" Najenda ordered, the green-haired man followed her off. Shortly Lubbock found himself in her office for the inevitable chewing out while Najenda sat in her desk and didn't spare a second before lecturing him. "Lubbock what were you thinking!? Taking a prisoner, this is unprecedented, why didn't you kill her?!" Najenda interrogated.

"Because she's one of the people were fighting to protect, she only came here because she was paid money that she needed to free her sister from slavery, also we can find out who sent them here and where they got the information on the location of our base" Lubbock replied.

"If not for the fact you've been here since the beginning Lubbock and that you are my best friend, I would kill you for going against orders, but I'm not in the Imperial Army anymore, in fact I've never had this kind of situation before" Najenda stated.

"How about we offer her the option to join" Lubbock commented off-hand.

"Really? Are you asking me to take a chance on a total stranger, one who's loyalty is to money and who has a questionable reason for mercy at the minimum, one who knows about our base and could easily-" Najenda replied.

"I know, but just once take a chance, she's legitimately terrified for her life and most likely the life of her sister, we can't just kill her, she didn't even try to fight back against me, she dropped her weapons when she begged for her life, we can't just kill unarmed prisoner, much less one that surrendered to us, it'd make us just as bad the Empire" Lubbock interrupted.

Najenda paused, grimaced, picked another cigar from a box on her desk, lit it, and breathed, the smooth tobacco allowed her to calm down. "I can't allow us to become like the Empire, I'm better than that, we're better than that. I don't know whether to believe this girl but I will let her live for now, I want you to get everything she knows from her and then I'll send Chelsea to verify her story; if it checks out she can join; but for now she's confined to her room, that's my decision don't make me regret it, she'll need to prove herself to us" Najenda replied. "Now leave me be, I need time to think about our latest things, also send Aria in she had something she wanted to speak with me about earlier" Najenda ordered, Lubbock left, he then found Aria and let her know Najenda wanted to speak to her, he then went off.

Shortly in Najenda's office… "So, you said earlier that you needed to speak with me" Najenda asked.

"Yes, it's about our next mission, I've got two more targets marked for death; a merchant named Gamul and Captain Ogre of the Capital police" Aria explained.

"I see, well eliminating Bach is our next target now explain the importance of these two what have they done and who marked them?" Najenda responded.

"Gamul and Ogre are connected in one of the most vile operations I've heard of, Gamul keeps an eye on his business rivals then frames them for crimes they didn't commit, Ogre executes them and takes their families and sells them into slavery while Gamul sweeps up the businesses and buys them out allowing him to corner the market and jack his prices, Ogre gets paid a finder's fee to keep the whole thing under wraps and Gamul gets a cut of any profits Ogre makes from the slaves, the widows and children of their victims, some of the women have ended up in the hands of (she shivered) Prime Minister Honest" Aria explained.

"I can see, well this complicates things; who gave you the information though?" Najenda asked.

"My best friend Seryu Ubiquitous, she's been looking into this for a month and without Ogre knowing about it, she was tailing Gamul and gathering information, she found out last night about Ogre's involvement, she's left the Capital Police and become my personal bodyguard, she's offered to join Night Raid if we eliminate them" Aria explained.

"I see, well then this complicates things, significantly, we now have three targets, Bach is a known trader of slaves and has to be eliminated before he finds his next buyer otherwise people will die; but Ogre and Gamel's operation is a far more immediate danger, I'll need to think things over I'll let you know what I come up with, odds are however we are going to have to all three targets simultaneously, tomorrow night, as for Seryu she's welcome, her record speaks for itself" Najenda replied, Aria left Najenda leaving her to think and smoke.

Meanwhile…. In the far north a war had drawn to an end, the mighty Northern army had been broken and their might leader captured. "They said it would take me years to conquer the North, ha, I've had bigger challenges, and yet again we have a mighty leader, I thought he would prove a worthy opponent now look at him, reduced to groveling at my feet, Numa Saika you were a fool thinking yourself superior by being a man, now look at you a jabbering idiot" a Blue haired woman stated, she wore a white uniform that had trouble containing her massive breasts, at her side was her sword a massive rapier, she currently sat on the throne of the northern king, said King was now prostrated before her licking the ground beneath her feet. "Yet again I'm disappointed you broke to my will which is not acceptable; here I thought I'd find my true love according to the scroll but here I am wrong again and no closer to my goal, I General Esdeath, the scourge of the Empire's enemies; I cannot yet again find love; URGH! I HATE YOU, not just you but all your warriors who are now dead and gone like they should be, now where is your pride, your people raided my homeland for centuries, robbing, raping, murdering, burning! And now things have come full circle I don't know whether it was your father or grandfather who took my family, my clan, my people! From me but you are now nothing; some of the women under my command have seen to that and you broke; I swear idiots like you are too common in this world of ours but you've reaped what you sowed, you said you'd enjoy raping me well you'll never sully my maidenhood and I hope you enjoyed being raped by the eager women under my command because you deserved it, I don't just defeat my enemies I break them, make sure they never rise to fight me again" the Woman continued and held him on a leash. "More enemies ground beneath my army, all them buried alive beneath the ice and crushing snow, yet I find no one worthy of my love nor of worthy of respect, and the Empire despite me being at the head of its armies is still weak, they spend most of their time squabbling over past glory while I'm left to crush the enemies it has, like you, they told me you were a mighty warrior Numa Saika, yet I managed to break you so easily; you aren't a person a worthy of my respect, in fact, you aren't even worthy to lick my boots" Esdeath concluded then lifted up her left foot and caved in the former king's skull bloody spattering all over her boots, she didn't care. "Warriors, dispose of this trash, don't even bother burying him, burn the corpse" Esdeath ordered.

"General Esdeath what are your next orders?" a woman asked.

"Tell the three beasts to ready themselves, Spear, I'm going to have to organize everything, we'll be setting up a new government and we'll need to pacify any remain sparks of resistance; also take the slavers chains that we've been collecting from freeing the Yetis and have melted down into a monument commemorating this victory: Also find me the most beautiful women in this court I'm in need of more concubines for my future husband" Esdeath ordered, Spear nodded.

"Hopefully you'll find the right guy" Spear replied.

"Hopefully Spear; hopefully and I hope you'll be with him too; you're getting to the age where you'll want to think about it" Esdeath replied.

"I'm sure I'll find the right guy granted though if we end up with the same guy Esdeath I'm naming one of my daughters after you" Spear replied.

"I'm not sure whether to consider that flattery Spear or an honor so I'll assume its the latter; anyway we have a new government to put into place, thousands of miles of new land added to the Empire and the search for the ideal husband for me continues, though one more thing no more northerners!" Esdeath replied.

"Agreed" Spear replied and the two left the broken corpse of Numa Saika in their wake, his face still grinning in death.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Three Targets: Three Kills

Later that evening…. "Alright lets start with some simple question: First off what is your name?" Lubbock asked beginning his interrogation.

"Yami, I'm a mercenary by trade, my sister was too until she was captured by brigands and auctioned off to a man named Bach, he's holding her until he can find a buyer, so I took this job, the bounty on a member of Night Raid is about 260,000 right now, me and a team of hunters went out on a goal for, it knew that a money would be enough to free my sister and be enough to live in a good retirement; (She frowned) If only it was that simple, I'm alone now, my team is dead, I really didn't stand a chance, so thanks for sparing my life" Yami replied.

"You're welcome; now who gave you this information?" Lubbock asked.

"Not sure, we got our orders from a man named Syura, other then that I don't know their sources; by the way Night Raid is no where near as bad as the posters make out; I think the people who posted those posters were full of bull" Yami replied.

"I see, well I have some news for you; first off Bach is our next target, our chief informants gave us the target assessment; as for your words, thank you for your kindness, now thanks for the information, still though you're staying in this room for the time being, if we verify your story you can go free or you can join us if you want" Lubbock replied.

"Thanks I- wait you're offering to let me join, after my well begging for my life" Yami replied.

"Please you're nice and sweet, I'm betting you're a good fighter in reality, don't worry most of the grunts that face me usually panic after my strings go into play; Cross Tail tends to make most enemies stampede over each other once I demonstrate its abilities" Lubbock replied.

"So what can it do" Yami asked curious about it.

"Well it is a unique weapon, it comes in the form of strings, which I can meld into whatever I need them to be, a sword, a knife, a set of armor, a shield, a table, most things really, also they allow me to detect enemies from afar, which was why your team was so easily ambushed" Lubbock explained.

"So how does it work?" Yami asked.

"Here I'll show you" Lubbock replied then took out his wrist mount and melded the strings into the shape of a flower which hardened into a metal replica of a rose which he handed to Yami.

"That is so amazing; you can essentially make anything out of this" Yami replied, putting the rose in her hair.

"Not anything, I can't make actual food out of it, or people, I could make a statue out of it but it wouldn't really do anything;" Lubbock explained.

"So is there a limitless supply of it?" Yami asked.

"Not on my wrist mount but I have a spool of the thread that is infinite; I've never run out, and every time it seems like it does it refills; it's a powerful Teigu" Lubbock replied.

"I see, I've never seen an actual Teigu before, I guess that's why Night Raid hasn't ever been caught, with most of its members wielding Teigus" Yami replied.

"Pretty much, any way I have to go, Najenda will be expecting my report" Lubbock replied.

"Alright see you soon; wait you never gave your name" Yami replied.

"Lubbock" Lubbock answered, then suddenly she got up from her chair and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's for sparing my life; please save my sister, if you're going to kill Bach make sure you save my sister; her name is Naomi, she'll look a lot like me but she has longer hair and glasses; there were a number of other girls, some were about 12 and there were some younger ones, be careful though his compound is heavily guarded" Yami explained. "Good Luck" she added, Lubbock left.

Later that afternoon… "Its good to see our new recruits have been able to familiarize themselves with the base and their team now for our next mission, I've been wanting to have our team lay low for sometime to get the Empire to lower their guard but things just got more complicated; here's the sit rep, there was originally one target, a Slaver named Bach, now there are three. Bach who is a former slave turned slaver who has no regard for the value of human life and will sell to anyone. A merchant named Gamul who has been framing his business rivals to get them arrested and executed so he can sweep in and steal their businesses so he could corner the market and jack up his prices, and his partner in crime Captain Ogre of the Imperial police, he's been rounding up Gamul's rivals and executing them, then selling their families into slavery and accepting bribes from Gamul to keep things quiet; each of these men is a disease on society and have been marked for death: Bach by the Grundel Family and both Gamul and Ogre by former officer Seryu Ubiquitous of the Capital Police who exposed their operation. For the purposes of this mission we will be dispatching teams of four: Akame will lead the team that goes after Gamul and will take Mine, Sheele and Sayo with her, Lubbock will lead the team going after Bach and will take Taeko, Ieyasu and Cornella with him, and the last team will be lead by Bulat and he will take our two best with him Leone and Aria, as well as Tatsumi; each of these missions is regarded as the final test for our newest team members, the rest of us will stay at base for security purposes; we will be relocating soon; this location has been compromised as such we will locate an alternative location; Chelsea you are in charge of doing that, everyone dismissed prepare your equipment, memorize the maps we've acquired of the targets' locations and do whatever you want in the meantime; come night fall we will strike" Najenda explained. The groups then split off.

"Alright here's the drill Tatsumi; follow me and follow Bulat's orders, don't get side tracked" Aria explained.

"Alright, but I'm going to get back Leone at some point for conning me out of my money" Tatsumi commented.

"Don't worry, also treat Bulat like he's your older brother, he deserves a lot of respect he's like an older brother, he'll keep you safe, don't worry about me, Ogre and his cronies won't see me coming thanks to my Teigu; as for Leone, well there are a few ways of getting back at her, but for now think of her as a team mate, don't worry I'll see to it she gets her comeuppance for conning you; for now just keep a level head, also you actually occupy a unique position in Night Raid the same Chelsea, Leone, and I have where the enemies don't know you're part of the group; so consider it a bonus and it gives you a bit more room to maneuver" Aria explained.

"Alright I hope things go well; I'm worried about Ieyasu and Sayo though" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry they are in safe hands, Lubbock hasn't lost a teammate yet, also Akame is a beast: trust me by dawn tomorrow all three of these scumbags will be dead and our bounty will probably be up again by 60,000 and everyone will be alright" Aria reassured.

Later that night… The full moons were out all three of them, Night Raid moved from roof top to roof top until they got to a central location, Tatsumi looked at the center of the city where the Imperial palace in all its grandeur stood tall and proud over the city. "Alright you all have your orders, lets carry them out" Akame stated sternly.

Shortly… "Hey Aria" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes" Aria replied.

"Question is the Emperor the source of these problems" Tatsumi asked, as they continued moving from roof top to roof top.

"No, the Emperor is only a 12 year old child, Emperor Makoto has no idea what's happening in the Empire as a whole, the real source of all the problems in the capital is Prime Minister Honest; he's running the whole show and he is very evil, even by high evil standards in the Empire; he is obese and gluttonous also there's nasty things, he purchase woman and young girls then rapes them and murders them and once he's done with them he cooks and eats them; he's a cannibal, he tried to buy me once from my parents, but no amount of money would convince them to sell me the sad truth is that there are a number of people who would gladly sell their children to him for money, especially those who live in the slums, there are no shortage of people who sell their families into slavery just to survive only to end up there themselves eventually" Aria explained.

"How does your family stay level headed and safe in this world of ours, Honest doesn't seem like the type to take no for answer; I'm sure he's sent no shortage of assassins and kidnappers your way" Tatsumi replied.

"A Few ways, first off we have a lot of money which means we can hire a lot of guards, practically a private army, secondly we have the protection of Night Raid which is something few people can say they have, third point my parents have a lot of connections in the government, also there are a lot of nobles who don't agree with what Honest and his schemes bring to the Empire as a whole, so they keep him in check, of course there are certain things beyond our control, chiefly the Empire's best general Esdeath fortunately she is far from here up north fighting the northern tribes, with luck we won't be hearing from her for a while, but I don't count on it, Esdeath is renowned for being able to do the impossible and do so quickly, there's a reason why she is the top general, also she wields an absurdly powerful Teigu, Merraid fought her in the arenas when they were still young and she had a crush on her, Esdeath wasn't interested and tried to kill her" Aria replied.

"You two keep it down: I can see some guards patrolling down there" Leone warned, they noticed said guards, Imperial Police who were on a patrol route.

Meanwhile… Gamul was counting his money and going over a list of slaves given to him by Ogre and prices offered by various potential buyers; there were a lot of them and there were relatively decent offers so many it would take him some time before he could go thru them all, not that he would have a chance, in the yard bellow each of his guards was been silently dispatched to his ignorance, mostly from a distance by Sayo and Mine who were targeting the ones with machine guns first then the ones with greatswords, the overall security presence was semi-alert but those who tried to search for the snipers were being ruthlessly and quietly dispatched by Sheele and Akame who were leaving a trail of headless and dismembered corpses in their wake. Soon the perimeter guards were all dead, Sayo was half done with her quiver much to her disappointment while Mine had infinite ammunition much to her jealousy. The team then infiltrated the interior.

While Akame's team was dealing with Gamul's security Lubbock's team had already overpowered Bach's limited external security and were now in the process of killing the interior guards and breaking the cages. "Alright people we're here to rescue you, don't make any sudden moves, we're going to break open the cages don't want any of you getting hurt in the process" Lubbock explained then extended Cross Tail to each of the cages' doors and yanked each off and pulled them into a neat pile. Lubbock then went thru the prisoners one by one, they were mostly women and children, a lot of young girls who were coming thru puberty, as well a number of smaller kids of both genders, and a lot of younger women. Lubbock looked around for any signs of Yami's sister and soon he found her, and took her aside. "Are you Naomi?" Lubbock asked.

"Yes how do you know my name, did- Yami sent you didn't you, oh I hope she didn't spend too much" Naomi stated.

"She's fine, yes she told me about you, no though she didn't send us, we're Night Raid, just doing our business, removing the Empire's worst from the world of the living and saving the lives of those who are at risk where we can" Lubbock explained.

"Thanks for saving us mister" a Blond-haired pre-teen said, she was joined by two other girls of the same age a blue haired girl and a purple haired girl. "I'm Fal and these are my friends Air and Luna, why are you here, Master Bach hasn't done anything to us" Fal added.

"Yet, he hasn't done anything to you yet, but he's sold numerous people into slavery and trust me your a lot better of with us, don't worry we know some people who can help you all out" Lubbock explained. "Naomi you keep these three safe, I'll meet up with my team mates.

Meanwhile… Bach was going over his list of buyers and the most prominent was a cult that required a some people for rituals calling themselves the Enthusiasts; not that he cared who he sold people to, his only concern was money not caring if it was blood money, he moved his glasses up, he was unaware of a certain black haired assassin who had snuck into the room, suddenly he found himself stabbed and then paraylized writhing on the ground. "I've killed people like you before, trust me the devil will take you soon enough, enjoy hell as for me I'm going to enjoy counting out your coin and then giving it out to your captives" Taeko stated then grinned as Bach writhing on the ground, suddenly Ieyasu came into the room with his battle axe. "Just in time Ieyasu, I was enjoying watching Bach suffer here, but I'll let you do the honors and finish him off" Taeko explained.

"It's people like you that make this world bad Bach; I've seen your prisoners, a lot of them are people from the countryside like me, now you'll see that we country folk aren't cattle you can auction off to be slaughtered" Ieyasu explained then brought his axe down on the guts of Bach. "You deserve a slow painful death" Ieyasu added.

"I- I- You stupid cattle you deserve- I was- what my lungs I- (cough) my chest" Bach groaned out.

"Manticore venom, from a class A danger beast; my Grandma Barbara preferred this for the worst offenders" Taeko explained. "Like you Bach" Taeko explained. Bach's lungs withered inside and his trachea closed up leaving him to struggle to breath, his face turned purple from lack of air, then he died. Ieyasu checked his pulse to verify it then beheaded the corpse.

"I think this will get me in Najenda's good books" Ieyasu commented. "By the way Taeko you're cute" Ieyasu flirted.

"Thanks but you're not my type, I prefer guys with more kempt hair and green eyes" Taeko shot down, she had eyes for Tatsumi clearly.

"Fine then, so about Bach's head, and how are we going to split the money?" Ieyasu asked.

"Most of it will go to the freed slaves, but each of us will get a 5% cut, we'll need it for supplies" Lubbock explained entering the room. "Nice job you two; now we'll clean out his vault and take anything at value, this stuff may be blood money but it's still money that is needed for our cause, also we want to make this look like a robbery, but I doubt they'd buy that, besides I'm sure Najenda has something in mind for the aftermath" Lubbock added. They then did as they planned and escorted the freed Slaves to Grundewick manor

Meanwhile… In Gamul's office the scene was bloody: Gamul's headless and bisected body lay limp it his chair and on his desk both now stained with his blood all the while as certain purple haired girl with glasses sat on the front of the desk with a giant pair of bloody scissors embed in the floor in front of her holding his severed head. "I'm sorry Mine but I got here first also sorry for making a mess and sorry Gamul but you had to go" Sheele apologized as her friend entered the room.

"Sheele don't apologize, especially to a creep like Gamul, he got what he deserved; shame we didn't bring Aria she would've made him really scream" Mine stated.

"Eliminate" Akame started to say when she came into the room with Sayo and noted that dismembered and decapitated body of Gamul. "Good work; now lets take his money and leave, Sayo you take his head; I'm sure Najenda will be happy with that" Akame ordered.

"Eww" Sayo commented disgusted as she received the severed head from Sheele, its blood stained her white shirt as she stuffed it into a sack that had been brought for the purpose.

With Tatsumi… "Alright one more thing, make Ogre's death quick, my friend asked for this to be done, Ogre was like a father to her so she wants this done nice quick, clean and swift" Aria explained.

"Alright; Leone you handle the guards in their barracks, I'll handle the guards who are alert; Aria you and Tatsumi will deal with Ogre" Bulat ordered. "Be safe Bro" Bulat commented to Tatsumi.

"You too" Tatsumi replied. They then split up into and began to take out their targets.

Captain Ogre was not at his base in fact he was returning from the rendezvous point he had with Gamul and was alert, Gamul hadn't shown up and that meant trouble, also Seryu had left the force yesterday which surprised him that she would do such a thing as she had shown no signs that she wanted to quit, then Gamul wasn't at the rendezvous point which meant that either Gamul was late which wasn't likely at he waited an hour for him or somebody found out about their operation and had told someone about it. Ogre walked up to the base entrance to find dismembered corpses of some of his officers. "Night Raid" he muttered under his voice and drew his sword. He walked into the camp. "I know you're here Night Raid! Come out and face me Ogre the Demon and face Justice!" Ogre yelled in challenge. To his surprise a young man in common clothes walked up to him with his own sword drawn. "Boy you are the best Night Raid has to offer? if so the rumors of your skills are greatly exaggerated" Ogre challenged.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises" Tatsumi retorted then iniated his attack, Ogre's sword was massive as befitting a many of his stature and bulk, Tatsumi was pressed to dodge instead of parrying, which he did easily, despite his strength Ogre was slowed by his money which he had taken for Gamul, this allowed Tatsumi an important advantage. Ogre blocked the rapid sword strikes that Tatsumi unleashed on him, while Tatsumi dodged Ogre's power attacks, this fight would have dragged out longer but soon a sharp series of swift strikes hit Ogre from behind, he was in pain, while the strikes in themselves weren't lethal the weapons they were from had been coated in potent poison which sapped Ogre's strength allowing Tatsumi to overwhelm his guard, Tatsumi disarmed Ogre of his right arm and his sword then followed up the momentum by decapitating Ogre, who's petrified look of terror surprised Tatsumi when he collected his head. Aria appear from behind the body of Ogre, her dress stained with blood. "I think that's a wrap" Tatsumi commented. "Thanks" he added.

"No problem, that's my job, to take advantage of an enemies weakness then following up with a lethal blow, you weren't lying about your fighting skill, the Mercenaries were generics, but Ogre was a well known fighter in the capital and you managed to not only hold your own but kill him, granted I helped but he was tiring before I saw my open" Aria replied.

"This head creeps me out" Tatsumi remarked hold it in his gloves which were dark red with blood. "The face he's making is that of pure insanity" Tatsumi remarked.

"Well its nothing to worry about now" Aria stated, soon they were joined by Bulat and Leone who were covered with blood spattered.

"You two have fun?" Leone asked with a smirk.

"Yep, don't worry though Ogre's not going to need his head where he's going, I wonder if you behead someone are they headless in the afterlife" Tatsumi remarked.

"Not likely, at least not for the good people, but Ogre, I wouldn't be surprised if the devil's using his head as drinking cup while his body is well I wouldn't want to think on that" Bulat replied, then clutched his shoulder.

"Bro are you alright?" Tatsumi asked.

"Fine just took a hard blow to the shoulder from some guy's truncheon but he's now in two pieces, he might have broken something but it's more likely he knocked it out of place" Bulat replied.

"So how do you think the others are doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"There probably fine" Leone remarked.

"Yeah, Gamul wasn't that heavily guarded and Bach wasn't even target until recently, so they'll be fine" Aria commented.

"They are fine" Mine commented coming up with the others.

"We're fine Mine, We're fine" Sheele corrected.

"Whatever" Mine responded. "Let's get back to base before the corpse rot draws unwanted attention" Mine added, the teams then reunited and returned to base via the route they came.

Later at Night Raid's base… "Mission success, excellent work team, also I'm quite pleased with the efforts to our newest team members: Congratulations Tatsumi, Ieyasu and Sayo, you three have made the cut, welcome to Night Raid" Najenda congratulated.

"So what about their heads" Ieyasu asked.

"Those were just for verifying the kills, they will be disposed off now, now I have something for you three to do, get some rest and I'll give work tomorrow, you're dismissed" Najenda debriefed.

Shortly… Yami was brought Lubbock to Najenda's office. "Well let me let you know the good news your story checks out also your sister is safe, she's in the protection of our chief supporters; now for you Yami" Najenda stated. "What is it you want to do now I wonder" she added.

"I honestly want to join Night Raid, you saved my sister, she's the only family I have left, I can't easily repay you, I want to fight though, I want keep other people from losing there siblings to the hands of people like Bach; I want to do good, I'm thru with being a mercenary; I'm a skilled fighter, I was the best in my group, I just panicked when I saw Lubbock tear my partner apart like he was nothing" Yami commented.

"I think she should join, Night Raid needs anyone we can get" Lubbock commented.

"I see, well then Yami welcome to Night Raid, you will be expected to prove yourself on the next mission but that can wait; also I will see Aria take you to see your sister; she's safe at her parent's manor" Najenda explained, and Yami and Lubbock were dimissed.

Outside… "Thank you Lubbock for all you've done, I can't thank you enough for saving my sister" Yami stated then kissed him and pulled him into a hug which led to him being glomped, Lubbock blushed.

"Well you could be my girlfriend" Lubbock suggested.

"Why not; you're cute and you're nice and you saved the only family I have from a slaver who would have sold her to some extremely bad people" Yami replied then kissed him again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Kill the Lunatic Beheader

The following night Seryu was out and about, she had just joined Night Raid and due to her status as a member of the Capital Police, which she rejoined after Ogre's death as an agent, she was assigned by Najenda to keep an eye out for suspicious activity which was what she was best at: keeping a keen eye for any danger. She then noticed two women talking to each other about something or another when she saw something clearly dangerous, a man with a third eye and spiky hair with a massive greatsword, who was heading right towards the two woman who screamed upon seeing him. "Koro attack!" Seryu ordered drawing her sword. Koro increased to a large size and lunged at the man in question only for him to sidestep the attack and move to slash at Koro who tanked the hit and regenerated the damage, Seryu then attacked parrying a heavy blow with her sword.

"Well, what have we here, I was expecting a couple of easy heads to take and instead I get a lovely head that wants to fight back" the man stated.

"Yeah well you weren't expecting me or my stalwart companion in justice, you are a murderer: PREPARE TO FACE JUSTICE!" Seryu replied and gave a terrifying look at the man, who then had to dodge Koro lunging for him, Koro yanked off a chunk of his clothing.

"I don't have time for this: I'll get you later" the man stated then knocked Seryu back and ran, then jumped up onto a nearby stall from there onto the rooftops while Koro attempted to catch him. The living Teigu shrunk back to his normal size then returned to Seryu who had taken a hard blow.

Koro moaned sympathetically. "No don't worry Koro I'm fine, I've taken worst blows" Seryu stated sheathing her blade. She then turned to the two women who had been petrified by the whole ordeal. "Don't worry citizens just doing my job: Officer Seryu Ubiquitous, soldier for Justice, you two shouldn't be out here at night its extremely dangerous, head home but stick together, stay over at the same house if you have to and watch out" Seryu stated.

"Thank you" one of the women thanked.

"Don't mention it, its my duty to justice to keep the innocent safe from the scum of the world, now I will have to look into this matter and report in, I think I know that guy from somewhere" Seryu replied. "I'll escort you two home though, it's best you have an escort, come on Koro lets go" Seryu added, the two women followed her.

The following morning at Night Raid's base…. "Are you sure?" Najenda asked Seryu.

"Positive, Zank the Beheader was the one I fought last night, I did some digging and found out he escaped from prison and killed the warden and stole his Tiegu, he's a priority target now we can't allow that vile criminal to run loose and endanger innocent people" Seryu reported.

"Yes and we won't let him run free, I'll need to get a bead on his whereabouts and put together a team: Seryu you'll be with that team, in this case I'm raising the usually team of four or five to eight: he's way too dangerous for a our usual team" Najenda replied, suddenly Aria entered the room.

"General I have bad news: Esdeath is coming back to the Capital the north has fallen and their king is dead" Aria reported.

"What!? Damnit that's way too fast even for her; my old friend is way too fast for our own good, that complicates things even more: she's now a priority threat; Aria tell your parents to keep an eye out for any trouble; I need any leads on Esdeath's activities" Najenda responded with serious alarm.

"Yes general, they were the ones who gave me the info so they're already on the alert" Aria replied then saluted and left.

"Any info on the Teigu that was stolen?" Najenda asked.

"Yes it was Omnipotent Five sights: Spectator, it allows him to figure out my attacks in advanced, fortunately he had to predict Koro's as well so he ran off after Koro went in for a hard blow: by the way Koro picked this up, a chunk of Zank's clothing so he should be easy to track" Seryu replied and handed a sizeable piece of cloth.

"That's good, now we have a means of tracking him down" Najenda stated and dismissed Seryu.

Later… "Alright this mission is of utmost importance, Zank the Beheader has escaped from prison, he used to an executioner there until he went insane and went on a killing spree, he was locked up until about a day ago when he escaped, he is extremely dangerous and has the Teigu Omnipotent Five Sights: Spector which he stole from the warden of the prison, he is extremely dangerous, his Teigu allows him to anticipate attacks in advanced with a brief glance into the future, as such because of the danger posed by this mission we will be sending a team of 8 to take him down: Akame, Sheele, Bulat, Ieyasu, Tatsumi, Seryu, Aria, and our newest member Yami will be going on this mission, you are all authorized to go all out, Koro will track him down, we don't know how many people he's killed but it's likely he's out in the countryside; we can't allow him to kill any more people: you have your orders move out and kill Zank before he can do anymore damage" Najenda ordered.

Shortly…. "Is it wise to send Yami out on such a dangerous mission?" Lubbock asked Najenda.

"She's a good fighter, besides she needs to prove herself and we're sending one of our best teams, don't worry Lubbock she's stronger then she looks" Najenda reassured.

"Yeah" Lubbock said worried.

"Don't worry she'll be fine, in the meantime I need you to do something important, another target came in from the Grundels the man in question is a relative of the Prime Minister, he is a rapist, murderer and the worst of things he rips unborn children out of their mother's wombs and tortures them to death while he watches; I'm sending you with Mine and Sayo to neutralize this target do so with prejudice" Najenda informed, Lubbock did as ordered.

Later…. The team for the mission had gathered, they had followed a trail of mangled, beheaded and dismembered corpses that had been left by Zank. "He isn't even remotely subtle about this" Ieyasu commented, having some skill in tracking game as was needed for survival in a remote village where he, Tatsumi and Sayo were the best hunters.

"This guy isn't remotely subtle; Koro isn't having any issues following him at all" Seryu added.

"Stay focused, keep the chatter low, we don't want anyone finding out we're here, the last thing we need to do is have to fight a patrol of generic grunts who are just fighting for the wrong side and who need the money for their livelihood, we don't want to be make unnecessary widows from killing ordinary soldiers who don't know any better" Yami commented.

"She's right, we must find our target and Eliminate" Akame agreed, after that they kept a lower profile. Eventually they came to a yacht in a nearby river which was alarmingly abandoned and even more alarming were the heads that decorated it and the blood on its hull.

"Not very subtle at all" Bulat remarked.

"Everyone ready your teigu if your have one, everyone else ready your weapons, don't take your eye of Zank, don't give him ANY openings" Seryu ordered, Koro growled.

"Well, well what have we here; it's you again soldier for Justice and you brought Night Raid with you, what are the odds, if it weren't for my fugitive status I'd report you to the higher ups as a traitor and get you suitably punished, but I guess I'll have to satisfied with your head instead, and Night Raid, I might be able to get a pardon from the Emperor if I bring him your heads" Zank greeted, readying his greatsword.

"You can't escape Justice Zank; Come my fellow Warriors for Justice let's unleash ultimate Justice on this vile wretch!" Seryu yelled, Night Raid divided up as Zank charged, Seryu ducked to avoid a sweeping blow that would have beheaded her and followed up with a counter which was parried by Zank forcing her on the defensive, Sheele attacked from the side with Exstase, which he parried grabbing Sheele and flinging her into a nearby tree, Zank side-stepped a sneak attack by Aria who had attempted to slice his back with her Kukris in an attempt to get poison into his system, this momentum sent Aria making splashdown in the river he then grabbed Bulat's spear as he attempted to thrust at Zank's guts and flung him onto the ship, which even though he was protected by Incursio it didn't stop him from blacking out from the impact which also broke his arm.

"My Dress! You'll pay for that you bastard both financially and physically!" Aria yelled then flung several poisoned shurikens at Zank who had knocked Seryu back and dodged and deflected the shruikens with supernatural ease much like a lightsaber deflecting blaster bolts. Tatsumi then ran up and sliced at Zank and held his own as Zank brought down the hammer with his greatsword Tatsumi managing to actually get a hit on him, causing Zank to groan in pain then dodged as a supersized Koro tried to swallow him whole which he retaliated by delivering a hard slash to the living Teigu who yelped in serious pain. Then Zank was on defensive against an irate Tatsumi who was actually on par with Zank this caused him to use a trump card and used his teigu to change form into Sayo which caused Tatsumi to drop his guard though not enough for Zank to kill him it was enough to fling him back with brute force causing him to crash into Sheele and Seryu who had just recovered. Akame charged and continued the onslaught, Zank used his Teigu again turning himself in Akame's sister Kurome which didn't unnerve Akame.

"Eliminate!" Akame yelled and struck hard continuing to strike at Zank who continued his parries and then kicked Akame in the gut which sent her flying back, he attempted to follow his momentum and behead Akame when his right leg was pulled out from him causing him to back step and take a swing against Yami who dodged the swing which hadn't been an aimed attack and grabbed his sword arm with one of her twin-hooks and attempted to remove his other arm with the second, suddenly Zank used his Teigu again and turned into Lubbock with his sword turning into a blade similar to one made by Crosstail which unnerved Yami a lot, Zank was about to behead her when a sharp Axe strike he hadn't expected sliced off his sword arm.

"Leave her alone you insane son-of-a-bitch!" Ieyasu yelled as his fighting axe tore thru Zank's arm and removed it sending his sword flying and embedding it into a tree: Zank howled in agony, breaking his illusion. Yami used the opening recovering her resolve and embedded one of the side blades on her left Twin-hook into Zank's guts disemboweling him, she then followed up by using her other blade to hook his head driving the hook into the top of his skull and follow up with first sword and decapitate him as she pelled his head in half! Spectator flew off and Ieyasu caught it with one hand like it was a fly ball, he examined the teigu it was a eye engraved into a cloven helmet which Zank had worn, the Eye itself was undamaged along with the broach that surrounded it.

It was over, Zank was dead, the members of Night Raid stood triumphant, well those weren't recovering from the hard knocks Zank gave them. "You did it you killed him!" Ieyasu cheered.

"I killed him- I KILLED HIM! I killed Zank the Beheader, I beheaded the beheader, you know I couldn't have done it without you Ieyasu, he used an illusion to turn himself into someone else, I hesistated, thanks though" Yami replied and hugged Ieyasu.

"Ouch" Tatsumi moaned getting up his sword was stuck in a tree and he was tangled up with Seryu and Sheele who also recovered, Sheele had lost her glasses.

"My Glasses, I can't see them or much at all!" Sheele yelled as she struggled to find them, Koro walked over and woofed holding Sheele's glasses in his mouth. "Oh, Thanks Koro, good dog" Sheele thanked.

"Good job my little soldier for Justice" Seryu stated picking up Koro and hugging him, causing him to moan in happiness. "who's a good Teigu, you are, you are Koro, who's going to get to eat Zank's arm you are, you are" Seryu baby talked, putting down the teigu who went and ate Zank's severed limb. "Good boy, I'm going to get you some treats when we get home, I'll get you a whole bunch of meat and feed you it" Seryu stated. "If I can find it that is, Akame you eat too much of it, I have a Teigu to feed" Seryu commented.

"We are done here" Akame stated bluntly ignoring Seryu's remark.

"Ok Ieyasu you get one half of Zank's hand I'll get the other half then we'll take credit for killing him" Yami commented picking up the split head.

"Man this is such messy work" Ieyasu remarked.

"You get used to it" Bulat remarked having recovered and back in his regular attire. "Ouch, I think I broke something" Bulat noted.

"Let me see" Aria remarked coming over after having recovered her throwing stars and blades. She took a look then examined him having him move various arms and discovered the problem quickly. "Bulat you've broken your right arm, I'm going to make a splint, I think I can amend the problem with an bracer but you're going to have to sit out the next few missions: Doctor's orders" Aria explained.

"Thanks Aria, I've been thru worse, I'll do that, damn shame though I'm going to have sit things out for a bit" Bulat replied. They quickly cleaned things up, then cleaned up the bodies of Zank's victims, no one that they recognized though, they then buried them in small grave which they erected a cairn over, the team then said a small prayer to the gods to bless the fallen in the afterlife, they then dragged Zank's corpse off, Ieyasu snagged Zank's sword and put it on his back, granted the blade was quite big for him, but he was strong enough to use it.

They then proceeded to head to the town square in the capital and use a wooden stake to prop up Zank's headless corpse they then nailed a sign his naked chest which had Night Raid's motto and the words: Ultimate Justice served, added by Seryu, they then returned to base as dawn was rising.

"Mission success boss" Tatsumi reported walking into Najenda's office followed by Ieyasu and Yami; who then plopped Zank's dismembered severed head on her desk.

"Excellent, while you were away had another mission carried out, I sent Mine with Sayo and Lubbock to eliminate a relative of the Prime Minaster who had been marked to death for taking women as slaves, then raping them, waiting for them to be pregnant then rip their unborn children from their chest and kill them in front of them before leaving them to die. Mine took him out in one clean shot, now how are the others doing?" Najenda replied.

"They're fine mostly, Zank broke Bulat's arm and Sheele and Seryu took some hard knocks, as did I and Aria, but both Ieyasu and Yami are unscathed they killed Zank and Ieyasu took his Teigu" Tatsumi reported.

"Then I owe you both congratulations, welcome to Night Raid Yami, you've earned your position" Najenda congratulated. "Ieyasu, hand me Spectator" Najenda ordered, Ieyasu took the eye out of his pocket suddenly it grew with light and Ieyasu yelled in pain but after a minute stand off he recovered the circlet of Specatator attached to his forehead. "I've only seen this a few times: Ieyasu a Teigu has chosen you to be it's user, I have book on Spectator's abilities take it and read it, You just became an even more important member of our team but for now get some rest, you too Yami you've earned it" Najenda reported and the three left her office. Najenda looked at Zank's dismembered head, then smiled. "I think Esdeath would've like to see this, well I'll just settle for me seeing you like this Zank, how ironic" Najenda thought then took the head and deposited in a nearby trash can. "I need a break from this" Najenda stated, then sat down. "I think I need someone to distract me" Najenda thought, then lit another cigar.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Training Regime

Two days later….

Tatsumi was in the middle of a pleasant dream mainly involving himself being a king in a palace surrounded by hundreds of beautiful women worshiping him like a god; suddenly he had trouble breathing then felt pain as he was woken up. "Rise and Shine! No time for slack it's time to get you into shape!" Mine yelled, causing Tatsumi to jump out of his bed and land flat on his bum.

"Good Morning too you too Mine; training huh, wait its 4 in the morning" Tatsumi replied.

"Exacta mundo Tatsumi now come one we have to get you into you're physical training, Esdeath is come back to the Capital and we need to get you and the other new members in shape" Sheele explained.

"Starting with physical exercise now drop and give me 20!" Seryu commented, Tatsumi dropped to the ground and was about to begin push ups when Seryu put Koro on his back and the little dog grew to three times his size and weight. "With Koro on your back!" Seryu added then gave an evil grin which scared Tatsumi and caused him to go into overdrive with the pushups.

Shortly… "Now for phase one of our training program, put on this full set of Plate Armor" Sheele instructed, Tatsumi did so.

"Now grab Koro" Seryu added and handed the Teigu to him, "Koro sack of stones please!" Seryu ordered and Koro increased his weight to that of a sack of stones, then climbed onto Tatsumi's back.

"Your goal which you have no choice but to accomplish it, is to swim across that river at it's longest point and back, in full plate armor with Koro on your back" Mine explained.

"What about Sayo, Ieyasu and Yami don't they have to do this too?" Tatsumi asked annoyed.

"Yes and they will be doing it after you complete the training gauntlet, NOW SWIM LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPEND UPON IT! GO! GO!" Sheele replied with a wicked smile on her face and Tatsumi jumped in the river and swam like he hadn't ever swam before, not that he had ever swam with full plate armor on and with a 150 pound Teigu on his back, he swam the mile and half long distance across the river then took a breath and then swam back across collapsing on the shoreline from fatigue. "Good you've earned your 20 minute break, but that's chiefly because we need to get things ready for the next phase" Sheele congratulated and smiled with the non-evil grin.

25 minutes later…. "Now for the next stage, reflex testing!" Mine yelled, Tatsumi stood with his sword out and still in soggy plate as they had insisted in him keeping it on.

"Ready, aim" Sheele stated and Seryu picked up one of many Watermelons from a nearby cart. "FIRE!" Sheele yelled and Seryu lobbed the melon at Tatsumi who slashed it down the center, it was followed up by another Melon and another, Seryu kept throwing them even when she had already thrown one. Eventually Seryu ran out of melons to throw at him, or actually stopped throwing them as there were plenty of melons.

Seryu then proceeded to grab one of the cloven watermelons and began to eat it while Koro began eating a bunch of the others. "I love watermelons" Seryu said in between bites. "Love throwing them, love chopping them and love eating them" Seryu added.

"Is that normal?" Tatsumi asked.

"Haven't been around her long enough" Mine remarked.

"Me either" Sheele commented.

"I meant the watermelon throwing?" Tatsumi corrected.

"No we usually use pumpkins, Seryu chose the Watermelons" Sheele answered.

"I think we now know why" Tatsumi noted, Seryu was chewing thru the watermelons like they were corn cobs, soon she was done eating and let out noisy belch.

"That hit the spot, now that breakfast is out of the way we can send you to Leone for the next step in the program" Seryu explained.

"What's that?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Clandestine Ops, I'll let her explain, the jist of it is though that you walk around like a normal person and look for the most generic of the scum and then clean the streets of them when given the opportunity, also it allows us to gather intelligence and spot trouble makers" Sheele replied.

"Basically it's undercover police work" Seryu explained picking up Koro, and hugging him. "You won't be leaving with her just yet, Ieyasu will be going with you two, Yami and Sayo will be going with Aria" Seryu added.

"Wait why only two people per person?" Tatsumi stated.

"It's in the name Baka, Clandestine Ops, undercover ops means you want to have as few people as possible and not attract attention, large groups of more then three people get attention" Mine answered then back-handed him. "Now go take a shower, you smell like you've fallen in a dung cart" She added, leaving Tatsumi to leave.

Ieyasu received the same treatment but he did have something that Tatsumi didn't have, a Teigu, in this case one that allowed him to see things, and he was using one of the more interesting features now to keep himself calm thru the process, namely the ability to use X-ray vision to see people's underwear, which amused him, given that the three instructors had no way of knowing what he was seeing. This did come back to bite him though when it came to the Watermelon challenge because while he was focused on Sheele's purple underwear he wasn't focused on Seryu throwing the first melon at him. "Ouch!" Ieyasu commented.

"That's no excuse Ieyasu especially since you have a Teigu that allows you to see an oppenant actions in advance" Seryu rebuked, Ieyasu then used Spectator for the main purpose of the Teigu and sliced each melon Seryu with his battle axe which as she threw them Ieyasu notted that reality slowed in his vision allowing him to deliver a blow in advanced, to Seryu, Mine, and Sheele his attacks were at lightning speed, with melons being cleaved open like no problem.

Later… Tatsumi had dawned a trench coat over his normal attire it wasn't buttoned up but it allowed him to blend in, all he was missing was a cool hat but nothing Night Raid had in stock suited the look which meant he was going to have settle with just the coat being a new addition, Ieyasu looked ridiculous though, he was dressed in a tuxedo with sunglasses. "Ieyasu that's not even remotely subtle we're supposed to be assassins not someone's pet monkey" Tatsumi remarked.

"Come on it looks cool" Ieyasu replied.

"It makes you look like a monkey now go wear something else, something more subtle!" Tatsumi lectured.

"But don't I look like some super spy: You expect me to beg Tatsumi?" Ieyasu replied grinning like an idiot and pointing his finger at him as if it were a gun to which Tatsumi shrugged.

"No I expect you to dress somewhat normal; you aren't some sauve secret super spy, you're a country bumpkin like me who happens to have joined a group of elite assassins so dress like one!" Tatsumi replied, just then Aria entered the room, while Ieyasu began humming a song (Secret Agent man) "Aria I've lost him do you think you can bring him back to reality" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll try my best" Aria replied, then turned to Ieyasu and did her best pretty little girl look with eyelash fluttering included. "Oh Ieyasu, can you please be a dear and dress in well normal clothes, for me please?" Aria asked with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm normal are you free?" Ieyasu replied attempting to flirt with her in classic Sauvé super spy fashion, Aria frowned.

Then Aria changed her expression to a terrifying demonic face. "IEYASU DRESS NORMALLY NOW OR I WILL PERSONALLY BREAK HALF OF THE BONES IN YOUR BODY ONE AT A TIME!" Aria raged. Ieyasu screamed then ran off into the changing room. "There, now he'll behave" Aria commented her face returning to her normal smile.

"I've never seen a face so scary in all my life, you could terrify an Earth Dragon Aria" Tatsumi remarked.

"Yes and I'm sorry I had to make that face, Ieyasu may be a bumpkin and bit of a pervert but I shouldn't have made that face I only make it to my worse enemies, I shouldn't make it towards my friends" Aria commented, Leone walked in followed by Sayo and Yami.

"Well we're ready to go if you are Aria" Sayo commented.

"Good I'm ready, both of you know what to do, first things first we head to my mansion then we go shopping and patrolling at the same time" Aria stated and all three of them went off laughing, leaving Tatsumi and Leone alone.

"I thought they wouldn't leave, those three get along like magpies chatting, so where's Ieyasu?" Leone asked.

"Getting changed, I told him to wear something more subtle, his outfit was like some secret agent want to be, bad lines and all" Tatsumi remarked.

"I get it, you told him we would be doing some spy work and he immediately shut his brain off after he got the image of what spy dressed like in his head; I get it, sometimes Sheele can do things like that sometimes" Leone replied. "So Tatsumi I'm sorry for swindling you out of your money, but think of it as a lesson, that showed you how things worked in the capital and if you aren't paying attention well things happen: be thankful all that happened was I took your money, you could have been taken in by a family claiming to be Good Samaritans only to have them knock you out with knock out drops in tea and torture you to death in some shed near their home" Leone added.

"That sounds completely unrealistic Leone: who would act like good people treat you well and brutally torture you to death when the feel like it just for kicks?" Tatsumi replied Leone shrugged and noted she had come at this the wrong way.

"I know not the most realistic scenario and I should made a better example but that's just what it is an example, more likely you would have been taken captive by some thugs and sold at auction to some cultists who would torture you to death, there are no shortage of Death Cults these days, I can't understand how sacrificing innocent people to mad gods is such a popular idea for a religion" Leone replied. "Anyway today we're going to look around the less fortunate part of the capital today for scum to kill, Aria goes about the richer parts to shop and keep an eye out for those in power who are monsters, while I keep an eye out on those who pray on the less fortunate" Leone explained.

"How did you join Night Raid Leone?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well the reason I joined is how I actually came to join, you see the reason I patrol the slums of town isn't just because I'm good at it, I actually was born and raised in them, I worked a massage parlor when I turned 15, and until I was 17, It was a massage parlor not a brothel, I wasn't that desperate for money nor am I that kind of girl despite the way I act around men my mother was a prostitute sex-slave and she was forced to do things against her will she taught me that maintaining my virginity for the person I love is super important because I have that freedom she didn't, anyway when was 17 I was on my way to work when I saw a group of children being whipped by a noble man for sport, I picked up a rock and threw it at him, then as if on instinct I rushed over to him, the next thing I remember his was dead, his face a bloody pulp I didn't know what came over, me, I ran off and ended up on the streets then I was beaten pretty hard by some ruff and tumble types but the ran off after I kicked their asses, then I passed out lay on the ground asleep in front of a pub, that was when Aria's mother came by in a carriage, she took me in and back to her home where she nursed injuries, fed me, I didn't know such people existed, when I was kid you had to fight night and day to survive in the slums even if you were decently off, they then recruited me into the Revolutionary Army and Aria recruited me into Night Raid where I got my Teigu Lionelle" Leone explained.

"So do you have any family?" Tatsumi asked.

"I have no idea who my father was, the most my mother told me was that he was mercenary looking for a good time, my mother was a prostitute against her will from the age of 9, she had to ply her trade night and day to just get enough money to feed me; I never took up profession because she raised me to do better and not lower myself to level she had to go to in order to support me, something which she had trouble doing, if not for the fact I learned how to fend for myself rather quickly I probably wouldn't have gotten to where I am today, I don't have any siblings, not that I know anyway, if my mother did have any other children she likely tried to find someone else to care for them" Leone answered. "I'm 18 by the way going on 19 next month, how old are you Tatsumi" Leone replied.

"18 as off yesterday" Tatsumi replied.

"Really, so you just became a man the day after the day you helped off Zank the Beheader, things are very interesting indeed" Leone stated "Very interesting" Leone thought lustfully, she may still be a virgin but she had standards, pretty exacting ones, she liked strong men, those who were sharp too, Bulat offered some of that but he was Gay, Lubbock was too much of a pervert for her taste, and any other guy she met didn't fit the build, Tatsumi on the other hand, he was strong like Bulat, smart too, but most importantly he wasn't gay as he had been ignoring Bulat's off hand advances, not that Bulat was serious in that regard anyway, he was obviously a virgin though, he blushed whenever she walked by and whenever Aria said high or when he was around any of the other ladies of Night Raid, another thing was he was clearly not a pervert, as much as Mine kept calling him, Leone regarded Mine's remarks that she was obviously interested but was refusing to admit it, typical of her.

"I am Ready" Ieyasu said confidently he was now dressed in sweater with long pants and his typical headband, the sweater had a picture of an owl which was actually on Night Raid's flag but that wasn't public knowledge.

"Good now don't act like an idiot" Tatsumi stated.

"I won't" Ieyasu remarked.

Later… Tatsumi, Leone and Ieyasu found themselves in a gloomy slum, to make the slum even more gloomy the weather decided to rain, as they walked about the saw people who were down on their luck, people going about their day's work and people who seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the part of town they were in as they appeared to be lost and have taken wrong turn somewhere. Eventually they came to place with sign advertising 'The Brass Bell' the place was clearly a brothel judging by a small number of woman out front in revealing attire some of which were noticeable drugged, they had been following some ruff looking characters who had the look of trouble on them, they were avoiding being seen and hoping for an opportunity to see if they could give them a reason to well release them from the world. The walked in behind the group, they were clearly thugs of one of the street gangs, all men with dress that was typical of enforcers of one of the Capital's many gangs, also the had a way of walking that indicated either painful tumors or multiple concealed weapons in addition to the knives that were plainly visable. They blended into the crowd Tatsumi noted one of the thugs argue with a woman over something and he drew a knife, Tatsumi immediately bolted sword drawn and removed the thug's hand causing his blade to fly and imbed itself in a nearby dart board, to the surprise of patrons, the other thugs flew into a rage drawing a mixture of weapons and charging at Tatsumi, who casually stood his ground. "You'll pay for that farmboy" the Thug's leader shouted, he wore a black leather jacket and had greesy black hair and yellowed teeth stained by liquor, which smelled off, he then lunged at Tatsumi with a sword, which Tatsumi sidestepped then immediately beheaded the man followed up by five more of the thugs, Ieyasu and Leone in the mean time had joined in along with a number of other patrons and soon the remainder of the gang of thugs were a bloody mess of bodies on the floor.

"Sorry about the mess" Tatsumi remarked to the Madame who looked at him with smile.

"No issue, those thugs have been troubling my girls for months and driving off all but my most loyal customers, you've done me a favor in cleaning them up, as a reward for you efforts I'll give you two hours with my best working Girl for free, no charge and no questions asked" the Madame replied, Tatsumi blushed, he wasn't about to turn down an offer given in good faith, especially if he wanted to keep his cover and not attract suspicion; considering the circumstances it would be rude and he wasn't a prude between given his nearly losing his cherry to Sayo about two years ago, if it hadn't been for Ieyasu bumbling into the barn they were smooching in it would have happened, there also weren't that many girls in his village and the closest brothels were miles away, the girls that there were in his village were beautiful AND all looked at him with interest.

"Thanks, what is her name by the way" Tatsumi asked trying to keep a straight face.

"See the girl dancing up there or she was dancing up their until the brawl happened" the madame replied, Tatsumi looked over and saw a light brown skinned woman in rather revealing attire with purple hair; she wore a orange outfit that left little to imagination. "That's Vatima, she's from the southern tribe, she knows what she's doing, ordinarly I'd charge a 1000 gold pieces for an hour with her, but for you her services are free for two" the Madame explained, Tatsumi nodded then walked over to Ieyasu and Leone and told them about the reward.

"You are lucky" Ieyasu remarked.

"Tatsumi are you sure about this?" Leone asked.

"Yes, besides I've got to keep my cover last thing we need is people asking questions; do you have any problems" Tatsumi stated.

"No, in fact I want to join in" Leone chimmed.

"Wait you want to join in, what happened to never lowering yourself to that level and saving yourself for that special someone" Tatsumi replied.

"Who said I was interested in the whore, I'm interested in you Tatsumi I love you, and I'm not about to have your virginity be taken by one even if she is high-class, not while I still have option to" Leone confessed, despite being one who kept her emotions somewhat in check and uncertain Leone did have her feelings for Tatsumi and they had grown in the past month, in fact she had feelings for him after first meeting him and felt really bad for conning him out of his money, however when it came to expressing her feelings she didn't beat about the bush, and to Tatsumi's surprise kissed him on the ear.

"There I've marked you: your old enough and ready for me and lets have fun" Leone explained

"Not you too Leone!" Ieyasu moaned.

"Shut up Ieyasu, go find yourself something to do for the next two hours, here have some money from me, get yourself someone to keep yourself busy for the next two hours while me and Tatsumi elope" Leone rebuked and thru a large bag of coins at Ieyasu who barely caught it. "Now he's out of the way lets go have some fun" Leone remarked, trying to put on as brave a face as possible, inside she was nervous about what she just did, she just proclaimed her love to Tatsumi in the most awkward way and in the most rushed manner possible, but she couldn't just let him go and loss his virginity to a hooker no matter how high class, not even if she was General Esdeath herself would she give up her chance to take it first, and lose hers at the same time, well she wanted her first time to be special so why not make it a threesome, that would be special right?

Tatsumi walked over to the stage. "Hey I'm Tatsumi, you're Vatima right" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes I am, I guess I have you to thank for saving my friend from that corpse over there" Vatima replied in an exotic accent.

"The madame said I get to spend two hours with you as a reward, is it alright if I bring my uh girlfriend along for the ride" Tatsumi explained.

"No problem, anything for a hero here, besides it's not often people can afford my company anyway and it gets dull dancing here for tips" Vatima replied and led off Tatsumi and Leone to a private room which was decorated in an Arabian fashion with ceremonial masks from the southern tribes adorning the wall.

"Am I the first person to get a freebie with you?" Tatsumi asked as he left his trench coat on a chair.

"Not the first time someone's been given one by Madame Pema but the first given by me" Vatima replied removing her clothing save pair of transparent cloths that she danced with and revealing her d-cup breasts and tan skin with a clean shaven vagina.

"I see well this is my first time to be honest" Tatsumi explained.

"And mine too, I've been wanting to do him for a while now" Leone added.

"How long?" Tatsumi asked he both he and her stripped.

"To be honest, since I met you" Leone stated truthfully, then turned to Tatsumi allowing him to see her in all her glory and her to him in his, Tatsumi noted that Leone's boobs were at least an E-cup and that the top she wore constricted her breasts to allow her to pull off the combat maneuvers she did with her unarmed style, he noted the blonde patch of hair over her loins and that was clearly unbroken, he didn't know that anytime she had broken the barrier accidently Lionelle had healed it with the intense regeneration it offered, it was fresh as the day she was born, she then examined Tatsumi who was fully aroused at this point and his full mast was up about nine and half inches in length.

"Well aren't you two gifted, allow me to educate you two virgins in the arts of pleasure" Vatima stated.

"You'll be teaching him mostly, I know what to do, my mother did this for a living" Leone replied, she then tackled Tatsumi and pushed him onto the nearby bed before jumping onto it herself, she was then followed by Vatima, Leone planted a kiss on Tatsumi, her first kiss actually, not his though, someone else had taken that from him four years earlier a certain someone who made his sword, she then kissed down the length of his body while Vatima glomped him. Leone then planted a kiss on the tip of his length before wrapping it in her breasts, which she slowly moved up and down, Tatsumi was busy by sucking from Vatima's breasts as if her were a nursing babe. While these three were busy, Ieyasu had absconded with a pretty girl with brown hair and three other hotties and was now losing his virginity. As Tatsumi continued in bliss Leone now sucking his length as she massaged it with her breasts in which she was joined by Vatima in both tasks while Tatsumi ate Vatima out, putting in two fingers as she instructed, eventually he unloaded creaming both Leone and the purple haired harlot with a large bukkake, which covered their breasts.

"Excellent work with your tongue you two" Vatima remarked. "Now for you two to experience the first seat of pleasure" Vatima commented at they untangled themselves.

"Vaginal, Tatsumi-kun, the first set is vagina, called so because it's where life comes from" Leone explained, she then hovered above his length. "No turning back now Leone" Leone thought, then without hesitating impaled herself on his length, it hurt, but Leone had gone thru worse including losing an arm in on her battles only to have it reattach seconds later to the surprise of her opponent who had his skull caved in immediately after, the pain gave way to a feeling that Leone and Tatsumi hadn't felt until the first session, mutual pleasure, it felt good, natural, she bucked against him he used one hand to hold her close where proceed to drink from her left nipple, which brought more joy, Vatima meanwhile was licking the balls of Tatsumi and did so for a bit before moving to massage his back as he sat up, still nursing from Leone who moaned, happy moans. Tatsumi continued his thrusts until he realized he was about to unload. "Leone pull out I'm going to-" Tatsumi was silenced by a kiss in which Leone stuck tongue into his mouth for a moment before pulling it out. "Good fill me with your seed Tatsumi I love you! I want your child!" Leone stated and pinned him down with her strength, even without her Teigu Leone was extremely brawny for size and age, Tatsumi unloaded smiling as Leone giggled as she pulled off with white liquids leaking out. "That was something else I can't believe I-" Leone stated then burst out laughing.

"Tatsumi-chan" Vatima stated, Tatsumi turned to Vatima who was looking at him as she shoke her rear very suggestively. "Allow me to demonstrate the second seat of Pleasure, come to me and enter my well other hole" Vatima explained, Tatsumi oblidged entering her surprisingly tight anus, and beginning to ride her, she moaned into the pillow as he did this while Leone massaged his back with breasts.

Meanwhile… Ieyasu continued to enjoy himself, for a virgin the ladies sure did let him preform, his length was currently in tan skinned red head while two girls a blonde and dark skinned brunette licked his nipples, while the brunette kissed him while massaging his back "You and your two Girls Tatsumi, I have four top that" Ieyasu commented getting laughter from his lady friends.

Back with Tatsumi… Vatima continued to moan as Tatsumi had lifted her up reverse-cowgirl to continue his thrusts into her anus while simultaneously nursing from Leone's breasts, eventually Tatsumi capped out and unloaded again, he then pulled out and entered Vatima vaginally propping her up so as to allow Leone to sit his face to so he could put his tongue to work, Leone made out with Vatima while he was doing this they then broke their kiss to sample each other's breasts as Tatsumi kept going, and going, and going.

Meanwhile…. Underneath Grundewick Manor was a secret dungeon: this dungeon was training center, redoubt, and prison; but was also a place for torture. A man with dark skin and white hair groaned as he came to his yellow eyes opened to see a girl dressed in the same blue dress he saw her in earlier. "Oh goodie you're awake" Aria commented.

"What the- well this is kinky I haven't seen a girl do this before where are your friends" the man replied.

"Upstairs: Syura, welcome to my private dungeon; you see looks can be deceiving can't they and you are in for an experience that you won't forget" Aria replied.

"Aren't you overdressed for this" Syura asked, Aria ignored him and left and returned with a cart on which a number of instruments of torture were kept: practically any device for torturing someone was on display on the cart a number of which were well worn from frequent use, the most prominent of these was box in which a number of knives, hatchets and other assorted sharp blades were on display for him to see. "You're one of those: I see I knew this was too good to be sure: Damn it Father you were right don't go wandering off on your own; well glad to know we're of similer minds but why are you still dressed" Syura commented, Aria smacked him.

"Because I have standards for one: secondly don't even compare me to you, we're nowhere near of the same mind: you see I'm fond of torture it's quite an addicting hobby but I only use it on people that actually deserve it; the scum of Eden if you will; people like you who abuse your power to pray on those you consider beneath you; you see I'm a huntress, I hunt monsters: not Danger Beasts though I've killed more then my fair share of them nope I specialize in hunting human monsters" Aria explained then began hooking up a series of wires.

"You're Night Raid!?" Syura remarked aghast.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Give the man a prize!" Aria replied teasing then tested the wires she had hooked up by delivering a painful mild electrical shock.

"YEAGHAGH!" Syura screamed, Aria smiled her grin then contorted into the most terrifying thing Syura had ever seen.

"You see its not nice to pray on good people not only that its foolish because people who do so attract the attention of people like me who hunt people like you; because at the end of the day you're prey to be hunted and killed" Aria explained then grabbed an interestingly shaped set of clamps. "Now we are going to have a nice discussion you will tell me everything you know and I'll make this quick and well mostly painless, but do try and resist that makes things all the more fun for me and less so for you, because at the end of the day I will be breathing and your head will be hanging from a spike in the main square" Aria explained.

"Suck my Dick Bitch!" Syura replied, Aria picked up a hammer and brought it down on his right testicle which exploded painfully into gore.

"YEEEEEEEEEAGH!" Syura screamed, "My balls! You bitch you- you!" Syura replied and was electrocuted to more shrieks.

"No more back talk Shiyura! Yeah Shiyura as in Shit-Yura! I'm interested in knowing about how you found about our secret base outside the Walls which is now abandoned by the way so if you were expecting a simple strike you're even more a full; the mercs you hired are dead apart from one nice girl who joined us: she's one of my two friends by the way: Now How did you find our base?!" Aria asked.

"By looking out a window Grundel bitch!" Syura replied, wrong move Aria used the clamps to hold his feet in place, then she pulled out a set of smaller clamps and began yanking toe-nails, Syura shrieked in pain as she did this. "Ouch! UAGH! UAGHA! GAHIA! AAAAAGH!" Syura yelled then let out one loud 'EYAGGGGGGGH!" as she tore out his left big toe-nail in a painful twisting fashion before using a small knife to remove the toe completed. "Mercy! Alright about two months ago I let slip false information using one of my father's rivals as a fall guy for a Night Raid hit, one of the prisoners was a spy of mine and he was quite good at his job was being the operative word as I killed him after the mission and fucked his wife in front of his corpse; she was into me" Syura confessed.

"Good that wasn't so hard now next question: What is name of your spies I know that there is more then one from experience who else was a spy in those prisoners we freed" Aria explained, then Syura shrugged and spit on her white boots. Aria was maddened by that and grabbed her fileting knife and skinned his loins and feet: agony was present, it was made even worse when Aria moved over what was menacingly spiked meet-grinder; Aria smirked demented. "Now talk or your feet will be introduced to the mangle grinder, its a little invention of my dear sweet mother" Aria explained then cackled, the sight of the thing was enough to convince Syura to give up his spy list, Aria wrought down the names and marked them as future targets for solitary murders. "Now for the real clincher finding out everything your father has secret!" Aria explained.

"You won't get that information out of me: I'd rather die then betray my father!" Syura replied and he meant it, Aria grinned and dropped his feet into the grindor which mangled them beyond recognition she then brought out every tool in her arsenal: staples, nails, knives of every and any kind, hatchets that were good at flesh, acid solutions, electrical shocks, grinding off Syura's remaining junk with the mangle grinder, racks, the Judas pear, salt that she rubbed into every wound, an axe that she chopped off on of his legs with, hooks, a record of extremely bad music, two bags of sharpened barbs and to top it all off flaying him alive. Aria left no stone unturned and when she was done she removed his head with surgical position before burning the corpse in a crematorium.

Aria and her team had returned to base, carrying with them the severed head of Syura, the Prime Minister's son. Aria walked into Najenda's office smirking walking with a spring in her step and carrying Syura's head like it was a basket of flowers before plopping it on Najenda's desk.

"This was Prime Minister Honest's son Syura, expect his old man to be eratic for the next month and half" Aria explained.

"I recognized him, How the hell did you manage to pull that off, in broad daylight no less" Najenda stated.

"I came across him drunk outside a store we had finished shopping at, I offered to take him home with me, the idiot turned off his brain the moment I mentioned we were going to my room with Sayo and Yami, I bet he was expecting the best time of his life, oh how he screamed, you can see his sheer terror, nice and clean cut too, a perfect Craniumdectomy if I say so myself, to use the medical term" Aria explained.

"Still though, aren't you worried this will attract attention" Najenda asked.

"Don't worry I kept a low profile, besides we'll make the whole thing look brilliant, also this will cause Honest to lose his cool and cause him to lash out, allowing us to get more supporters for removing him and for out cause" Aria reassured. "Anyway how's Tatsumi doing?" Aria asked.

"They haven't reported in yet" Najenda replied.

"Hopefully Leone didn't get too drunk." Aria joked and both laughed.

Later…. Tatsumi returned to base with a smiling and laughing Leone and a smug Ieyasu. "So what were you three up to?" Merraid asked at they walked in.

"Not much, just had fun that's all" Leone remarked.

"Well Najenda will be expecting a full report, go see her for the details." Merraid stated and let them pass by.

Later that Night…. Tatsumi was asleep with Leone on top of him, they had another round. "I'm worried Leone" Tatsumi stated.

"About what?" Leone replied nonplused.

"You getting pregnant" Tatsumi replied.

"It's a natural part of life, don't worry I'll be fine" Leone stated.

"We're part of a group of deadly wanted assassins wanted by an authoritarian Empire that would have us violently dismembered in public setting if the found out, I'm worried that if you get pregnant well our child might be lost along with you" Tatsumi stated.

"Don't worry it will all end up fine in the end" Leone stated.

"Do you really think that?" Tatsumi asked.

"I hope for it, if not well all three of us will be living happy in the next one" Leone stated then kissed him, before falling asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Kill the Beasts

Two weeks later…. Tatsumi had increased his fighting abilities, with his training he intensified his fighting ability, constant sparing sessions with Seryu and with Bulat strengthened his skills, during this time he found out about the other members of Night Raid and how they came to join the group, the most interesting story was that Najenda told him. She used to be one of the Empire's best generals, second only to Esdeath who was and still is her best friend, it all changed with a military campaign against the savage southern tribes, which cost the Empire dearly and Najenda herself dearly, as she lost both her arm and eye in the conflict, constantly thru out the campaign Esdeath reassured her to make sure she didn't lose her resolve, eventually after three years of drawn out war the southern tribes were defeated, what happened after their defeat was what caused Najenda to have had enough, the civilian populace of the tribes were gathered up, Esdeath who had lost too many troops to the campaign was angry and desired vengeance for the fallen, as such she ordered her troops to do as they pleased to the civilians with no restrictians, what followed was debauchery and bloodshed that defied description and far too visceral for this account, in the end the strongest southern tribe was no more, those of their number that survived the massacre were taken as slaves to the victorious soldiers, afterwards the army returned to capital Najenda and Esdeath were praised as heroes, lauded in a military triumph, yet Najenda was scarred by what had happened at the end, after the triumph she announced her resignation, telling Esdeath she had seen enough of war to last her a lifetime, despite Esdeath's disdain for weakness she respected her friend's decision due to her long time served and that everyone would leave at some point. With her absence however the Empire changed, the old emperor was assassinated along with his wife leaving his son Makoto in power at the young age of 9, the young boy entered a regency and his regent was a man named Honest who sacked the previous Emperor's advisors and council members including the Prime Minister Chouri who had served in the position for over 20 years, then Honest appointed his associates those he could control to power. It was then that the Empire which had its share of corruption and evil in it before became blatent after Honest, a number of Najenda's associates were murdered after criticizing Honest, others left to form an army, the Revolutionary army, after a provincial governor refused to give up his lands and position to the Prime Minister. Those who she considered her friends that remained loyal to the regime were gradually killed of by Honest who sent them off on doomed military campaigns to replace them with commanders he could control more effectively. Only Esdeath her best friend survived despite Honest's attempts to kill her with impossible suicide missions via the fact that Esdeath was absurdly good at her job, too good in fact, every time Honest tried to kill her she would foil his schemes. Eventually he decided it would be best to just keep her away from the Capital by constantly sending her off on Military campaigns, there were no shortage of these, as various uprisings rose up against Makoto's rule and external enemies who had gained in power and support rose up, even more so as the Revolutionary army emerged as a serious threat, with General's like Najenda and her colleagues at its head, during this period Najenda and her friend Lubbock founded Night Raid with the help of the Grundels and a few other like-minded individuals as an elite Special operations group to take down high priority targets within the Capital city of Melitine itself, those being direct threats to the people they were trying to liberate: the Corrupt and worst of the Empire, as well as those in Honest's inner circle. The Revolutionary Army was backed by a number of supporters, mostly nobles who were loyal to previous Empire and who considered Honest a threat to anybody with a pulse, including the Emperor himself whom they wanted to restore to full power, these included Aria's family the Grundels who had a lot at stake as they cared a lot for the general populace but also included a number of the previous Emperor's advisors, most of the leadership was good though, there were those out for ambition but those were few, the state of affairs with the group was very much in flux though.

Tatsumi also in this time had spent more time with Leone, as well as Sayo asking her how it was they managed to get to the capital ahead of him, Sayo explained that they had managed to get a ride with a caravan that was heading to the capital only to receive a similer welcome from the recruiter as Tatsumi then getting conned out of their money by Leone, before being picked up and cared for by Aria and her family. The thing that wierded him out was the way Najenda looked at him, it was interesting, at first he thought she was just interested in his skills after his numerous successes, as after his training he found himself going on more dangerous and more resident missions. They had also moved their base to a new location having stripped their old one bare of anything, but more over time he relized Najenda was looking at him with similar looks as Leone, in fact she wasn't the only on, Gil was looking him like that, which was suprising because he thought she was a lesbian but by the looks of things she was Bi, on top of that Aria was looking at him like that, as were Chelsea and Seryu and even Sayo though that wasn't surprising as they had been close for a while before leaving their home village, and definitely Sheele, she had been comforting him a lot, Mine was doing it to but only when he wasn't looking she constantly called him a pervert when he clearly wasn't.

Tatsumi had gone to a nearby hot springs to get some relief from the stress of killing evil nobles, corrupt merchants, slavers, death cultists and of course no shortage of street thugs, all the while Night Raid's bounty continued to skyrocket. He relaxed, his clothes were to the side, the warm water was a relief and he was drifting off to sleep when her heard a twig snap, he snaped to attention, to his surprise Najenda showed up, noteably without a cigar and carrying a towel and wearing her normal clothes. "Najenda what are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked.

"I came here for some relaxation, being the leader of Night Raid is stressful" Najenda explained, then she stripped, leaving her naked as a babe, her skin was relatively smooth apart from some noticeable scars that no doubt came from her share battles and her DD-cup breasts were ample with iron rings in her nipples in the style of the southern tribes who she had respect for, she then got into the springs. "So Tatsumi how are you feeling lately" Najenda asked.

"At the moment surprised, overall though since I joined Night Raid, I'm not sure, I've killed people, sure they were evil people who deserved to die, yet I feel some regret that I've had to take lives, before I killed Ogre I had only killed Danger Beasts, after him I've killed 57 people and I've genuinely felt remorse, I don't think it's how I should feel, they- the people I killed may have been monsters in human skin but that still doesn't excuse the fact that I've killed them in cold blood most of them not having the chance to fight back; I'm not like Akame I can't just kill and not feel some remorse for having to kill them even though it was a mercy considering what they did, I just- I don't know" Tatsumi replied, Najenda kissed him on the cheek.

"I know the feeling, I've felt it before, after my first battle as an oridinary foot soldier, over time I lost it, my only regrets are not having been able to save those who fell under my command, of those who originally were in my squad only Lubbock remains, I'm young, 24, I joined the army when I was 18, I've been thru a lot, I've tried to fill the void of pain brought by a life of war with drink and later smoke, but I still feel like I'm without something" Najenda replied.

"I see, have tried love?" Tatsumi asked.

"Never found someone who felt that way for me apart from Lubbock, but I only consider him a friend, my best friend yes, but not more then that, I'm glad he has Yami now" Najenda replied. "You know now that you mention it Tatsumi I have met someone I have feelings for, I just don't know how to act on it" Najenda replied.

"You should tell that person how much you care for them how you feel for them, without fear of rejection" Tatsumi responded. "That's what Leone did for me" Tatsumi added.

"I see, well then I'll take the initiative then" Najenda stated then kissed him on the lips, which caused Tatsumi to drop his jaw open allowing Najenda to insert her tongue into his mouth which she explored while she wrapped her arms around him both prosthetic and living, Tatsumi offered no resistance and wrapped his arms around her then let his tongue lock with hers.

Soon they broke the kiss. "Najenda I didn't know you felt that way about me" Tatsumi replied.

"I've never felt that way about anyone before save you; I've never known love before in my life, I've-"Najenda stopped. "I love you Tatsumi, I know you have feelings for Leone, but I don't care, you're heart I'm sure is big enough for two of us, and Leone won't mind, you know what we're up against, I'd hate to see you die without me having given my love to you, Tatsumi-kun" Najenda confessed.

"Want to take it to the next level?" Tatsumi asked.

"The moment is right, Hell yes!" Najenda stated then moved his hands to her breasts, she then detached her prosthetic revealing a half stump that stopped at the elbow where her arm used to be as he massaged her breasts. "Tatsumi my breasts are yours to do with as you please" Najenda commented, Tatsumi stopped massaging one breast then moved his head to drink from it, Najenda moaned in pleasure, she then ran her hand thru his soft hair. "Tatsumi-kun" Najenda moaned, she then put her hand in the water and grabbed his erection which had been aroused since she joined him in the water, he moaned into her breast and continued sucking then alternated breasts; Najenda guided the erection inside her, she felt no pain or remorse, she had gone deaf to pain long ago after losing her arm and later her eye, she wrapped her legs around his rear her arm around his back, she moaned in love and in joy, and in euphoria: this was the happiest day of her life; in spite of the noise they made no one heard them neither man nor beast, the noon sun shined on the scene as Tatsumi unloaded inside Najenda, soon they climbed out of the water and on the springs shore made love on the grass as Tatsumi pleasured her anally riding her doggy style, his hands massaging her soft breasts which he had grown to love; the only thing he had yet to do was what he had dreamt of doing in a couple of his wet dreams, which he had more of since his relationship with Leone started, different partners in each one sometimes three or more, soon after these thoughts came to mind he unloaded yet again and pulled out.

"Najenda, there's something I want to do" Tatsumi.

"Ok course my love name it" Najenda replied.

"I want you to wrap your breasts around my rod and massage it, I've given you so many now I'd like you to return the favor" Tatsumi stated, she did so without a word and engulfed his length in her soft breasts and massaged it and sucked it, they continued their love making for another hour.

Meanwhile… As Tatsumi and Najenda expressed their feelings for each other the Capital was abuzz and preparations were underway to arrange a triumph for the once again successful General Esdeath. In the palace the young 12 year old Emperor Makoto sat on his throne with the Imperial crown on his head with his short green-black hair combed and clad in garb suitable to his office; he was blissfully ignorant and was hugging a stuffed polar teddy bear which Esdeath had brought back for him from the north, it was made of actual polor bear fur, Esdeath had affection for the young boy whom she had cared for as a guardian and educator since his parents' untimely assassination, despite his weakness Esdeath had a soft spot for him, hoping one day for a son like him, until then she would have to be satisfied with the Emperor whom she brought gifts for from her campaigns, usually toys of some variety but also weapons and armor, amongst other things. While she had a soft spot for Makoto do to his innocence and traits she would want in a future child, boarding on protection that would make a Mother Grizzly bear seem selfish by comparison, she had nothing but contempt for Prime Minister Honest whom she longed to dismember violently if Makoto gave the word; in spite of her influence and position as the head of the Imperial Military the general had no means of removing Honest from power as he had enough allies to block any measure to do so and those against him wouldn't have any support for her due to her rampant cruelty against the Empire's Enemies. "What did it matter how cruel I am, I'm too concerned at making sure the enemy never gets back up from their defeat, if I have to take hard measures to prevent future wars I'll gladly do so no matter how cruel they may be; the weak have no place in this world, those who are strong survive, its far to cruel for the innocent and I do them a favor by sending them to the next where they don't have to worry about the troubles of war, besides I limit it to specific locations focused brutality makes enough of an example" Esdeath thought to herself.

"Grand Marshal Esdeath Patras, his majesty congratulates you for your efforts in crushing the Northern Kingdom and rewards you 10 million from the royal treasury" Honest stated in a rehearsed voice, as if he had been preparing the speech for some time; he had sent her a month ago to quell the upstart Kingdom a war which they said would take three years to win, Esdeath won it in a month, by now Honest had given up trying to kill her as she kept foiling his attempts to do so; she was just too good at killing people and even better as surviving, also she was extremely powerful due her Teigu which granted her powerful Ice magic, something which made the Northern conflict a cakewalk as the northerners couldn't fight back when the very land they lived in rose up to fight them with ranks upon ranks of warriors made from ice and when blizzards so fierce ripped them to shreds.

"Thanks for the bear Esdeath-nee" Makoto stated hugging the bear, Esdeath smiled thinking to herself "TOO INNOCENT!" and "TOO ADORABLE!" which distracted her, as Honest rambled on about some nonsense, ignoring his fake joy and false congratulations about her victory; She had relized Honest was scum, the lowest of the low and the most vile and wretched human on the face of the planet, if he was human, he may have been the offspring of a danger beast that looked human enough to have children, also his eating habits both disgusted and outraged her; the fact that he was a Cannibal was an open secret and Esdeath considered cannibalism the ultimate form of weakness one engaged by those who refused to let death claim them and show ultimate weakness by forsaking their humanity.

"Enough rambling, give me the next task, I tire of your rambling you corrupt slug, crafting lies and hollow conspiracies" Esdeath responded to Honest's rambling, which caused the Prime Minister to give face worthy of a cow looking at an oncoming train.

"Yes that; well there's been a problem in the capital of late, the crux of the matter is a number of nobles, officers and other prominent individuals have been assassinated, rather brutally over the past month, the issues were minor at first, however in the last two weeks things became alarmingly worse, first three individuals died simultaneously, two Wealthy Merchants and the head of a Branch of the local Police force, then the following day their heads were found hang from stakes in the central plaza, then Zank the Beheader escaped from prison, stealing the Warden's teigu, then a day afterward his body was found impaled on a cross with the words "the Beheader has been beheaded, Ultimate Justice as been delivered You will know why you Fear The Night" emblazoned in his flesh along with a symbol of an owl over a moon, at the same time my brother-in-law died at his own home: a snipers round blew his head off, then two days later the most aggratious loss happened my Son Syura, his head was found impaled outside the front gate of the palace his face frozen in terror, my most beloved of my flesh and blood is now dead, and more have fallen since then" Honest explained.

"How many and who are they?" Esdeath asked.

"They call themselves Night Raid, so called because they only operate at night, with the only exception being my son's death" Honest replied.

"Night Raid, how unoriginal with the name, fine I'll crush your little assassin problem then I'll expect an actual opponent" Esdeath replied.

"They will be worthy ones; also there is another matter, my predecessor is returning to the capital from the frontier, I'd like to see him not reach the city" Honest stated.

"I'm not going let my men do your dirty work what do you take me for an ally to your ambitions? Have someone who actually cares do it I'm a soldier not a murderer Honest ask me to kill people in the course of war that's fine but have me and my soldiers serve as your henchmen to kill your political rivals that's not me and I'm surprised that you think I've changed my philosophy, besides killing people who can't fight back is beneath me" Esdeath stated then turned to the Emperor "You be a good boy while I'm gone Makoto and don't let mean old Honest boss you around" Esdeath added.

"Don't worry Esdeath-nee I won't, Honest-san! You are to eat all the Veggies in the palace and no meat for a month, the meat is mine!" Makoto replied and ordered.

"If your majesty wishes it so shall it be" Honest said, annoyed that he would have to be confined to just eating human meat for a month, not that his highness knew about that fact, if he did he would have his head on a pike immediately. "I'll command the Three Beasts to do so myself after all I get the final say in operations" Honest stated and Esdeath was aghast that he was going over her head but couldn't do anything about it, well it didn't matter the Three Beasts were more then capable in her opinion of dealing with the problem though she'd prefer not just to because the expression on Honest's face when one of his rivals survived an assassination plot he organized was hilarious to witness.

Honest turned to three heavily armed men. "Daidara, General Liver, Nyau, I have orders for you, Eliminate Prime Minister Chouri and his guards, leave no survivors" Honest ordered and the three men various builds saluted him and Esdeath and left. Unknown to Honest a keen eared palace maid had been listening to the entire conversation, she soon passed the information to a man with graying hair in a business suit, the man left the palace having concluded his meeting earlier then usual and proceeded to his carriage which took him home to his manor, he then walked inside.

"Welcome home Lord Constantine!" the Servants greeted.

"Good to be home, have any of you seen Aria I need to speak to her, immediately" Constantine Grundel explained, one of the servants lead him to her room where she was in the process of gossiping with Sayo about Tatsumi. "Aria whatever you're doing it can wait, I have urgent news that needs to get to Night Raid immediately" Constantine explained.

"What is it?" Aria asked.

"Esdeath has returned as have the three beasts, Honest has ordered Esdeath to look into the threat of Night Raid, also he has ordered a hit on Prime Minister Chouri who's on his way back to the capital, the Three beasts have been sent, you have to stop them, Prime Minister Chouri is one of the Revolution's top supporters Night Raid must save him and the others priority target level 1" Constantine explained, Aria put on her boots and Sayo her shoes then then ran as fast as they could for Night Raid's base, ran thru the main entrance past Merraid who followed them, then dashed up to Najenda's office.

"General Najenda! Priority mission target level 1!" Aria explained gasping as she had just ran two miles.

'Prority one explain" Najenda ordered.

"Prime Minister Chouri is returning to the capital from the frontier, Esdeath's here and Honest has sent The Three Beasts to kill him and his escort!" Aria explained.

"That is a top concern, Gather every member of Night Raid, We will take on the three beasts in broad daylight, we can't lose such an important member of the resistance leadership!" Najenda ordered,

Shortly… "This a priority level 1 mission, for once the goal is to protect someone not kill them, former Prime Minister Chouri is a key supporter of the Revolutionary Army and one of the main supporters in fact, he is returning to the capital with an armed guard, it won't be enough; Honest has sent the Three Beasts, Esdeath's personal bodyguards to kill him and his following, our goal is to protect him and eliminate the three beasts, this is a dangerous mission but an important one, important enough I'll be leading it personally, everyone is coming on this mission, we need everyone we have to hope to kill them" Najenda ordered.

Later… Daidara stood eager next to Liver and Nyau, he had his Teigu battle Axe ready, Nyau had Scream his Teigu which allowed him to paralyze his opponents making them completely vulnerable to his attacks, Liver was the leader, his Teigu allowed him to manipulate water. "Here they come General" Daidara commented, the carriage came forward it was guarded by about 12 well armed soldiers in black plate and wielding glaives.

Inside the Carriage… Prime Minister Chouri was an old man with gray hair and balding head which which he wore a fur hat over, at his side was his daughter Spear, a beautiful young woman who had long blonde hair, she wore an overcoat with a general's braid over a coat of plates, and on her head a fur hat of the same type as her father. "Spear it's good to return to the capital, I'm proud of you my girl, you've come along excellently from being a disciple of the Imperial fist to a General of the Empire, you've become an excellent warrior and the son your mother, gods rest her soul, never had, she would be proud of you as would my adopted son and your brother gods rest both of their souls" Chouri stated.

"Thank you father, I'm glad to see I'm living up to your hopes for me" Spear replied.

"Indeed you are and you are living up to our principles, my only regret is we haven't seen to getting you married, but its only partial no there isn't a man in the world I know of that is worthy your hand" Chouri replied, when the Carriage came to an abrupt halt, the two got out and noticed three figures on the road, a tall man with gray hair worn in a long ponytail, blue eyes and a mustache. He wore a standard black uniform and a black ring on his finger and held sword in his hands. A man of large muscular build with long, spiky blond hair and pure white, pupil-less eyes. He wore a headdress similar to horns and the same uniform as his team-mates and carried a large twohanded battle axe. Lastly was a young man of small build with blond hair and golden eyes. He had a somewhat feline look; his teeth were shown to be sharp, and he had slit pupils. He wore the same uniform as the others but with shorts instead of pants, he had a recorder in on of his hands and a saber in the other. Their lack of armor was suspicious enough but their choice of weapons even more so, they were obviously not simple brigands, also they wouldn't be blocking the road if they didn't have a reason to.

"Travelers I must ask you to step off the road, you blocking the path of former Prime Minister Chouri, step aside and we will be on our way" Spear stated then took a look and recognized them. "What are you three doing out here? If Esdeath has orders for me she could have waited until I got inside the City" Spear inquired

"So what do you think Nyau" Daidara asked.

"I'll take the pretty one, her face will make a nice addition to my collection, you can have the grunts" Nyau replied.

"Stop the chit-chit you two" Liver ordered. "I am General Liver, on the orders of the Emperor you have been sentenced to death as traitors to the Empire: drop your arms and your deaths will be painless" Liver stated.

"I don't understand Liver you why? Me a Traitor bull shit and you know it: besides I outrank you genius if this is some attempt at taking my job its a damn stupid one" Spear stated. "We aren't traitors, I'm a loyal warrior of the Order of the Imperial fist, a General of the Empire, Esdeath's chief of staff, this must be a mistake; Liver you know it's me? Right?" she continued, then readied her glaive, the other guards did the same as she had a gut-instinct Liver was serious.

"My apologies Spear but I have my orders the Prime Minister sends his regards and I will endevour to make your death swift" Liver replied and readied his weapon.

"This is all Honest's doing! I knew Esdeath would never allow this betrayal! The only traitors here are you three and I'll bring Esdeath your heads!" Spear replied and flourished her glaive

Suddenly a pink blast of energy came out from the forest on the other side of the road, the blast was too quick to react to and Daidara's chest suddenly sprouted a massive hole and he looked dumbfounded as his corpse fell to the ground, from a cliffside above the road Mine smirked at her marksmanship, Liver turned towards the new threat while Nyau charged the guards, blew hard on his Teigu immobilizing the warriors, even Spear was paralyzed. "Shit! I forgot that bastard could do that!" Spear swore mentally as Nyau darted from guard to guard with lightning speed beheading them with his saber until only five remained as he approached Spear who was terrified.

"I like your pretty face, it will look nice on my wall!" Nyau stated then lunged, but at he was about to strike his arms were suddenly violently severed from behind leaving him to scream in agony as a tall swordsmen readied his blade for a killing blow, Nyau's screams echoed as Spear and the other guards were shocked by the arrival of this mysterious figure "MY ARMS MY ARMS! YOU! YOU!" Nyau screamed as he turned to face his attacker, suddenly the man with brown hair and green eyes stared him down, then he bisected Nyau's chest, cleaving thru his midsection his creepy eyes were pale as life began to fade from them then came the follow up blow which decapitated him, his recorder lay on the snow. As Tatsumi was dealing with Nyau; Liver found himself in the fight of his life, as most of Night Raid's membership attacked him; he flung barrages of water using the magic from his Teigu ring, he then received a punch of iron to the gut, and he recognized his former colleague General Najenda!

"Liver how has it come to this, you were such an honorable man and now I find you here, doing Honest's dirty work, you've fallen so low" Najenda lectured.

"I've fallen low?! You're a TRAITOR YOU'RE ALL TRAITORS YOU SHOULD BE BURNT ALIVE IN MOLTEN COPPER!" Liver responded his calm face replaced by visage of a monster, suddenly a spear impaled him in the back, no not a spear, a black metal glaive which tore upwards and cleaved thru his neck turning sending his head flying, the woman who killed him then repeatedly stabbed his chest for good measure, before panting.

"I said before Liver the only traitors here were you and your cronies. Now Father tell me who the hell these people are?" Spear asked still in a defensive stance.

"Allow me to explain that Spear" Minister Chouri stated walking over with Tatsumi at his side, both of them were carrying the teigus that belonged to Daidara and Nyau, the guards who survived were at eases around the strangers. After a long explanation, Spear and the surviving guards were reassured.

"Thank you for killing that awful man, he was going to tear my face off and wear it as a mask" Spear thanked Tatsumi.

"No problem it was all in the line duty" Tatsumi commented.

"I'll have to think about a way to repay you" Spear stated.

"As do I, you have saved my only child, the only family I have left; what is your name young man" Chouri added.

"Tatsumi: I'm not much of a person, just a simple country bumpkin who wanted to do the right thing" Tatsumi replied humbly.

"Night Raid I am grateful for your aid, our common friends in the Revolutionary Army will be glad to hear about your actions, beware though, this action will draw the wrath of Emperor's best, you've just killed her personal bodyguards and best ones at that and taken their teigus, it won't be forgotten" Chouri replied.

"What about you?" Tatsumi asked, Aria looked at him from the side smirking with her mask of as she knew what the former Prime Minister was getting at.

"Me, well I'm just an old man, don't worry all the Capital will here is that we were attacked by well armed brigands and saved by some concerned citizens, as for Honest he'll do well to keep the incident quite if he wants to avoid the ire of others on the council, I'll see to things, as to you miss Grundel, I thank your father for his information that saved the life of me and my daughter, as to you young Tatsumi, your martial skills are impressive, killing a Teigu users is not an not a feat done lightly and your actions are worthy of a reward; I dare not do this without my Daughter's consent so I must ask her something" Minister Chouri responded then turned to Spear who was cleaning her glaive of Liver's blood. "Spear what do you think of Tatsumi?" Minister Chouri asked.

"I just met him, and he saved my life, that's not something I can ignore, he's handsome and by the looks of things a great fighter, all around a good person" Spear replied.

"And would you spend the rest of your life with him?" Chouri asked, Spear realized what he meant by that.

"Considering I'm not likely to find someone of his like again anytime soon I'd be ok with marrying him" Spear replied with smile, shocking everyone save Minister Chouri who only smiled and Aria who saw it coming.

"It's settled then Tatsumi you will marry my daughter Spear as a reward for your actions" Minister Chouri replied, Tatsumi fainted. "Also is someone going to take General Liver's Teigu" Minister Chouri remarked, Spear walked over to pick it up, suddenly the ring flew onto her finger, causing her to yelp in pain, but only momentarily before she recovered. "Spear, you've been chosen, this is the best day of my life, I've not only arranged a marriage for my daughter she now has her own Imperial arm" Minister Chouri remarked and everyone laughed. Spear went and collected the heads of all three Beasts.

Later…. Minister Chouri took Tatsumi with him and his retinue to his home where he stayed with Spear which was Manse as grand as Grundewick Manor. "Until your wedding day you will be staying here in my humble abode, where you get to know Spear; also while you're here fill free to look around" Minister Chouri explained.

"Well its nice to have a break from killing people; so how are you going to explain the whole incident to Esdeath, she's not going to be remotely happy that her three best soldiers were killed by us also they are going to wonder were the information came from that stopped the plot in the first place" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry about that, I've had my share of failed assassination attempts carried out by Honest, he'll by shocked that I've escaped my end yet again" Chouri stated.

"Come with me" Spear said and led him to a guest room which was next to hers. "This is my brother's room, well was his room he died fighting the Southern tribes a couple years ago, my father kept it like this, my mother died giving birth to me so my father adopted an orphan boy and raised him and me, we both went on to join the Order of the Imperial fist and became masters in the order's fighting style, my brother joined the army under General Najenda and died fighting the tribes, now his room is yours for the time being, get a good night's sleep tomorrow I'll educate you in the annoyances of Court politics so you don't make too many enemies on our wedding day" Spear explained, then left him to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Mad Doctor and The Emperor

The morning rose on a new day in the Capital and Tatsumi was woken up by Spear, she wore a lovely gown that was fuchsia and orange with flowers decorated, her shoes were high-heeled pumps and she wore a headdress with a long vail in the back; her hair was still the same style as it was when she met him but she wore a good deal of make up. "Good Morning Tatsumi, today is a new day and I hope you got a good night sleep because it's time for me to teach you your etiquette lessons, also we'll be sparing later, I didn't get to see much of your combat skills so I'd like to test them; also we will be going to court later today so my Father can unveil our betrothal as such you need to be ready; I've set out some clothes for you to wear so get dressed and we'll have breakfast then we'll begin your lessons" Spear explained.

"Ok. Spear what about your father?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh him, he's gone off to the palace, I'd love to see Honest's face when he sees him; alive with all his limbs intact, but that isn't in the cards; also Esdeath's reaction to him would've been hilarious to see too" Spear explained.

"Esdeath? She's the Empire's top general isn't she" Tatsumi responded.

"Yep; don't worry she won't cause problems for you; she doesn't know you're with Night Raid nor has she met you, just whatever you do act as much like a gentleman as possible around her, she has a massive temper" Spear explained, she then left him to get dress.

The clothes she had left out for him were more lavish the ones he wore when he stayed at Aria's mansion they were notably more ornate baroque brocade clothes, the attire when put on and Tatsumi looked into a mirror really looked somewhat awkward, but considering the fact that these might have belonged to Spear's step-brother he was not going to change into his regular attire, which had been taken from him last night after he had changed into pajamas to be washed, mainly to get the blood stains from Nyau's corpse out of them; he then found his sword which had been polished and cleaned, better then he had himself infact, and he strapped it to his back. "Well look at you: Ieyasu said we were going to get rich in the capital, I don't think he expected me to get married to a noblewoman; I'm pretty sure though Sayo and him would laugh at this get up" Tatsumi remarked to himself looking in the mirror as he brushed his hair.

After getting ready Tatsumi descended the stairs and followed a maid to the dinning hall where a large and elaborate breakfast was laid out, he then moved to take a seat next to Spear. "Now for your first etiquette lesson; the first being good eating manners" Spear stated, then began teaching him the things he needed to know about dining manners, from what silverware to use to how to avoid talking about subjects that shouldn't be talked about at the table, as well as how to sit and how important it was to wash ones hands before eating; the overall complex things had him remark how easy it can be to offend someone at a table, which she laughed at.

The breakfast itself proved rather filling and he hadn't had something like it apart from the times he stayed at Aria's mansion, but those were more humble affairs also peanut butter cookies were noticeably absent as those were favored at Aria's house at any meal, in place were some brownies, eating itself was effort in etiquette as Spear constantly was telling him to chew slowly and with his mouth closed, her lectures aside the meal was enjoyable.

After breakfast Spear began teaching him in earnest about the complexities of etiquette, Tatsumi had expected it to be absurdly complex but Spear broke it down into easily digestible lessons which were simple to remember and allowed him to learn and remember these things. She then educated him in the ballroom dance, something which was a bit more complex and something which she wore a more elaborate gown for in addition to having him and her wear masks as masquerade balls were common place in the Empire; overall the dancing proved less tiring as the dances were less intensive and more focused on refined moves at a slow pace the tempo being dictated by the music. During these lessons Aria dropped by to check on him. "How's he doing Spear?" Aria asked, she was dressed in her usual dress and boots with her headband.

"He's learning quite well" Spear stated.

"Yes allow me to demonstrate Lady Aria" Tatsumi added then gave a curtesy then stepped up and kissed her hand, Aria laughed at this.

"Ok Tatsumi, you are doing good, but still you need more work, you still carry yourself like a country bumpkin; I'll help you and Spear with the lessons" Aria replied after recovering her composure.

"Am I not doing a good job Aria?" Spear questioned.

"You're doing a great job Spear, its just that Tatsumi may learn faster if he has two teachers" Aria replied.

After this his etiquette lessons became more intensive as Aria assumed the role of instructor while Spear assumed the role of the stand in for numerous situations he might find himself in, every time he did something wrong Spear would slap him and they would repeat until he had it down then for good measure repeat it again to make sure he had gotten it down, progressively he was getting better at what he was doing and the time spent was spent good, over all his progression was good but spectacular by any means but it was enough that Aria and Spear thought he would do a good job and let him off for the day. After the etiquette lessons he and Spear spared as that said they would, overall the two found themselves deadlocked for a good time, this was Tatsumi's first battle against someone who's chosen weapon was a Glaive, but his disciplined sword fighting made sure he wasn't a slouch and allowed him to keep up with her fighting style, granted they weren't sparring with their actual weapons they used wooden practice weapons, said fight continued and Aria noted the fast motions used by both fighters, eventually he managed to exploit an opening brief it was allowed him to trip Spear up and defeat her.

"Not bad, you truly are a worthy fighter, I've not had someone who can best me that effectively, granted you still have a lot to learn, but you certainly proven yourself to me as a great warrior" Spear congratulated, Tatsumi helped her back up.

"Thanks that's high praise coming from a member of the Order of the Imperial Fist, even where I come from we've heard tales of their fighting skills" Tatsumi replied.

"That's nice to hear, its good that some people here about the good work we do serving the people" Spear thanked.

"If you two are done sparing I think we need to get ready, the court meeting will be happening soon" Aria explained, the two then left at a run, bathed then redressed in attire, while Aria sat on a couch reading a novel she borrowed from Lubbock, not the perverted kind but his accounts on the war with the Southern Tribes and the tactics they employed; which included a deal of poisons in which they were rather innovative in the ways they used, the fighting tactics overall made for interesting read as she was always looking to improve her fighting technique.

"We're ready" Tatsumi stated and he walked in with Spear, both in fine dress but nothing to grandious, a door on the otherside opened up and servant walked thru and told them that Spear's father was waiting for them out front in a carriage which was even more heavily guarded because of the recent assassination attempt by the Three Beasts.

They stepped out and got into the carriage. "Good to see you two ready for this, also I'm surprised to see you Lady Aria Grundel" Chouri greeted.

"I'm just here to make sure Tatsumi doesn't humiliate himself" Aria explained.

"Which he won't do we've done a good job at tutoring him" Spear added.

"Very good, you'll need all that you've been taught, we will be headed to the Imperial Palace to announced the wedding to Emperor" Chouri explained, this caused Tatsumi to be taken aback in surprise, he knew he was going to the palace but meeting the Emperor, that was a shocker.

"Really I'm going to meet the Emperor?" Tatsumi stated shocked and excited.

"Yes, he has to give the blessing to our Union, it is considered the ultimate blessing to a union and one that makes it sure to last" Spear replied.

"Great, wait you didn't teach me how to act around the Emperor" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry the lessons will suffice, just remember to bow in a respectful manner and you'll be fine, beside the Emperor is a young boy so he'll give a degree of leniency because he's still learning etiquette himself" Spear replied.

Their journey through the streets of the capital was a lot more quick then others, also the people cheered whenever they saw the former Prime Minister he was beloved of the people who remembered his actions under the previous Emperor in his efforts to make things easier for the common people and root out corruption and crime. The palace itself towered over the city, it was large and elaborate structure with towering spires and topped by a great dome; it was also a fortress, the amount of defenders was great and they were equipped with the best weapons and armor available, they were the Royal Guard; the best warriors in the Empire who would fight to the death to protect their liege.

Upon entering the Palace a retinue of the Royal Guard led them thru the halls of the palace, Tatsumi noted the fine statuary, the lavish tapestries and the flowing banners, but also the paintings and photos, the overall grandeur of the place far exceed that of Aria's Mansion or Spear's Mansion. He also noted servants darting back and forth, as well as patrols of the guards and processions of nobles, who didn't bother looking their way as they were focused on other business, whenever they passed a servant they gave a respectful bow to the former Prime Minister. They soon arrived in a grand hallway which lead to the Royal throne room, on either side were paintings of the past Emperors and their deeds as well, with plaques of gold that named them and listed their accomplishments, he recognized some of the names from history books that Aria and Najenda had him read like Emperor Meji the Reformer and Ieyasu the Unifier and of course Toyotomi the Conquerer, but there were a few names he didn't recognized like Ardos the Unfortunate, or Diadochi the Divine or Ikarnan the Mighty who was the father of the previous Emperor. Overall the hall of Images as Spear named it was a great sight to see, two armored guards opened the grand doors letting them into the throne room.

There were a number of people there including Aria's father Constantine, but also a few military leaders, the most notable of these was the most beautiful woman Tatsumi had ever laid eyes on; she had long flowing ice blue hair, her eyes sparkled like blue diamonds, her figure was busty extremely so with breasts that would make Leone envious, she wore a white uniform decorated with medals and the rank of supreme General pinned above her heart, at her side was massive Rapier that was about as long as her arm, the most unique feature was what looked like a tatoo, the letter Y with lines atop it with partial circles near it, it was bellow her neck at the top of her cleavage. "That must be General Esdeath" Tatsumi thought. Also of note was a man with black hair that had a streak of white running thru it like skunk, he appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, his attire suggested a scientist. The most notable figures though apart from Esdeath who stood to one side of the throne, were two people a towering giant brawny and fat man with spikey white hair and a beard, who was currently eating a muffin his attire was that of someone of extremely high rank. "That must be that vile monster Prime Minister Honest" Tatsumi thought. The Other person was a young boy sitting on the throne, he had long black hair and wore ornate robes and a crown, he held a polor teddy bear which he was cuddling, the throne itself was of a bizzare design that hinted at a super advanced piece of tech, also noticeable were four people two men and woman who stood to either side of the throne, they were clearly the most elite of the Imperial guard, because boy himself was Emperor Makoto.

"Greetings your majesty" Minister Chouri greeted then kneeled and bowed, as did Tatsumi, Spear and Aria, Aria then stepped aside to join her father, Spear went and brought a large bag that had the severed heads of all Three Beasts to Esdeath, who looked inside smirked and patted Spear on her shoulder to Tatsumi's surprise, he then noted she whispered in Esdeath's ear causing her to smirk and look at him.

"It's nice to see you Chouri-san, I was worried when I heard you were attacked by outlaws, I'm glad to see you nice and unharmed" Makoto said, he was a kid, younger then Tatsumi.

"Yes, the rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated, speaking off said matter allowed me to finally realize a goal of mine, finding a suitable groom for my daughter Spear, this is Tatsumi, he was one of the brave people who came to the aid of my party, he saved my daughter's life something for which I am extremely greatful for, as such for doing such a great task I have seen fit to reward him with the highest honor possible for such a deed, my daughter's hand in marriage, he may be of common birth, but his skill in battle is that of the most noble and mighty warriors and that I value more then his standing, let his actions stand as his titles of nobility" Minister Chouri stated.

"That is surprising, even for you" Honest stated, his voice was like that of a kindly grandfather, but Tatsumi looked at him as he said his honeyed words and saw his eyes, he noted disdain, anger and loathing, for him specifically; he had with his friends thwarted Honest's plans to kill his greatest opponent and not only that he was now witnessing his opponent give his Daughter' hand in marriage to a common farmer, some hick from the countryside, someone Honest viewed as cattle to be driven forth and pressed into the slaughter to eventually be eaten; Tatsumi had a feeling that Honest was contemplating eating him and doing so raw; Tatsumi was doing as much as he could to restrain himself from drawing his sword and running the man thru in front of the Emperor and all the people in the room, something he showed in his eyes; Honest looked back and noted it, however Honest had no means of dealing with him, both of them were at an impasse, both wanted to kill each other in the most brutal way that either could imagine but were stopped from doing so by the circumstances, Tatsumi knew Honest would be trying his best to get him to lose his cool and do something which would allow Honest to sick the guards on him and kill him, he noted Honest's strengths as he debated with Chouri and realized that Honest's strength was his words.

"Talking is your greatest strength Honest, It's time someone taught you how to listen" Tatsumi thought, then smirked. "Your majesty it is my highest honor to meet you" Tatsumi greeted showing as much respect as possible.

"It's nice to meet you Tatsumi, you look like a nice person just like miss Esdeath is to me, let's be friends" Makoto said, his tone was that of a child looking for friends which surprised Tatsumi, but then he should have expected this the Emperor was a child, and having seen him for himself he knew clearly that the young boy was not remotely to blame for the horrors within the Empire, in fact he himself looked like someone that was kept sheltered from that evil, Tatsumi had the feeling that if the Emperor were to find out about the terrible things happening in his Empire and the horrible people within he would likely try to kill himself because he would blame himself. The boy Emperor cuddled his stuffed bear like it was his best friend.

Esdeath in the meantime was studying Tatsumi, this man was clearly an interesting person, also the fact Makoto liked him was additional bonus points for him being in her good books, also she noted the way he looked at Honest, and smirked at the disdain he had for the Prime Minister something which Esdeath shared. "I'm happy to here about your wedding, its good to see people getting married, I'm hoping to do so myself one day, what's it like being in love with someone?" Makoto asked.

"Your Highness, being in love with someone well it's the best feeling someone can have, it's like a gift that keeps on giving, something you can cherish and love for eternity, a lot like what you feel for your bear" Tatsumi explained, trying to be as respectful as possible but also trying to keep it something that the young Emperor could understand.

"Thanks so its like what I feel my bear Snow-Snow, that's what I named him, Esdeath-nee got him for me from the north, he's so soft; anyway if you have come here for my approval you have it, I wish you well in all you do" Makoto replied, Tatsumi smiled.

"Now as to the date of the wedding, it will be held three days from now on Friday, everyone is invited" Minister Chouri explained.

"Oh can I come?! can I come?! Can I!? Can I!?" Makoto asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure it would be-" Honest began to say when he was cut off by a certain blue haired general.

"If his majesty wishes to attend Lady Spear's wedding he can do so, you have no say in that and I most certainly will be attending the wedding of my chief of staff" Esdeath explained.

"Thanks Esdeath-nee, I'm going to go it!" Makoto stated.

"Your majesty I would recommend that the Ceremony be held here though for your convenience" Honest stated, he was intent that if his Highness was going to go to a wedding it would be held in the palace so as to avoid exposing him to the Capital's more seedy side, the side that his majesty would not stand for in the slightest and would find out he was responsible for it, thus he would be fired and likely replaced.

"That's fine with me actually" Makoto responded. "Tatsumi you and Lady Spear will be married here in the royal palace and it will be a great thing and everyone is invited, and we'll have lots of food and other amazing things" Makoto continued. "Though Honest won't be getting any of the Meat no meat for you for a month under pain of death Honest, you remember my Imperial decree from yesterday, Esdeath-nee keep on eye on him to make sure he doesn't eat any meat, if he does you have my express permission as Emperor to kill him" Makoto concluded.

"With pleasure your Majesty" Esdeath replied and gave her death glare to Honest. "Make my day you vile scum" Esdeath thought. "Your Highness I have other things, I have a request though I must make of you; I'm creating a new force that I've named the Jaegers, the Jaegers will be used to keep safe the Empire as such I must have the best warriors in the Empire for this team, thus I ask you to allow your four best bodyguards The Rakshasa Demons to join the ranks as first members of the Jaegers" Esdeath requested.

"Gladly Esdeath-nee, though I will miss Mez-nee she's always making sure that I don't lose my toys" Makoto replied and granted.

"Now does anyone else have business to discuss with his Majesty?" Honest asked. No one spoke. "That settles it then the Ceremony will be held in the Grand Hall come Friday and the Jaegers have been established, everyone is dismissed for today" Honest stated. They left the throne room leaving Makoto alone, bad news he was alone with Honest, Good News Esdeath was there with the Four Demons to keep him safe.

"As to the selection of his Majesty's new Royal protectors I will see to the matter myself, as Grand Marshal of the Imperial military all matters regarding his Majesty's protection" Esdeath explained, Honest winced. "You'll not lay a finger on him as long as I live, you cannibalistic monster" Esdeath thought, Honest shivered. "Yes fear me you smug bastard, the only thing you care about is power, and you couldn't defend yourself if you fought a mob of peasants, even if they remembers how to hold their pitchforks right; one of these days I will end you then Makoto will be safe from any harm" Esdeath thought. "Now to you four, welcome to the Jaegers, I've other people in mind for the group and they will join given time but for now consider yourselves lucky that you have been chosen for this the most important of missions" Esdeath instructed, the four Rakshasa Demons knelt before the Emperor who asked them to stand up so he could give each of them an affectionate hug.

"Good bye and good luck Mez-nee" Makoto stated, Mez was a short girl with a petite build. Her hair was blonde and styled in pigtails decorated with horseshoes that also served as weights. She had green eyes and her skin was considerably tanned. She wore long leggings and a shirt, which she left open, displaying a bikini/swimsuit top. He gave her an affectionate love.

"Farewell your Highness, don't worry I'll still see you, and I'll still find your toys for you from time to time" Mez reassured.

Next came Suzaka, she wore clothes similar to those of a shrine maiden's, with a loose kimono shirt exposing her cleavage held by a single breast guard on her right breast she also wore armor plating on her forearms. She has black hair and a scar on her face. "Goodbye Suzaka-san you always make me happy when you play with me" Makoto thanked.

"Good Luck your Highness, Hey don't get into too much trouble while I'm away" Suzaka replied.

Next came Ibara, he was a large man with a muscled build, wearing shorts similar to that of a Muay Thai Combatant. He had strange markings around the top of his head which resemble stitches. His hair was long and braided into two long strands at the bottom, with long bangs framing each side his face. His eyes were abnormal, with fully black sclera. There were dark markings or tattoos visible on his face and body. Similar to his fellow Rakshasa Demons, Ibara also wore armor plating on his forearms. "Goodbye Ibara you always know how to make me laugh, you tell such wonderful jokes: Esdeath-nee I order you to laugh at any jokes Ibara-san tells you" Makoto stated.

"Don't worry I know a few good ones, even a couple I haven't told you yet your highness" Ibara replied, then stepped aside to allow the final member of the group step forward a man named Sten. Sten was a large man with a heavily muscled build, similar to Ibara. He had a long braided hairstyle, with hair sticking far out at the sides, and bald at the top of his head. He had a long bushy beard and mustache, bushy eyebrows, and dark prominent circles around his eyes. Similar to his fellow Rakshasa Demons, he wore armor plating on his forearms. He also wore a large Iron pauldron on his left shoulder the only member of the group to do so.

"Sten try to keep your head down, you always hit it on the doorway to my room when you leave" Makoto commented.

"Yes your majesty, I will do as you command" Sten replied, the four then turned to Esdeath.

"Remember your duties to the Emperor first, but also remember that you are now part of the most elite unit in Imperial history, my elite team, our goals are to eliminate the enemies of the Empire, however at the moment I'm still recruiting, as such you four will remain here at your post with the Emperor until I am done with recruiting and have selected the group to replace you as his majesty's elite protectors" Esdeath explained, the four saluted and resumed their positions next to the Emperor.

Meanwhile… "So Spear can you tell me who those people were in the throne room, I know who Esdeath and Honest are now as well as the Emperor, and I noted Aria and her Father, but I didn't recognize anyone else" Tatsumi asked.

"Well let's start things off, first the four people next to the Emperor were the Four Rakshasa Demons, they're the best of the Imperial Guard and serve as his majesty's protectors, even to a point they share a room with him, I mean one that adjoins it directly. Their names are Mez, Suzaka, Ibara and Sten, they are each a master of a different fighting style and weapon, they are very deadly, they are selected from the best the Empire has" Spear explained.

"They didn't look like the other guards" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes but that is because they each have a different fighting style most of which require them to wear light armor, mainly to allow them lightning fast reflexes and to respond to the Emperor's need for aid" Spear stated "The members change each time a new Emperor is crowned, they come from the best teams including the Elite Seven" Spear continued.

"Who are the Elite Seven?" Tatsumi asked.

"They are professional assassins, much like Night Raid, they were selected from children given to the Empire by their families, currently they aren't in existence right now, the previous Elite Seven had something happen, 5 of its members deserted, one was killed in action during the southern campaign, only one remains of their number that I know off and she is very powerful, she actually is a Teigu user" Spear explained.

"Who's she" Tatsumi asked.

"Her name is Kurome, no one knows where she came from other then that she was given by her parents to the Empire at a Young age, her Teigu is March of Dead: Yatsufsa it allows her to bring back the dead she kills as her unliving servants" Spear explained

"Great hopefully we don't run into her at some point" Tatsumi remarked.

"If only, knowing Esdeath though she'll probably be on the top of her list for the best fighters in the Empire especially since the Elite Seven fought under her in the Southern Campaigns" Spear replied.

"Great not only do we have to deal with an Elite Assassin who is on par with Night Raid but she bring the dead as her servants to fight us, that's not even remotely pleasant to think about" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway we've gotten off topic who was that guy with glasses and skunk hair?" Tatsumi asked.

"That was Doctor Stylish, he's a renowned scientist, I've heard rumors about him, lots of questionable experiments but nothing concrete that I'm sure about, overall he's someone worth keeping an eye on, I didn't like the way he was looking at Aria though" Spear explained.

"He kept looking at Aria weird, I was too focused on the Emperor, Esdeath, and Honest to pay attention to him apart from passing; I don't like that if he has a bad reputation, I don't want to think about that if he's as bad as those rumors say he is what he would do to her if he were to get his gloved hands on her" Tatsumi replied. "So what about that creep Honest; he's the endgame enemy for me I'd like to know as much about him as possible" Tatsumi replied.

"Honest; there are many monsters in the world, of them all none can rival Honest for his cruelty, depravity and abomination, he is a monster that can make an S class Danger beast seem like a fluffy puppy, the list of his atrocities is an open book, he is a kidnapper, a rapist, a murderer, an embezzler, a robber, and worst of all a Cannibal, he kidnaps woman, rapes them, and eats them, and not just women, children both boys and girls, even babies, he even rips them out of their mothers wombs, sometimes he boils pregnant women alive and eats them, He is the embodiment of both what's wrong with the Empire and of Evil" Spear explained with a bleak and grim face.

"What about Esdeath?" Tatsumi replied.

"She is the Empire's best General, she only cares about winning, no matter the cost and no matter how cruel the measures she has to take to win and to prevent future conflicts, in a way its understandable, she does what she does to keep the Empire safe and to try and save the lives of her soldiers, but her brutality is legendary as well as her desire for vengeance for those she loses" Spear explained.

"She doesn't sound that evil, she sounds an awful lot like a person who is just willing to do whatever it takes to win a war and then prevent future wars, also she does have a soft side though, did you see the way she acted around the Emperor, she was like a mother for him or a big sister" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes she does have a soft side, don't let that fool you though she is a cold hearted killer if you get on her bad side she will not hesitate to kill you, though not me I'm her friend and chief of Staff so she needs me and likes me" Spear replied.

"Then I'll avoid getting on her bad side, she doesn't know my identity, in fact the most she knows is that I'm some peasant warrior that foiled an assassination attempt against you and your father; the last thing she suspects is that I'm a deadly assassin, what did you tell her anyway? And how did you manage to become Esdeath's head of staff?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well for the first question I simply told her you killed two of the three Beasts by yourself and that they had betrayed me, also that I killed Liver, as to how I Field Marshal Spear Chouri became her chief of staff well that is a really long story for another day" Spear replied.

Shortly they left the palace and returned to Spear's home, in time for dinner which consisted of several large pigs, an elaborate set of cakes, as well as other amazing dishes, served with the finest of vintage wine. After eating Tatsumi felt tired and went to lay down.

He woke up to Aria pinching his nose to wake him up. "Wake up sleepyhead, we have a mission, it's a minor one so its just us two, I'll explain on the way there" Aria explained, she was dressed in her ninja armor.

They then proceeded to leave and Aria led him to the grand church, they had no idea they were being followed by a certain person who was after Aria for less than noble reasons. "Alright Tatsumi, our target is the head priest Kaldan, he's been marked for death for horrid crimes, the man has been embezzling money from the temple tithes, as well as castrating young boys so they sing higher in the quire, on top of that he rapes them, and preforms blood sacrifices on them, overall he's a grade A bastard; the kind we are in the business of making sure they suffer a slow and agonizing death but not before they understand a servity of their crimes, I brought my slowest acting poisons and my most horrid torture instruments just for this scumbag, now you'll deal with the guards, I'll see to the creep, also I've heard rumors about a powerful Teigu here in the Temple just an interesting bit of info" Aria explained.

"Interesting quite interesting; I'm in need of a blonde girl for next experiment, and the noble Grundel girl is working for Night Raid and so is Lady Spear's betrothed, Honest will be glad when I bring them their heads" Dr. Stylish thought to himself, he readied his sword in one hand and a dart gun in which he loaded a paralysis dart.

Shortly… Tatsumi had made easy work of the guards, he then looked around and found a bloody alter over which several dismembered and bloody corpses hung on spiked crosses which were chained to the ceiling, he also heard cries for help and found several young boys, naked but still whole, trapped in chains he cut them loose and grabbed them some rags from a pile, they then left. "The shear brutality of corruption in the capital is horrifying, I've gone numb to it, and I'm not surprised that a man of the gods could fall so far, sometimes piety and religion can mask the worst of monsters" Tatsumi thought, he then heard loud screams and rushed towards them, where he found Aria at work, so far she had already shaved the man, yanked out all his teeth, pulled out all his nails both for toes and fingers, and cut off all his toes and on top of that his feet.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving end, you call yourself a man of the Gods, you think that because you're their high priest you get a pass for sins, no when I'm done with you you're going straight to hell, but for now you'll experience a taste of what the devil will bring you, I may join you there someday, but I will take great pleasure in torturing scum like you" Aria stated, the priest screamed. "Now for a taste of your own medicine, I'm going make you scream louder than any of those you've those poor kids you've abused" Aria yelled then cut open his robe with her kukri, then sliced the top of his member, screams, then she shoved the it down his throat, and then she continued, piece by piece, slowly methodically, until there was nothing left. "Now how to make you suffer more, how about I make you half-dead, you know there are 206 bones in the human body, I break them all and you die, but if I brake half of them you still live, in agony, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of this punishment, but I'd never stoop so low" Aria added, then took out a hammer then proceeded to smash down, screams. "One" Aria counted, smash, and she continued bone after bone. Shortly. "One-hundred three" Aria counted, smash, no screams as he had exhausted his voice. "One-hundred four" she continued, "One-hundred five" "One-hundred six" Aria concluded having broke her total of bones, "Now to cut off your fingers and feed them to you" Aria stated, her maniacal grin terrifying to behold, then slice, dice, feed, slice dice, feed, and over and over until all his digits were gone. "Now for the grand finally, Robula's disease, several doses, all in these syringes prepared by my loving mother, something which I doubt you have, you probably sold her years ago" Aria stated then injected the syringes. "one more thing" Aria stated, then took out a fine blade and wrote in his flesh "This soul is Damned to Hell's embrace, thus to all who tell lies to gods and forsake their commandments"

"I've never seen you like this Aria" Tatsumi remarked he had been watching the whole time.

"Oh this only happens to the worst offenders, I'm more merciful to those with lesser crimes, just noting this one" Aria stated, then heard the sound of applause from the single person.

"Well done, well done, I couldn't have done it any finer myself, Robula's disease, a nice added touch, though I would prefer a more potent concoction of my own invention, isn't this a pleasant surprise, shame he's still alive, but he'll expire in an hour, good work, sadly it pains me to have to end you, it surprises me that someone of such a respected family would be a traitor, and you who would marry into the nobility well you don't surprise me" Dr Stylish stated, and before Aria could react he fired the dart which struck her in the abdomen. "Don't mind that it's only a paralysis poison, it will last an hour, it will keep you contained for the moment, shame I only brought one dart, but I'd like to test myself against you Tatsumi, it has been a while since I last had a worthy opponent for my skills, so please do me a favor and put up and interesting fight and try not to die, I prefer my experiments to be alive especially when one is a handsome young man like yourself" Stylish remarked, Tatsumi drew his sword and charged. "Yes show me what you can do with that sword of yours then when I've beaten you I'll show your ass what I can do with mine" Stylish flirted to Tatsumi's disgust, it was awkward enough being flirted with by a guy for him what made even worse though is that guy in question was a scumbag and Tatsumi had no interest in him whatsoever.

The clashing of steel as Tatsumi brought sword against Stylish's Tachi was fierce, yet everytime Tatsumi landed a blow on Stylish it healed faster then blink of an eye. "He's got a Teigu" Tatsumi thought and continued the onslaught, he was younger then his opponent and had the strength of a person used to hard labor, yet Stylish fought the speed and skill of someone half his age; Tatsumi was flung back against the alter then had to dodge out of the way to avoid a follow up blow, the blow missed and clove into the alter cracking it. The fighting continued Tatsumi trying his best to do any lasting damage, but his sword was strained, eventually it snapped the blade breaking in two, he used the broken half to fight, he was bloodied injured, but his opponent had no scratches on him. Suddenly as he was about to give way the Alter glew, and Tatsumi noticed a sword, no two swords each of ornate design a blade that glowed like fire and one the color of blood. In act of desperation he flung his broken sword into Stylish's shoulder, stopping him causing him to pull the sword out, and using the hesitation and struggle of his opponent Tatsumi seized both blades, as he grabbed them time stopped, and Tatsumi beheld two figures, one of a massive dragon with crimson hide and golden scales the other a bloody handed god with a bloody sword.

"Who are you" Tatsumi stated.

"I am Smaug: Dragon Armor of Flame" the Dragon responded.

"I am Valroust: Drinker of Blood" The bloody handed god replied.

"We are the ancestral Teigu of the Dragon Emperor, he who conquered a 1000 princes and 500 kings, he who expanded the Empire to it's height: we bow to the blood of the Dragon the blood that runs is your veins" The dragon explained.

"The blood of the Dragon how?" Tatsumi replied.

"You are a descendant of the mightiest of Emperor's he had many brides and many children who had many of their own, eventually the blood passed on, thru Eons, down to you" The Bloody handed God explained.

"As such we serve you as the Teigu of the Dragon Emperor, we grant you our power" the Dragon stated. Reality shifted back Tatsumi's eyes glowed red with blood and flame; suddenly a crimson cloud wrapped around him and he was protected by crimson and gold armor of interlocking plates scales, topped by dragon helm with visage of a dragon as his face, in his right hand a sword of the same design alight with fire and in the other a blade red as blood with carved figure of demon on the hilt and pommel, Stylish was shocked paralyzed with both wonder and fear. Stylish quickly recovered his senses as he had to block a swing from the flaming blade, his sword heated to molten white and it burned him to hold on, then came a slice from the other blade and both his hands fell limp, without the teigu gloves he wore his regeneration ceased, not that it would have helped anyway as the heat cauterized the wounds, then he had terror in face and suddenly he was quartered from both a vertical and horizontal slice from the two swords, his body collapsed limp to the sides comically.

Tatsumi stared at the corpse, the crimson cloud came again sealing away his armor and returning him to normal, he sheaved the two blades and turned to Aria. "Aria are you ok?!" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm fine, I have an antidote for this paralysis in my bag can you get it" Aria asked, Tatsumi grabbed her handbag and after Aria telling him no he found the right phial and poured down Aria's throat, after recover her movement she kissed him full on the lips. "You saved my life; I can't thank you enough, wait I can, the only reward worthy of what you did is my undying love" Aria explained. "Let's head back to Spear's place, I'll pick up my tools first and we'll be out of here" Aria continued, she then picked up all her tools save one knife, she then cut the throat of the dying priest and pulled his tongue out through the hole, giving him the bloody eagle. They then left, though not before Aria grabbed Stylish's gloves which she recognized as a powerful Teigu and Tatsumi grabbed the broken shards of his sword. "Can't leave these to fall into the wrong hands" Aria explained then put them in her bag, they then left the building.

Later…. The Moon shined thru the window of Tatsumi's room, Aria moved up, as she inserted herself onto Tatsumi's length, saying goodbye to her maidenhood smiling as the blood flowed out, Tatsumi's hands grabbed her ample d-cup breasts and massaged them, the moon light shined on their love making, all she wore were white stockings, their clothes lay in a pile. "Tatsumi- my love" Aria moaned as he stroked her breasts and as she bounced up and down, her eyes looking up, then then pulled her against his chest and kissed her on the lips, she opened her mouth and eagerly explored his, Tatsumi's hands all over her bum. This was bliss for Aria, it was more then bliss it was love in its truest form, nothing wrong with it, she was there alone with the man she loved. Unaware of the fact that Spear was listening on the wall and masturbating to their enjoyment. Eventually Tatsumi began to pull out as he knew he was at his limit, but Aria stopped him. "No, I want your children, I'll tell my parents we'll marry, we'll be have together forever" Aria stated as she came, Tatsumi oblidged unloading, unaware that one of his shots struck home. He then allowed her dismount and wrap her breasts around his length, slowly licking it while massaging it, Tatsumi grinned, as she did her best, soon Tatsumi reached his limit after 10 minutes, then sprayed leaving a nice creamy mess on Aria's breasts and face, she didn't mind, she licked it off and turned around shaking her bum at him prevoctively, that was all the invitation he needed and he popped her black cherry, Aria grinned in both pain and pleasure as he began his thrusts into tight place, his thrusts intensified then slowed and then intensified.

Eventually they both reached their limit and passed out under the covers in each other's arms. The following morning the woke up to Spear. "You two lovebirds have fun last night" Spear remarked. "I sure did" Spear commented with a wink.

"You heard that?!" Aria stated aghast.

"Yep, don't worry I won't tell a soul, I would however recommend you two marry to avoid a scandal, we'll have a shared wedding" Spear remarked.

Aria left and returned home, explained to her parents the events of the previous night, and both smiled and approved her plans for a wedding.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Jaeger Time and Esdeath's Tournament

The next day proved to be an interesting one, as Tatsumi explained to Spear how he got his hands on his Teigus and about their fight with Stylish, she was surprised that Tatsumi had managed to defeat Stylish so easy. "These are powerful blades, truly masterwork Imperial Arms; I have to do some research and see if there is anything I can find out about them" Spear explained.

"Well you do that, I'm going to go report in to Najenda about this and see if she knows anything about them, also I'm going to hunt some Danger Beasts while I'm at it to get used to them" Tatsumi replied, he then strapped the swords to his back, his old sword had been badly broken completely the blade has snapped into two shards which didn't have enough steel to reforge easily, sure he could find a smith capable of fixing the sword but to find one who could would involve A. A sum of money that he didn't have at the moment and wouldn't have until his Marriage to Spear and Aria happened; and B. That any smith who was capable of reforging it would be the type sharp enough to ask questions, something which Tatsumi did not want to have to deal with, especially given his secret identity as a professional Assassin for a group that was wanted by the Empire for assassinating corrupt nobles, military officers, and any criminal scum in general; the over all risk of someone finding out about his membership in said group was low when interacting with normal people but still he valued his annominity within the city, something that was questionable given his relationships with Spear and Aria, two women of powerful noble houses who were of high standing. How Aria managed to lead the double life of an Assassin by night and the Noblewoman by day was a mystery that eluded him, granted she was the member of a noble house and the fact that many nobles could hide some pretty seriously bad secrets and go unnoticed by the populace as whole contributed to this, not that Aria really had any skeletons in her closet beyond those involving targets in Night Raid a good number of which she brutally tortured to death before killing, not that he had anything against Aria torturing their targets to death slowly as their targets certainly deserved it; granted having seen her capacity for her innovation regarding that particular hobby of hers he was glad she was on his side and that she only did this to evil people, he'd hate to think what would happen had she been on the Dark Side so to speak. "If Aria was evil I shudder to think what would have happened to Ieyasu and Sayo, because they arrived here first, then I would have been next, then Night Raid would've offed her and her family, thank the gods that she isn't like that remotely" Tatsumi thought to himself and what happened to him next was both good and bad.

It was good because it got him to get the terrifying image of Aria as a psychopathic serial killer out his brain, however it was bad because he ran into someone. Said someone was Young Black haired girl, slightly younger then him by at two years and slightly shorter as well. She was beautiful despite her youth, her body was semi-petite with cute c-cup breasts, her attire and eyes though reminded him of someone else: her eyes were black as coal, her attire consisted of a black sailor uniform and a red belt that has a red side skirt cover she wore red gauntlets and black socks and shoes, at her side was a Katana. "She looks like- Akame" Tatsumi realized mentely. "Sorry miss I wasn't paying attention to where I was going" Tatsumi apologized.

"Apology accepted, now I have little time to chat I've received a summons but I think we can chat for a bit" the Girl stated. "Anyway what is your name by the way" the Girl asked.

"Tatsumi: I'm new in the Capital, well realtively speaking I got here about a month ago and the place is completely different then I expected" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Interesting, my name is Kurome, I've received a summons that was meant for Teigu users from the Imperial Military for a special group being made" Kurome explained.

Tatsumi's heart stopped momentarily at the name. "Crap she's the one that can summon the dead under her control with her sword, I've got to tell Najenda; Esdeath is serious about this; if Kurome's going to be on her team with the Four Demons I'd hate to see who else she picks for her Jaeger team" Tatsumi thought. "Well its nice meeting you, I've got some important business to deal with, Danger beast hunting and all" Tatsumi explained and began to leave.

"Wait, those swords, they aren't normal blades they are Imperial Arms; their too complex and intricate in design; where did you get them" Kurome asked grabbing his hand in an iron grip with lightning reflexes.

"I found them in an Old Temple; They called out to me" Tatsumi explained.

"Interesting, well good luck with the danger beast hunting" Kurome stated and Tatsumi bolted. "He is suspicious, Two Teigu, he must be extremely strong both in body and mind to able to do that, only a few people in history have been able to use two, something is up about him, still if he's serious about hunting danger beasts no need mentioning him he'll probably die out there" Kurome thought, her stomach grumbled. "Need food" Kurome thought then bolted towards the nearest candy shop.

Tatsumi darted out of the city leaving via the main gate, didn't get too far when he ran into Lubbock of all people. "Tatsumi what are you doing and where you going in such hurry? Also what's with the new Swords" Lubbock asked.

"I'll explain later, I've got to tell Najenda some very important news" Tatsumi answered then dashed at a run. He kept running too all the way to Night Raid's new base about 4 miles east of the Capital, he then darted past Merraid who said something along the lines of "Watch it!" and added some profanity to it, he apologized then darted down the cavern hall past Mine who yelled at him for running and crashed right into Akame.

"Ouch! Tatsumi you Baka what in the world is so important that you aren't paying attention to where you're going!" Akame yelled as they got up.

"One word: Kurome!" Tatsumi replied, that had a noticeable gasp from Akame followed by a look of sadness, which Tatsumi noted. "Do you know her?" Tatsumi asked.

"I sure as hell do, I've known her since she was born, she's my little sister!" Akame replied, then broke down in tears, and ran off.

Leone walked over. "Man Tatsumi-kun what did you do to her" Leone asked.

"Kurome" Tatsumi replied and Leone sighed.

"Of course, Wait how did you know about her?" Leone asked.

"I heard her name from Spear then I ran into her when I was leaving the city, I had no idea she was Akame's sister, granted I should have guessed that when I saw her, still got to warn Najenda and do so now" Tatsumi replied then darted off, passed a snoozing Bulat, then the twins who both tried to flirt with him, and into Najenda's office without knocking, he dropped to his knees panting.

"Tatsumi-kun, alright what happened, you look like you ran all the way here?" Najenda asked getting out of her chair and helping him up.

"I did run here, but that's not the point, the point is Kurome's shown up in the Capital and what's worse is she likely responding to summons from Esdeath" Tatsumi explained, which caused Najenda's jaw to drop.

"Korume!? In the Capital?! Shit, that is not good not even remotely good, you know she's- never mind I'm sure Akame already told you, if she's working with Esdeath now that means way more trouble then we thought we were in for" Najenda reacted.

"Also I've gotten something, see these swords, they're my Teigus" Tatsumi explained, this caused Najenda to faint. When Najenda recovered Tatsumi was sitting next to her crisscross Indian style. "Good you're back" Tatsumi stated.

"Hold it, you mean to tell me you have two Teigus?! As in they are littirally able to be used by you, I'm- I'm out of words, where did you and how did you get them?" Najenda replied, Tatsumi explained the mission Aria and he went on, their success in killing their given target which lead to an encounter with Doctor Stylish, the intense fight, his sword breaking and the swords calling for him from the alter of the Temple, the result left Najenda both impressed and shocked, shock coming from the fact that he had easily killed the infamous Dr. Stylish and did so with ease. "I don't know what to say; I've not surprised though, if you have the blood of the Dragon Emperor though this changes thing quite significantly, also the fact that Esdeath is putting together an elite team focused eliminating Night Raid means We'll need Reinforcements, and by that Teigus few off our members have one those that do are too valuable too risk, thus I'm going to need to contact HQ, I'll send Poney and Chelsea to do that, in the meantime I'm going to have you keep an eye on Esdeath, congratulations on your wedding" Najenda resolved, Tatsumi got up to leave but Najenda stepped up and locked the door. "Hey I didn't say you could leave yet, I haven't been able to spend time with you since your betrothal to Spear, I want to spend some time, especially since you'll be in the Capital now more often, speaking off you should ask Spear how she feels about joining Night Raid, like I said we need all the help- forget it forget it, follow me to my room" Najenda ordered, Tatsumi gladly followed her and left his swords by the door.

They entered the Room. Tatsumi was about to ask Najenda something; when she silenced him with a kiss. "No questions now, we'll talk later" Najenda stated breaking the kiss then they continued their make out sessions, Najenda locking her Bedroom door even though it was redundant to do so. Soon Tatsumi had removed his clothes and Najenda had done likewise, she also for the first time in his experience removed her eyepatch, to his surprise the eye wasn't gone, it was simply blinded with a strong scar, she then detached her prosthetic revealing what was left of her left arm; granted he had been surprised by how much of it was still there when she first revealed this to him in their first time at the springs, but the fact that she still had a good portion of it left surprised him, they kissed again, Tatsumi picked Najenda up, and inserted himself into her, he held her there. The kissed tenderly without tongues though as Tatsumi slowly thrusted into her, she was holding on with her remaining arm, but Tatsumi kept her level by holding her ample bum, something which he enjoyed. They kept things slow, nice and patient enjoying the moment, for the time they were one in love, nothing could in that moment rob them of the joy, the bliss, and the love they felt for each other. Tatsumi laid her on her bed, the bedding was dark green and the pillows filled with swallow feathers, he entered her missionary style and intensified the temp as he pressed her legs against her breasts and kissed. Najenda wrapped her legs around his back pulling him deeper into her and pulling his face into her breasts, which he eagerly drank from, the run to the base had left him very thirsty, it also had left him sweaty but Najenda didn't seem to mind. Their motions continued, a shadow play on the walls of the cavern that had been made their base, the amount of time and effort it took to move everything from the old base to the new cavern redoubt was no small feat and the fact they managed to do it without arousing any suspicion was even more so, the lights from latterns hung from Stallagmites made an exceptional shadow play of the kind worthy of preserving in a thromatrope with their consistant shifting, the age gap between the two wasn't an issue Najenda was actually 23 the same age as Esdeath and Merraid. "The only thing I want right now is you" Najenda whispered as Tatsumi looked ready to pull out, she stopped him. "All of you" she stated firmly, as Tatsumi unloaded into her causing a home run, as she came at the same time.

She then flipped him over so that she was on top, then kissed his chest down to his length which she massaged with her ample breasts, smiling as she took his length into her mouth, in spite of their lack of experience in these matters they still enjoyed it, Najenda loved the feel of his length in her breasts and the length itself as she blowed it, Tatsumi adored the feel of Breasts wrapped around his length, something that both Aria and Leone had done to great effect, but Najenda was the best in his opinion, the simplicity of her motions and the softness of her breasts were the finest, he liked things simple at the moment, granted his first time and first threesome were good but he enjoyed his first time with Najenda more as she had done so with caring and at their own pace.

A loud knock on Najenda's Office door distracted them. "HEY NAJENDA!" Mine's voice yelled.

"What is it Mine I'm busy!" Najenda yelled back, while continuing her massage.

"I just got word from Aria that there are a number of Teigu users going into the city and heading for the palace, looks like Esdeath's team is starting to take shape; want me to take them out with some sniper shots?" Mine replied.

"NO! We'll observe them for now, besides Mine I don't want any more daylight attacks, what Aria did put them on higher alert" Najenda replied.

"Alright, also I saw Tatsumi run in here a bit ago, also he made Akame cry, so I hope he's not hiding from me, I'm intent on waiting here so I can beat him up" Mine added.

"Mine Kurome is back I don't need you to beat up Tatsumi for giving me that news" Najenda stated.

"Still what is that pervert doing in there, it shouldn't be taking you so long to debrief him" Mine stated.

"That is none of your business, what Tatsumi and I are doing is between us" Najenda replied.

"You're fucking him aren't you!? Great first Leone now you, who's next Akame, also I'm not counting Aria because they're getting married!" Mine replied face palming.

"Yes I'm fucking him! As you guessed and I don't give a flying fuck about what you think Mine! I love him! So if he and I want to do perverted things I don't need your approvel! Now remember who's in charge here Mine, I'm perfectally happy with what I'm doing!" Najenda replied, Mine ran off after that tirade.

"That was epic, if only I could have seen Mine's face when you delivered that rant" Tatsumi replied.

"Shut up and fuck me stupid" Najenda replied, shacking her rear, Tatsumi needed no invitation and mounted her and kept going.

While Tatsumi and Najenda were making sweet love; Aria's mother Angela was writing in her journal. "Dear Diary, I'm so happy, tomorrow is such an important day for my daughter Aria; she is going to be married to her husband to be Tatsumi, when she first brought him home I knew she would eventually marry him, even more so now, I am disappointed that Aria couldn't wait before she was married to give him her maidenhood, but at the same time I'm glad for honesty, her wedding is being hosted by the Emperor something that is even more wonderful, side note remember to check Tatsumi's drink for poison, the vile monster Honest will no doubt try to murder him; he cares too much about standing, not that it matters to him, he is an equal opportunist when it comes to his victims so I don't care what he thinks about my daughter's marriage, besides it isn't wrong at all for a member of a noble house to marry some one of low birth, I should now because I was of low birth before my beloved Constantine married me; now look at me, we have a lovely daughter who we treasure dearly. Speaking of family we decided to adopt those three girls Fal, Air and Luna, they are so adorable and so innocent, the love being here so much they didn't want to leave our home, well they don't have to if they don't want to, they are so sweet and I love them as if they were my own children. Its a shame that Constantine and I have troubles with that, it's not so much me as it is him, it hurts him to be intimate I can tell his cancer is getting worse, I may be a great doctor but there is only so much I can do for him, I fear that in a year he'll die from the disease, but I'll treasure every moment I have with him while he yet lives. Speaking of Constantine has asked me to see if I can find someone to help support me when he's gone, as such I've noted Tatsumi's friend, Ieyasu, he's young but also sweet, I can tell he has feelings by the way he looks at me, I've yet to do anything about my feelings, I've decided I'm going to talk to Constantine about it" Angela journeled, as she finished Aria walked in.

"Hi mom" Aria greeted.

"Hello my sweet daughter, I'm glad you've come here, the time has come for one of the most important things to do when preparing for a wedding, come with me we are going to get you the perfect wedding dress" Angela responded.

"Sure mom, I have news though, Esdeath's up to something, there are a whole lot people coming and going to the palace" Aria replied.

"Don't worry about that now Aria, have you told Najenda?" Angela responded.

"I told Sayo and she went to tell Mine and Najenda" Aria replied.

"See you don't have anything to worry about, come on we must see to you getting the best dress possible, also you need to select your bridesmaids" Angela explained.

"Don't worry I have some good ideas for who will be those" Aria replied.

"I see then let's be off"

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had finished, Najenda now was passed out on her bed, in spite of her stamina even she had her limits; that and it was the time of day she usually took a nap, As he was on his way to leave he heard a bark and Seryu and Koro walked up to him. "Hey Seryu, I'm going Danger Beast hunting" Tatsumi explained.

"That's great to here my fellow soldier for justice, you could certainly use the training, good luck out there, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about, I'm here to tell you Akame wanted to speak with you about something" Seryu stated.

"Alright I guess I have few minutes, heck she may want to go danger beast hunting with me" Tatsumi replied, then headed for Akame's room, where Akame sat on her bed dry eyed from crying.

"Tatsumi, good you've come, now did Kurome ask you anything when you met her?" Akame asked.

"Not much apart from my name and what the hell I was doing with two Imperial Arms" Tatsumi replied.

"Great that's just great now she's going to be suspicious of you, my sister is extremely noisy" Akame noted.

"Hey, Spear told me that Kurome was part of the Elite Seven know anything about that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes I do, I was one of the members, along with Cornelia, Tsukushi, Poney, and Gin, as well as my sister Kurome and our friend Natula, we served the Empire for a number of years carrying out numerous missions, it all changed when Natula died, Kurome wouldn't let go of him and brought him back with a Teigu, after that we found out about the Empire's true face, after we saw that we deserted except Kurome, she stayed on, in spite of her shared outrage she needed the Empire for medicine that only they could provide; as much as my sister may want to change sides she can't for her own survival; I'd hate to have to fight her; she's the only family I have left, I know who parents were and honestly I don't care about them at all, they sold me and Kurome for money, I'd rather they be dead for that, in fact I know they are because we killed them ourselves, that was the requirement the test of loyalty for our joining the Empire, we should've realized then the Empire was evil, but honestly our foster father cared a lot more for us, he may have been an Imperial loyalist but he still cared for us, unlike our actual parents" Akame explained, Tatsumi was horrified at that fact.

"Why though?!" Tatsumi asked.

"Because I was young, naïve, but even if I wasn't I still wouldn't have regretted it, they were terrible people Tatsumi, you don't know what it is like being a slave to the Empire, I can empathize with the poor who have to do it because they had no choice, but my parents were wealthy merchants, the didn't need the money, but they gladly sold us as slaves as if we were nothing but animals and not their own flesh and blood- I'm sorry I just I- I know my parents were evil people but that doesn't excuse the fact that we killed them and did so without remorse, I'd rather not bring up that subject anymore" Akame replied, her blood red eyes losing a lot of their anger.

"It's alright Akame, the past can't be changed, I never knew my parents anyway, I assume they were good people, the most I know about them is that they were killed by bandits when I was a baby, the bandits left me on the road to die, then a traveling farmer from my village took me in and raised me" Tatsumi explained.

"I think I understand, I can see where you're coming from, speaking of what about Sayo and Ieyasu?" Akame asked.

"Their parents are still alive, they're siblings in case you haven't noticed" Tatsumi explained.

"They are? I guess I should've guessed they have the same hair after all and there's the fact that Ieyasu isn't a perv around her" Akame replied.

"Anyway Akame I'm going Danger Beast hunting to test out my new Teigus want to come along?" Tatsumi asked.

"Sure, why not, I've been in the base all day and I can't let my blade-work get sloppy now can I?" Akame replied, the two of them left.

It only took about half an hour to find some suitable targets, or for said targets to find them, a large pack of Class D Danger Beasts Chakhounds came for them. "Dragon armor: Smaug!" Tatsumi yelled and his armor formed around him, the dragon-sword alight in fire. "Blood-Drinker: Valruost!" Tatsumi yelled and the redblade started dripping blood.

"Eliminate!" Akame yelled and the two attacked, the swift katana strikes from Akame felled three of the beasts while the dual swords of Tatsumi felled three more.

"Tatsumi you have the ability to control fire use it" The Dragon armor told him, Tatsumi oblidged sending out a barrage of fire balls which melted the remaining Chakhounds with ease; he turned to Akame who was stunned by the ability he just demonstrated. "That isn't all you are capable off using my abilities, the stronger you become the more powers you will unlock" the Dragon armor told him.

"And the same applies to me as well" the Bloody sword explained.

"I think we're done with this guys, lets see if we can find a tougher egg to crack" Tatsumi replied and Akame laughed.

They continued their hunt until it began to get dark, as Tatsumi hunted and fought more Danger Beasts he found his powers growing stronger and the words of the two blades echoed in him. After concluding the hunt Tatsumi headed back to the Capital and Akame back to HQ, he wasn't hassled by the gate guards as he walked, the way he carried himself inclined them not to ask questions, he then headed down the roads, heading for Spear's home, on the way there he was ambushed by some thugs want his money, he simply unleashed his Teigu and made mincemeat out of the robbers, then continued his way, the overall day had proved quite productive, on his route he maintained his Teigu to allow him to travel to without any trouble coming at him, soon he arrived at Spear's mansion the guards allowed him thru and resumed their posts, he was exhausted the most he did was walk up the stairs drop his swords on floor changed his clothes and collapsed on the bed without so much as word.

The following morning he awoke to Spear's father poking him with his cane. "Wake up my soon to be son-in-law it is your wedding day, I've set out your wedding garb, so change into it; Spear's already left to head to palace, we'll head there as soon as you're ready" Chouri explained, Tatsumi waited for him to leave and then changed into the clothes provided, like the clothes he wore to the palace for the first time they were lavish however these were even more so, with a flompy hat included, it took a few minutes to change then he strapped his swords to his sides, and again lamented his old blade which lay broken on a shelf nearby. He then left and got into the carriage, he had already told Chouri about the new blades and how he had acquired him, they had already agreed to a cover story that he found them in an abandoned temple while danger beast hunting and that they had been bound to him.

The journey to the palace proved again to be uneventful, upon his arrival he was lead to the Grand hall, where to his surprise he recognized Lubbock and Ieyasu among the guests, how Lubbock managed to get in was a mystery, Ieyasu made sense as he was Tatsumi's best friend, a number other people he recognized too included servants from Grundwicke Manor and from Spear's home but also spotted three girls that he recognized from Lubbock's mission to assassinate Bach, while he hadn't been present on said mission he had visited Aria's home the following day and met those who had stayed on at the manor, the three girls were Fal Air and Luna, the looked to be twelve, the same age as the Emperor; too young for him to have any interest in, he was told they were Aria's adopted sisters now; which made him happy to hear because they clearly deserved a better family then the parents who sold them into slavery, they were dressed in matching dresses, they were flower girls, he then looked to the alter where he saw the preist, notably a more respectful man of the gods then Aria's late target, he had made sure that after that incident a worth man was chosen for the ceremony and Chouri had done his part and found an old friend of his that would preform the ceremony, also he noted the number of people gathered, among them was Esdeath who was wearing a very prestigious gown which was noticeably out of character, she was seated with the four Demons but also four other people, he recognized Kurome, but noted two young men, one with light indigo hair and other with blonde hair plus an older man in a mask; the masked man weirded him out, perhaps he wore it because of a scar he had and didn't want to scare children, that and it looked like it was designed for safety, the three men wore suits and that Kurome wore a lovely kimono, the four demons likewise wore outfits suiting them, he couldn't help but notice Suzuka and Mez smile at him as he came up to stand by the alter, clearly they were interested in him.

He noted Honest standing to the side eating an apple, which unfortunately hadn't been poisoned by an Evil Queen out to kill him, if an Evil Queen could be called evil if she wanted that vile man dead. Also he noted the Emperor sitting by Mez and Esdeath where he was again cuddling his bear, but also he was playing with two toy knights as they fought each other in mock battle, Esdeath had her hand on his shoulder lovingly which didn't surprise Tatsumi as according to Aria while Honest may have been the Emperor's regent and Prime Minister he was not his guardian and educator, that duty fell to Esdeath on a last wish of the Emperor, in spite of Honest's attempts to kill her and replace her she still held that important position and Honest wasn't able to remove her because most of the nobles supported her as his educator, Mez though was also his secondary educator and guardian when Esdeath was away on campaign, the two girls were like the mother he never had, well in more ways then one given that both were professional killers.

He stood and waited, after washing his hands in a basin, soon the grand door opened, Tatsumi saw both Spear and Aria, Spear wore a lovely and well decorated dress that was lavender and decorated with wildflowers and dragon lilies, her hair was styled in a fine ponytail, her gown's tail was being held by three bridesmaids; one of which he recognized as Naomi, Yami's sister, the other two he recognized as Spear's handmaids whose names he hadn't be given as he had been out and about for the past two days to get to know people beyond their faces, he then looked at Aria who's wedding gown had a lot in common with a Peacock in that it was bright blue with lavish decorations, yet Aria was surprisingly happy, and couldn't care to much about her dress considering the fact she wasn't taking a slow walk but jogging up the aisle with her three bride's maids Sayo, Yami and Seryu struggling to keep up with her, how those three managed to get roped into the role was beyond him, but considering their friendship with her it wasn't surprising, Aria reached the alter first and immediately hugged him.

"So here we are our big day Tatsumi-kun" Aria greeted.

"You look absolutely lovely Aria-chan" Tatsumi replied.

"What about me" Spear stated coming up.

"You look like a goddess Spear" Tatsumi commented, Spear smiled. Overall the guests smiled apart from Honest who fake smiled, not doing a good job at hiding his disdain and disgust for the whole affair, Tatsumi couldn't give two shits about was Honest thought about him, or about Aria or Spear. The other guests however were genuinely happy and Emperor Makoto was positively euphoric and Esdeath was having trouble making sure he stayed in his chair.

"Ladies, Gentlemen, Lords, nobles, and his Majesty; we gather today in the presence of the Gods; since the dawn of time love has been at the heart of human kind, the gift from the goddess Azi Amira; the loving queen, in her name and that of Ulmo King of the Gods we give these two women to this man in holy bounds of matrimony, may they stay together for eternity, may they bare many children and may their days belong and upon their deaths may their souls stay together in the afterlife; thus in the name of all the gods I bind Tatsumi of no family name to Aria Grundel in marriage and to Spear Chouri in marriage; let them be together for eternity" The Preist blessed. "Do you Tatsumi take Spear Chouri and Aria Grundel as your eternal wives bound by laws of both the world and of the gods" the Priest asked.

"I do" Tatsumi replied stoically.

"Do you Aria Grundel and Spear Chouri take Tatsumi as your husband bound by laws of both the world and of the gods" the Priest asked.

"I do" Both Spear and Aria said at the same time.

"Then by the power invested in me by the Gods I declare you three bound in eternal matrimony, you may kiss the brides and the brides may kiss the groom" the Priest concluded and three kissed, Tatsumi's face was quickly covered in purple and blue lipstick as both Spear and Aria kissed him.

"Now for some refreshments lets eat!" Tatsumi declared then went over to the table where a large cake stood among the center of a table that offered many delights and delicacies from all over the Empire and the world, put together by the master chefs of the Emperor, he and his brides were followed by the Emperor Tatsumi grabbed a plate and a knife and cut the cake, then handed a fork and first slice to Emperor Makoto who was quite happy to receive it then Tatsumi cut a slice for Aria, and then for Spear and finally himself, he then grabbed the figure of himself and his brides and pocketed it. Then they went over to the table and sat next to his wives and the Emperor, who was joined by Esdeath and Mez on either side of him. In spite of his position, the Emperor didn't seem to care too much for table manners as he was too fixated on his cake to really note that his face was covered in frosting as he at the chocolate cake, Tatsumi also noted that the Emperor's hair wasn't black as he thought when he saw him the other day but it was instead dark green, overall though he was just a little kid who happened to be royalty. The fact that Esdeath ate slowly and measurably was noteably but the fact she did so while stopping to make sure the Emperor didn't choke on his cake was notable, honestly Tatsumi thought she looked less like the Empire's greatest General and more like a doting mother making sure her son doesn't hurt himself.

Tatsumi also noted that Honest was living up to his reputation as a glutton as he had two plates filled with cake, multiple slices as well with a servant carrying his silverware and dragging a cart with more food behind, the fact that the man parked himself a good distance away from him was noticeable, it may have been part of his disdain but more likely it was because of the fear for the mother bear that was Esdeath and the team she had with her that was taking up the same row she was sitting with, most likely to protect the Emperor.

All the security was unnessecary in Tatsumi's opinion, there may have been a number of asssasins in the room but none of them had the Emperor as a target, Tatsumi himself couldn't even think about that possibility, he killed his fair share of men and danger beasts, but there was an effecise on the men part of his kills he hadn't so far killed any woman and he was certainly not killing any children, he couldn't bare to lay a finger anger on the young Emperor, not so much for the standing or ethics, the Emperor was way too innocent for this world, it was dark and disturbing, but he was sheltered in the palace a palace that he likely never left, he was both too innocent and too adorable to harm; he was just a kid. Soon Tatsumi finished with his cake then went over and plated up some food and came back. A servent offered him a drink of wine, before he could take a drink from it, Aria grabbed it and sniffed it, she then spilled the glass off the side off the side of the table, though she made it look like an accident.

"Seriously Honest, trying to kill me at my own wedding, also that wasn't even remotely subtle" Tatsumi thought, "Granted I would've fallen for it, poison wine at a wedding, classic but Aria's way sharper then I am" he continued to think.

"Sorry your majesty for the mess" Aria apologized.

"It's no problem I've made bigger messes" Emperor Makoto replied with a smirk, which caused Mez to grin.

"That wasn't subtle not even remotely" Aria whispered to Tatsumi.

"You're telling me, the oldest trick in the assassin's play book and I nearly fell for it" Tatsumi replied. "What was in it anyway?" Tatsumi asked.

"Fangbloom poison, comes from a flower that grows wild, I've got some experience with it, its clever, too it's often called the Strangler because of the effect it has on it's victims, fortunately it leaves an interesting smell when put into wine, it make the wine sour, I know for a fact the Emperor wouldn't serve sour wine on occasion, so it was clearly poisoned" Aria replied.

"I'll get my own wine" Tatsumi stated getting up, then walked over to closed bottle opened it up with a corkscrew then pulled himself some of vintage 23,348 wine, then took a drink it was delicious, then headed back to the table. Mez took the Emperor to get more food leaving Esdeath with Tatsumi.

"That wasn't very clever of Honest" Esdeath remarked.

"Yes poison at a wedding, he really will have to try harder if he wants to kill me" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, but in shows your lack of attention, try to keep a better eye out in the future" Esdeath explained.

"I'll work on it, trust me though I will now be getting my own drinks whenever I come to the palace, at least while Honest is around" Tatsumi explained.

"That's good, but if you think Honest is your only enemy in the capital you are even more naïve then I thought, Naïve only though, not weak, one does not subject two Teigus to their will and be weak, you interest me though Tatsumi" Esdeath replied. "I'm having a tournament next week, I've sent for the strongest men in the Empire to prove their might, the winner gets a great reward, I'm sure you're interested" Esdeath invited.

"A chance to prove my worth, gladly, and grand prize well that's even better, sure I'll be there Esdeath" Tatsumi accepted.

"Good very good, anyway I'd like to introduce you to my team the Jaegers: the two young men are Run and Wave, Wave is my lieutenant he has been at my side for a number of years and is a decorated soldier while Run is a newcomer on the scene, the man in the mask is Bols don't let it scare you, he wears it because of some battle scars, he's a good fighter and used to be part of the Capital's incineration squad, the girl with black hair in the Kimono is Kurome one of the Elite Seven, the other are three of the Rakshasa Demons, Ibara, Sten and Suzuka who is sitting next to yours truly, Mez is the fourth member and she is acts as the Emperor's guardian when I'm not around" Esdeath explained.

"Forgive my ignorance but what is the Incineration Squad, the name makes me uneasy" Tatsumi asked.

"An Incineration Squad is sent forth to deal with the capitals most dangerous enemies, they also hunt Danger beasts and burn their dens, the Incineration Squad from the Capital has the highest success rate in their missions; Bols is one of their more decorated members" Esdeath explained. Makoto returned with a plate of Roast Goose, a large amount of freshly mashed potatoes, a cup of lighter wine, and more exotic foods. The feast lasted for a number of hours, soon only the bedding remained, and Tatsumi and his brides were lead to private suite on one side of the palace to the cat calls of the people who followed them, they walked inside the room and locked the door, leaving the guests to leave them alone.

"This is an amazing room" Tatsumi remarked.

"It is, I've stayed in one of these rooms before, but not this one" Aria remarked, the two brides lead him to a grand king sized bed which was made of redwood frame and decorated with real gold and silver, the pillows were also threaded with real sliver and stuffed with goose feathers, the bedding was of the finest silk, no windows allowed anyone to look into the room, as the room was built in part of the place that was centrally located, the room was also secure, in fact three Jaegers on the Emperor's orders stood guard out front, mostly at Tatsumi's request, Tatsumi helped Spear and Aria out of their gowns, and they helped him out of the noble's clothes he had been wearing something which was a relief as the had been semi-uncomfortable. The two brides now wore only their garter belts and stockings and no other clothing bar Aria's headband, Tatsumi had nothing on at all, he lay back on the bed and looked at them, Spear's nice D-cup breasts were perky, though she had some scars, Tatsumi thought they were obviously battle scars, in contrast Aria had no such scars, her body was as unscarred as the day she was born in spite of her membership in Night Raid.

Considering the fact that Aria already had her first time with Tatsumi with that is was no surprise that Spear went first, her barrier was broken as she impaled herself on Tatsumi's length, she felt no pain as her training in the ways of the Imperial Fists allowed her to ignore pain, it didn't however allow her to ignore pleasure which was a relief because it was something Spear herself never felt before to a point where she orgasmed on the spot. As Tatsumi and Spear made love Aria allowed Tatsumi to drink from her sweet D cup breasts, causing her to moan in delight, they continued like this for some time with Tatsumi alternating between kissing Aria, then sucking her breasts or doing the same with Spear as he pulled her up to do so, his fatigue was not to be put up with, eventually though he released giving Spear his seed which struck home though not to his knowledge he then alternated forms and did something that he had been wanting to for three days now and that was mounting Spear's ass, it was absurdly tight, in fact it was tighter then any girl he had been with so far, and that included Najenda who was extremely tight in that department. The security brought by the doors was great enough, Honest did try to send some assassins but these were scared off by Run who simply gave them a look that said "Do you have a deathwish?" and they ran off.

Tatsumi licked Aria's pussy as he did Spear as Aria sat on her, granted Spear could take it, she'd borne heavier loads, having Aria moan however made Tatsumi even more flustered and thus caused him to finish sooner, the next thing he knew he was unloading as was Aria, then pulling out and Aria moved off Spear and he moved into, her he attempted Missionary style but Aria pushed him back down and had Spear sit on his face, remembering his lessons from Vatima he licked Spear's loins while putting two fingers into it and fingered it, Spear's moans were even louder then before, Tatsumi used his free hand to grab her breasts and massaged them, as his thrusts into Aria continued, eventually after ten minutes this too came to an end, and Tatsumi was dismounted by both, he then entered Aria's rear end, cupping both butt-cheeks as he did so, she was happy blushing a cherry red blush, while Spear massaged his back with her breasts.

The continued their love making for hours as the night grew long, and they soon passed out.

One week later…. Tatsumi had come to the Capital's Grand Arena accompanied by his usual entourage of friends, those who didn't have wanted posters that while they were not exact images would still attract attention, fortunately Tatsumi wasn't one of them, the previous Week had been rather dull apart from his Danger Beast hunts with Akame and his sexy times with his new wives and his two lovers in Night Raid; the reason for the dullness was because Najenda has decided for the group to lie low for a long while, due to Esdeath. Speaking of said General she had been hard at work looking for whereabouts of Night Raid the most she could do was find the Old base which had since been infested with Danger Beasts, other then that the most she had to work with were sketchy witness reports, a lot of mangled corpses and a team of Professional Killers in the Jaegers whose records indicated they had a lot of experience in their chosen profession of being professional killers, each member had a list of accomplishments that could fill four filing cabinets for each one, overall between them they had thousands of kills save Esdeath who's death count was in the millions, Tatsumi was amazed most by the fact that she had buried a Northern Army of 400,000 alive with her Teigu, which he found out gave her control of Ice magic, the overall extent which she could use this power was beyond him.

Speaking of power, Tatsumi had been training non-stop in order to gain mastery over his Teigus, while he was far from mastering them he now had a Journeyman's skill in using them, in addition to his own fighting expertise. He wouldn't be using those in the competition for the fact that Teigus were not allowed to be used though he had brought them with him, instead he was sporting his own sword, which Spear had had reforged by him, also it was now decorated with a golden hilt studded with gems, hilt had handguard on it so as to allow Tatsumi better control over the weapon.

He walked into the Arena where the other opponents sat at the ready, because this was Esdeath's competition, there could only be one winner and that was the last man standing, in other words Tatsumi wasn't just proving his martial skill but fighting for his life, what prize could be worth a death match was unknown to him, other then that Esdeath said it was a prize worth dying for; so he assumed it to be monumental sum, perhaps a title of nobility with the rank of a Marquis or Duke and the land that went with it. Tatsumi was clad in the garb of one of the fighters, they wore only leather armor, each warrior was equipped with the weapon they brought with them; Tatsumi trusted his sword to get him thru.

Soon the combatents had gathered in the Arena and the fight commenced, it was an all out battle royal, with men falling left to right, each being killed in a brutal fashion, Tatsumi dodged and countered his way thru combatants, felling them with Decapatations, bisections and a number of other kill moves, even going to far as cave a man's face in with the pommul of his sword, before turning to cleave another attacker clean in half, along with a man who was trying to stab said attacker in the back, one of the most serious things happened when a group of 6 guys teamed up to attack him at once, Tatsumi preformed a 360 degree swing decapitating all of them with a clean slice, he hadn't kept track of how many he had killed so far but there were few left standing, these were brawny men who towered over him, then again Ogre had towered over Tatsumi and that hadn't helped him against him, Tatsumi side stepped their charges and felled them one by one as if they were trees in the path a giant's axe.

Eventually Tatsumi was only man left standing, he was covered in blood none of it his own, his sword was stained as well and he embedded his blade in the back of his final mortally wounded opponent to the applause of the audience. "Were you all entertained?!" Tatsumi asked to the roar of the crowd. "Here stand's before you be greatest swordsman in the Empire, no the World, I've proven it I alone stand!" Tatsumi continued to more thunderous applause. "Well I've done my work where is my prize?" Tatsumi asked.

"Your prize Tatsumi will be waiting for you in the Palace I will take you there personally" Esdeath replied.

Shortly. Tatsumi was led away by Esdeath and her fellow Jaegers to the palace, he was excited whatever Esdeath had in store as a reward likely came from the Emperor himself, he had changed into normal attire and recovered his Teigus then was escorted into a carriage by Esdeath, who he noticed was wearing a simple white dress which has no sleaves in addition to her boots she also wore a laurel in her hair, she had him sit down next to her which he did without question, not wanting to do anything to get into her bad books, Najenda had told him a lot about what would happen to him if Esdeath considered him an enemy and he didn't intend to let that happen to him. The Journey to the Palace proved to both short and uneventfull, apperantly troublemakers didn't want to have anything to do with going after a carriage guarded by the Jaegers, he got out and was led off by Esdeath, he was unfamilier with the Palace despite his two visits, both times he had guides so he treated this the same, he failed to notice Esdeath's body language; which would have let him know how she currently felt, he didn't bother her with questions, she said the reward was in the Palace and that was that, he didn't want to know what it was because that would spoil the surprise.

Esdeath led Tatsumi a room, It was a guest chamber near the Emperor's quarters, Tatsumi assumed that the prize was in there because Esdeath didn't trust anyone else to keep it safe, something about the whole thing seemed off, but not in a bad way it felt just weird. Tatsumi was lead into the room, he didn't notice that Wave and Run locked the door behind him, he was then lead along to a bedroom which surprised him even more, he heard the door lock this time however and turned to see Esdeath kick off her boots. "Now to your reward, You Tatsumi have earned something that no one has ever achieved" Esdeath explained an pulled from her breasts a scroll which she handed to him, Tatsumi read it, the scroll described in detail the qualities that embodied the perfect man, Power, skill, good looks, and notably something extremely rare for a man Green eyes. "You see now, since I was 13 and in the Empire's Army I've had this scroll, I found it with my Teigu Demon's Extract, everyone who attempted to tame the Demon's extract before me went insane and killed themselves, I tamed it you see that it was only meant to be wielded by a woman and a strong one at that, I wield it, it flows thru my blood, the scroll however told me that only the strongest man is fit to be with the woman who bares Demon's Extract, I've spent the pass ten years of my life searching for that man, many have been brought before me, all of them unworthy, the broke not being able to pass the trial of strength outlined in the scroll, they are all dead, in this world Tatsumi the weak die and the strong survive and thrive, you however are interesting, you are like me; you grew up in obscurity only to rise to fame rather quickly, like me you've killed people though not as many nor as grand as my feats, the only difference between us is our names, our age, and our gender; other then that we are in many ways the same, you have proven yourself worthy and have earned the greatest treasure in world, more then wealth, more then glory, you've earned love, the love of the most powerful woman and most beautiful woman in the world: Myself!" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi was shocked by this revelation but he stood his ground not showing any weakness and dropped his weapons to the ground.

Esdeath smirked at this and walked slowly over to him. Tatsumi only had one option of getting out of the situation and that was to do what Esdeath intended, not that he had anything wrong with beautiful women wanting to get in his pants, the fact that the Empire's finest though had essentially kidnapped him for the purpose of doing so was the problem, or was it, he had gone with her willingly, he had won the tournament fair and square, all he had to do was go along with Esdeath's plan and he would be alive at the end of it all, there was no way of fighting her, she was too powerful especially, also she wasn't trying to kill him, all she wanted was his love, he realized that she went about it this way because it was the only way she knew about going about it, the real danger was if he didn't please her, she said that every other man who tried to tame her had died, he assumed most of them she killed herself, which made her a bit like a Black widow Spider only that said spider didn't kill you after mating, she did so if you weren't worthy of being her mate. But she wasn't like the spider, she did have a soft caring side as demonstrated by her feelings for the Emperor, who was like a surrogate son, if she was capable of treating a child with kindness what was to say she wouldn't do so with the love of her life.

"Esdeath, I accept, I'm alright with this on one condition: Don't harm anyone I care for" Tatsumi explained.

"I wouldn't dream of doing so my Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath replied.

"Great now she's given me a nickname one I'm going to have to live with for the rest of my life, I bet Ieyasu will be an idiot about this and call me it non-stop just to mock me" Tatsumi thought, he let her come close and at the same time they kissed, it was cold but warm at the same time, she felt cold as she pressed herself against him but he felt warm to her touch, Esdeath still towered over him easily with her 6'8 height which made her all the more imposing, though Tatsumi wasn't far behind in that department so could at least kiss her without requiring him to stand on his toes or for her to lean down, something about the whole situation was wrong, but knew that if he resisted he would make it worse. He couldn't help but think about the irony of the situation; he was he one of Night Raid's top assassins, here in the royal palace, making out with the Empire's greatest General someone who under normal circumstances would be his enemy, yet here he was passionately kissing her, it became apperant though she wanted to go beyond kissing when Esdeath removed her dress, she wore no clothing underneath it, so she was as naked as the day she was born, her long blue hair flowing behind like a cape, the next thing he knew she tackled him onto the bed and he found himself stripped of every article of clothing, half by him and other half by Esdeath. His lips were kissed by more forceful kiss and she impaled herself onto him and into her as their genitals fused "YES! FINALLY I'VE FOUND MY TRUE LOVE!" She yelled out as she gyrated up and down, she then made out with him like mad.

This whole affair was both awkward and amazing at the same time, he didn't bother changing forms as Esdeath was in control at the moment, he didn't want her disapprove and suddenly conjure up an ice knife and carve out his heart, he did however take some moves pulled her downward so he could nurse from her breasts, something which was quite happy with if her half moan half scream was any indication, his hands ravished her bum and her breasts, she planted kisses on him and soon he was festooned with blue lipstick marks on his face, he kissed back and did so eagerly, eventually she turned him over taking the Missionary form and pulled him into an even more sweeter kiss as his massaged her f-cup breasts which were the largest he had ever seen, he eventually forgot the reason he had problems with this in the first place as he thought "How the hell can I resist a girl with F-sized tits, much less one who is thoroughly willing to have sex with me and views me as her one true love, I can- wait she loves me more than anything, that means I might- ya I might get her to change sides and help overthrow Honest; she clearly hates his guts, but how do I do that, I'll think on it later, hopefully this isn't just a dream, because if it is I am seriously going to go out and kill 100 danger beasts as a warm up then 1,000 more then take them Esdeath just to impress her" Tatsumi thought. Presently he had reached his limit, he did not even consider pulling out, she clearly wanted his child and he would not disappoint her, eventually he unloaded, sending an avalanche of his seed into her, not knowing if one of them struck home which they hadn't, Esdeath orgasmed the same. He then pulled out and she flipped over to inviting him into her rear, again to no pain and moans of joy. Tatsumi and Esdeath continued like this for hours even as night fell and soon they passed out asleep in each others arms hoping that what happened was not a dream and never was a dream because the two of them had just had the best time of their lives.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Meet the Jaegers

Morning came and Tatsumi yawned, he felt like any man would have felt had he been laid the night before, he opened his eyes noting the legs entangled with his own, he turned expecting to see Aria or Spear, then noticed long mess of blue hair which could only belong to one person. "Shit Esdeath! So what happened last night wasn't a dream I actually banged the Empire's finest, no she's in love with me, what to do? What to do? Think Tatsumi think, first off you are a member of Night Raid, the assassin group that is the Empire's number one enemy at the moment, she's the Empire's best general and the woman tasked to hunt down your group, yet here you are, literally in bed with the enemy, no the enemy is in love with you" Tatsumi thought. "Now wait, first off she doesn't know you're part of Night Raid, the most she knows is that you're some hick from the countryside that has risen to nobility because you killed the Three Beasts and saved one of the Empire's most important leaders and married his daughter as a reward and in addition to that the daughter of another powerful noble family, plus you have two Teigus, now how to approach this" Tatsumi continued thinking. He thought hard about the next part, first off she had no idea about his membership or any association to Night Raid, but she did know that he was a beast of a warrior one who killed the Three Beasts her best warriors, she hates Honest, you hate Honest, you share an enemy, and remember one of the most important rules of warfare, the enemy of your enemy is your friend, unless said enemy hates you more, but how to win her over, he couldn't just mention he was part of Night Raid and ask her to join, that would be suicide and would cause an absurdly painful death considering the fact that he had taken her virginity, no that would take time to get her to change sides. Speaking of Night Raid there was another issue, how the hell was he going to explain to Najenda and the others that he managed to get into bed with the Empire's best General much less that she was madly in love with him, another question was how the hell was he going to keep her from killing his friends before he could get her to change sides.

Tatsumi's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a pair of hands wrap around his chest and felt a pair of large breasts press against his back. He turned and found a pair of icy blue eyes looking into his, not with any signs of malice, but with genuine care and love, also with a degree of are you going to be there for me in them. "Good morning my Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted, Tatsumi had to surprise an urge to faint as well as one to scream both of which he succeeded.

"Good morning Esdeath-chan" Tatsumi greeted in his most relaxed voice possible in the moment.

"I'm so glad last night's experience wasn't a dream are you?" Esdeath replied.

"Sure as hell am, I'm not sure what to think, for all I know this itself may be a dream, in fact my whole life after leaving my village may have been a dream and I'm passed out in a barn somewhere waking for Sayo to smack me awake" Tatsumi replied.

"Sayo?" Esdeath asked curious.

"Oh, she's a friend of mine, she's from the same place as me, you probably saw her at my wedding, she was one of Aria's bridesmaids, the one with the long black hair and the butterfly hairpin" Tatsumi explained.

"Ah, her, she seemed nice and good, you two are friends and nothing more?" Esdeath asked, her face one of curiousity and amusement, Tatsumi was not even remotely sure how to gage her body language, he had been completely blind to her intentions the night before until she handed him her scroll and told him about them point blank.

"She was my first kiss, my second love and would have been my first partner if her brother Ieyasu hadn't ruined the moment, there is another girl I have feelings for from my home villiage Karsawa but she left last year to adventure, she tried to convince us to go with her but we had other priorities, she's the one who made my sword" Tatsumi replied, granted their relationship hadn't progress further as that incident happened the day before they left, and they hadn't had the luxury to take it any further due to being constantly busy with Night Raid work. He did plan however to see about correcting that soon provided he managed to find way out of the current situation he was in being literally in the hands of the enemy, the surprisingly warm hands given her abilities with ice magic.

"Who is the other girl?" Esdeath asked, Tatsumi smiled.

"Her name is Clementine, I call her Clem for short, she's the daughter of the villiage blacksmith, I learned how to smith and craft to both impress her and her father, she made that sword I used in the tournament" Tatsumi explained. "By the way I know it looks a bit too fine for having been made in the village its because had to have someone reforge it, it broke during what has got to have been an extremely hard fight and a narrow win on my part" Tatsumi added than before she could ask further he changed the subject. "So how are you feeling this morning?" Tatsumi asked trying to make small talk, the best thing he could think of at the moment, in fact, his plan for the moment other than surviving the encounter with the Empire's finest was getting to understand her, most of what he knew about her came second hand, granted Najenda was a reliable source but even she couldn't offer the insight gained from actually talking with Esdeath about herself also since he had just disclosed his love life it was best to change the subject. "To defeat your enemy you must know your enemy, understand their very nature, their art, their culture, only then will you be able to defeat them" a wise military leader once said, Tatsumi was keeping that in mind.

"Right now refreshed and in the mood for more" Esdeath replied and smirked seductively, Tatsumi decided it would be prudent and wise to oblige to her wishes especially given her lust for more of last nights encounter was overriding her desire for talk. Thus he turned around kissed her and they began to tumble, this time Esdeath let him take the lead as he was more experienced, her breasts wrapped around his length and he experienced the best paizuri ever, to the degree even Najenda couldn't compete with, when they said she was the Empire's Finest Esdeath was certainly that and more. They continued to tumble for about half an hour until they were both satisfied.

"So Tatsumi tell me more about yourself" Esdeath requested, Tatsumi then told her as much as he could regarding himself without exposing his or anyone else's involvement in Night Raid, some of the members had wanted posters, but the exact strength and numbers of the group were unknown to anyone outside of the highest ranked leaders of the Revolutionary Army and only a select few at that, this was helped further by the fact that the group only sent small teams at a time to hit specific targets in lightning strikes that were carried out quickly and left no eyewitnesses that could offer exact specifics as to who was in the group and even then the posters illustrations were hardly accurate, Bulet's poster, for example, looked nothing remotely like him which allowed him to move about freely, Esdeath had spotty information at best to work with, and unless she was able to pull off extreme levels of deduction and logic she would not be able to figure out exactly what she was up against. The most he did tell her was enough to make Esdeath satisfied enough.

"Now tell me about yourself Esdeath, I'd like to know a lot more about the Empire's finest, how much of it is truth and how much is legend" Tatsumi asked. The Empire's finest then told her about herself, how she was orphaned at a young age and that she belonged to the Patras tribe, she explained her early days in the arena, her rise to prominence, how she acquired Demon's extract, how she rose to her rank, how she won many of her major battles, what exactly was truth and what was propaganda, how she felt about her decisions, her abilities, her limits, her flaws, her strengths, the amount of informations she gave him allowed him to paint a clear picture of who exactly General Esdeath Patras was. The next question he asked himself was could he love a woman like her? Yes and no; Yes he could, but she needed to really go thru some serious changes in order to make their relationship work long-term, otherwise they were at risk of ending each other's lives in battle royal. The next question he had to ask was what happened next. "Alright now we know more about each other what do we do next?" Tatsumi asked, this was a question that Esdeath was not surprised by, she knew he was delaying this question as he wanted for them to get to know each other first.

"Well what happens next? That is a question that has many answers, first things first I can't just keep you here indefinitely, as much as I would like to spend time with you for the rest of our lives here, I cannot we, both have our roles, you have to return to your family, I have to return to my role as the Empire's best general and the leader of the Jaegers, now ordinarally I'd ask you to join my group, but given that you are so important to me I'm going to give a lot longer to think about it, and beforehand I want you to met the membership as stands, I'm still recruiting, at the moment I'm minus a scientist, I was intending on recruiting Dr Stylish to my group but his recent demise at the hands of Night Raid has changed my plans and thus requires me to find a suitable replacement, hopefully one will be found soon, also there are other things to consider you have to see your family and friends, I'm sure they're worried sick about you I'm sure Lady Grundel and Chouri are frantic about you, best you return to them fine and unharmed, now comes an more important subject, as you know we are lovers, but this kind of relationship could lead to a scandal, one that could result in a number of bad things happening, to prevent that we must marry, I will see that the preperations be made in advance, no need to trouble yourself" Esdeath explained. "Now as our relationship, I can tell you're worried about how it is going to work out, let me be honest with you, I'm willing to do what I have to do to please you my love, just as much as I'm to do whatever it takes to win, I would conquer the whole world for you if it means I win your undying love" Esdeath followed up.

Tatsumi was relieved, Esdeath wasn't going to keep him locked in her chambers like some personal slave, no she was intending to treat him as a loving spouse, now the real question was did she really mean what she said by that she would do anything for him, did that mean she would change sides and join Night Raid, that was too much to assume he would have to earn her trust further, butter her up very significantly to get her to go near that bridge. They redressed, Tatsumi dawning his ordinary attire and Esdeath her uniform, they then kissed and strolled out of the room, then out of the main room into the hall where Run and Wave still stood guard. "Now speaking of the Jaegers Tatsumi I would like you to meet the first two members: This is Run and this is Wave" Esdeath introduced. Run was a young man with fair blond hair and golden eyes. He wore a white robe on top of a black shirt and pants with a brown belt, a feather pin behind his ear and a collar-like accessory on his neck. While Wave was a fairly muscular young man of above average height with short dark blue hair and eyes. Like Tatsumi, he also had a cowlick. He wore a blue leather jacket and a red scarf with an anchor on it. The scarf he said was his symbol of justice. Under that was a white shirt with a single blue line down the middle. He also wore a pair of grey jeans with a belt and dark blue boots.

"Nice to meet you two" Tatsumi greeted.

"Hey nice to meet you as well, good one on you for getting Esdeath's affection I thought I'd never see the day" Run replied.

"I second that, you are a man among men Tatsumi" Wave replied.

"I'm glad that you three get along so well, now I need you two to get the other members of our group and gather them in our meeting hall, I must see to something important" Esdeath stated. "Tatsumi come with me, there is someone you need to meet" Esdeath stated, and Tatsumi followed without question.

Esdeath led him to a large door outside which the Four Rakshasa Demons stood guard, they parted allowing them to pass. The Door opened to reveal a large room, inside it was decorated with the most lavish decorations possible but also a large amount of kids things, toys of the finest craftsmenship, large fort made of fine pillows and sheets, a shelve full of stuffed animals, a wall adorned by toy swords as well as real ones, the centerpiece was a grand bed but one clearly made for a child, near the bed was nightstand and on it was pillow on which the Imperial crown rested, next to this pillow was a photograph, Tatsumi couldn't make it out from the distance but he could tell who the room belonged to. The room's owner was currently fast asleep snoring loudly with a polar teddy bear in his arms, Emperor Makoto yawned then moved a bit before sleeping, Esdeath walked up to the bed with Tatsumi following her. As he got closer to the bed he could now make out the photograph, the picture showed five people, a man in his late twenties, a women in her mid twenties, and three children, one boy and two girls, the man wore glasses and had dark black hair, the woman had green hair, the two girls were clearly twins one with black hair and other with green hair, the boy was easily recognizable as Makoto, the man was clearly his father the previous Emperor the woman his mother, and the two girls his younger sisters, neither of which Tatsumi had met, though he had seen two girls like them at his wedding sitting next to the Jaegers, so while he hadn't been introduced the two six year old girls were alive and breathing, which allowed him a degree of relief, Makoto knew nothing about how evil Honest was, and had an alarming visual of Honest putting the two into a pie and feeding it to Makoto, which was disheartening.

"Makoto-san its morning" Esdeath stated nudged the sleeping boy.

"Five more minutes mom" Makoto mumbled.

"Its me Esdeath-nee, there is someone here to see you" Esdeath noted.

"Tell Honest-san to go away" he mumbled back starting to wake up properly.

"It's not Honest, fortunately, I know how much he bores you, its someone special" Esdeath reassured, this allowed Makoto to wake up and notice Tatsumi.

"Tatsumi-san?! What are you doing here?" Makoto asked.

"Esdeath brought me here" Tatsumi explained.

"Why Esdeath-nee?" he asked curiously, not angry or annoyed.

"Because Tatsumi-kun won a tournament I held, I invited him here to receive his prize, he did and I had him stay the night here in the palace" Esdeath explained.

"That's good, Tatsumi did you enjoy your prize, I hope it was something special, Esdeath-nee gives the best presents" Makoto asked.

"Oh I enjoyed it, she really does give the best presents" Tatsumi replied, the young Emperor got out of his bed still holding his bear, which he held in one hand and put on his crown, before putting Snow-Snow down to go grab a change of clothes, Esdeath went with him to help him dress, then came back with him a few minutes later.

"Tatsumi-kun is going to be coming to the palace a lot more Makoto-san, he's now my most important advisor, I know this may be sudden but things in life change rather suddenly, don't worry I won't let him get into too much trouble and he won't try to boss you around if he knows what's good for him am I right Tatsumi-kun?" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi nodded, knowing that getting on the Emperor's bad side was just as bad as getting on Esdeath's bad side as the two were nearly two sides of the same coin. "Anyway I want you two to get to know each other, I figured it would be an important thing for the two of you as you're both going to be around each other a lot in the future" Esdeath explained.

"Alright Esdeath-nee, I love meeting new people, come over here Tatsumi lets play knights and dragons" Makoto replied and lead Tatsumi over to a nearby table. "So the way this works is that the dragon sits next to his treasure and his captured princess, the knights try to rescue the princess and beat the dragon, all you have to do as the dragon is stop the knights, but you have to worry about them, because as everyone knows a knight's job is to kill dragons" Makoto explained, so the game began, Tatsumi had no idea what he was doing, but Makoto helped him understand the rules, despite this Makoto won the game and not thru lack of trying on Tatsumi's part but thru the fact he was easily a better player. "Ok now you be the knights and I'll be the dragon" Makoto said, and once again they began the game, this time Tatsumi had an easier time as the knights were easier to play as, however with this in mind Makoto was still a better player but this time he won barely.

"Yay that was fun! Let's play something else!" Makoto stated then led him to table to play chess, once again Tatsumi found himself surprised by how good the young Emperor was at the game, now he wasn't a genius but he was sharp, about as sharp as himself Tatsumi relized, eventually he made a dumb move that cost him the game as he found his king trapped in checkmate. Eventually Honest came to the Emperor's room, his jaw dropped at the sight before him, it was Tatsumi in the palace, again, and not just in the palace but playing games with the Emperor while Esdeath just watched, on top of that Honest had no clue how the hell he managed to get in in the first place, nor why the hell Esdeath and the Four Rakshasa Demons allowed him to get so close to his puppet. Tatsumi smilled at Honest's poker face.

"Hello Prime Minster Honest, want to place chess with me or the Emperor" Tatsumi greeted, causing Honest to once again be taken aback, Tatsumi smirked and Esdeath laughed at the hilarity of the situation and Makoto made faces at Honest making fun of his current state of appearance.

It took a few moments for Honest to recover his composure and a few more to figure out how to respond to the situation. "Good Morning your majesty, General Esdeath, and Tatsumi, I have no idea how to address you at the moment, I came to inform his highness that there are matter of court for him to attend to, yet here I find you playing games with him" Honest stated.

"And we're having fun, here, you're usually a spoilsport Honest-san, so as the Emperor I decree you must play a game of chess with Tatsumi-san, if you win I go with you to do boring things, but if he wins, you go do all that without me and I get lots of candy for dinner and you have to watch me it and don't get any of it" Makoto replied, Honest sighed, realizing he had been outmaneuvered, his puppet was getting too smart for his own good, Esdeath was clearly wearing off on him, but now this new player had entered the game, one that Honest was trying to his damndest to remove from it. Being that he had no choice in the matter he walked over to the table where the chessboard was as Makoto offered him his seat, Honest sat down his bulk causing the chair to groan under his weight, fortunately it was made of strong redwood timbers which allowed it to tank the abuse.

"I get first move, as I play with white" Honest explained.

"I know the rules, question is do you abide by them" Tatsumi replied, he was smart enough to realize that Honest wasn't going to play fair.

Honest didn't responded to the bait but instead moved a pawn out, Tatsumi eliminated the possibility of a four move checkmate by moving his knight. Honest then adjusted his plan realizing he was dealing with a smart person, the next moves between the two were probing moves trying to figure out the other's defense, then Tatsumi made an interest maneuver that put his bishop near a set of pawns which Honest gambled by attacking the bishop with his queen, Honest's mistake proved fatal as he had fallen for a trap, he had been focused on the pawns which couldn't attack the queen and ignored a knight which Tatsumi used to take the queen, Honest then attempted some moving about, then tricked Tatsumi into looking behind him, he then attempted to move his queen back onto the board before he felt a crushing iron grip around his wrist. " I was just testing you, do you really think I'd fall for that trick? Please if you are going to cheat at least be subtle about it" Tatsumi rebuked glaring into Honest's eyes, causing him to drop the Queen to the side. "Your move" Tatsumi commented with an impassive expression.

Honest's next moves proved to be cunning, they cost Tatsumi three pawns, a knight and a rook, Tatsumi's counters cost Honest more as his white lane bishop moved to take out three pieces one after the other, snatching both Honest's Knights and his left side rook. Another turn later Honest moved another pawn to screen the advance of his second bishop, moving it next to Tatsumi's Queen, ignoring the face it was protected by three other pieces, the weakest of these proved to be another pawn which he moved to take the opposing piece, Honest then castled, giving Tatsumi an opening, Honest had failed to notice that the back row on his right side was exposed, while his king had been safe where it was it was now in danger of being in check not that Honest noted this he was intending to use the rook to try and eliminate the knight that was protecting Tatsumi's king: Tatsumi moved his Queen. "Check" Tatsumi stated, Honest moved his king, Tatsumi moved the queen to take the rook, Honest motioned to move his king to take the Queen but Tatsumi shook his head, the Queen was protected by his white land bishop, Honest not having another option simply moved his king to one side out of the Queen's zone of control, Tatsumi replied by moving his rook to that row, the King was stuck behind a pawn that Honest hadn't moved.

"Checkmate" Tatsumi explained then smiled a pleasant smile, Honest frowned, restrained his desire to beat Tatsumi to a pulp and eat him raw then sighed.

"Checkmate it is, you are good player for someone from the countryside" Honest commented, Tatsumi wasn't sure whether that was a sincere complement or a hollow one that meant nothing, Honest proved a difficult person to read, but at the same time Tatsumi made an extremely good effort at making sure Honest couldn't read him, the overall stand off was noted by Esdeath.

"He is better then I thought" Esdeath thought, truly there was no denying that she had chosen right in taking him as her lover.

"YAY! I don't have to boring things for the rest of the day! Come on Esdeath-nee dance with me, do the Victory dance" Makoto cheered. "OH YA! I WON! IN YOUR FACE! IN YOUR FACE!" Both Makoto and Esdeath yelled while dancing in the most show off manner as possible, Tatsumi joined in, while Honest stewed angry that now he had to manage all the court proceedings while his puppet played with his toys all day and on top of that he had watch him eat candy in front of him. "Honest san I order you to get Koko-Ni and Lin-Ni so I can play with them" Makoto ordered, the Prime Minister walked off and returned shortly with two little girls, both in imperial garb, one had her short black hair in braids other had her short black hair down, the had mini crowns on their heads and both had different eyes, one had blue eyes the other black. "Thanks Honest-san now get out and get to work! 1, 2, 3,4 march!" Makoto ordered and the Prime minister stormed off with as much dignanity he could muster.

"I thought he'd never leave" Esdeath remarked.

"Yes now that no-fun Honest is going to leave me alone for once I can play with sisters for the first time in a while: these are my sisters; this is Koko, and this is Lin" Makoto introduced.

"Hi I'm Tatsumi" Tatsumi greeted.

"Nice to meet you Tatsumi-san" Lin stated shacking his hand with a surprisingly strong grip.

"Hi" Koko greeted.

"They are so special to me, there the only family I have left since my mom and dad died" Makoto explained.

"About your parents can you tell me more about them your majesty?" Tatsumi asked.

"My mom was the sweetest person in the whole world, she was the gardener for the palace, she planted so many lovely flowers, she met my dad and he fell immediately in love with her, they married within a week, then they had me, and few years later Koko and Lin, then they died, and I was put in charge, Honest san has been running the kingdom and he does a good enough job but he is bossy and not fun" Makoto stated.

"How did the die?" Tatsumi asked.

"I don't remember too well, the man who checked their bodies said that my father died from being stabbed to death, my mother, her body was too horrible for me to see, they told she had bad things do to her, pieces of her were missing, at least I got to see her lovely face on more time before they buried her but she wasn't happy she was scared, Dad was not scared though, he was calm almost as if accepted death when it came for him" Makoto explained then began crying.

"I'm sorry your majesty I know how you feel, I never knew my parents, they died when I was a baby they were killed by bad men; I was found by a farmer who took me in and raised me" Tatsumi reassured, the boy emperor stopped crying.

"I'm glad to here that, I'm glad to know that Esdeath-nee and I aren't the only ones who lost their parents" Makoto stated and hugged Tatsumi, a gesture he hadn't expected given the standing. " You know if we were different people you know I wish I had someone like you as my daddy, I loved my dad and mom a lot but its not the same not having someone to talk about your problems with, that's why Esdeath-nee and Mez-ne are so important to me" Makoto explained.

"I thank you for your time your majesty, I have to go now though my friends are definitely worried sick about me" Tatsumi replied, the Emperor shook his hand and he and Esdeath left the room.

"Your friends are definitely going to be concerned about where you've been these past 24 hours, as much as I want to introduce you to the rest of my team it's best that you go and find and reassure them of your safety, also best to let them know about our relationship Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath explained.

"Thanks for that Esdeath, I'll have to explain everything, bar the nickname Ieyasu would never let me live that down, and while it doesn't bother me I don't want him to be more annoying then he already is" Tatsumi replied, he then was led out of the palace Esdeath then told him where to meet her and the other Jaegers at their new headquarters; the information was enough for him, while he would have gotten easily lost in the Capital when he first arrived he had since over the past month figured out his way around town, in no small part due to Leone. Leaving the palace he made his way down the hill towards the upper district, as he traveled about most people generally ignored him, a few glanced in his direction, but overall they generally didn't think much of him. Tatsumi didn't have to go to far before he ran into a very familier face or rather said familier face jumped on him and gave him a good licking.

"Hey Koro, I've missed you too" Tatsumi remarked then noted Seryu coming up behind him, as he got up he was immediately slapped.

"That's for giving everyone a scare, where did you disappear to? And are you alright? You know what forget it, you can explain the whole thing to Aria and everyone when we get back to Grundewick Manor" Seryu explained.

"I can see that, alright I'll explain when we get to Aria's place, anything else you want to add" Tatsumi replied, to his surprise Seryu kissed him on the cheek.

"That's for making me feel better my fellow warrior for Justice, wait why am I calling you that Tatsumi we're not fighting any evildoers at the moment and we're on a first name basis, you know what I think we need to have a long talk" Seryu explained. The two continued onward with Koro waddling along and walking ahead of the both of them, the two held hands while keeping an eye out for anyone in need.

Soon they noticed a thief running off with a woman's handbag, Seryu casually tripped him then let go of Tatsumi's hand and picked the man up and gripped him by the throat. "EVILDOER! YOU WILL TURN YOURSELF OVER TO THE NEAREST POLICE STATION RIGHT NOW OR I WILL CRUSH YOUR THROAT AND DELIVER ULTIMATE JUSTICE RIGHT NOW!" Seryu yelled in the man's face with a face that terrified the thief who recovered his composure, the thief attempted to grab out a knife from his coat, suddenly a gun shot blew up his face, Seryu with smoke coming out of her mouth revealing a concealed gun to Tatsumi's sheer surprise, she dropped the corpse limp then handed the handbag to a woman who was standing there with her jaw dropped open. "Here you go citizen, Officer Seryu Ubiquitous soldier for justice, the evildoer has received Ultimate Justice and you now are safe, continue your day as normal" Seryu stated, the woman took her bag and ran off scarred by the whole experience.

"You have a gun in your mouth?! A Fucking Gun in your mouth!" Tatsumi questioned incredulously.

"Yes, I've got a number of weapons in my arsenal, as to how I managed to get the gun in there you don't want to know; and you certainly don't want to know how I reload it" Seryu replied.

"You're full of surprises Seryu also you're a bit weird" Tatsumi stated.

"I prefer the word eccentric" Seryu replied, then went back to holding Tatsumi's hand.

Soon they arrived at Grundewick Manor, the guards allowed them to pass, Tatsumi and Seryu entered the house where Aria was waiting for them, she immediately rushed over and gave Tatsumi a bear hug then kissed him before slapping him like Seryu had. "There you are you bumpkin, I've been worried sick about you, I had half of Night Raid looking for you after you didn't come home, what is heaven's name happened, last thing I saw you do was go off with Esdeath for your reward for fighting in her Tournament, then you don't return and I was worried you'd been either taken captive or killed, anyway you'll have to tell me and everyone else the full story of what happened" Aria responded to him.

Soon Tatsumi was lead aside to the dining room where he saw as he expected a full table with all manners of food for lunch, Esdeath had given him an extensive breakfast before he left, also he noted that sitting around the table in addition to Aria's parents were a number of Night Raid's members, Sayo was there was Ieyasu who was currently eating from the full plate, Sheele was there to his surprise, Lubbock and Yami were there and currently gabbing with each other happily, Chelsea was there sucking on a lollipop as was Taeko and to his surprise Gin , also so was Spear and two others namely Leone and Mine. "There you are you baka!" Mine greeted.

"You found him!" Sheele said excitedly.

"Alright Tatsumi spill the beans, tell us all what happened and don't leave anything out" Sayo ordered, Tatsumi sat down with Aria and Seryu joining him on either side, the latter doing so after filling a nearby dog bowl for Koro. Tatsumi then explained what happened.

"Alright Esdeath took me to the palace after the tournemant for my prize, she said the prize was greater then anyone could ever imagine and having received it I can say without a shadow of a doubt she was telling the truth" Tatsumi explained.

"Well where is it?" Ieyasu asked.

"Well it's not exactly something I can have on me" Tatsumi explained.

"Then what the hell did you get from her?" Mine asked.

"Something that Esdeath valued more then anything and wanted more then anything else, and something that might if I handle it correctly win the war" Tatsumi replied, he was being vague, something that his conscience was telling him don't and blurt it out.

"Win the war? How?" Chelsea asked.

"Wait something Esdeath valued more then anything else" Leone stated and thought, Aria did the same and then put two and two together.

"Tatsumi you didn't" Aria commented but knew that it was the case.

"Yes I did and I didn't have much choice to do otherwise if I wanted to survive also I don't regret it" Tatsumi replied.

"What did she do?" Sheele asked as airheaded as usual.

"I bedded the Empire's finest, more then that she's in love with me" Tatsumi stated.

"WHAT!?" Everyone yelled at once.

"Back up, you mean to tell me you banged Esdeath" Chelsea stated shocked.

"Yes" Tatsumi replied bluntly, half of the people at the table had jaws dropped, the other half were regarding him with genine concern.

"I can't believe this, you just made everything even more complicated then it was before; do you have any idea how bad a scandal this could cause?!" Aria questioned.

"I do, which is why Esdeath and I are getting married" Tatsumi replied Everyone's jaws dropped at that.

"I have no- no words- no means to describe this" Aria replied recovering.

"It doesn't seem too bad" Sheele commented.

"Are you kidding Sheele?! This is insane, I'm still trying to figure out how in the world he managed to get Esdeath to do him in the first place and on top of that not kill him" Mine commented.

"I second that notion; what in the world possessed her to do such a thing with you" Taeko added.

"A scroll; she found it with her teigu, she stated only the strongest man in the world was worthy of her love, many tried and failed, I exhibited every single thing on the scroll, she was smitten with me, pratically begging me, I didn't have any other option, I couldn't just reject her I was in the middle of the Imperial Palace locked in the same room as the Empire's finest with no weapons, and she had her Teigu, its inside her body" Tatsumi explained. "Besides how the hell was I to turn down a girl who was begging me to have sex with her and has F-cup breasts and is madly in love with me and was perfectly capable of killing me if I say no; there isn't anyway; besides this gives us an option, have any of you considered what it would mean if we got Esdeath and her team on our side; the Empire's finest General in the revolutionary army fighting against the Empire, she's got as much reason to hate Honest as we do, heck the only enemy that matters in the end is Honest" Tatsumi continued.

"I can see your logic but still it doesn't mean it was the right thing to do" Constantine commented breaking his silence.

"Sometimes in this world you can't make the right choice, the best choice is the one you have to make, especially since I'm more useful to the world alive then dead" Tatsumi replied.

"And that is what makes you wise Tatsumi, you understand that sometimes we have to make the wrong decisions for the greater good, its an important lesson" Constantine replied.

"Still do you have any idea how nuts this whole thing is?" Chelsea commented.

"Its not as nuts as it would have been a month earlier when I was still a farmboy living in my village" Tatsumi commented.

"I'm with you on that one" Sayo added.

"I second that" Ieyasu stated.

"Fine I concede you didn't have any other option, when is the wedding and what do you have planned" Aria stated.

"As for the wedding I'm sure about a week from now at least, as for my plan, that's still in the works" Tatsumi answered honestly.

"Alright then well I guess there isn't much for it now: I'm taking you to Najenda, she'll want the whole story" Chelsea stated then took him by the hand and led him off.

"Lubbock what do you think about this?" Yami asked.

"I'm as bamboozled as everyone else here, the most I'm thinking now is how is Najenda going to react to this, and this is coming from a guy who's known her for years" Lubbock replied. "Anyway thanks for lunch; Yami and I going back to work; comics don't sell themselves" Lubbock remarked then left followed by Yami.

While Tatsumi was being led by Chelsea back to base she and him took a detour to talk and to throw off anyone that might be following them. "So how do you feel about her?" Chelsea asked.

"Esdeath; well its love, but a love of the kind I've never experienced, she's like me in a way, she never knew her family, she had done her best to survive in this world of ours, she may be cold on the surface but she's warm inside, she legitimately cares for the Emperor and his sisters like they were her own children, I think that's because she doesn't have any, we'll remedy that though" Tatsumi replied.

"So you're serious about this, I'm happy your honest about this; I'm worried about what would happen to you if she found out about your secrets Tatsumi-kun" Chelsea stated.

"You know I can keep a secret, don't worry I'm going to do my best to win her and her team over, I can be subtle about it, more subtle then Honest anyway; trying to put his queen back on the board after he knew I took it and thought I wouldn't notice; he's not half as clever as he thinks he is" Tatsumi replied.

"Wait what's this about Honest?" Chelsea asked confused.

"Oh yes, him, before I left Esdeath took me to see the Emperor, the two of us played some games and eventually a game of chess, afterwards Honest barged in coming to take his majesty for matters of court; Makoto then gave Honest an order, he said that Honest and I would play a game of chess, if I won he got to play in his room for the rest of his day and have candy for dinner and Honest wouldn't get any of it and he would have to watch him eat, if Honest won he would go with him to do court stuff, well Honest accepted and we played a game, trust me that was an interesting game; I will tell you though that the man cheats; I took his queen early on and he attempted to trick me into looking away while he put it back on the board" Tatsumi explained.

"And you caught him red-handed" Chelsea replied.

"Yep, hurt his wrist actually with my grip, either he's got a low pain tolerance or I'm stronger then I look" Tatsumi replied. tr

"I'd like to taken a picture of his face when you caught him, that must have been funny to see" Chelsea remarked.

"Trust me his poker face was hilarious to look at, the guy may the be most evil person on the face of the Earth but that doesn't mean he can't be funny in a way" Tatsumi stated. "Anyway I'm going to be seeing a lot of him, I'll try and see what I can do, I'm more concerned about what he might do to the Emperor, I found out about how Makoto's parents died and what he told me wasn't pretty, they were by the sound of it violently murdered" Tatsumi replied the last part being grim.

"That's not surprising, the real question is who did it? Actually that's not the question we both know it was Honest who did it but I'd like to know how he pulled it off?" Chelsea stated.

"I'd have to ask someone else for more specifics, maybe Spear's father may know more about it, but if we can prove Honest murdered Makoto's parents that may be enough to get Esdeath and the Jaegers to change sides and convince Makoto of the dangers of the Empire" Tatsumi stated, more trees passed by.

"So what do you think about the Emperor?" Chelsea asked.

"He's just a kid, he acts a lot younger then he is, he has no idea what's going on outside his palace which he's never left; trust me if he knew about the state of things in the Capital he would be doing everything in his power to fix it; but as long Honest is around the odds of him finding out are slim to none" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, Why doesn't Esdeath tell him about this if she's so close to him" Chelsea asked.

"She's protective of him, even more so then a mother bear is for her cubs, she knows about the corruption in the Empire but he's too innocent to tell him about it, imagine trying to explain all this to a 7 year old, the Emperor is 12 but his mind is like that of someone younger; also its not just him she's protective of but his sisters too" Tatsumi commented.

"Wait the Emperor has sisters?" Chelsea replied.

"Yep, twins in fact, near identical too, the only difference is their eyes; the Emperor is a good person, I'm worried for him, I worry what the Revolutionary army leadership would do to him if they captured him; if they'd hurt him I'd kill every single one of their leaders minus Najenda; he's an innocent boy he's done nothing wrong, if they want to take out vengeance on an innocent boy they're just as bad as the Empire" Tatsumi remarked.

"You know I think it's best we not talk about this anymore, lets talk about something else; did anyone tell you how cute you are?" Chelsea teased.

"Aria, Esdeath, Leone, Najenda, Spear, I could go on; Chelsea why are you bring this up?" Tatsumi asked.

"Just curious" Chelsea snarked with a wink.

"Ok you're flirting with me too, well you're going to have to do better Chelsea" Tatsumi replied.

"Hey I'm not too bad at this; anyway we're nearly at the base, how about after you talk with Najenda we go to the Hot Springs" Chelsea replied.

"Sure that's better" Tatsumi replied.

As they arrived Merraid glared at Tatsumi with annoyance. "Where the hell have you been, Najenda's been frantic; Aria's been frantic; Akame was crying, Gil has been all over my case about where the hell you were" Merraid stated.

"Where have I been? Well where haven't I been" Tatsumi replied.

"He was with Esdeath, he bedded her and their getting married soon on top of that" Chelsea explained taking out her Cherry pop or rather the stick it was on and grabbing out another.

"WHAT!?" Merraid stated. "HOW! I tried my best to do that and she tried to kill me for it" Merraid added.

"Esdeath's only interested in strong men, she's not lesbian or Bi" Tatsumi replied.

"Great now I'll never get a chance; that's it, you Tatsumi san from this moment on are my new target in this field, I may be an ardent Lesbian but I'm going to try my damndest to get into Esdeath's chambers and if I have to swallow my pride and become Bi, your wife and lover to do it I will" Merraid stated then stormed off.

"That was nuts" Tatsumi remarked after Merraid was out of earshot.

"Yes, I've known her years and she reacted like that, whoa, you know she's serious by the way, I could tell by her eyes; so Tatsumi you have managed to do what I thought was impossible you managed to get the most ardent lesbian in the world Merraid Oarbough to turn Bi" Chelsea chimmed. "Anyway Najenda will be waiting for you, she probably heard Merraid yelling, its impossible not to have, these caverns have a pretty good echo" Chelsea stated.

Tatsumi was lead to Najenda who tackled him the moment he walked in. "Chelsea leave us; Tatsumi and I will be discussing this matter in private" Najenda ordered, Chelsea left and Najenda locked the door. "There you are I was so worried, now what happened, tell me everything no detail out of place" Najenda ordered.

Tatsumi told her everything from his time with Esdeath, to explicit details of their lovemaking, to their conversation the morning after, to her offer to join the Jaegers, his meeting with the Emperor, his Chess game with Honest, Everything; including his plan. "Tatsumi-kun You are the luckiest man I've ever met; also the boldest and the one who managed the impossible; I've no words for what you've done, only that I'm so relieve you are still in one piece; speaking off, come with me so I can preform a more through examination" Najenda replied then led him to her room. A half hour of love making was expected by Tatsumi; he knew that Najenda would immediately throw herself at him the moment she found out he was perfectly fine, the fact that she wasn't angry with him over the whole ordeal also surprised him, Tatsumi's length was quite comfortable where it was, embedded inside Najenda's ass; while they made passionate love, Tatsumi swore that at the rate they were going she was going to have a swollen belly in a month, then he'd have to deal with that too.

As Tatsumi and Najenda were making love a carriage arrived at the Capital, specifically at the Jaeger HQ, out of the carriage came a beautiful young woman of small height with blonde hair; She wore a turquoise dress with a white apron and a turquoise ribbon on her head she also had a pistol in a side holster on her hip, she was accompanied by another beautiful woman with purple eyes dark purple hair in a bob-style haircut and a bunny ears accessory on her head. She wore a purple mini dress, a collar and matching wristbands, boots and a pair of glasses, she held a microphone in her left hand, they both had matching cloaks that they wore on their backs, the walked into the front door where a bored man sat at a desk. "New recruits eh; head down the hall to the right, Esdeath will be here shortly to see you two" the man stated, the two walked down the hall and headed to a nearby table where Esdeath soon joined them.

"Alright you two are new recruits no doubt, tell me about yourselves then I will arrange a test of your abilities to see if you qualify" Esdeath stated, semi-bored having been through about 50 or so recruits in the past week, in spite of saying non-Tiegu users need not apply there were no shortage of people without Teigus coming in to prove their metal, only to have themselves thrown out by Run and Wave on Esdeath's say so, speaking off said Jaegers stood watch nearby.

"I am Dr. Dorothea, I cam here hoping to learn more from the renowned Dr. Stylish, I found out he was dead when I got here, annoying, I'm a renowned scientist in my own right, this is my assistant Cosmina, I heard that you were gathering the best Teigu users in the Empire for an elite group and I thought that if Stylish wasn't in you could use my services, my Teigu is a Absordex and it allows me to absorb energy and makes me stronger, it also allows me to stay nice and refreshed" Dorothea explained.

"Interesting and you?" Esdeath asked.

"I'm Cosmina as Dorothea-chan has introduced, I come from a small village that hated me, they burned my home and killed my family just because they thought it was a witch; I found my Teigu Heavy Pressure then returned the favor by killing every last one of them; since then I linked up with Dorothea-chan and have been traveling the Empire, I love a good show; do you like music I love Music; anyway you know what I love more then music hunks; are those two free?" Cosmina asked.

"Not interested" Run replied.

"I second that; boss I think she's crazy" Wave replied.

"I'm not interested in your opinion wave, I'm making the decision here, I would welcome you two in but first there is a test of your skills, I've prepared a training area, inside which I have secured several Death row inmates, they have been promised their freedom should they kill any new recruits, but so far none have succeeded, the batch is quite fresh too, anyway kill them and you're in, don't kill them and well you're dead" Esdeath explained the two grinned at this. "Also I should add I took the most dangerous of criminals so let that sink in" Esdeath noted, the two still smiled. "Fine I get it, you two are clearly not even remotely intimidated, go now and go nuts; I'll be watching the whole thing from here, don't toy with them kill them" Esdeath stated, the two young women left.

"That purple haired girl was flirt and half" Wave remarked.

"Yeah I know, please she must know that we've got standerds right" Run replied.

"You two are dismissed if you're going to have a conversation do so elsewhere" Esdeath ordered. "And send Kurome in I need to have a word with her" Esdeath added, a wall slid open revealing a window overlooking the training center, Esdeath moved her chair over to get a close look, the two young woman clearly just hit adulthood a few months ago; she watched as they walked in, Dorothea drew her pistol and Cosmina her microphone, the restrants were released by remote unleashing the criminals. What followed next was a one-sided massacre worthy of a Tarantino flick; the with skulls being blown up by sonic waves, while Dorothea darted around with super human speed firing shots killing some enemies while lunging and biting others, this caused her to glow and move quicker. "Impressive, Most Impressive" Esdeath commented as blood splattered the window as chunk of broken head sent flying by Heavy Pressure stuck itself to the window. "Note to self: have those two clean up their mess later" Esdeath commented to herself as Kurome walked in.

"More new recruits?" Kurome asked.

"Yes Kurome, I'll be sending them to you for more intensive training after they are done cleaning up their mess that they've made in the training area and after we provide them suitable accomidations" Esdeath explained.

"Yes Esdeath-sama; so how to do you rank them so far?" Kurome asked.

"So far I'm giving them an A for sheer carnage alone, and another for innovation in killing methods, and another for their fighting styles" Esdeath remarked.

"So who are they?" Kurome stated.

"Dr. Dorothea and her assistant Cosmina, the Doctor is a renowned scientist, I've heard of her work in combat augments and acceleration, she's very interesting too, look at the way she gracefully moves about the field and that she's not afraid to get up close with her enemies, as Cosmina, she is annoying, but she's good at her job, see the exploded heads, that's her doing, good thing this glass is shatterproof" Esdeath remarked.

"If they mangle the corpses there's not going to be much left for me to raise in terms of my Teigu" Kurome teased Esdeath giggled.

"Funny Kurome, very funny, but we both know you wouldn't use these criminal scum for even the lowliest of zombies" Esdeath replied.

"Indeed, fallen warriors on the battlefield are one thing, criminals who deserve death and should stay dead will do exactly that" Kurome replied.

"I think we are just about done with recruiting, there is one more person I have in mind for our group, he should turn up later, until thing I will be relieving our receptionist of his desk job for the rest of the day" Esdeath commented.

"So the last recruit is your Tatsu-bunny you keep talking about non-stop, you know I'm not sure I trust him, he comes out of nowhere and his name is all you here gossiped about throughout the Capital, I'm suspicious of people that come out of nowhere as they usually have something to hide" Kurome replied.

"I can see your suspicions, but don't worry if Tatsumi were our enemy he would have taken his opportunity to kill me last night" Esdeath reassured, Kurome didn't buy that entirely but Esdeath did have a point.

Soon the remaining criminals were dead to a man leaving only corpses; and shortly afterword Dorothea and Cosmina walked in. "Excellent you have passed your entry exam, you are now part of the Jaegers; your training will begin shortly after we provide accomedations and introduce you to your teammates, another thing Dr. Dorothea; in the wake of Dr. Stylish's death his laboratory was mothballed by myself until a worthy replacement was found, everything there is in pristine condition and waiting for your use; I'll provide you a map to its location soon, this is Kurome she will be seeing to your training, now before all that I have one more thing for you to do: Clean up your mess in the Training room for the next Trainee, I can't leave the bloodstains up; also Kurome send word to the prison that I need another batch of Death Row inmates" Esdeath explained and ordered. The two new recruits walked off to a nearby janitor's closet and got to work, Esdeath and Kurome left the room, Kurome leaving the building altogether while Esdeath sent the receptionist home for the day and took a seat in his chair and put her feat up on the desk before pulling out a pack of gum and putting a cube of it into her mouth. Soon two more potential recruits walked in a large bulkyman with clown make and nose an dressed as bedrageled clown, and another tall lanky man with spiky black hair. "No! Out! No clowns allowed" Esdeath stated.

"If you want me to prove myself I'll show you who's the clown" the man yelled and drew an axe and charged towards her desk.

"Icicle barrage" Esdeath casted casually and a barrage of icicles embedded themselves into the man like machine gun rounds dropping him down on his back dead. "What about you?" Esdeath asked the tall lanky man.

"I'm out!" the man stated and ran off.

"Pathetic, I'm not cleaning that up, I'll just leave it there to surprise my Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath commented.

Later in the afternoon around 4:30 Tatsumi arrived dressed and ready for the part of a recruit and carrying his three swords on his back along with a large carry-on which no doubt had things for him to change into and wear. "Good you're here" Esdeath stated blowing a bubble.

"I didn't expect you to- WHAT THE HELL!?" Tatsumi stated noting the corpse on the ground.

"Be here to great you in person, don't mind the mess on the floor, I have a strict no Clowns policy, I told him to leave, the idiot tried to attack me, so a threw ice at him and he died" Esdeath replied.

"Ok, why don't you like clowns though, I'm curious" Tatsumi replied.

"A. I just don't like them, they are base and demeaning and overall not funny, B. I don't let non Teigu-users into the Jaegers, this guy didn't have one, and C. the guy gave me the creeps, I'm not afraid of anything, but that doesn't stop me from being creeped out; don't mind the body I'll have it cleaned up later; also I'm going to have to take down that recruiting sign, now are you in?" Esdeath replied.

"Yes, I've thought long and hard about it and I've accepted your offer to join your team" Tatsumi replied.

"Good to hear my Tatsu-bunny, now for a minor exercise of your abilities; I've requisitioned some Death Row inmates from the Capital Prison for the purposes of testing new recruits, if they win they get their freedom if they lose well their dead and it saves the executioners the trouble; now I know that this is beneath your skill but treat it as mere formality, also it will be entertaining for me as I will be able to see you use your teigu; come on, after your done you'll meet the others" Esdeath explained, she led Tatsumi to the training room, with a large metal blast door closing behind him, a wall opened to reveal a window where Esdeath watched from an observation room chewing her gum, suddenly several cages were lowered down with angry men with hard grizzled appearances who were a mess of various apperances and wore black sleeveless jumpsuits inside them, each had a one of many different brands in their face, which were meant to signify the manner of their execution; the cages opened and Tatsumi drew both Smaug and Valruost, the dragon armor materialized over his body and blade with it lit up in flame while Valruost shimmiered with blood.

"Valroust; Zakhur-Kazhu Khaine!" Tatsumi chanted, suddenly blood poured from the faces of three of the prisoners then from every pour then their bodies bloated and exploded. "Smaug: Infernon Gave!" Tatsumi yelled and a wave of fire incinerated the five of the inmates to ash. He then turned to the remaining for who were paralyzed in terror. "Blood and Fire fusion!" Tatsumi yelled then locked the two swords and a giant ball of crimson energy span and impacted the four men ripping the flesh from their body then sucking their blood which flowed into Valruost where it was absorbed, then the ball faded and all that was left was black bones frozen in terror, Esdeath walked into the room applauding two minutes.

"Well done, Excellent! I've never seen your powers before but having seen them I know beyond a shadow of a doubt you are the most powerful man in the world, well have the potential to be as you have much to learn; but you have shown me enough, I'm not even going to bother having you cleaning this mess up, you should not have to sully your hands with remains of such parasites on society" Esdeath remarked, then led Tatsumi off, he was soon led to large mess hall where a number of people sat around a table, Tatsumi recognized all but two newcomers as the Jaegers. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades in arms, please welcome the newest and final recruit for the Jaeger's my fiancé and lovely Tatsu- Tatsumi" Esdeath introduced stopping herself from calling him Tatsu-bunny.

"OMG HOTTIE!" Cosmina stated and fell over with a nose-bleed.

"I get that a lot from some people" Tatsumi remarked.

"Anyway everyone step up and come and shake his hand" Esdeath ordered, Tatsumi stood there as each member stepped up to shake his hand.

"Mez, We've already met" Mez greeted, winking at him as she shook his hand and he kissed it and she smiled.

"Suzuka, hey handsome" Suzuka greeted flirtatiously, then shook his hand which he followed up by kissing hers which caused her to smirk like a succubus.

"Ibari; I'm tough and strong, so are you, great to meet you hope you have good sense of humor" Ibari stated shaking Tatsumi's hand in a nice firm grip.

"Sten I've seen you before; good luck here" Sten stated, shaking his hand.

"Wave, I'm Esdeath's right hand man; nice meeting you" Wave greeted.

"Run; I'm new around here, looking forward to meeting you" Run greeted.

"Kurome; We've met before; I'll be keeping an eye on you" Kurome greeted. "Also don't touch my candy if you value your life" she added as she shook his hand, he kissed her's with more respect.

"Bols, you're a nice kid, just so you know the world isn't all it's cracked up to be, don't let the mask scare you, I wear it to keep from scaring people with my scars, I'm actually a nice guy" Bols introduced shaking Tatsumi's hand.

"Dr Dorothea; I'm not sure you heard of me, but I am quite renowned" Dorothea stated shaking his hand, he kiss.

"Cosmina, hey hottie I'm so interest in getting to know you more" Cosmina greeted eagerly shaking Tatsumi's hand with both of her's, he kiss her hand and she kissed him on the forehead.

"Looking forward to it" Tatsumi replied, he knew she was into him at first sight, making her probably the easiest for him to manipulate and win over, Suzuka was a close second, the others he wasn't sure about save that Kurome would be the hardest nut to crack. "Nice to meet you all, I'm looking forward to working with you" Tatsumi added, with Cosmina clinging to him like an eager fangirl. "Especially you" he whispered to Cosmina who blushed like a cherry.

Tatsumi turned to Esdeath and asked "You don't mind right?"

"Whatever floats your boat, anything for you my Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath replied, causing everyone to giggle at the nickname.

"Great, just great" Tatsumi mentally lamented.

Later that night… Tatsumi had just finished taking a bath and was getting dressed when his door opened and Cosmina walked in, she was dressed in quite revealing attire consisting of a purple corset, purple panties, a purple cloth and feathered wrap, stockings and slippers, with her headband and she locked the door. "Hey Tatsumi-kun! I told you I'd be here later; so before we have fun I thought I'd put on a show for you" Cosmina greeted. "I can sing and dance; I hope enjoy, just lay back and watch" Cosmina added and Tatsumi did so. (Song Brave: Sara Bareilles) "You can be amazing, turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug, you can be outcast or be the backlash somebodies lack of love, or you can start speaking up. Nothing's gonna hurt you the way the words do as they settle in your skin, kept on the inside, no sunlight sometimes a shadow wins" Cosmina began and danced gracefully. "But I wonder what can happen when you say what you want to say, and let the words fall out, honestly I want to see you Brave, just want to you brave, just want to you, I want to you see you Brave, just want to see you, see you, See you be brave. Everybody's been scared everybody's been stared down by the enemy, falling for the fear and letting disappear then bow down to the mighty but stop holding your tongue, maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live maybe one of these day's you can let the light in, show me how big your brave is!" Cosmina continued doing a twirl and removing her corset revealing her d-cup breasts. "Say what you wanna say and let the word's fall out, honestly I want to see you Brave: innocence your history of silence won't do you any good did you think it would? Let your words be anything but empty, why don't you tell them the truth?!" Cosmina stated removing her panties leaving her wearing stockings and a purple wrap with feathers in it. "Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out, Honestly I wanna see your brave , Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out honestly I want to see you brave! Just wanna so you be brave, just wanna to see you, wanna see you, see you be brave! Just wanna to you see you brave! Oh whoa See you be Brave!" Cosmina concluded then did a flourish, Tatsumi applauded.

"Bravo that was amazing, I've never seen anyone sing like that before" Tatsumi remarked.

"That's wonderful I love applause, though not as much as I love you Tatsumi-Kun or Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina stated she then jumped onto the bed and onto him, making out like mad, the two's tongue battled like practiced fencers but Cosmina's experienced from her singing dominated, Tatsumi's hand's meanwhile groped her bumcheeks as they made out, Cosmina broke the kiss and quickly deprived Tatsumi of any clothing. "Now for the real fun" Cosmina remarked then kissed Tatsumi down the length of his body as she came to his erection which was already full mast, she greedily took it into her mouth and gave him the best blowjob he had ever received, her tongue was that of a master in oral arts, it was heaven, added to by the fact she wrapped her ample breasts around the length and proceeded to do her work and do it well, she turned around indicated Tatsumi should do the same to her as she was doing to him and he oblidged as the two experienced a sweet 69, eventually both reached their limit and came making a mess out of each other's faces with mutual bukkakes, Cosmina got off and shook her rear at him. "Come on Tatsu-Kitty I like it rough" Cosmina stated, Tatsumi charged it going into her ultra tight asshole, he noted immediately she was not a virgin but had all the tightness of one. "Tatsu-kitty! Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina moaned. "Fuck me! Fuck your slut, I'm a slut, but not for any other man not anymore, anyone else would pale in comparison to you" Cosmina moaned further.

"She's a nymphomaniac vixen" Tatsumi thought as he kept up his work. Eventually again he capped out, and unloaded once more. Pulling out Cosmina flipped over.

"It's all your's no one else gets it ever again" Cosmina stated, as expected no barrier but shockingly tight. "Like it Tatsu-kitty, I have a naturally tight pussy all the pretty boys love it" Cosmina remarked, Tatsumi nodded then began to nurse from her right breast as Cosmina moaned, she began to sing a song Tatsumi couldn't clearly understand as he kept going and was too focused.

Within ten minutes he came and they tumbled and did so, across the hall Esdeath smirked. "Good to see he's enjoying his teammates, he'll have his work cut out for him tomorrow" Esdeath stated.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Peaceful, Mostly Peaceful

Due to the arrivel of the Jaegers on the scene Night Raid ceased any attacks, in spite of the plight of the populace and of the large picture Najenda wasn't going to take any actions while the Jaegers were on high alert and not give them anything with which they could track them. This resulted in a deal of relative peace, as this entered a cold war standoff where both sides were waiting for the other to make the first move, Tatsumi had woken from his rest with Cosmina to Kurome pinching his nose, then began an even more intense training regiment then the one Mine and co had put him thru, considering the things he had been through so far however it wasn't that difficult, he had received worse. Overall Esdeath allowed him freedom of movement around the capital and his newly acquired noble status allowed him to move about places he wasn't used to going. Presently though Tatsumi found himself taking a shower after a grueling training session with Kurome's efforts trying her best to make it difficult it felt like she was honestly trying to kill him with them with how hard she pushed him compared to the others, the fact she didn't trust him showed quite clearly. At least the other members of the Jaegers were more trusting, Bols was a decent guy, he had told him things about himself how he had done things he wasn't proud of but he did them because he needed to make ends meet to support his wife and daughter, the others were also interesting, Mez was interesting to chat with while Wave and Run proved to be true bros; Ibara was of course funny, Sten was well decent but not amazing, Cosmina was his nymphomaniac lover who was usually not to far from him, Dorothea was well very confident and secretive, something about her was off however and Tatsumi couldn't place it; that left- Tatsumi's thoughts were interrupted as a pair of breasts pressed against his back and hands wrapped around his chest.

"Esdeath?" Tatsumi questioned.

"No it's me" Suzaka stated having locked the door to the bathroom behind her as Tatsumi had failed to do so.

"Great what do you want?" Tatsumi asked sarcastically knowing exactly why she was here, she wanted his D and that she was being playful about it was surprising, she was a masochist and possibly bi-sexual given the way she played with Cosmina and teased both Mez and Dorothea, but the prior of course was a nympho and the latter two weren't and were virgins as he knew that for fact.

"I want you, Cosmina has been talking nonstop about how much fun you are in bed and I want in, I've been searching for a man worthy of me for a long time; Ibara and Sten aren't my type neither are most of the men in the guard, those that are just aren't interested in me or are scared of me because of my rank, none of the girls are fun either apart from the court floozies but I've got standards, also on that note it may surprise you that I am a virgin; I'm not lying either feel for yourself" Suzuka replied, Tatsumi turned around knowing this would be a good opportunity to work on her to win her over she grinned at his massive length which fully up, he inserted a finger inside her loins and found that indeed the barrier was intact which was a surprise. "I like the way your fingers feel" Suzaka remarked, Tatsumi used two didgets to finger her which caused her to moan, he then used his free hand to massage one of her breasts, Suzuka's soft D cups were soft to the touch. Tatsumi silenced her moans with a tender kiss, while Suzuka used her hands to stroke Tatsumi's member with a graceful handjob, her hands were surprisingly soft, the kiss turned more wild and their tongues danced a balet with eachother. Tatsumi moved forward and stoped fingering then grabbed Suzuka's hands breaking the kiss, he then picked her up allowing her to wrap her legs around him as he entered her; slowly they took the tempo, moaning into another kiss, the fact that Suzuka was so easy to seduce surprised him, then she was a virgin who was looking for a good time, who had spent most of her life in a palace with a large amount of her time spent guarding Makoto really didn't leave her with much time to find a love interest, and those on offer were as she said not her type.

"So what is it that draws you to me?" Tatsumi asked presently as he continued his thrusts.

"You're handsome, the brown hair, the green eyes, it's a rare combination, the fact that you managed to kill the Three Beasts is also a point scored, the fact you managed to win Esdeath's tournament another, and the fact you are so bad ass all around, plus that ass of your's is so cute" Suzuka replied then placed her feet on said hindquarters, the resumed kissing him, a steamy kiss, as the shower was full of steam; it was the perfect place because it saved him and her the trouble of taking another afterwards, also fortunately it meant they wouldn't be disturbed as Suzuka had locked the door Tatsumi had failed to lock. Tatsumi's eager thrusts continued Suzuka moaned as he had found her g-spot and was repeatedly thrusting into it again and again, Tatsumi had broken the kiss and was now sucking from her ample breasts, the overall experience was downright enjoyable, soon Tatsumi began to reach his limit when Suzuka stoped him from pulling out. "No, no, no, you don't get to do that" Suzuka remarked with a smirk. "The pains of pregnancy and later child-birth will be fun to endure" she added.

"Wait! Pains, your just doing this for pain? You really are a masochist, look just don't cause our child harm during the whole thing ok?!" Tatsumi replied aghast.

"Don't worry I won't let harm come to him or her, as they will be of our flesh and blood, I just am looking forward to savor the pains that come with children" Suzuka replied and Tatsumi unloaded, he then put her down and she turned and shook her rear at him. "I've been a bad girl Tatsumi punish me please?" Suzuka indicated, Tatsumi spanked her on reflex then entered her rear constantly spanking her cheeks as did so, then alternating to groping her breasts hard. "YES! The Pain! Oh its all so wonderful! Punish me Tatsumi-senpai, punish me, I'm your bitch to do with as you please, the more painful the better" Suzuka remarked, Tatsumi noted the scars on her back, the kind from repeated lashing, she was truly a masochist and obviously took pleasure in it, the whole idea of it was kinky, but not something he'd want to do to anyone other then Suzuka, maybe Esdeath but he loved her and her unscared body too much to think of harming her as much as dominatrix as she seemed, but Suzuka, the moans she made as he did harm to her were exatic and full of joy.

As they continued the water drew cold, not that it bothered Tatsumi: one of the side effects of Smaug was that the Dragon Armor gave him an unnatural tolerance to cold and it kept his body warm even when he didn't have the weapon on him, eventually he again unloaded and Suzuka moaned out in extreme pleasure as he filled her caboose door with his seed. Pulling out Suzuka decided get on her knees in front of him. "Tatsumi-Senpai you have given me so much pleasure and joy that I must give some to you, I know you aren't a person who shares my enjoyment for pain, but I do know that you love having a girl wrap her tits around your cock, that I can give also I'll give your sword a good cleaning" Suzuka explained then wrapped her ample breasts around the length and began massageing it while slowing sucking the tip, Tatsumi thought she looked cute the way she was doing it, her face had that of a dog that had just brought a stick back after you threw it for it to fetch, she was so submissive. Suzuka's slurp reawakened the dragon inside him and Tatsumi used his hands to make her take him deeper as he face-fucked her, the overall enjoyment in her eyes showed that she liked it when he was assertive with her, the fact she was so cute as he did this mind boggled him, granted not as much Cosmina, but that girl had sucked so many dicks before she even met him that it wasn't even funny. Eventually Tatsumi himself gave way to bliss and unloaded all over Suzuka who smirked as the giant load covered her face and body in a creamy bukkake. "Yummy" Suzuka stated grinning after licking herself off. "I love you" she said simply then kissed him beginning round two.

An hour later Tatsumi found himself in Esdeath's office. "Tatsu-bunny I'm glad you came here, we need to talk, more specifically I have questions for you" Esdeath commented.

"Alright ask away my icy queen" Tatsumi replied with a smile.

"Have you ever heard of the Three Beasts; they were my best soldiers, they carried out numerous victories in my campaigns, their leader General Liver was one the Empire's best general's long before I joined the army, now they are dead, mainly due to you, now describe for me in detail the specifics of the fight, I'll start with each of the members and how they looked;then tell me how they died" Esdeath replied, then explained who was who of her fallen former bodyguards.

"Daidura, he was killed from a distance by a sniper at the start of the fight, Nyau, he killed several of Spear's guards then before he could kill her I disarmed him of both limbs then chopped his head off, and Liver, well he was distracted by looking for the Sniper, so while he was fighting other opponents Spear ran up from behind and killed him by stabbing him up and cleaving his face in half with her glaive" Tatsumi described blow by blow.

"Interesting, so who do you think killed Daidura?" Esdeath asked.

"my Guardian angel" Tatsumi replied.

"I can see, now what of the others who helped you where are they now?" Esdeath asked.

"I'm not sure where they are at the moment, I do know they are safe though; look I didn't know they were important soldiers to you; My friends and I thought they were robbers or hired guns sent to kill a noble, we thought we'd be rewarded for saving them; well we were by the noble, I got the best prize though; Spear is one of the best wifes a man can have, she's strong, beautiful, can cook great food, loyal and just all around awesome" Tatsumi replied.

"I see, I don't blame you for the deaths of the beasts, if anything you've done me a huge favor specifically by revealing your existance to me and saving me spending my life looking for you; also you humiliated Honest, he's the one I hold responsible for their deaths; honestly their deaths are a good thing in the long run, it showed me the extent to who my opponents are; yes I know who you are, I'm not the Empire's finest for nothing, it didn't take me long to figure out who you were and that you are part of Night Raid but that isn't what you truly are; what you are is something special, unique, your potential may surpass my own, I follow the strongest, however you aren't yet strong enough for me to follow, earn my respect and those of your fellows and I may here your case; you see we share a common enemy, Honest but we also serve different sides, I serve Makoto who I promised his parents I would keep safe, you serve the Revolutionary Army who want to overthrow him, I emphasize with their cause however, I know they want to effect change, but at the same time there are those in their ranks who would want Makoto dead for their own games, this isn't a case of good vs evil Tatsumi, there are heroes and villains on both sides, like you and I, I've said before we are so similar" Esdeath replied.

"Wait if you knew all along why am I still alive" Tatsumi questioned.

"Well because I love you for one, as I said I respect strength and you've proven yours, another is Najenda; I know that she is Night Raid's leader it isn't that difficult to figure our her signature strategies, she is my friend though and I give that friendship sparingly those who've earned it are above me harming them, another thing is that you and I aren't exactly on opposing sides so to speak, the reason I've allowed you to live is I wanted to see what you are capable of, you've impressed me enough that I will allow you to continue to develop, now however you haven't reached the position that you would be able to overthrow Honest; and that is why I am withholding my support, weaken him and I and the Jaegers will support you, I will turn a blind eye to any assassinations of Honest's supporters and allies, in turn the Jaegers will target those who Night Raid would usually target, but you need to remember Tatsumi, Night Raid and the Jaegers must not meet each other until the time is right; if such a thing were to happen prematurely, then you would have to choose a side; I have chosen and that is to protect Makoto with any means at my disposal; also the Jaegers will target those who would want the Emperor dead, so you may be fighting your own side; I give you now two choices, join me and follow my plan or end both our lives here and now, I can't bring myself to kill you I love you too much" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi thought long and hard about this, if Esdeath had figured him out that easily who was the say Honest couldn't but then again Honest didn't have the means Esdeath had, and importantly he wasn't expecting Esdeath to betray him; the only thing stopping her and the Jaegers from joining outright was Makoto's safety. "Also you don't need to worry about Honest figuring you out, he still is recovering from your chess game with him; You are in short Tatsumi the most interesting person in the world right now and the main thing keeping you alive is that I love you for it and I want to see what you do next" Esdeath added.

"So now what?" Tatsumi stated.

"Well that's up for you to decide, are you going to accept my offer or are you and I going to have to take out lives right here and now because I can't bare to live in a world without you" Esdeath replied.

"I choose to stay alive for one, suicide is a cowards way out" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'm glad you think so, now you are dimissed feel free to move about the base, in half an hour we'll head to the palace to to check on his highness then after we've done that you are free to do as you wish, and do tell Najenda I said hi" Esdeath replied then got out of her chair and left him.

One hour later…. Tatsumi found himself dressed in relatively normal garb, Esdeath was intending to put together a team uniform of sorts but at the moment her previous attempts at doing so proved to be, well fruitless, as she didn't like any of outfits brought to her; considering this however he found himself stand at her right hand side as various people brought up matters for discussion to which a number advisors debated, Honest being the formost amoung them to who a good deal of them owed their position to. "Next is a matter that I would request that the Jaeger corp look into" Honest explained. "Recently a troupe at Umatora theater has been making plays mocking the empire and myself, I take a front to this and request that you look into the matter" Honest added.

"Seriously?" Esdeath noted annoyed by the proposal. "You want me and my team to look into whether or not some actors are making fun of you with satire; Honest I know you think you're in charge of things but which do you think is more important, Night Raid or some actors making fun of you, last I checked making fun of you wasn't a crime right your majesty" Esdeath replied.

"It's not a crime to make fun of Honest-san, I do it all the time, and whats all this about plays, if these people are funny can I go and see them; Please!?" Makoto stated practically jumping up and down in his chair while snuggling Snow-Snow.

"Your highness is is important to your safety thay you do not leave the palace" Honest stated.

"Surely you can invite them here and have them preform here for the Emperor" Tatsumi added, Honest looked at him with anger.

"That's a great idea Tatsumi-san; I decree that the Umatora Theater troupe will preform here in the palace" Makoto replied, more anger in Honest's face. "You have such fun ideas way more then Honest-san if only there was a position I could give you, wait I can create one: Tatsumi you are now my Minister of Fun and are in charge of all things fun and planning all things fun for me, you are now officially on my council, and you don't have to show up to these boring meetings all the time all you have to do is come up with some fun things for me to do every day" Makoto added, Honest fainted, to cheers from everyone. "I think I killed Honest-san I hope I didn't Mez-nee check and see if Honest-san is still alive" Makoto ordered, said Jaeger moved to check his pulse.

"He's not dead your majesty (*unfortunately*), he just fainted" Mez explained.

"Well can someone move him, we can't just have him laying there in the middle of the floor" Makoto remarked.

"Here your highess I have a better idea; here take this and poke him with it" Ibari stated handing him a toy sword from next to the throne.

"Why didn't I think of that sooner thanks Ibari-san" Makoto stated then took his toy sword and proceeded to poke Honest repeatedly in the belly. "Wake up Honest-san you don't get to take a nap in the middle of my throne room!" Makoto yelled as he poked Honest over and over again.

Meanwhile… Lubbock was cleaning off the windows of his room, it was in his home which was also his business; he sold books both comics and novels at his shop, it was a favored place in the middle district and wasn't too far from the clocktower, he was glad that he was one of the members of Night Raid that had the luxery of a normal life and job, as well one of them that didn't have any wanted posters; overall his business was decent and it made him a tidy profit, enough to afford to keep the place open and maintained, he didn't have any dedicated employees as he did most of the work himself, as to acquiring new books that was covered by the Grundel family's contribution to literature charity, they also owned a chain of local resturants, and were the city's most reliable source of charity; overall Lubbock loved his job and his home.

After cleaning the windows he went down to his desk at the front counter of his store and took to reading his current choice of literature; which was an adventure novel. Customers usually came in more around the afternoon, and those who could read tended to be picky in their choice of literature. To his happiness Yami walked in. "Hey handsome" Yami greated.

"Hey Yami" Lubbock replied looking up from his book.

"I just thought I'd drop in and see how you're doing, everythings been good at Grundewick Manor, its fine and all but it's how can I put it boring" Yami remarked.

"I think I may be able to remady that problem; let me show you around my store of countless journeys and wonders, I've got something for everyone" Lubbock explained and began to show her around.

Yami proved an interesting person to tour as he guided her thru the various sections on various genres of literature, he found that she shared a lot of the same interests in books he did. "You know I wish more people could read, I lament the fact that not to far from the Capital there are villages were people don't know how to read or write" Yami commented.

"I agree with that, the more people who could read the far fewer problems there would be in the world, personally though I wish what I just said was true, sad fact is that some of the worse people in the world are literate, but books are not adherently good or evil, their either a joy to read or something that you wish you hadn't, personally I've often found myself wondering if my life was just a story being told by someone to others and I'm just a character in a book" Lubbock rambled.

"If only, but then wouldn't we all want to be remembered in books" Yami replied.

"I agree I would like to be remembered, you know though this job is lonely; I've tried my best over the years to find a kindred spirit who appreciates books as much as I do, but I've never found one" Lubbock stated.

"Hey why not me, I love books, both novels and comics, and honestly I find it fun being her and not couped up at the Manor or in HQ" Yami offered.

"I'd love to have you stay here, here let me show around upstairs" Lubbock offered, then led her upstairs, there were a number of doorways one leading to a kitchen, to a bathroom, a study, a den, a guest room and Lubbock's room as well as a number of other rooms that had nothing in them save boxes made for storage, of these only the guest room and the kitchen had windows, each room was lit by lamps of latern oil and in the case of the den a large fireplace, said den consisted of a large chair near a sizeable bookshelf which Lubbock had adorned with his favorite books, Lubbock's own room was humble, albiet adorned with an number decorations, a large rug of Persian design, a king-sized bed which had fine but not exotic bedding, a wardrobe and closet for his clothes and nearby desk for reading, also a picture one of Najenda before the campaign against the southern tribes.

"This is such a nice place you have here Lubbock, its quite simple and reflects your personality" Yami complimented.

"Thanks Yami" Lubbock stated.

"I think I'll stay with you from now on, we're dating yes but I like here a lot better then the lavishness of Aria's mansion, no offense to her" Yami stated.

"Yami I have a question what did you do before you became a mercenary?" Lubbock asked.

"I was a dancer and a singer, I loved the arts and it paid well enough, my skills in dance actually help me in combat, that's why my choice of weapons are the Twin Hooks, they have the fluid and grace of a dancer and battle itself feels a lot like dancing with the movement, only it's a more dangerous dance where if you make a wrong move you die; the pressure isn't much though I love it, I'm like an artist painting on the canvice of battle and with each notch on my swords is another story to tell to my children and grandchildren" Yami replied.

"I see, I've always been a person with a love for reading, before I joined the army alongside Najenda I was a school teacher in a town named Joyou, until the incident that caused the school to lose faith in my eyes and that caused me to join the military; part of the reason I joined, Najenda was the other she and I were friends since we were children, I've always loved her, and she's felt the same for me, but its more or less a friendship, I don't have the courage to tell her about how I feel, and now its too late for me to do so, she's in love with Tatsumi and I'm happy for them" Lubbock replied.

"What happened to the School?" Yami asked, Lubbock frowned.

"Children from the school vanished, a lot of them, a month after the search we found them, their bodies mangled and violated, terribly; they never caught the killer, in fact they never investigated it the town was too poor to afford it and some people wanted to save face, among them were a lot of my students; I failed in my duty as a teacher to keep them safe, I couldn't stand what happened, when Najenda's wanderlust called and she told me she was going to join the army I went with her; I've never forgotten what happened and never fully forgiven myself for my failure" Lubbock explained then cried, this surprised Yami as she didn't peg Lubbock for being that emotional of a person, she walked over and hugged him and patted his back.

"Don't cry, there was nothing you could do, one of these days you'll find the killer and bring him or her to justice; your part of Night Raid bringing down criminals is your job" Yami comforted, she kissed him on the forehead.

"You're right Yami, the past is the past I can't change it, I can however right the wrong; I'll find out who was responsible and bring them down to hell where they belong" Lubbock replied.

The situation in the room was happy, then Lubbock and Yami went to the guest room. "You can stay here if you want, it's not much but it's the best I have" Lubbock explained.

"It will do, thanks Lubbock; I'm going to go get myself, if you need help around your shop I'll help you" Yami replied.

Meanwhile…. Tatsumi and Esdeath had left the court and were discussing the current state of things. "So I was wandering when will our wedding be?" Tatsumi asked.

"Next week on Tuesday, I've talked with Makoto and he said he'll throw out all the stops, I'm concerned though that he'll drain the treasury with this, well whatever keeps him happy" Esdeath replied.

"So why is it you let your soldiers do terrible things after battle" Tatsumi asked.

"To allow them to be rewarded for their efforts and to ensure the enemies don't rise up again, my measures may be cruel but they are effective, besides I don't always have my armies ransack the place when we take it, the only time I do is at the end of military campaigns; that way they never rise up again; War is cruel Tatsumi and crueler it is the quicker it will be over, taking prisoners drains supplies from my soldiers and there is the risk of them escaping, killing them takes only a swing of a sword and saves supplies, I don't take prisoners or slaves, if my enemy is weak they die people die in war Tatsumi and that is a fact of existance; the strong survive and weak die that is the way the world works; survival of the fittest" Esdeath explained.

"I can see, so you really aren't as evil as people say you are" Tatsumi remarked.

"I am, the stories of me being evil are greatly exaggerated very much so; have you considered that most of if not all come from my enemies; they have all the reason to make me look like I'm the devil himself, why should catter to them in what they think of me when I can just ignore them and maintain the image of terror they so love to flaunt, it takes only precise incidents of cruelty, Tatsumi it is better that small groups of people die if you save the lives of many others in doing so; compared to other generals in the Empire I'm a saint in comparison, they know nothing about restraint or what to target to make an example, my kill count may be in the millions but the vast majority of them were warriors just as capable of doing the same as me; in fact it takes a certain stomach to realize how much you are truly capable of doing, I could've ordered every strong man captured brought to my chambers for me to rape yet I did not, I could have ordered their deaths drawn out I kill them with precision, I could have ordered their entire civilization wiped out, I did not, even in the campaign against the Southern tribes I did not wipe out their civilization only those in their capital received no mercy at no other time did I let my troops run rampant, you have no idea how savage our enemy was, they fought without honor and with weapons that left our warriors to die from the smallest of injuries, I lost many of my best to that war and my soldiers lost many of their comrades, I wanted the enemy to know what they did to my men was beyond forgiveness I allowed my warriors to take vengeance for their fallen, once, and when I told my warriors that the war was over those who didn't head my orders and continued to run rampant as beasts were crucified for all to see, Tatsumi is what I did any different to what Night Raid does, the guards who protect their targets are usually just normal people who work for evil people to survive; do you consider the widows you left behind when you kill the security of your targets, I do and then consider the widows left behind by my enemies and you understand we aren't so different" Esdeath replied. "By the way Dr. Dorothea required you to see her, she explained that it requires you and your Tiegus to be there" Esdeath stated.

"I'll go see her, thanks for your time Esdeath" Tatsumi replied and kissed her.

"Keep safe Tatsu-bunny, you'll find her at the lab that belonged to the late Dr. Stylish" Esdeath explained

Later… The state of Stylish's lab was one of relative cleaning, Dorothea had Cosmina and the staff of Stylish and his more subservient creations clean the place up, one of the first things she did was let loose all the prisoners Stylish was keeping for experimentation, she had no need of them for her project, if she needed live test subjects she could use pigs, she loved pork and had discovered long ago that pigs had similer if not the same body make up as humans, making them the ideal test subjects because they wouldn't be missed and you could eat them afterward. "Cosmina I need that right there; the production workbench needs to be by the storage tanks" Dorothea ordered.

Cosmina put the workbench down and as she turned the door to the lab opened. "TATSU-KITTY!" Cosmina yelled then jumped up and hugged Tatsumi and barraged him with kisses.

"Nice to see you too Cosmina-chan; you redecorating?" Tatsumi asked.

"Ah Tatsumi-san good, yes I am refurbishing this place, the previous owner didn't even bother cleaning the blood off the walls or the tools or instruments, also the human skin labcoat was disgusting, as to how my predecessor got a degree in bio science is beyond me, were he alive I'd tear his throat out, keeping people in cages using human beings for testing, disgusting, pigs are a far more effective subject and they don't tend to complain as much also it is completely uncivilized and unworthy of a scientific mind, but where are my manners please have a seat I need your assistance with a project of mine, a special one in fact this is my life's work" Dorothea greeted, Tatsumi sat down on a nearby chair and Cosmina got to his knees and fished in his pants, Dorothea was non-plused by Cosmina preforming fellatio on Tatsumi while she talked with him.

"So what- ugh- is your -oh- project?" Tatsumi asked interrupted by his suppression of moans that were a result of Cosmina's work.

"I'm glad you asked, I specialize in a number of fields of research but my forte is in technological developments, I've always being fascinated by the Teigus created by the First Emperor and his early descendants, the subject to Imperial arms is my favorite as a researcher, anyway the knowledge to build them was lost centuries ago, since then there have been numerous attempts to figure out the process and no one has succeeded, save one person, the one who made the Teigu you weild; the Dragon Emperor, not much is known about him not even his name, what is known is that he expanded the Empire to its grandest height and figured out how to replicate the Teigu process, there is no record of how he did so, mainly due to the fact that upon his death three separate children of his dragged the Empire into 50 year civil war, during which the knowledge was lost for good, the blades were assumed lost as well until recently; I'm curious as to how you came by them" Dorothea explained.

"I found them in an old temple not to long ago while I was hunting Danger Beasts, it drew me to it, it was abandoned, and I found the blades under the alter" Tatsumi lied in explaination, Dorothea didn't realize it was a lie of course.

"Fascinating, its rare to find a Teigu user in the first place but to find one who can wield two, that is a quandry, I've only seen three cases of this, and you are the third one" Dorothea replied.

"what about the other two, is there anything I need to worry about" Tatsumi asked.

"Well no, the other two lived for rather long lives, one died of Rubola's disease and the other of old age, other then that nothing worrying happened to them other then that no one could kill them in battle; now will you permit me to run some tests" Dorothea asked.

"Sure, just be careful with them, I'll just sit here and enjoy Cosmina while you work" Tatsumi replied, Tatsumi couldn't help but notice how much she resembled Aria, but it wasn't too alarming, the fact that she wasn't a mad scientist like Stylish surprised him but given her choice of research it was understandable.

Dorothea preformed a number of tests on the blades, examining their composition, the materials used in manufacturing them as well as the designs in themselves, the overall aesthetics weren't her concern but more their function, the health of their owner was a concern as certain Teigu had effects on their users but that could wait. "I'll need to keep them here for the time being, I'll run a through battery of tests on them, then I'll need you to come back for test on you, I need to understand the effects that they are having on you, but overall that can wait, my priority is to figure out the construction process, also perhaps you are capable of figuring out more about their history, Teigus do possess souls of their own and thus memories of their past owners, you could definataly be of help with that; other then that I have no need of you or Cosmina for the time being, I also have no need of my room at the moment so you and Cosmina may mate in there, I only require that you change the sheets and make the bed when you are done" Dorothea explained, Tatsumi got up from his chair Cosmina following him as he let his junk hang out as Cosmina lead him to Dorothea's room.

Dorethea's room was rather normal, apart of the oversized poster of a large monkey in a labcoat nothing was out of place, overall the place had gone thru a lot of changes, Cosmina locked the door as they walked in and immediately relieved herself of any clothing then Tatsumi as well before dragging him onto the bed. Cosmina's tightness was less suprising then the first time, but it was overall surprising that she hadn't gotten pregnant in spite of her many lovers, she had a trick to it and it involved a little device that Dorothea had invented to keep her friend's amorous adventures from resulting in any children, as long as Cosmina wore it there wouldn't be problems, the issue was she stopped wearing it since Tatsumi had come into her life, on the opposing point she was only interested in him now, the fact that she made such cute moans made him happier. The overall relationship with Cosmina was somewhat easy to enter, the fact that she was clearly interested in him sololy now was even more effective, he had a great deal of empathy given what had been taken from her she had all she loved destroyed by people in power that hated her because of her ability to influence people, to have suffered that kind of loss and not go crazy was impressive in his mind, though her nymphomainia was clearly caused by her need of a coping mechanism, which honestly didn't turn him off in the slightest, she hadn't been the first girl he banged that had slept with numerous men before him, that had been Vatima, the fact that Cosmina managed to work for a scientist as her assistant was even more impressive though having learned about Dorothea's project their partnership made a lot more sense, having a Teigu user around with which to help in her work made far too much sense for him to think their relationship was otherwise. Tatsumi looked into her lovely purple eyes as they kissed and she looked into his green eyes, both could see their very soul of what had defined them, but in the moment they were one in loving union, they saw love in each other's eyes, something that Cosmina hadn't had with any of her other partners, but with Tatsumi she was serious and loved him. Her short purple hair was soft, her features smooth like those of a statue of a goddess made flesh, they were indicater of her descent from someone who shared heriatage with the Western Tribes, a lot like Mine, only not as stuck up as Mine; more like Sheele but not as innocent and Sheele was clearly a virgin, Cosmina was like a combination of the two only with a nyphomaniac's added personality.

The fact that Dorothea didn't care about what was going on in her own room was a surprise as well, he then noticed something out of place some sort of device that was taking readings and that was on. At her desk Dorothea was adding data to the computer, she had the harddrive cleared of Stylish's more abysmal experiments to make room for her own, also notably the late docter didn't keep a password on his computer, an oversight Dorothea corrected, at the moment she was collecting data with regards to three things, the power of three Teigus: Valroust, Smaug, and Heavy Pressure as they were to begin with, and as they were now and readings of Tatsumi and Cosmina's movements and biorythems. "Interesting very interesting, I don't think any scientist in my field of study has had any opportunity to do this; gage the effects of intercourse between two powerful Tiegu users has on their Teigus this is well impressive; the energy here is outstanding, not on the level as brought by battle obviously, and the fact that the weapons have reacted the way they are, they seem to be glowing, intriguing, intriguing, I will have to come back to this later on, much later on once I've gotten a measure of Tatsumi's abilities; here though is the question on his actual powerlimit, the energy from him is far more then that of Cosmina interesting, I'll need to verify it with a combat test" Dorothea commented to herself, then noted that the soon the two would be reaching their climax in about 5 seconds. "5,4,3,2,1: There now the energy is in flux again, and that was a max reading impressive extremely so" Dorothea noted. "Maybe I'll have to test him first hand" Dorothea stated then smirked at the thought.

An hour later Tatsumi left the lab, leaving both Teigu behind as Dorothea needed them over night, it was noon and he still had daylight to burn; which meant he needed to see the person who needed to talk to the most right now: Aria; the fact that Esdeath had figured him out so quickly was scary, but the fact that she actually argreed with him on principle was even more astounding, she seriously did love him, if she didn't she would've have killed him as soon as she met him, also there was the fact that she found him interesting and that was one of the main reasons he was still alive. "Me Interesting?" Tatsumi thought. "I'm just a farmboy" he continued, then reliezed that statement was no longer true, he was no longer just some farmboy from remote village in the countryside no he was now something else entirely, he was now a noble by marriage twiceover, also he was a professional assassin, on top of that he was a dual teigu user and the fiancé of the Empire's finest, he was the Emperor's minister for Fun, he was by all means the most interesting man in the Capital and no doubt the subject of gossip all over the Empire, the only thing abnormal was no one was trying to kill him for it, yet. To challenge that final thought and to prove that he was indeed interesting enough to try to kill; a group of armed thugs blocked his path, they moved with purpose and pushed aside anyone who stood in their way regardless of station, they acted like they owned the place.

"Tatsumi; the times come to pay the reaper, the Minister sends his regards, he wants your head with nothing else attached!" the leader of the thugs stated he was tall brawny man with a shaved head wearing leather armor and with piercing in his nose carrying a large falchion like a cane, the other thugs were also men, in similar attire with a motely of weapons. The Thugs immediately charged at him; Tatsumi reached for his back and drew his reserve sword, then tripped the first tough and then bisected the the next one, the next one died to a cleave across his stomach, then another to a case of acute decapitation, Tatsumi then grabbed the knife midair of one of the fallen thugs and flung it into the gut of another, followed by a series of fients and kicks and sweeps that felled five more of his attackers, the Leader was the only man left standing and was ready to run when a sword pierced his back and sawed the man in half, over the corpse which was grinning stupidly in death came the the killer in her basic baby blue dress with her sawback sword red with blood in hand.

"We really need to stop meeting like this Aria" Tatsumi remarked sheething his blade.

"I was just shopping when I heard sword clashing, please it's the upper ring Tatsumi if hired thugs are out in the upper ring there after someone important, these guys don't come cheap and on top of that getting them into the upper ring is near impossible; I guessed that whoever they were sent to kill was either you or me, and given I have a contingent of well armed guards whenever I go out in public and that I have starting carrying my sword with me where ever I go now and wasn't being attacked I knew it was you" Aria replied, Tatsumi walked up and hugged her then kissed her. "Alright I know you missed me" Aria added.

"You have no idea my dear wife how my day has been so far" Tatsumi remarked.

"Well you can tell me all about it on the carriage ride home, I've been having a good day myself; more shopping for my projects" Aria remarked, they got into her carriage. "First things first though who sent those goons; I'm pretty sure I know but I want you to tell me if I'm right" Aria asked.

"If you guessed our friendly Prime Minister Honest then you are right" Tatsumi replied.

"Well that's not surprising, first time hes actually sent thugs after you, trying to poison you at our wedding that was sloppy, these now as well, he's really underestimating you, now how has your day been" Aria agreed, Tatsumi then told her in detail how his day was going so far, he saved the big one thought for last. "WHAT!?" Aria yelled her composure shattered.

"Esdeath knows I work for Night Raid" Tatsumi stated again.

"She knows you work for Night Raid, and how do I know this isn't a dream and I'm still asleep in my bed and you are sleeping with Cosmina on yours in Jaeger HQ" Aria stated.

"I could pinch you" Tatsumi remarked.

"Forget it, why are you still alive though if Esdeath found out I was in Night Raid she'd cut my head off without a second glance" Aria exclaimed.

"Because she finds me interesting and because she loves me, and to top it off she's no more a friend of Honest then we are, she's only loyal to Makoto, as long as his life is at risk she'll go to any length to protect him, but she wants to join our side but there is a catch, she wants us to prove ourselves and me to get stronger, only when we're stronger then Honest and she can guarantee Makoto's safety will she change sides" Tatsumi explained.

"How do you know she wasn't lying" Aria responded.

"Because if she wanted to kill me she could have done so when I confirmed her suspicions, she didn't, she wants me alive, more importantly she's interested in seeing Honest dead and the Empire changed, all we need is to get her on side, also there is the fact that I'm still moving about free, to tell the truth I don't understand what it is she sees in me personally, I've got to tell Najenda personally though, don't tell her otherwise she might overreact" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright you win, I'll keep it just between the two of us, but you will be telling Najenda as soon as possible, meaning right after we have that talk with my mother" Aria explained.

"Talk with your mother?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh that, well she told me that she had something the two of us together had to discuss, Sayo and Ieyasu as well" Aria stated.

"Wait what do they have to do with this?" Tatsumi questioned.

"No idea, my mother didn't give me any specifics only that it was of major concern for me and you, as well as them; don't ask, also Sayo's been wanting to see you for sometime, mostly to chew your ear off about what happened with Esdeath; speaking of I can't believe you joined her team and on top of that bedded two of your teammates within 24 hours of each other; I'm out of words to explain how I feel about all this, but hopefully what happens as the result of this doesn't result in all parties involved dying" Aria stated.

"It won't as long both parties avoid confronting the other, if so then I'd be forced to pick a side; Esdeath's given me a list of Honest's main allies and supporters, as well as number of other targets and dirt on all of them: she's put the death mark on each of them; I'm certain that if we approach this right we can eliminate them without issue; also Esdeath intends to have the Jaegers take out other targets; she's going to well use the group to target people that would threaten a longterm peace; on both sides of this conflict: she didn't give me any details on who those would be" Tatsumi replied.

Shortly at Aria's manse… Angela Grundel sat at her husband's bedside he had a fever today and was confined to bed rest, overall his health was decent, but he was clearly sick and thus required urgent attention. "Angela my darling you don't need to spend this much time on my account, its just a fever it will pass" Constantine stated.

"And it will pass a lot sooner the more medical attention I give you" Angela stated.

"My apologies dearest, I know how my condition is and I'm sorry we can't do anything for it; the best you can do is accept it, I've already accepted my fate, I've done all I've wanted in my life save an Empire without Honest as minister, but I think I can achieve that; I've got a few more years left in me" Constantine explained.

"I know; I'm glad we did right by Aria' I just regret not having more children; the three girls we took in are nice and fine, but I just fill saddened that Aria is my only flesh and blood daughter, our only trueborn daughter" Angela stated then wept.

"Dear don't worry its not to late, I know how you feel about the young boy Ieyasu, its best you find another love, he's a good man, marry him have children, I don't mind, but don't let grief take you, I want you to be happy, I've accepted my fate and know there isn't really anything that can change that bar a miracle but you are healthy, young, you can still have a few more children" Constantine reassured.

"They wouldn't be yours though" Angela replied.

"Do they have to be, they would be your children just like Aria is your daughter, I want you to be happy, if you feel this way act on your feelings, I did the same when I was young and I don't regret the 20 years I've had since, especially with Aria our lovely joy" Constantine reassured, Angela nodded then kissed him then left to look for Ieyasu, who she found passed out on one of the couchs napping, while he was part of Night Raid he still stayed at her mansion along with Sayo and Tatsumi, Tatsumi even more so since marrying Aria. The fact that as a doctor who was sworn to help those in need of treatment from diseise and not being able to cure the one she loved the most was hardest pain she ever fealt, not even with her latest breakthrough a cure for Rubola's disease would she be able to find a way to fill the hole Constantine would leave, which was why she pursued her feelings for Ieyasu now that Constantine had given her his approval she was going to try and fill the hole before it even could be made.

Ieyasu slept on the coach snoring like a freight train, Angela smilled as she entered then walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead, he slept deep, she then moved to her chair and pulled out her book and read it, it was on the customs of the Western tribes, which interested her a lot, those of the Western tribes were notebly distinguished from other peoples by their unusual hair colors, with pinks and purples being common among them. "The amount of information one can learn thru reading is astounding" Angela remarked. Within half an hour Aria and Tatsumi arrived as did Sayo, Ieyasu had just gotten up from his nap as they entered the room. "Good you two are here; I have news that is important for you two and its going to relevant over the next few years" Angela explained.

"Alright mom please explain" Aria requested sitting down on a chair, Tatsumi sat in one next to her and held her hand, she got up and sat on his lap.

"Aria, your father and I had a talk; his condiation is terminal; Tatsumi my husband has severe case of prostate cancer, I've done all I can as a docter for him and he has at best a year to live; he's accepted his fate and has asked me to find someone to care for me as a second husband, I've thought long and hard on this and I've decided on one person: Ieyasu" Angela explained, Tatsumi and Aria's jaws dropped Ieyasu smiled. "I know this may be shocking but your father wants me to be happy and to fill the hole he'll leave before it forms in the first place, he doesn't want me to wallow in grief at his loss, also he wants me to have someone to care for me after he's gone, Aria he has left you your inheritance the mansion, the household everything; he's made no exception you are his only child and thus he is leaving it all in your care; I'll still live here and be around for you, only you're going to have to get use to having a stepfather; if you'll have me Ieyasu that is" Angela stated.

"I'll have you Angela, you've been so nice to me and cared for me ever since I arrived here, also the fact you've been humbling my flirts is beyond nice usually women end up smacking me" Ieyasu stated then came over and sat next to her, she kissed him on the lips and he kissed back.

"Great now my Brother isn't single anymore, and I still am, I'm going to have to remady that" Sayo remarked, then looked at Tatsumi knowingly. "Yes I'm taking about you" Sayo thought and her expression said causing Tatsumi to smile and her to blush.

"I'm glad that went over well; Aria I'm sorry for the news; but your father is a strong man I'm expecting him to fight the disease hard and long, but eventually there is no escaping the reaper's clutches, a fact that all of us have to accept sooner or later it is a very sad fact of existance and a bitter taste but at least in the end there is release from the pain of existance" Angela explained.

"Don't worry; I expected this would be the case, I've seen the way you act around Ieyasu, and I've seen father's condition get worse; I'm sad that he'll be gone in a few years but at least you'll still have someone to love and care for you; like Tatsumi does for me" Aria replied.

"Speaking off; Tatsumi I'm expecting my first grandchild within a year; I hope you and Aria can do that" Angela joked.

"Don't worry we've got that situation under control" Tatsumi joked back and they all laughed.

"So now I guess Ieyasu and I will start our official dating; also Tatsumi Gaurry our head of security needed to to speak with you and Aria regarding something, Night Raid something, I told him you'd be there to talk with him" Angela explained, Aria, Sayo, and Tatsumi left leaving Angela and Ieyasu alone with each other.

Shortly…. Gaurry was a man of average height and build and was the chief of the guards that protected Grundewick Manor, the number of guards numbered about 200 in total, each equipped with the best weapons and armor money could buy and feed in likewise manner, they were fanatically loyal to the Grundel family and no amount of money could buy their loyalty considering the fact that these were people that Aria's family had over the years brought in and cared for and gave them a job in their employ, over all the guards were effective and disciplined and a reassuring sight each time Tatsumi arrived in that he knew he was safe here and more importantly Aria was safe here. "A good to see you here Lady Aria, Lord Tatsumi; I've got a matter of importance, my brother a merchant of good intent told me recently that a business partner of his was murdered and his family taken hostage by a gang hired by a rival merchant, they are demanding a sizeable amount of money for their lives and have given him a week to pay up or they'll kill the widow and her four children; you must do something about it" Gaurry explained.

"This is complicated, Night Raid is supposed to lay low Najenda's orders" Aria explained.

"I know but I also know who isn't laying low and a I know someone who'd be willing to provide help" Tatsumi remarked knowingly.

"You mean- wait are you sure?" Aria asked puzzled.

"Positive, I know just the people to help; don't worry Gaurry, those hostages will be rescued, and you'll be hearing about it rather shortly" Tatsumi remarked.

Later… Tatsumi walked into Esdeath's office and explained the situation to her. "Alright I can see this, I'll do it for you if nothing else: besides it will be an excellent test of the Jaegers' abilities" Esdeath agreed then shook Tatsumi's hand, he kissed her; then the two left to put the team together.

"Ladies, Men, this is matter of our first mission, combat mission, there is a group of well armed thugs who've taken a family hostage, we are going to eliminate them and save the hostages, this will be a matter of simplicity, but this mission will give us bragging rights that we are actually doing something productive also it will show that people like me and the Emperor legitimately cares for the plight of the common people" Esdeath explained. "I want you to eliminate the enemies and let only one live so that we can make an example of him, Bols no incinerations there are too many people's life in danger and I don't want a fire to spread in the city, bad PR and completely counter intuitive, Cosmina focus on using Heavy Pressure sparingly and only on enemies, as to the rest of you just do your best; Tatsumi-kun stay near me, Mez you and the other Rakshasa demons will act as rear guard to block off the enemy's retreat path, show no quarter to them; everyone else is with me" Esdeath ordered. "Jaegers! Ready yourselves for battle!" Esdeath charged and the cheers went up from the team.

On the way to the district Tatsumi and Cosmina ended up getting paired up with Bols, Esdeath had divided the team into groups of three, one group would be tasked with the rescue of the hostages and the others would deal with their captors, with the Four Demons in reserve as a rear guard to keep the enemy from escaping. "So Bols tell me about yourself; I think it would be good of me to learn more about my teammates" Tatsumi stated, the Masked man turned to him and replied in a voice he didn't expect from someone in his persona, a nice friend down to earth voice.

"Me well there's not much to tell, I'm just an average guy who's trying to support his family in rough times, I joined the army as a means to support them with the depression having taken my job from me when the company I worked for went belly up, I decided to join the incineration squad it because sounded cool, I got lucky the team Captial's own squad brought me in, they had an Imperial arm that no one had been able to take as their own in twenty years, I have it now its called Purgatory's Invatation: Rubincante, the flames can burn mostly anything and the flames can't be extinguished they have to burn out on their own I've seen what it does to people I don't like having to use it. Tatsumi I'm a man that's done some terrible things, I'm expecting that one day it will catch up with me; the incineration squad was an honorable group when I joined ten years ago, but its changed since then, Honest changed it, we got retasked from our duties fighting back Danger Beasts were given orders, orders that I followed without question, we did terrible things, people our own people villiages were razed to the ground on orders from Honest, I did as I was told, I had no choice, I know the people I killed were innocents but I couldn't defy orders if I did that I would be killed to, my family killed, I have a wife and daughter, my wife is Kije and my Daughter is Logue, I do all I can to support them I love them more then anything else in the world and I'll do what ever I can to keep them safe and fed; I jumped on the offer to join the Jaegers the moment it was given I want to do something else perhaps this new group will be better then the old Incineration squad, the pay is good and the chance to work under the Empire's best and be considered amoung her finest is nothing to sniff at she cares very deeply for her subordinates they are like family to her" Bols explained. "you seem like a decent sort Tatsumi and have a family of your own now, word of advice, care for them and don't let them suffer any harm always be there for them" Bols added.

"Don't worry I will, thanks for explaining this to me Bols, I'm glad your honest about your past, there are a shortage of people who are in this world of ours" Tatsumi replied.

"Speaking off tell me a bit more about yourself" Bols replied.

"Not much, I come from a village leagues away from here, I came here with my friends looking to make a name for myself and try and lower the taxes on my village, got coned out of my money within hours of my arrivel, I was out on streets until I met the woman who later became my wife, Aria Grundel and let me tell you there is no other woman in the world more caring then her, except her mother Angela possibly, she's responsible for all the good things that have happened to me since I got here and she and I fell in love at first sight; since then I made quite a name for myself then Esdeath's tournemant happened and she and I well fell in love and I joined her team hopefully it will be good and full of good people, by the looks of things its full of people who have there problems but are looking to make amends for them" Tatsumi remarked.

"How did you manage to kill the Three Beasts?" Bols asked.

"Through a mixture of luck and skill, I actually only had to fight two of them one of them died before the fight began, an associate of mine killed him with a well placed sniper round, then I killed Nyau while he was distracted going after Spear, I cut off his arms then cut him in half before beheading him, I then faced General Liver it was a short fight because while he was distracted by me Spear came up and stabbed him from behind and cleaved his head in half; I only killed one of three Beasts the other two died by other people killing them, Spear's father was greatful for saving his and his daughter's lives in addition to the five remaining guards and gave me his daughter's hand in marriage, also Spear took Liver's teigu it lept onto her finger" Tatsumi explained.

"I see so what happened to the other beasts' Teigus" Bols asked.

"They are in safe hands at the moment waiting for new users, at the moment they are nice and safe in my Father-in-law's vaults, far better they stay locked up then in the hands of people who would use them to hurt and kill innocent people" Tatsumi answered, which was true though he didn't specify which Father in law, Scream and Belvaac were secure in Grundewick Manor away and out of the hands of people that would use them.

"I can see your reasoning, I support your decision but worry that it may have long term consequences keeping artifacts like those out of the hands of worth people" Bols noted.

They soon arrived at a large warehouse which had belonged to the business partner of Gaurry's brother but was now firmly in the hands of a the gang who had killed him, inside were of course the hostages; Esdeath approached with Run and Wave on either side of her, then pulled out a megaphone. "Attention this is your first and only warning, this is General Esdeath of the Imperial military, the Empire's finest and Leader of the Jaegers, you have this one chance release the hostages and surrender to face trial if not I will be forced to unleash my group of professional Teigu users on you in a rescue mission, there will be no quarter given to you criminals, surrender and you have a chance of living, don't and face death; This is your only warning!" Esdeath yelled into the Megaphone.

One of the thugs snarked back; "You're bluffing! You're probably just some costumed lady pretending to be Esdeath, our prisoners stay where they are, they are quite fun to play with!"

"I gave you your chance of coming willingly but you have chosen the way of Pain, Misery and Death! Jaegers to me Kill them all spare none of these scum save one who will be made a public example of!" Esdeath ordered.

"Carnage Incarnate: Grand Chariot!" Wave yelled drawing his sword and a suit of black armor materialized around him.

"Thousand Mile Flight: Mastema!" Run yelled and wings materialized.

Then the team was off, Run and Wave using their ability to fly granted by their teigus smashed open two up stairs windows, while the rest attacked from the ground, Tatsumi actived Smaug and Valruost and charged in and cleaved thru thugs, some with guns who fired bullets uselessly into the Dragon armor which disintergrated the lead into charr, as he advanced Bols fired his side arm a pistol which he kept for when he wasn't using Rubincate which, it dropped the thugs who ignored Tatsumi then Cosmina dashed out in front of them into a group of thugs.

"You guys aren't pretty boys, not even remotely: in fact you're bad boys in need of serious punishment: Heavy Pressure: REEECCCKKKKKK!" Cosmina remarked then pulse on sonic energy caused the thug's heads to explode like melons, the result of this panicked the remaining enemys but their escape route was blocked off by Dorothea who had come with Kurome and her puppets, Kurome dashed and sliced down each thug as they ran into her blood staining her sword and she soon locked blades with Tatsumi in her bloodlust.

"Hey! HEY! I'm on your side!" Tatsumi shouted as he parried Kurome's eager strikes.

Kurome stopped. "Right so you are; my bad, when I go into a bought of slaughter I can sometimes lose track of whom I'm fighting" Kurome apologized, as they rushed into the next room a three thugs ran towards them.

"RUN FOR IT!" One yelled and "ICE EVERYWHERE!" another yelled and "IT REALLY IS MOTHER FUCKING ESDEATH RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Tatsumi cut down two of the thugs and the knocked out one with his pommul.

Tatsumi checked the man's pulse and verified he was alive. "Good he's alive" Tatsumi stated.

"Why didn't you kill him?!" Kurome asked.

"Esdeath did order us to leave one alive and I intend to follow that order: this guy will do just fine" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed he will" Esdeath remarked entering the room with Run and Wave followed by the rest of team. "Good work team I do believe that was an excellent demonstration of the Jaegers' skills, I'm glad to see each of you unscathed, and that you follow orders without a problem; Cosmina you and Bols will take this one, guard him and keep him from escaping, also tie him up, I brought shackles" Esdeath stated.

"What about the hostages?" Tatsumi questioned.

"They are safe; I've seen to them personally, each of them has had their wounds looked at and so far only ones are mental; Run you and Wave will see to it that they get proper accomedations and safety, I'll inform the Emperor personally: Tatsumi thank you for your iniative, you may leave now, I've no need of your services for the rest of the day; return to my chambers though later I want to celebrate" Esdeath stated.

"Hey you should come by my in-laws place, I can introduce you to my new family" Tatsumi stated.

"That sounds like a plan I'll see you there" Esdeath replied. Tatsumi left.

An hour later… the Blood stains didn't get do any lasting damage to Smaug, but the smell of combat had left it's own stink which Tatsumi decided that as a reward for his efforts he would head to the hot springs near Night Raid's base, he told Najenda about what had happened and Najenda fainted when he told her that Esdeath had found out he was in Night Raid and wasn't going to take any action against him; he kept that secret from the others as Najenda believed it was something best kept from the others bar Aria who knew about it; Tatsumi then went to the springs.

As he relaxed in the water he heard giggling, then turned towards the source, and saw the twins Meela and Loris, in the nude, their clothes and his out of reach. "Hey Tatsumi-kun!" Both said at the same time.

"Great" Tatsumi thought, as they jumped in.

"Tatsumi-kun Meela and I have talked and talked about things and after your run in with Esdeath we thought you weren't getting enough blue haired girls in your life, so we've been looking at you for some time and decided you are going to be our first" Loris explained.

"Yes we agreed years ago we'd marry the same guy and that we'd both do him together; your that guy; your so handsome, strong, caring and you kill a whole lot of bad guys, so in short the perfect guy for us" Meela added, the two moved over to him and kissed him on both cheeks, Tatsumi blushed and grinned like an idiot, here he was, two beautiful girls wanting the D, part of him said no but that part of him was maimed by a number of other parts deciding it should shut up including his common sense which was tell him to "Dew It!" in its best Palpatine impression possible. Put his hands on Mila and Loris's butts and groped their rears they then took turns kiss him on the lips, they then pulled him up on the shore and wrapped their E-cup breasts around his member and massaged them in a double knot, their tongues licked his length and they each took turns sucking it, Tatsumi smirked, the three continued their lovemaking unaware a certain stealth specialist was watching the whole scene from a tree and smiling. The oral sex was something Tatsumi enjoyed, he enjoyed it even more when Mila placed her huniepot over his face and he invaded it with his skilled tongue causing Meela to moan her body shook with blissful pleasure, while Loris continued to blow him with amateur skill but Tatsumi didn't mind she'd learn, he was tempted to take the twins with him, they didn't have wanted posters and they'd make great bodyguards. Midway through as they finished oral and jumped back in water Tatsumi asked the question.

"Hey would you two mind sticking around with me as my bodyguards" Tatsumi asked.

"Gladly Tatsumi-kun" Meela stated as she pulled him into her, popping her cheery causing a notable splash of blood into the water, while Loris massaged his back with her boobs and kissed him, his length was something Meela wasn't used to and screamed. "SO BIG! HOW DOES IT FIT IN HERE!?" Meela questioned.

"I'm asking the same question you're so tight; tighter then Cosmina and Aria if that was even possible" Tatsumi replied.

"Who's Cosmo?" Loris asked as she rubbed her breasts against his back as softly and smoothly as possible.

"She's one of Jaegers and she's madly in love with me" Tatsumi answered honestly.

"I see, you get around a lot of girls love you Tatsu-kun" Meela replied, Tatsumi silenced her moans with his tongue and kissed her for a minute before pushing her back and suckling her nipples while Loris played with his. The tightness Meela had was shocking and soon it caused Tatsumi to cum, unloaded his seed into her, causing Meela moan in sweet bliss, Tatsumi pulled out and entered Loris who was equally tight and the two sisters alternated roles with Meela massaging his back and Loris being nailed vaginally, the twins were so alike and when it came time to take them anally they both giggled at the word anal and remarked how they loved taking it from behind; eventually though even he reached his limit as did they and they burned out and redressed and walked back to base, unaware of a certain redhead who had seen the whole thing.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Cherry Pops and Butterflies

Tatsumi awoke the following morning clinging to Aria and felt a warm sensensition against his back, he turned and noted Esdeath using him as a body pillow, he then remembered the previous night, he had invited Esdeath over to Aria's manse and had a great dinner and discussion with her family about the whole situation, then he remembered retiring for the evening and noted something, he was still inside Aria, they had a threesome the night before, considering the current situation it was best that he not move as he was enjoying it, he kissed Aria who was still asleep, then Esdeath who likewise still slept but mumbled something along the lines of "Tatsu-bunny" causing him to smile. "There both so cute when they are sleeping" Tatsumi thought to himself.

Withen a few minutes Esdeath and Aria woke up, Aria was semi surprised that Esdeath was in bed with her and Tatsumi until she remembered the night before, they then tackled Tatsumi and began to reenact the events of the previous night, the enjoyment was quite mutual and Aria was surprised that the Empire's finest was more then willing to be submissive to Tatsumi, especially after the fact she had been dominatent the night before, the current situation involved Tatsumi in missionary postion with Esdeath while simultioniously drinking from Aria's breasts, Tatsumi rubed her hair while Aria kissed him, more blue lipstick to his face which had been covered in it the night before, the fact that he couldn't tell who's was whos didn't phase him but apperantly Aria and Esdeath used the same brand of blueberry flavored lipstick. Esdeath's moans were enjoyable as he continued to thrust into her, the fact that Esdeath submitted herself to him was enjoyable, the fact that he had progressed from being just some guy from a remote village to the lover of the Empire's finest and married to one of the most beautiful woman in the world the next stage from this was more power, more money, more women who loved him, and more importantly an end to the rot and corruption of the Empire and the tyranny of Honest. But that would come in time at moment the three of them were one in passion, Tatsumi, Aria, and Esdeath all in one moment of enjoyment, one that lasted for about an hour before all three were content, they then took a shower together with Aria and Esdeath spending their efforts to get Tatsumi as nice and clean as possible and he did likewise for them. Then they dressed, Esdeath's uniform had been taken downstairs via a dumbwaiter for washing and she struggled with one of Aria's spare dresses, which barely fit her, fortunately it wasn't too much of an issue.

"You have excellent taste in clothing Lady Grundel but it's a tad too small for me" Esdeath stated.

"You must have issues finding things in your size" Tatsumi commented.

"Yes, to a point where most of clothes are custom-tailored, fortunately my tailors are rather good at their profession so nothing is out of place" Esdeath replied.

"Well your uniform should be ready for you downstairs in the laundry room I sent it down last night via my dumbwaiter along with the rest of our clothes" Aria commented.

"That's good, I'd hate to ruin this dress after all you've been such amazing hosts and it would be rude of me to offend people who've been so kind to me" Esdeath replied.

"Don't worry it should hold up, that dress is made of high quality cotton it should be able to take any abuse" Aria remarked, putting on her make up.

"I see, well I'll be careful anyway; like I said I respect my hosts, by the way you have been nice and understanding regarding me Lady Aria I can see why Tatsu-bunny is so fond of you" Esdeath replied, then left the two alone.

"Tatsu-bunny" Aria remarked and suppressed a giggle.

"Don't tell Ieyasu, he'll never let me here the end of it" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh don't worry I won't tell my future father-in-law about that; I seriously can't believe my mother is in love with him; I have no idea what she sees in him; personally I think he's a fool" Aria remarked.

"Ya Ieyasu can be an idiot at times but overall he's a decent guy, don't worry about him, I'm sure he and your mother will get along just fine, besides if you think it's awkward having him as father-in-law its nowhere near as awkward for me" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course he is your best friend" Aria commented.

"You know Aria I can't ever express how grateful that you are as nice and caring as you seemed, I'd hate to think what would have happened to you and to my friends if you weren't" Tatsumi remarked.

"Please Tatsumi, you don't need to worry about what could have been" Aria replied.

"Yes, I don't I have a lovely caring wife, and not some torture crazy nutjob who's family killed his best friends by torturing them to death in some shed near her house" Tatsumi remarked.

"HA! You have such an overactive imagination, that would be a demented dark reality, but please don't mention that again, you'll give me nightmares" Aria remarked.

"Ya you're right I'll probably have them too if I dwell on this" Tatsumi remarked.

"Well shoo, go get some breakfast I'll be down there shortly" Aria replied and Tatsumi did as she asked.

As he proceeded down the hallway he bumped into someone; that someone was a beautiful woman with caramel skin, long black hair in ponytail, glasses and an hourglass figure, she wore an orange short-sleeved shirt over a blue longsleaved top and long black sweats as well as elbow warmers that were orange as well, her shoes were actually a pair of silky slippers as she was inside. "Sorry I wasn't paying attention" Tatsumi apologized.

"Its alright it happens, so you're Tatsumi right?" the woman asked.

"Yes and I know you, you're Yami's sister Naomi right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Ding-ding-ding give the man a prize, yes that's me, so where are you heading?" Naomi asked.

"The dinning room for some breakfast" Tatsumi answered.

"Well you're heading the wrong direction; the dinning room is that way" Naomi stated.

"Huh I'm pretty sure its this way" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes it is, just teasing you, by the way you should keep your eyes up, I don't like the way you're staring at my chest" Naomi noted.

"Sorry!" Tatsumi apologized as his face lit up with a cherry blush, he had been staring at her breasts while she was speaking.

"It's alright just look at people's faces when your talking to them in the future" Naomi commented, Tatsumi then proceeded on his way.

Arriving at the dinning room he noted two people that were speaking with each other, Chelsea and Sayo were discussing recent gossip about the town, rumors about other things that Tatsumi wasn't focused on; he lamented his lack of focus on recent news but apperantly they were talking about the recent performance at the Umatora Theater which had been quite hilarious to witness, again Tatsumi lamented his lack of focus on the arts, which reminded him, he had recommended the troope show up and preform at the Imperial palace as the Emperor had asked, also he needed to start thinking of fun things for Makoto to do as his new position as the Minister for Fun required him to think of stuff that Makoto would find fun to watch and do.

Tatsumi sat down at the table after plating himself up a sizeble meal of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, sausages, orange juice and pancakes as well as few of Angela Grundel's famous peanut butter cookies which he loved. Speaking of Angela she and Ieyasu were lost in talking about each other while taking sips of hot coco, while Constantine as usual read his newspaper which Tatsumi noted in one side that an archery competition was being hosted with the grand prize of 200,000 gold going to the victor along with a set of the finest armor and a masterwork bow as well. "That sounds like something Sayo would like to do" Tatsumi thought to himself, he noted that Chelsea and Sayo were looking at him with interest smiling sweetly, well more in Sayo's case with Chelsea attempted to smile sweetly while sucking a cherry pop, which Tatsumi noted he hadn't seen her without one, granted both of them had empty plates, also they were clearly regarding him with obvious interest; Tatsumi knew they were obviously in love with him, Sayo had been for years and Chelsea more so after an incident.

Two weeks prior… "Lay down your arms and hand over your money or this little sweet tooth hottie gets her throat slashed" A brigand thug stated, the had been ambushed on their way back to Night Raid HQ and the group that had jumped them consisted of a dozen well armed men, Chelsea's weapons were out of reach as she had dropped her Teigu in the surprise.

"Here catch!" Tatsumi shouted then took his sack of gold coin threw it and it struck the brigand in the face allowing Chelsea to turn the tables on him grabbing several darts from Gaea Foundation and throwing them at a number of the attacker stunning them as Tatsumi dashed forward cutting down the surprised brigands like wheat before the scythe, Chelsea picked up Gaea Foundation off the ground as Tatsumi picked up the gold, a number of darts and coins were scattered in the scuffle and as they picked them up they held hands.

"Thanks Tatsumi-kun, you saved my life and you deserve something for that" Chelsea remarked then kissed him on the lips, it lasted for a few seconds before she broke it.

"Thanks" Tatsumi stated blushing, they then picked up the remaining darts and coins then proceeded to leave. "So Chelsea tell me more about yourself we haven't really gotten an opportunity to know each other" Tatsumi asked after they had left the bodies in dirt.

"Well me, how do I begin, my full name is Chelsea Lena Oarburgh of Clan Oarburgh's royal bloodline descended from Empress Merraid I thru her many progeny, well I come from Tokorra a city far from the capital in the province of Matahai that mark the border between the central and eastern provinces and I was raised by my Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Daniel, my mother died giving birth to me and Taeko my twin and my father died when he was killed by thugs who wanted to molest Merraid when I was three so the most I spent was with my cousins and surragte sisters. Their were eight of us, Taeko, Merraid, Saraya, Gilbranda, Cassandra, Meela, Loris, and myself. Grandma Barbara was a master assassin and was knowledgeable in posions, we targeted those who oppressed our village, the deserters who killed my parents were the first to die, I found Gaea Foundation in their possession, the next years we spent training, Merraid was the most elite of our group her early days spent in the arena, then came Taeko who as you know is a master of the sword, the rest of us were skilled in different ways; my greatest skill is infiltration, you haven't seen me use it but Gaea Foundation allows me to disguise myself as anyone, including people that I only know in passing, it has allowed me to infiltrate and kill many targets over the years, evil people tend to get overconfident in their security and don't tend to expect someone they knew for years to suddenly administer a fatal dose of an uncureable poison invented by my Grandmother, and because they never know who carried out the attack in the first place I've gotten away scott free, that's the main reason why there aren't any wanted posters for me because I'm always someone else, anyway Najenda values my skills as a spy more then those as an assassin because there are more people who are skilled then me" Chelsea explained.

"So what led you to join Night Raid also who's Cassandra?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well as to your first question it started a few years ago when my Grandma who was the head of our clan died of old age my Grandfather died a couple days later he couldn't live without her, she died just as Honest had assumed power and had sent a new governer to the town, the governer seized Grandma Barbara's castle and kicked us out, we assassinated him and then left with what we could carry and turned into a group of our own leaving one of our cousins in charge of the clan, because of our skill we made no shortage of trouble for the Empire, no one was really there to oppose us because first off the Elite Seven had disbanded and it was amateur hour across the Empire and secondly we never stayed in one place too long, eventually we joined up with Revolutionary army and were recruited into Night Raid by Najenda who had been at the Secret City at the time, all of us except Cassandra joined" Chelsea stated. "As for your second question Cassandra has always been the wildcard of our group, she is Bi but prefers women to men, so she slants to the lesbian angle more then the middle and I think like Gil she's never been with a man at least she never had when I was around, anyway she favors a different fighting style to the rest of us, she's more of a point at the enemy and watch her massacure them with her swords, she fights like the eastern tribes whom she's descended from and she's got four arms like those easterners, the Easterners have always been odd, like they're close to human but not quite, just the arms are noted, anyway Cassandra like many of my sisters was adopted by Granny Barbara, the only true blood relatives she had were me, Merraid, Saraya Taeko with Meela and Loris being my cousins plus a number of other Oarburgh families though mine is well special amongst our clan, everyone else in our direct clan was adopted, she was seven when she was brought in, we found her captive by slavers from the Reachlands of Cadar, to the south east of our city that of Tokorra in the Matahai Mountains, she was fortunately unscarred and unviolated by them because they wanted to make sure they could get a bigger profit for her; she's about a few months younger then me, she has long purple hair she keeps in ponytails and purple eyes, she wore a maid's outfit before we left then she took to wearing scale armor in the style of her people in eastern tribes including the helmets that obscure your face with chain mail and prevent from people seeing it, she may not favor stealth tactics like most of our clan's female warriors but she certainly does adhere to our code of never letting any enemy see your face and using a battle mask to intimidate your enemies, she didn't join Night Raid because she wanted to join the Army in fighting alongside her true people, I've not heard from her in a month but last I heard she had made the rank of General and was leading an army composed of assassins trained in the style of our clan the Oarbough Clan along with some of our household troops and professional warriors from her homelands in the eastern steppes, their warriors fight on foot and horseback, they are renowned for their bladesmen, bladeswomen, archers, gunners and horse archers, as well as cavalry that rides in armor so sturdy that not even machine guns can penetrate it, apperantly the Easterners possess access to an alloy that only they know how to refine and mine and can withstand most weapons short of explosives and Imperial arms" Chelsea explained.

"Thanks for telling me that Chelsea I didn't realize you were of noble blood" Tatsumi asked. "So what would you say was your greatest accomplishment?" Tatsumi asked.

"Killing General Tsurakora the Red Skull, he was a terror to behold on the battlefield and was a better commander then Esdeath, and far more monstrous, he would chain up children and pull them apart limb from limb just for fun while making their fathers watch from crosses as he raped their wives which he took as a harem of sex slaves. He had a weakness for woman and didn't expect a pretty camp prosititute he had taken for his mistress and who loved him to drive poisoned sais into his chest in non-lethal strikes after doing that castrating him and force feeding the whole thing to him, he died from being gelded to death and a slow acting poison, there's not a day that goes by that I don't remember his face, he didn't say a word or scream or even resist, its as if the betrayal basically robed him of his will to live I think I may have played the part of beautiful lover too well and I think he genuinely loved me but that didn't excuse how much of a monster he was and I never did the deed with him, well the devil's having his fun with him, it was only a year ago but I remember his death like it was yesterday" Chelsea replied and smiled the whole time.

"Alright then, I have a more personal question why do you always wear those headphones?" Tatsumi asked.

"They allow me to listen to soothing music, I've always been a fan of composers, especially the ones Honest had murdered for making songs making fun of him" Chelsea stated. "You know I could kill Honest at any point but the way I'd like to see him die isn't any way I could deliver" Chelsea explained.

"How would you want to see Honest die?" Tatsumi asked.

"At the hands of the Emperor himself, the young boy has no idea about what Honest has done to the Empire, him dying by the hand of the person he considers his puppet is just too perfect to have him die in any other fashion, it would be so artistically done" Chelsea stated.

"You never know that might happen one of these days, but I doubt it" Tatsumi remarked. "Though if it did I'd laugh my head off" Tatsumi remarked.

Presently… "Hey Tatsumi, Tatsumi! Hey baka!" Sayo's voice commented as she poked him with a fork. Tatsumi refocused from his daydream.

"Yes Sayo, sorry I was lost in thought" Tatsumi replied.

"Well you can daydream some other time; there's an archery competition and Aria's agreed to put up the entry fee for me to enter" Sayo explained.

"Alright then I'll go, it should be interesting to watch you kick the asses of the other competiters" Tatsumi remarked, Sayo smirked at that.

"I'm going with you two, if only to keep an eye out for potential targets for future missions" Chelsea replied. "And to provide moral support" she added.

Sayo left the dinning room and Tatsumi and Chelsea went to the entry hall to wait, while they waited they talked. "So Tatsumi how are Meela and Loris" Chelsea asked.

"You saw that?! Figures" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes Tatsumi also I'll admit it I'm kind of perv, when ever you go to the hot springs I'm not far behind besides my cousins are talkative chatterboxes who'll us any excuse to gossip" Chelsea remarked.

"Great next Merraid's going to ambush me there next" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't be surprised if she does, she's currently deciding on how to approach you given the fact she's never gone after a man before" Chelsea commented.

"Then I'll have to double my guard, sheesh I'm not opposed to all the girls liking me and wanting to get in my pants but I'm worried that there's going to be battle royale at somepoint over who I get to be with permenantly" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry about that, so far there hasn't been any and besides its not unprecedented in the Empire's history a lot of men have a lot of wives and concubines" Chelsea stated then Esdeath walked into the room in her uniform.

"See you later Tatsu-bunny, I'm giving you the day off while I and the rest of the Jaegers look for targets of interest, also you better drop by the palace later, The Emperor will be expecting you to be there to watch the Umatora troope perform" Esdeath explained.

"Wait can Chelsea and Sayo come?" Tatsumi asked.

"Sure, just let the guards know they're with you and there shouldn't be any problems, that reminds me take this" Esdeath replied handing Tatsumi a set of papers inside a container.

"It's Imperial documentation showing your rank as Minister for Fun, I took the personal effort to draw them up and his imperial majesty Makoto signed them, take that and put on some presentable attire and the Royal Guard should let you and anyone you bring with you in" Esdeath explained she then left confident.

After the door shut and Esdeath had left the gates they talked again. "I dare someone to try and mug her, the result would be hilarious" Chelsea remarked.

"Completely agree; you'd be surprised how many people would think that its an imposter and not the genuine real General Esdeath; just yesterday the thugs in the warehouse we raided thought she was someone in costume what idiots" Tatsumi replied.

"You two ready to go" Sayo stated approaching, she wore a purple tunic and long pants as well as a quiver and her trust bow.

"Yes we are" Tatsumi replied.

An hour later… it was simple mater of paying the entry fee and they were allowed into the grand arena where the contest was ready and set up, they were just in time as Sayo was the last contestant to enter. Tatsumi and Chelsea purchased a decent place of seating that allowed them to see the show without issue.

"Hey bro" Bulat stated from behind them.

"Bulat what are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Same thing as you're doing watching the show" Bulat commented.

"I second that" Lubbock remarked Yami holding onto him.

"Trust me Tatsumi and archery contest we all expected Sayo to join in" Leone remarked.

"Quite they're starting" Chelsea barked, then a man clad in fine clothing came to a balcony overlooking the arena, the audience cheered as he entered and picked up his microphone.

"Citizens, Ladies and Gentlement welcome to the 89th annual Tagari Raokti grand archery competition, since its establishment by Emperor Kyudo the Bowmen, the competition has identified the finest Archers in the Empire, many have made the journey to the capital but few have managed to afford the entry, truly only the most renowned and skilled archers are here, as their skills must attest to the fortune they've made in order to pay the entry fee, now to our contestents, there are 12 of them, in order to advance each contestant must hit a majority of their shoots, each person had only one shot per target in the opening challenge, also as any archer knows it doesn't require much effort to hit a target that is holding still so thanks to an elaborate contraption the targets will move, the Archers with the least hits will be disqualified, in order to identify our contestants the quivers have arrows fitted with different colored fletching: Now the time as come who will rise to the challenge and earn the title of Master Archer lets find out!" the Announcer yelled.

Sayo stood between two other competators, one was man who dressed in noble attire and the other woman dressed in the armor of a mercenary from the Southlands Wastes. "Notch Arrows!" an official stated, all the archers notched. "Rotate the Targets!" He added, and the Targets began to move down and around. "Draw!" The official yelled. "LOOSE!" Sayo fired her first shot striking the bullseye then drew her next arrow struck off center but still in near where she aimed, then another shot, and another, each arrow hit the target, three bullseyes, four corner shots, 4 near bulleyes and 6 average hits, eventually she had emptied her quiver and had hit every single target once.

"HALT!" the Offical started after every archer had finished emptying their quivers and the targets stopped. The official examined the targets, Sayo's arrows had purple fletching, the official then tallied a score of points based on where each target hit, as well as how many missed, eventually two of the contestants were disqualified, and points showed Sayo in second, an archer named Cornak of Vaar was ahead of her with the southern mecenery Petra Vargani in 3rd. The targets were replaced by a number of caged rabbits and a course that was tailored to not allow them to escape save by one narrow exit.

"Now for round two; the running rabbits challenge, bag the most rabbits to win, those who fail to bag 4 rabbits or more are disqualified, refill your quivers archers and ready for the next round!" The announcer stated.

"Hey Tatsu-Kitty" Cosmina stated having snuck up on him, she wore the same attire as usual.

"Cosmina?! How did you get in" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh Esdeath sent me to keep an eye on you, I paid extra to get in, they were out of tickets so they charged extra for me to get in, so I'm sticking to you like glue for the rest of day" Cosmina stated.

"Great" Tatsumi remarked, Cosmina clinged to him all needy like, while he noted Sayo take down three rabbits with one arrow, then follow up to three more with arrows in quick succession.

"So this is your girlfriend from work?" Chelsea asked.

"Yes! I love Tatsu-kitty, I call him that because Esdeath called the name of Tatsu-bunny, and because his hair makes him look like a kitty" Cosmina replied.

"Yep, as you can see she's obessed with me" Tatsumi added.

In the Arena bellow the rabbits were near exhausted in terms of numbers which was saying something as they were rabbits and were running rather quickly for survival, then as the last few managed to get towards the entrance three were pinned to death by three arrows that Sayo had launched in quick succession. "Easy peesy, once you've hunted rabbits day in and day out for survival in your remote village killing them becames second reflex" Sayo remarked to her other opponents some of which laughed, others glared and a few just nodded in agreement, the official went and tallied the kills noting the arrows, over all Sayo had downed the lion's share at about 25 rabbits, 6 others had managed to get the 4+ required for advancing while the others failed, such it was now the contest had 7 contestants remaining.

The arena again reset and the rabbit course was replaced by a series of mock soldiers clad in plate with rolling wheels underneath. "Now for our test of speed and precision, each of our contestants must make a killing blow on each of our soldiers before they reach them; if the soldier reaches them they contestant is counted as dead and is eliminated from the competition" the Announcer explained. "To make things more complicated each of our stand ins will be wearing full plate armor thus narrowing the potential kill spots, the dummy will advance towards the archer upon a kill the dummy will have a green flag pop up and stop dead in its tracks, but beware they move awfully fast!" the Announcer added.

The Offical again gave the orders to notch and draw, Sayo readied her bow having refilled her quiver; then the official waved his flag and the mechanized dummies advanced, each archer fired their arrows, most glanced off the armor, but Sayo focused looking for the chink needed then found it and fired two arrows in quick succession, the first was deflected by the armor the second struck home and the flag went up, to her surprise Cornaak who had been her chief challenger in the competition failed to land a fatal blow, but the southern mercenary Petra did as did two others, however the other three had failed to stop the advance and the official walked up and tapped them with his flag saying "Dead!" to each competitor.

Above in the stands…. "HEY!" Tatsumi yelled at the concessions merchant.

"Yes what can I get you sir" the merchant replied in a nasally voice.

"Three packs of those honey roasted peanuts my good sir" Tatsumi remarked, the merchant came over handed Tatsumi the peanuts and he handed him the gold. "My friend is in the competition, she's the girl with black hair" Tatsumi explained.

"Good for you" the Merchant stated and the next round started.

"Now for our challenge of skill; each of our previous challenges have required speed, but now the contestants will have to strike the bullseye of our moving targets with three arrows, failure to make the mark will result in elimination from the competition" the Announcer explained, then the targets began moving and moving faster then before. The Archers notched and aimed, fired their first shots, three struck true, one missed, then the next shots three hit one missed, then two hit and two missed, the targets stopped and only Sayo and the mercenary Petra remained. "You two are our finalists" the Official stated.

Above in the stands Tatsumi struggled to eat his peanuts as Cosmina was currently hugging him while Leone glomped him from behind and Chelsea did so from the otherside, then the field cleared and the two contestants were ready. "Now for our final challenge, our official will throw three apples into the air, the final two contestants must hit all three with one arrow" The announcer explained and the mutters came up from the crowd that no one could pull of a shot like that unless they were a true master archer. Official had three red apples in each hand, then flung them Petra fired and struck two but missed one, but Sayo's arrow flew true, striking the first then the second and then the third creating a shishkabab of apples that impaled a target in the bulleye right behind the official.

"Congratulations Sayo; you are a true master of the bow, you deserve my respect" Petra complimented and gave a curt bow before slinging her bow back onto her back.

"We have our Champion, from the remote village of Karsawa, Sayo has won, she is declared the master archer as such she is awarded our grand prize, in addition to that she will receive a complete refund of her entry fee and the title of master archer!" the Announcer stated and a cheer went up from the audience of "SAYO! SAYO! SAYO!" Sayo moved to a stand where the prize awaited a large sack of gold next to a bow made of the finest redwood, as well as a coat of plates overlayed by a heraldic tabard which was blank topped by a open-faced bascinet helm with a crest of eagle feathers. Sayo put the armor on over her usual attire and found it to be surprisingly light to wear, even the helmet, she slung the new bow over her back and took the quiver of masterly fletched arrows and slung on her back as well, her old bow as also slung and her old quiver hung at her side she then picked up the rather heavy bag of Gold and held it up to the roar of the audience. Shortly afterwards she met up with her friends and with the official who handed her the entry fee she had paid.

"Here I'm going to give a share of this to each of you my friends, I couldn't have done this without your moral support, I'll Aria her money back too" Sayo stated and handed out some of the gold, Tatsumi had an idea.

"Hey Sayo, mind coming with me to the palace, I've got someone that would love to see that trick with apples" Tatsumi asked.

"Sure anything for you Tatsumi-kun" Sayo remarked and kissed him on the cheek.

Later…. The Imperial throne room was a sight that Sayo hadn't expected to ever see in her life, she noted the people in the room. "Your majesty, I've found something that will be fun to watch" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh what is it show me! Show me!" Makoto said excited, Esdeath stood nearby and smiled while Cosmina clung to Tatsumi.

"I have here my one of two best friends Sayo, she just won the Archery tournament and is a true Master Archer, she can hit three apples thrown in the air with one arrow" Tatsumi explained.

"Impossible no one can make a shot like that" Honest stated then chomped on a drumstick of 'pork'.

"A master Archer can, and if your so skeptical why not let you be one to throw the apples Honest" Esdeath suggested.

"Yes that sounds like a fun idea, Honest-san get some apples and don't eat them, you'll throw them into the air and we'll see if Tatsumi-san's friend is as good as he says she is" Makoto ordered, Honest smirked and obliged.

"And to add a bit more lets put a forth apple, one that will be on Honest's head" General Budo suggested, he was the head of the Royal guard.

"That sound's like even more fun!" Makoto stated eager. Honest went to a nearby cart where food was layed out for him to eat and grabbed four apples, Esdeath put one on his head much to his alarm.

"I hope you don't miss I really value my head" Honest stated alarmed by the possibility that she might kill him.

"Don't worry I won't miss" Sayo remarked.

"Besides if she does you won't be" Esdeath remarked in a whisper.

Honest then took a deep breath, held the apples out and then threw them. "TWANG!" the bowstring made and the arrow flew, impaling one apple, then two, then three and four, and then the wall. "YAY SHE DID IT! THAT WAS AWESOME!" Makoto cheered jumping from his throne in joy. "AGAIN! AGAIN!" He added, Honest fainted. Makoto then picked up his wooden sword and walked over to Honest. "WAKE UP HONEST-SAN! I want to see her do the trick again! No sleeping on the job!" Makoto stated as he wacked Honest repeatedly on his stomach with his bokken.

Shortly after a few more wacks to the stomach Honest woke up hold his chest as he got up. "Ouch!" Honest remarked.

"Its what you get for sleeping on the job" Makoto stated, then walked over and grabbed more apples, Esdeath again placed on his head, then Esdeath and Makoto moved out of the way and Honest threw the apples, twang and the arrow struck true taking all four apples out and hitting nearby wall next to the other arrow.

"YES! So it wasn't luck, you are truly a master archer, you are welcome in my home anytime Sayo-san" Makoto stated, Honest once again fainted. "I'm not getting him up again, all that means is he doesn't get any desert with dinner tonight, speaking of please stay for dinner" Makoto asked with puppy-dog eyes.

"SO CUTE!" Sayo thought. "Of course your majesty" she stated with a smile.

That evening… Tatsumi had retired to his room at Aria's house after heading home from the palace he was legitimately impressed by the food, Honest once again tried to have him served poisoned wine which failed because Esdeath gave him a glare that said "That trick didn't work before and if you touch one hair on my Tatsu-bunny's head I'll destroy your soul" he warned Sayo not to touch anything Honest offered her, to serve herself her own food, same went for Chelsea who tagged along but he didn't really need to let her know as an Oarburgh assassin she knew most poisons and unknown to him at the time had built up an immunity to them, overall dinner was enjoyable, Makoto had kept his promise not to give Honest any desert and sent him to his room when it came time for it. Tatsumi at the moment had gotten out of the shower and walked into his room to find Sayo and Chelsea waiting for him, in very sexy underwear, Chelsea's being a lovely crimson and Sayo's being as white as snow with fine nylon lace stockings.

"So Tatsumi: Sayo and I had a discussion and thought now was a perfect time for some fun" Chelsea remarked.

"We've been planning this for some time now, you know I've loved you since we were little we shared our first kiss, and now you will get my first time; I've always wanted it to be you" Sayo explained.

"And so do I, you've saved my life so many times now Tatsumi and I love you with all my heart" Chelsea explained.

"I- I don't know what to say" Tatsumi stated, Sayo and Chelsea got up and walked over to him both kissed him on either cheek.

"You don't need to say anything, just relax and enjoy" Chelsea stated swallowed her cherry pop and threw the stick aside, then kissed Tatsumi on the lips, Sayo kissed him on the forehead, then relieved him of the towel he wore, then led him to his bed, he layed back as Chelsea and Sayo stripped wearing nothing save the garterbelts and stockings, then wrapped their D-cup breasts around his member and licked the tip together; Tatsumi moaned his eyes shined as he blushed and smiled, then enjoyed the pleasure his childhood friend now lover and the Oarbough sister gave him head, they did so with surprising skill, well Chelsea did but her constant sucking on Cherry pops gave her skill that translated over quite well, he looked at them, then noted how cute it looked as Sayo had the head in her mouth while Chelsea licked the stem, then both took turns sucking the length. Tatsumi was half expected Cosmina jump out of his closet or Aria to walk into her room and shout something along the lines of "WHAT THE HELL!?" but neither occurred, withen five minutes he unloaded all over Sayo and Chelsea's faces the result made them look cuter then before; they then licked each others faces off, then played rock paper scissors to decide who's cherry got popped first, Chelsea won and impaled herself on his length the blood flowing out, Sayo came over and made out with Tatsumi while Chelsea went up and down moaning, Tatsumi was loving that Sayo was happy and kissing him like she always had meant since they were little, she had a chance once for them to have their own be one, but Ieyasu ruined that, being the annoying brother he was, now however Ieyasu wasn't anywhere near them, he was busy on a dinner date with Angela, which meant they would be undisturbed, Sayo moved to allow Tatsumi to lick her breasts then nurse from them, she smiled and blushed, then kissed his forehead and moaned "Tatsumi-kun, yes there, I've always loved you" While Chelsea moaned and laid forward to kiss Tatsumi, then smiled Tatsumi ran his hands thru their hair, Sayo's black hair and Chelsea orange-red hair, then alternated to suck Chelsea's breasts, eventually the stimulaus caused him to unload in Chelsea, the load going upwards and his load stricking true, then she got off and was joined by Sayo. "Who's ass gets it first?" Chelsea asked, Tatsumi was conflicted by decided Sayo needed some after all he had been obsessed with her rear end since his hormones kicked in and he finally was able to fufill his personal fantasy it was a no brainer who to choose, Sayo moaned with pleasure and pain as her black cherry was popped, Tatsumi thrusted while kissing Chelsea tenderly and hugging her as he did so her soft breasts pressed against him as they kissed, Sayo moaning in pleasure as Tatsumi thrusted into her, then he unloaded and pulled out then turned Chelsea around and tapped her ass, and gave Sayo her kisses, and smouched soon he came to his limit again and finally unloaded, Chelsea passed out face down on a pillow, then Tatsumi took Sayo missionary style. As he lined up Sayo pulled him in, his butterfly was hers, and they kept going and going into the night being joined later by Aria who eagerly enjoyed it noting that within a day she had gotten to have both her first threesome and foursome.

 **Authors Note: This is the first of many focus Chapters I'm going want feedback on who the next chapter should focus on, these chapters are for the purposes of character development, feedback on where to take the story next is needed I'd like my audience to way on what they would like to see and offer suggestions, at the moment I've left the next chapter untitled and am waiting for any suggestions, bar killing off any main characters, I'm the only who will make those calls on if and when that happens.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: The Capital Angel

As Tatsumi slept he dreamt, unfortunately he didn't have plesent dreams in spite of the recent sex with Sayo, Chelsea and, after she entered the room and lept on the bed, Aria. "Sayo?" Tatsumi questioned, in the dream he saw a shed Sayo hanging from a hook lifeless and without a leg, he then saw visions of violence, Angela Grundel cleaved in half by Extase, Constantine ripped to bits by Leone as he begged for mercy, Gaurry the head of security decapitated by Muramase, Chelsea's lifeless head on a pike, Spear's face been torn off and Spear dying from shock, then Leone kicking open a shed in front of him. "Behold the true face of the Empire" she said, then he saw Sayo's lifeless corpse, Ieyasu moaning in pain; and muttering something, Tatsumi saw Aria behind him; then suddenly she snapped and her demon face came to the for ground "Your just useless hicks from the countryside, no better then cattle, as for her how dare she have better hair then me while I have such unkempt hair" Aria stated, Tatsumi drew his sword and bisected her.

"AGH!" Tatsumi yelped waking up from the shock, it was morning, he then realized it was just a nightmare; Aria was laying on top of him sleeping peacefully, Sayo was on one side of him, Chelsea on the other, both were fine, Chelsea with her head still on her shoulders and Sayo with all her limbs intact.

Aria woke up and looked at Tatsumi who was still aghast from the dream. "Tatsumi-kun is there anything wrong?" Aria asked.

"Nothing I just had a nightmare; I dreamnt of horrible things, visions of some dark twisted reality, Sayo dead and without one of her legs hanging by a hook, your mother cleaved in half, your father killed as he begged for mercy, Chelsea's severed head on a pike, Spear's face being torn off and her dying from shock, and- you dying after going mad and saying you killed Sayo because you jealous of her hair and that wasn't the worst part I murdered you- I-" Tatsumi stammered.

Aria kissed him. "Don't worry it was just a nightmare; you know that it has no bearing on reality, I'm here alive, Sayo's here and so is Chelsea and Spear's alive and well in her home" Aria reassured him.

"You're right, it was just a dream, but it felt so real; almost as if it was some twisted alternate reality" Tatsumi explained.

"Some times dreams can seem so real; anyway you and I better get ready we have a busy day ahead" Aria explained, Chelsea and Sayo yawned and woke up.

"Good morning" Both said simultainously, then both laughed at their timing.

"How did you sleep last night Tatsumi-kun" Chelsea asked as they all got out of bed and got ready for the day.

"Fine apart from a nightmare I had" Tatsumi replied still trying to get the vision of Chelsea's severed head out of his mind.

"Poor Tatsumi what was it about" Chelsea stated.

"It was rather gruesome a lot of people I care for and love were dead, killed in brutal ways" Tatsumi stated bleakly.

"I see, well best to forget about it, Nightmares aren't healthy things to remember if you think about them too much you'll just keep having them, think pleasant things" Chelsea stated.

"Yeah come on Tatsumi let's go get breakfast" Sayo said putting on her shirt.

After they dressed they went downstairs. "Tatsumi I think it's time we spent more time together, Night Raid lying low and taking a break and the Jaegers dealing with the scum of the capital has allowed us chance to bond more" Aria stated.

"I'd love to Aria; I agree we need to spend some time together as a couple, also I think I need to know your family more" Tatsumi agreed.

"Yes I also need to spend time with my new sisters: Fal, Air and Luna; we really haven't had the chance to spend time with each other what with the Night Raid missions, court intrigue and getting you adapted to the noble lifestyle" Aria replied.

Soon the arrived at the dinning table where the usual people sat around the table, Constantine doing his usual newspaper reading, Angela who was bonding with Ieyasu, Fal Air and Luna being cute and eating, and Lubbock and Yami who had once again come over for breakfast. Tatsumi sat down next Aria who sat next to her stepsisters, Sayo sat next to him, and Chelsea next to her.

"Good Morning Aria-nee" Fal greated her sister. Tatsumi grabbed a peanut butter cookie then plated up some eggs, bacon, sausages, and toast as well as a glass of orange juice, Aria did the same albiet with more bacon, her eggs were fried instead of scrambled. "So how are you today?" Fal asked.

"Feeling good Fal-nee you feeling good today?" Aria asked.

"Yeah I am" Fal replied, she and her sisters wore dresses similar to Aria's own only they were smaller and colored in the same color as their hair which was fine-combed and neat.

"So you want to spend some time today I want to know more about my little sisters, I've not had the time to spend with you three what with all the stuff I do I haven't had time to spend with you three" Aria replied.

"I'd love to Aria-nee" Luna giddly proclaimed.

"Good I'll take you three shopping today, and Tatsumi will come with us" Aria explained.

"YAY!" all three sisters cheered.

"Good to see our children bonding Constantine" Angela remarked.

"Yes it is, it's also pleasant to say the world children instead of just daughter" Constantine replied and then laughed.

Breakfest proved to be delicious as usual, Lubbock and Yami finished first and left to go work at his bookstore, Tatsumi was glad to see the two of them happy together; their relationship was strong he was surprised though that neither of them had asked to tie the knot what with how close they were and both of them were still virgins, Tatsumi attributed that to a mixture of Yami's shyness and Lubbock's reluctance.

"Alright lets go" Aria stated getting up with the three sisters following behind her with as much grace as they muster.

The got into the carriage and Tatsumi found himself completely shut out of being able to talk to Aria when Aria told him to "I'm going to talk with my new sisters so be a dear and keep an eye out for any people in need" which was something that she did fairly often due to her Good Samaritan nature, so Tatsumi looked out the window in the scenery.

"So lets start off with getting to know each other; I've been out and about and have hardly gotten time to know you three so please tell me yourselves before you were liberated by Night Raid and brought into our lovely family" Aria stated.

"Alright so who gets to tell her our story" Air stated.

"Why don't we play Rock Paper scissors to see who gets tell her our story" Luna suggested.

"Alright lets begin: Rock, Paper, Scissors shoot" Fal stated, this left them at an impass as they had chosen paper, they then did so again, Luna and Air knocked Fal out of the running by double scissors bring it down to just the two of them.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" Air shouted and outfolded into a rock while Luna outstretched with paper handing the blue haired girl the win.

"YAY! So now it's story time, listen up, you to Tatsumi-ni" Luna proclaimed. "Our story began 12 years ago in a remote village named Heathrow on the borders of the western tribes, we were born to different parents and were playmates, we grew big when we were about 8 the village started to be attacked by bad men, the people there would fight back the bad men all the time, but it wasn't without loss, my father died defending the village but he killed fourty of the bad men before they killed him, however two years ago the men of the village were called away to fight in wars, the bad men were still not able to take the town but they did manage to steal a good portation of the crops, about three months ago a new tax was levied on our village, the payment was either in people or crops, the elder who spent most of his time inspecting the crops came back and told the collecters there wouldn't be enough food for winter if he gave up amount levied by the tax, so he did the only thing he could, to make sure that some people survived the winter he gave the payment in people, specifically the children and young girls like myself; the men took us and loaded us up in wagons, our parents tried to take us back but one of the bad soldiers he- burned them- roasted them like you would meat over a fire with some strange thing that breathed fire; after that they burned Heathrow to the ground and killed those who fought back, those who didn't they ended up like us, taken away to a market in a city not to far from our town and sold at a lot like you would pigs or cows, it wasn't good, Fal, Air and me were bought by a man named Bach along with a number of others, he used to be slave like us and told us he was buying us to keep us from bad men who would have done bad things to us, so he brought us with him to his home in the Capitial, he was always nice to us, giving us allowences, letting us sleep in beds in rooms, getting us good food, it was like he really cared for us; then well Night Raid happened, and Bach died, I hope it was quick; after having seen what happened to our parents it would be horrible to know he burned to death" Luna explained.

"Good thing Bach didn't die in a fire, you know though Luna you need to be more observant, I have some questions, did those soldiers ever touch you in a manner that was- well- bad?" Aria asked.

"Nope, a few tried but they got beaten up by the other soldiers, apparently they thought we'd be worth more if we were well fed and well treated and still virgins whatever virgin means, What is a Virgin?" Air replied.

"I'll tell you three when your older, for now I've got some things to say, first off Bach was actually a very evil man, he may have been treating you nicely but that was what people in his profession do if they want to make a profit, he would have sold you off to the baddest of the bad men and women just for money, not caring for what happened to you afterwards, as to his death well it was quick, but not painless from what Lubbock told me, he also told me Bach had planned to sell you to a bunch bad men named the Enthusiasts; they were madmen who'd do things so evil and vile that I refuse to talk about them; needless to say they're dead now, dead as Bach but they died in a worse manner then him" Aria stated.

"So Aria-nee tell us more about yourself" Fal asked.

"Me well there is an interesting story; well I was born 18 years ago to my loving parents during the last four years of the Rule of Emperor Valkorian the Stern, they taught me the principles of our family, that if you do good things for other people they will always be there to help you in return; since I've been around I've spent most of my time out and about the courtyard adventuring pretending there were faeries in our garden or building little castles out of rocks, I got my first dagger when I was nine, my mom or our mom taught me how to use it, when I got older she taught me all she knew about medicine but also about the state of the world, at first I didn't believe her saying that the world is alright and that it can't be as bad you think it is, boy was I wrong I found out how bad the world is the hard way, I still have the scars, after that I would not rest until I righted the wrongs in the Empire and that I would spend me life trying to help those who were in need, starting out with those poor souls who are less fortunate and the most easily targeted by the most vile and evil people in world, it was something we Grundels have done for generations and that is help those in need, I've made so many friends over the years, helped so many people, my only regrets is that I can only do so much because I'm just one girl against a world's problems" Aria explained.

"So why is it that Mommy and Daddy didn't have any kids after you?" Fal questioned.

"Well that's complicated, the short version is, dad has problems with having kids, dad has an illness, one that he's had since I was 8 and I asked for a younger brother or sister; the problem is he has- he has cancer, it's a slow illness that can't be cured even with mom's best efforts, the best she's been able to do is to allow him live longer; but he lives his life to fullest doing his best for the Kingdom; he's the an Advisor to the Emperor which means he's doing his best to make the Emperor do the right thing, he's been in his position during the reigns of five Emperors, the current Emperor, his father, his uncle who was his father's older brother, his grandfather and great-grandfather, he's also been in the Army so he's seen his fair share of war and knows how bad it can be, he met mom during one of those conflicts and saved her life from raiders, she saved his in turn after he took an injury that would have killed him without her skills as a doctor, with that they fell in love, then married then a year later I came out and my father retired from the military and assumed his father's role as an Imperial advisor" Aria explained, the carriage stopped. "Alright girls its time to get out and ready the cart and it's time to shop!" Aria stated, to the cheers of Fal, Air and Luna.

Shortly… Aria gave each of her sisters an allowance of money for spending, it consisted of 1,000 gold pieces each, while Aria had more to go on, she then assigned them each a pair of guards. "Alright here are the rules: Rule 1. Don't leave the sight of your guards if you do there is a risk you might get grabbed by bad men and I'd have to come and save you. Rule 2. You have this much money to spend, when you run out of money you don't get any more, got that, the first rule of money is you work within your budget. Rule 3 When the cart is full we head home, any questions?" Aria explained.

"Yes do the guards have to watch us go potty?" Fal asked.

"No, they just have to stand guard by the bathroom door, any other questions?" Aria explained.

"Yeah do we get buy anything we want to?" Luna asked.

"Only stuff you can afford, remember once you're out of money to spend you don't get anymore till the next time we go shopping, any more questions?" Aria asked.

"Yes can you tell me more about yourself Aria" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll deal with you after, any other questions?" Aria remarked.

"Nope" Air said.

"Negative" Fal said.

"I'm going to go get that giant stuffed bear over there it must be fluffy!" Luna stated and took off running, well as fast as she could run in a dark blue noble gown, followed by guards who were struggling to keep up, the same applied to Air and Fal who went in different directions.

"I'm staying with you" Tatsumi remarked holding her hand.

"Of course you are, I don't expect anything less from you my dear husband" Aria replied.

"So about Night Raid, how did you come to join them?" Tatsumi asked in a low voice as they began to purrouse the market at a slow pace.

"Ah yes, them, well I was one of the founding members the group has only been around for two years and my parents funded the group, Najenda was a family friend or friend of my father, when she left the Military she kept in touch with us and we helped her by providing a place to live and provided her a job as well our guard captain, she put everyone there into shape, we also helped give Lubbock the money he needed to start his bookstore, it became a huge success and he paid back the loan we gave and the interest in a few months, Night Raid came into being after Honest started to take more power as regent and stole the rank of Prime Minister and started to kill off his rivals, the smartest of them and the keenest formed the Revolutionary army, Night Raid was founded as one of many sepperate groups that acted as special forces units, Night Raid's speciality was assassinations, I brought my skills as medic to the table in addition to my extensive knowledge of poisons and my Teigu which by the way I bound to my control when I was only six, so I may be the youngest Tiegu user in existance, but because of the way Noctis Wave works and its very unique appearance no one outside the people I tell it's a Tiegu know it is one; by time I joined the group I was already an expert in my craft and I was essential in recruiting new members to the group, heck if it wasn't for my smooth tongue I don't think I would've managed to get Oarbough clan on board with the group; also because of the way Night Raid operates no one person outside the group and the highest ranked leaders of the Revolutionary Army know our exact strength" Aria explained.

"Wait if you were an expert how did you come by that, I find it hard to believe you were a natural from day one, it took me weeks to get thru Mine's training regime" Tatsumi replied.

"Well for starters the train regime isn't Mine's it's Najenda's secondly I never told you about my training did I, well remember how I told you I found out the hardway about the Empire's evil it wasn't pretty, when I was 10 about one month after my mother told me about the dangers of the world we went on trip to visit a governer who had been friend of my parents he had just retired and new governer was taking his place so the new Governer insisted on having my parents over for dinner. The old Governer had two children a girl about 3 years my senior and her brother who was same age as me, well the three of us were playing after dinner at the estate of Governer when the New governer's young twins came over to greet us, well they told us about this wonderful place they had discovered in the manor's backyard that was fun to play in. Well we were led off what we didn't know was that these twins had a gang that worked for them, as soon as we had gotten a 100 paces into the yard we ambushed and knocked out, we woke up tied up in a shed or rather I did, you see the gang belonged to Lucritia the older daughter of the new governer who I hadn't met and the two kids of the old governer were actually in on their game; or rather they weren't the actual kids but imposters as the real kids of the old Governer has died a week ago and been replaced by these twisted doppelgangers, the old governer suffered from a case of Seral's disease which basically caused him to lose his memory in fact he died a month later of it, anyway they teased me and called me names, then they took turns wiping me with a stick, I told them who my father was that he was an important advisor to the Emperor and they laughed at me, told me that while I may have been a big-shot in the capital to them I was just cattle to them, cattle, as if you could compare humans to that, their cat-calling went on for a while I called them names back one of the twins didn't like what I said and took out a pair of scissors and cut my beautiful locks of hair, and slapped me repeatedly, the little shit kept cutting my hair until he reach the top of my head, then blew a bubble of chewing gum in my hair; that was the last straw, something inside me snapped and I screamed a blood curdling yell, Mother heard my screams as she had been looking for me, the little shits heard her voice and ran off, she found me, crying my eyes out, clutching my cut hair, she comforted me and took me to our carriage, my father was sent to watch me and I stayed in their room at the house of the old governer's family the whole time we were there; but before we left the kids who tormented me came down with an acute and terminal case of Rubola's Disease, as did the new governer and his household guards and many other people who worked for him they died with a couple days and we left, a week later when we returned home to the Capital my mother and I had a talk; she told me the reason that those evil people had died was because of her, after she took me to the Carriage and explained to my father the situation she used her skills with poisons to poison the dinner that had been offered for the evening, after she did so my Father told the Governer in no uncertain terms we were leaving and that he hoped that the gods would sort out the rotten children who lived there, well now their sorting them out; the devil has most of them now, also the New governer had a secret he had been killing off a number of other people and putting them into meals for him and his guests to eat, his whole household participated in the vile thing, we fortunately didn't touch any of the meat while we were there because my parents were at the time were fasting and I was fasting with them, my mother told me everything that had happened, and I cried, she then told me that this wasn't the first time she'd killed people like that, a week later we went about hunting down the worst scumbags we could find, she taught me everything I know, I mean everything, save my swordplay that was my father's doing he figured that as his heir I should know how to swing a sword and so he taught me how to, we never left any clues to allow us to be tracked every kill we did was done in way that the Capital police could have no leads; heck even Seryu, my oldest friend didn't know about my past until I told her about it, and you should have seen her face Tatsumi you should have" Aria explained.

"Wow, so what about your hobby, the unpleasant one" Tatsumi asked staggered by the information, she had been feed this to him slowy and taking breaks to actually shop.

"Oh my hobby, that hobby, well that was another thing from my mother, she taught me that it was important for the worst of people to suffer long drawn out deaths, to feel the pain they've inflicted on others; I've tortured people only bad people, my only regret is I was never able to get revenge my tormenters from all those years ago, but at least I'm satisfied with the way they went, Rubola's disease is a horridly painful illness, my mother studys it and has tested it on lab rats for purposes of medical research and the agony it gives horrible, perfect for evil assholes who deserve nothing less then to die in that manner, though its not as much fun as yanking teeth" Aria replied then giggled at the last part which caused Tatsumi to wince.

"Ok let's not talk about this anymore, also you've scared me into brushing four times a day for the rest of my life with that thought" Tatsumi replied recovering from that mental image of Aria as his dentist. "Anyway Aria have you given thought to where we'll live, I want a place of our own, I don't want to just live at your Parents or Spear's home for the rest of my life we need a good place to live do you have any ideas?" Tatsumi asked.

"Don't look at me I'm no expert when it comes to houses" Aria remarked, they continued shopping, and did so till they heard a girl yell followed by shouting of men.

"SNATCHER!" A man yelled and "GIVE HER BACK!" yelled another, Aria and Tatsumi recognized them as Leon and Finch the two men she tasked to guard Luna, then a well armed man in mask ran carrying a sack with a tuft of Blue hair trying to get out he doubled back and checked to see if the guy had back up that was going after Fal or Air.

"My sister!" Aria yelled then pulled out a knife from her side and flung it, the dagger struck the man in the heel causing him trip as Aria quickly dashed up to the man with her sword drawn, but paused when the man was holding a knife to Luna's neck. "Luna!" Aria screamed.

"Nobody move, this girl's worth 8000 on the market twice that if she's a virgin, now you're all going to back away slowly or I'll make sure I'm not the only one who dies here" The Snatcher yelled, Aria rested her sword and her guards lowered their spears. "That's better now how much is she worth to you, because I'm sure whatever it is you have the money for it" The Snatcher said slowly backing away, suddenly faster then he could react a shuriken impacted into hand causing him to drop the dagger allowing Luna to free herself and knee him in balls. "YEOUCH!" the Snatcher yelled, but a sliced knuckle and pain in his nuts was the least of his concerns as he found a boot plant itself his gut causing him to fall down to his knees, he then was lifted up by a girl he found was surprisingly stronger then she looked.

"Who hired you?" Aria asked.

"I aint telling" the Snatcher stated then regreted it as his left arm was chopped clean off. "OWCH YOU BITCH!" The Snacter screamed then received another kick to the gut.

"I won't ask again who put you up to this?!" Aria asked.

"It was a man named Makati, Jerec Makati he runs a chain of whorehouses and slave dens and every racket on this side of the Capital; he don't own them all that's the Syndicate's job but hes the guy who hired me; he said find a girl about 12, extra money for her if she had blue hair, he had a buyer a man named Vox, he works for the Minister; I don't know why he wants it, please I needed the money to put dinner on the table; I didn't have any other option" The Snatcher replied, Aria's sword sawed opened his guts to his screams she then hit his mouth with the pommel.

"YOU DID HAVE A CHOICE! YOU HAD THE OPTION OF FINDING AN HONEST TRADE, LOOK I BELIEVE YOU NEEDED THE MONEY TO PUT FOOD ON YOUR TABLE BUT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO DO THAT, WERE YOU JUST A THEIF I'D HAVE LET YOU LIVE BUT YOU'RE NOT YOU'RE A SLAVER A SNATCHER AND YOU'VE CROSSED THE LINE!" Aria screamed her face going full demonic as she smashed the teeth out of the mans mouth with her fists. "YOU MESSED WITH MY FAMILY, YOU TRIED TO TAKE MY SISTER, MY ADOPTED SISTER WHO WAS RESCUED FROM PEOPLE LIKE YOU, SHE WAS A SLAVE AND KEPT IN CHAINS BY AN EVIL MAN WHO WAS GOING TO SELL HER TO A DEATH CULT! AND YOU WANTED TO PUT HER BACK IN CHAINS! NO! FOR THAT YOU'LL RECIEVE NO MERCY! YOU'LL DIE! YOU'LL DIE LIKE THE PARASITIC BASTARD YOU ARE! I'LL MAKE YOUR LAST MOMENTS AGONY!" Aria screamed as she beat the man to death, smashing him with her fists repeatedly crushing bones with her hands and with the pommel of her rapier. Within minutes it was over, large crowd had gathered to see the spectacle Aria was covered with blood, none of it her own, her lovely blue dress was covered with it, her sword was covered with it, her lovely white boots were stained in the blood of her latest target, she turned and looked to see Tatsumi and Luna, with Luna crying, Aria sheathed her sword and walked over to them.

"Luna I'm sorry you had to see that; I snapped, I knew what had happened to you in the past and I wasn't going to see you taken back into that life; I just lost it" Aria apologized crying hugging Luna.

"Don't cry Aria-nee, I wasn't crying about the bad man dying, I was crying for you that you were willing to do that to keep me safe; you really do love me; I'm glad to have you as a big sister!" Luna proclaimed.

"What happened here, citizens don't be alarmed Officer Seryu Ubiquitous is on the case" Seryu stated arriving with Kuro on support. "Aria, Tatsumi nice to see you two now what happened and give me the details"

"That bad man tried to kidnap me; Aria-nee saved me and made him dead" Luna explained.

"Aria is that true?" Seryu asked.

"Yes" Aria replied honestly.

"Good job, you delivered Ultimate Justice on a criminal scum, thanks for doing me a favor, now go about your business I'll call this in" Seryu replied, then saluted her friend and went on her way.

"I think we should head home; this whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth" Aria replied. "Besides the cart is full." She added wiping some of the blood off her face.

"Alright then; Fal! Air! We're heading home; take everything you've got and put it in the cart" Tatsumi yelled, the two girls put the last of their purchases in the cart, then they all got in the carriage.

Shortly…. "I'm glad to have saved you Luna, I'd hate to have seen you been taken back into slavery; the Syndicate is one of the most vile groups in the capital, but now you're safe and sound; I truly love you my little sister" Aria said holding Luna tight.

"I love you too Aria-nee-chan, you are the best sister ever!" Luna replied.

"As for you Tatsumi, next time something like this happens don't just stand around and do nothing" Aria rebuked.

"Ya I was an idiot, but you had him dead to rights best that I didn't jump in besides I was making sure that he didn't have company and that Fal and Air were alright" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah he did and we were fine" Air added.

"Alright sorry Tatsumi, I'm glad you were concerned about there safety" Aria stated. "Now what do you all think about getting lunch, none of you have seen one of the family restaurants and I think we could use something to eat, by the way how much money do you still have left over" Aria added.

"I have 200 left" Fal answered.

"300" Air added.

"130, some merchant swindled me" Luna stated.

"That's good you three are learning how to budget and save money" Aria stated.

"Hey Aria I need to visit the palace, I've got to come up with something new for Makoto to have fun with everyday" Tatsumi added.

"We'll do that after lunch in fact I have an idea for something fun for him" Aria stated with a smile.

Later… Tatsumi entered the royal palace after a stop off at Aria's home for a change of clothes, Aria's favorite dress required washing and changing, at the restuarent they stopped at everything was on the house and they received the best table, they then headed for the palace which no one stopped them entering because of obvious rank. In the throne room Makoto was busy playing with toy danger beasts while Honest debated with the other councilers and rambled to Makoto about something or other, while Esdeath shot Honest venomous looks the Emperor paid no attention to either of them. "Die Manticore, you are no match for the S-rank Leodragus!" Makoto yelled. "Yes I am I have poison" Makoto replied. "Well I'm immune!" Makoto replied then pushed the two plushies together sending the toy Manticore flying with Esdeath catching it from the side like a fly ball. Makoto noticed Tatsumi arriving. "OH Tatsumi-san, my minister of Fun! What have you got for me today" Makoto asked.

"Something that will provide constant fun, meet my stepsisters Fal Air and Luna, I brought them here because I thought you could use more people to play with apart from your sisters" Tatsumi replied.

"YAY! new friends!" Makoto said jumping out of his chair. "Sorry that the Umatora troope won't be preforming today Tatsumi, they are still moving things to set up for the play" Makoto replied.

"Don't worry you can't rush art your majesty" Aria replied.

"Your highness I beg you to reconsider allowing them to preform here" Honest stated.

"I love plays!" Luna remarked. "Me too" Fal and Air said together.

"We've been over this Honest-san, I said they could preform here and I'm the Emperor if I want to watch them perform they perform, now go back to running the country Honest-san and let me have fun!" Makoto rebuked. "Also dance like a ballerina!" Makoto ordered and clapped his hands.

"If his majesty wishes it" Honest replied reluctantly.

"With a tutu!" Budo commented.

"Pink one!" Esdeath added.

"Yeah that would be funny; Mez-nee find a tutu, hey Fal, Air and Luna come sit with me on the big throne it has room for all of us, watch this it will be funny" Makoto remarked and smiled.

Shortly… While Honest was the most evil man in the world Tatsumi had to admit the man could dance a mean ballet, the man danced the march of Takori and the leap of Vindi, all the while wearing a tutu, a jesters cap, and juggling Oranges. "That's funny thanks Honest-san!" Makoto stated, "Now Esdeath-nee do something to make him dance harder!" Makoto ordered, Esdeath smirked and thru ice shards at Honest's feet causing him to dance to dodge each one.

"I think he's funny like this" Fal commented.

"I love making Honest do things that are funny" Makoto stated.

"Oh can you make him dress like that for the rest of the week!" Air commented.

"Yeah he looks pretty like that" Luna commented.

"Honest Imperial decree you are dressing like that this for the rest of the week!" Makoto decreeded, Honest winced, Tatsumi laughed as did everyone.

"I'm sure you'll have fun but my wife and I must take our leave" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes we have to thanks for your hospitality your majesty" Aria added. "Fal Air, Luna, you leave with dad when he's done for the day" Aria stated.

"Alright Aria-nee" All three said at the same time.

"Well you two have fun, don't worry I bring them home but I'll be staying for a while" Constantine stated.

"Yay that means we get to play all day!" Makoto stated.

Later that evening… "I'm glad that we had a good day together; as to our home I actually did some thinking about it on the way home there is a nice place that's centrally located and recently had a vancany thanks to our efforts" Aria replied.

"You mean Gamul's manor?!" Tatsumi replied.

"Yep it's still on offer no one has been able to afford it; so what do you think?" Aria stated.

"I think we'd have to visit it, then we'll see in the mean time" Tatsumi replied then kissed her, Aria stripped to her bra and panties and her garterbelt and silk stockings, baby blue like her eyes, she then smacked his bum and pulled him to their bed and pushed him back.

Momentarilly… "Tatsumi-kun" Aria moaned as Tatsumi suckled her left breast and thrust into her, wraping one arm around his back as he did so while running her other hand thru his short brown hair. "I truly love you my husband, you are my forever love" Aria moaned. "Ugh! Ugh!" she continued moaning, blushing as Tatsumi fondled her breasts while drinking from them; she smiled as she moaned her cherry blush was happy. "my love" she moaned consistant.

"Aria I'm cumming!" Tatsumi proclaimed and unloaded inside, Aria flipped over as he pulled out shaking her ample bum at him. Tatsumi needed no invitation as he entered that tail he absolutely loved and rode her doggy style. The moon shined on their love making as it did their first time, the night sky was clear, no one was disturbing them, that didn't mean no one was listening.

"What are they doing in there?" Air questioned listing at the wall.

"I have no idea, maybe their just loving each other" Fal replied.

"I think you two need to get sleep, you're keeping me awake I want to go to dreamland" Luna remarked groggily from behind her blindfold, then snuggled her giant stuffed polar bear.

Both shut up after that, though they kept listening until the noise stopped, then they went to bed. Though Aria and Tatsumi had'nt stopped, Aria was slurping Tatsumi's length and massaging it with her breasts, Tatsumi smiled as she did so but he was licking her huniepot as they were in a sweet 69 position, overall they were happy content, suddenly Aria stopped then got up and rushed to the bathroom; Tatsumi heard her vomiting.

"Are you ok? Did it taste bad?" Tatsumi asked concerned getting off the bed and walking over to her.

"No Tatsumi its not that, I think, I think I'm pregnant" Aria replied, Tatsumi smiled.

"That's wonderful news" Tatsumi replied.

"And worrying news, it means we're on a time limit now, we need to overthrow Honest before our child is born, I can't raise a child and be an assassin at the same time that would be too much for me to handle" Aria replied.

"Don't worry I think we can see to Honest's end before you get to the third Trimester, besides I'll do my best to keep you safe and our child safe my Capital Angel" Tatsumi replied, Aria smiled.

"Capital Angel, I like that name, if we have a girl we'll name her Angel, and if we have a boy we'll name him Constantine after my father" Aria stated.

"Well you truly are an angel Aria, the Capital's kindest soul and the sweetest and most carrying woman in the whole city" Tatsumi replied. "Also I agree with the names Angel eh; short for Angelica; Angelica Grundel" Tatsumi stated and they continued making love into the night until they passed out in each other's arms.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Mommy Dearest

Ieyasu devoured a delicious pork chop, while Angela smilled at him from across the table, Sayo and Tatsumi were doing the same; then he took a drink of tea; the world twisted around him, the bright lights of the dining hall were replaced by darkness, though not incomplete, Ieyasu noted his surroundings and a very grim sight, Sayo, his sister dead without one of her legs hanging on a hook without clothing, also he heard Tatsumi yelling "STOP IT!" and "HELP" as well as screams of genuine terror that were tempered with moans of pleasure, overall Ieyasu noted it sounded like he was being raped. He noted he was in a cell, in the corner rats scurried about and noted in the other cells rats the size of men and with a similar body type to men cackled at him; he heard a bell tone in the background and green lightning flash in the sole window and he heard a bell toll, once,twice,thrice, eventually stopping on the thirteenth toll, then the door opened and shut behind him, he saw Angela, but gone were her smiles at least not the pleasant one it was twisted her eyes which had been blue were now red as blood, she had a bag which she put on the ground, she then dropped her dress revealing no clothing. "Now for you, I thought you looked handsome, your friend was quite good-looking but Aria's decided he'd make a good bed-slave for her and her alone; you however I've got something in mind" Angela stated in a demented voice, Ieyasu was frozen in terror, his clothes were torn off and his member was impaled inside her core, it as she rode him he found himself unable to resist, her skin had turned gray demonted, the felt pain, sweet, blood, all the joy he had torn out of him. As soon as she was done she pulled out a syrienge, "I'd love to keep you as a bed slave but I can't do so otherwise my husband would get mad at me for leaving a survivor, I have for you one final gift before I let the rats claim you" Angela stated and cut his skin panted her lips in his blood and kissed him leaving a red kiss stain on his face as she injected him with Rubola, she then step out and pulled a lever, the man sized rats hungry swarmed into the cage yelling "Man-Thing EAT-EAT!" as the moved to devour him a naked Angela smiled and said "If you thought the Capital was fun and games you clearly weren't paying attention" then laughed madly.

"AGHHHHHHH!" Ieyasu yelled waking up to the sound of birds singing and sunlight, he checked himself making sure his arms were intact, he then he got up noted his lack of clothing which didn't surprise him as he preferred to sleep without clothes of any kind, he noted the mantle where his Teigu Spector rested in its circlet on the nightstand, Ieyasu had developed a way to hide in public by wearing his headband over it, granted this did require a custom tailored headband but Night Raid's genius disguise department which consisted of the Twins and Martha had him covered, Ieyasu then noted his door open and into it came Angela looking as radiant as usual with none of the nightmarish features or any thing of the kind what she did have a was a genuine look of concern on her face.

"Ieyasu are you alright? I heard you yell and thought you hurt yourself" Angela inquired.

"I just had a nightmare that's all, a pretty bad one, first Tatsumi has nightmares and now me who's next? Lubbock?" Ieyasu stated beginning to get out of bed but stoped when he remembered he slept nude. "I'm alright here let me get dressed and we'll talk after" Ieyasu stated, Angela stepped out of the room and closed the door, but not entirely; she got a good look at what Ieyasu looked like without clothes and blushed, Ieyasu was to focused on getting dressed and the memory of being eaten by Skaven in his nightmare to notice the door was slightly ajar.

"He's got such a good chest, the exercise he's been doing has worked wonders for him, he reminds me of Constantine when he was younger, but even then Constantine's hair was graying, Ieyasu though: he's an entirely different man; you could grade cheese on those abs" Angela thought to herself as Ieyasu dressed.

By the time Ieyasu had finished dressing and opened the door Angela had recovered her composure and was just smiling. "Come now lets go talk some more downstairs and we'll have some Hot Chocolate" Angela offered.

"Sure" Ieyasu stated and went downstairs where the dining room table was already set, Tatsumi and Aria were siting next to each other while Sayo sat to his right, also notable was addition of Mine, Night Raid's resident sniper and drama queen, Sheele her BFF, Seryu with a certain Teigu eating a bowl of bacon next to her those three were engaging in debating, as well as Chelsea who was eating and listening to her music full blast with Fal, Air, and Luna sitting near Constantine. Ieyasu and Angela joined them in their usual seats, or rather he sat down while Angela went and mixed up some hot Chocolate and put the kettle on.

"Now tell me again why Pink isn't the best color to wear as a sniper Seryu?!" Mine retorted.

"All right Mine lets go over this again, your job is to lie low, not be seen, all I'm saying is you should wear darker clothes to avoid being seen" Seryu replied.

"I hate to say this Mine, Seryu's right about that; pink really is a bright color I can see you clearly at night even when the moon is out" Sheele commented.

"Ok fine; then if you have a better idea of what I should be wearing kindly way in" Mine replied.

"Preferably black; it blends in pretty good at night" Aria remarked.

"Says the girl who can turn invisible whenever she wants to" Mine retorted as the tea kettle shreiked.

"Sheesh it's not like I can always really on that to keep me hidden, Noctis Wave's ability only lasts for a couple minutes, I'm not able to wait hidden in the shadows for hours; trust me if I was able to do that Honest would've been dead a long time ago as would half of the Empires nobility and military brass" Aria replied.

"The real question Mine is do you have any clothes that aren't pink?!" Sayo remarked as Angela came back with the hot chocolate and started offering it around.

"No I do" Mine retorted.

"Then I dare you to wear anything but pink for a month and see if you notice a difference" Sayo replied as Angela sat down next to Ieyasu with two cups on which she gave to Ieyasu and one for herself.

"No way in fucking hell!" Mine replied.

"Language" Constantine stated as Ieyasu drank his hot chocolate while Angela nodded in agreement, Sheele wacked Mine in the head.

"OUCH! What was that for?!" Mine stated.

"Pottymouthing in front of children" Sheele rebuked.

"What's a potty mouth?" Fal asked.

"Never mind what's language?" Air asked.

"Fucking hell" Luna imitated, resulting in further glares at Mine.

"Luna don't say those words again, they are filthy words unbefitting a lady" Angela lectured.

"But Mine-san says them and she's a lady" Luna justified.

"Mine is a soldier, soldiers say bad words under duress also its what's called soldier's mouth, Luna if you say those words again you will get a bar of soap in your mouth for 10 minutes, same for you Mine; while I have small children in this house I won't have you polluting the air with your profanity, say any more obsenties and I will have a bar of soap in your mouth with your name on it" Angela rebuked, the she then glared at Mine with the Demon stare and said "I mean it" causing Mine to be scared, her facial features frozen in an amuzing way, this caused laughter from Ieyasu, Sayo, Tatsumi, Aria, and added laughter from the three kids.

"Mine-san's face is so funny!" Air remarked.

"Urgh" Mine growled, Sheele shook her.

"Just eat your breakfast" Sheele stated.

"Fine!" Mine stated then began devouring her food annihillating the bacon in a way that would cause someone to say, "Hey what did that bacon do to you?"

Lubbock and Yami arrived followed by an out of breath Leone who looked like she has just ran a marathon. "Morning Lubbock, Yami" Ieyasu greeted as the two sat near him and Angela.

"Leone what happened to you?" Angela questioned.

"Just dodging my adoring fans, their persistence never ceases to amaze me in the lengths they'll go just to catch me, well they still have brains enough to realize it is a bad idea to follow me over a 10-foot fence which I jumped to get in, much less when the guards aren't doing anything to stop me" Leone stated with a face of amusement on as she sat down and ate a peanut butter cookie.

"You conned more people out of their money again?!" Tatsumi questioned.

"Can't help it, I've got kleptomania; hand me money and you're not going to see it again" Leone stated.

"Still though that doesn't justify your actions though you bitch" Mine remarked, Angela got up picked a bar of soap off of a nearby cabinent and shooved it in Mine's mouth.

"I wasn't bluffing, I warned you" Angela stated calmly then sat down next to Ieyasu who had finished his coco and held hands with her.

"I've never seen anyone do that to Mine before" Ieyasu remarked.

"I did this Aria whenever she decided it would be a good idea to use profinity, she doesn't do so in our house, if she does use it she does it outside and usually as an insult to evil people" Angela commented. "In fact I've had that bar of soap since Aria was seven and started to learn bad words from her playmates" Angela added.

"You mean to say you shooved an really old bar of soap in my mouth this is horrible!" Mine ranted spitting the soap out, which hit Lubbock in the face, then ran to go find large bottle of wine which she popped open and downed in rapid gulps to get the foul taste of 11-year-old soap out of her mouth.

"Great now she's going to be drunk all day" Leone remarked.

"How do you know that?" Air questioned.

"Please it only takes two glasses to get Mine drunk, she just downed 4-liter bottle of wine in one sitting, she's going to be stupid drunk for a few hours, then she'll have a massive crash midday and wake up with a massive hangover" Leone stated.

As if to prove Leone's assertions Mine started to wobble in her chair. "That (hic) hit the spot, so any more of that stuff, what is this 1323 autumn Gattletown vintage?" Mine stated, then started hiccupping.

"Fresh out" Aria replied.

"Shame th is is a might fine stuff this is well now wear waas I Pink is the best pink is supreme, better then green and aquamarine, Black is wussies and orange is for for I don't know" Mine remarked and sung, she then proceeded to dance a wobbily dance.

"You're drunk Mine go home" Leone remarked.

"Sheele would mind escorting Mine to her room?" Constantine instructed.

"Sure, Seryu can you give me a hand, I don't want risk her causing me too much trouble" Sheele stated, then received a pink dress in the face, as Mine started to sing something about how she was queen of the world and she was now dancing in her underwear.

"Gladly c'mon Mine" Seryu stated dragging Mine off.

"But I don't want to go to my room" Mine stated.

"Tough you're grounded for drunken disorderly conduct, be greatful you are in a private home or I'd take you down to the station to fill out a fine" Seryu replied.

"But you're not a cop no more" Mine drunklingly slurred out, as Seryu slung her over her shoulder.

"Yes and if you whine anymore I'll turn you over to the Empire in self-defense" Seryu remarked with Sheele helping her carry Mine and Kuro following behind.

"That was weird" Fal remarked.

"Yeah I've never seen Mine-san act like that before" Luna added

"That's what happened when you drink too much wine, or rather more then you should have in the first place, no drinking wine though for you three till you're 18, Aria waited that long so you three can too" Angela explained.

"I'm not much for wine myself, for me it's all about fine milk, goat's milk that is, and fine mead with milk mixed in" Ieyasu chimmed.

"That's good to hear; though goat's milk is hard to come by in the Capital these days" Angela stated.

"That's sad to here, maybe I'll find a replacement" Ieyasu stated.

"Don't worry Ieyasu we'll find something for you, besides we're going to be spending time today together" Angela explained with wink and Ieyasu smiled at that, he also heard a voice call his name a whisper but still loud enough to hear and it certainly wasn't Angela's. Ieyasu's face seemed distant so Angela looked at him with concern. "Ieyasu is something wrong, if it's your nightmare dwelling on it isn't healthy for you" Angela stated.

"No it's not that, I heard a voice; it was faint but knew my name" Ieyasu noted.

"Don't worry it's probably latent shock from your nightmare, try not to worry about it" Angela reassured, the voice then yelled at Ieyasu mentally and Ieyasu questioned it.

"I am Belvaac come to me!" the voice stated, Ieyasu got up and left, Angela followed him.

"That was weird, Ieyasu never leaves food on his plate" Sayo commented.

"I know and did you see his face, it looked like he had seen a ghost" Tatsumi replied, they all heard thuds on the cealing above and Mine singing loudly. "Sheesh Mine is more ubnoxious then normal when she's drunk" Tatsumi commented.

"I know which is one of the most surprising thing ever" Aria stated.

Meanwhile… Ieyasu went to the vaults where the captured Teigus of the Three beasts were stored, well two of them along with Stylish's gloves Perfect, as Liver's teigu was now Spear's. "Something you need in there Ieyasu?" Angela questioned.

"I heard a voice, it said it was Belvaac" Ieyasu stated.

"That is unusual, very unusual, I'll let you in the vault" Angela stated then opened the tumblers and allowed Ieyasu in, neither Scream or Perfact drew him Belvaac did: as soon as Ieyasu touched it he was dragged into a another plane of existance, where he stood face to face with a warrior clad in brass plate.

"I am Belvaac champion of Chaos, I was a mighty warrior in another world but I was blessed too much by the gods and became what your people call a danger beast and was sent to your world, I was slain by a worthy opponent, a worthy end for a follower of the Blood God: save I was not allowed to return to the halls of Khorne for eternal battle, I was trapped body in soul in this Axe, a worthy fate for a mighty warrior to become one with his weapon; I have chosen you to bare my might and destroy your foes in battle, Daidura my previous owner proved a worthy warrior but he was killed in sheer cowardice from a distance, I hope you prove worthy of my might, but first you must show me your prowess: Defeat me in battle!" The brass warrior challenged, Ieyasu noted he had his axe, his opponent wielded a hammer, they clashed, the raw might and fury of his opponent was startling but Ieyasu proved to be nimble and quick of foot allowing him to counter the attacks of his enemy, the battle drew out before Ieyasu was givin an opening which allowed him to use the back spike on his fighting axe to drive it into his oppenent's eye striking him down, the warrior rematerialized.

"You've proven your might and skill Ieyasu, I consider it an honor to fight by your side as your weapon now go forth and kill your foes: BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD AND SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" the warrior proclaimed, Ieyasu returned to the physical world and slung Belvaac onto his back.

"Are you alright Ieyasu?" Angela questioned.

"Yes I am, I had one tough fight though, Belvaac was once a champion of a warrior god before he was turned into a danger beast by his gods and sent here to our world, he was slain a long time ago most likely by the First Emperor he is now at my service, I'm like Tatsumi now I wield two Tiegus" Ieyasu explained.

"That is wonderful, now you'll be able to do more in the fight against evil, come now lets go out and I'll show you my favorite places in the city and we'll bond some more" Angela stated. They left the vaults and proceeded to one of the carriages, Angela choose her best guards and they got in the carriage, Ieyasu held Angela's head as they left Grundewick Manor's grounds and proceeded into the city as a whole. "I'm glad for this time I have to spend with you Ieyasu, you've been so busy these past weeks its been hard to spend time with you" Angela stated.

"I'm glad for it too Angela, this carriage is awesome, I told Tatsumi we'd become rich when we got to the Capital I've never been so happy to be so right in my life" Ieyasu replied.

"So tell me more about yourself, I want to know all I can about my future husband" Angela inquired.

"Well me, well my life has been a good one so far, over all I had a normal childhood as normal as you can in a village in the countryside, I was born to good parents along with my twin Sayo; my parents are hunters by trade, they have one of the most important jobs in our village because food is something we always need, they're skilled hunters even capable of taking down Mountain Bears which a class D danger beast about the size of a small hill, they look a hill at first glance but the do that so they can ambush passerby be they man or beast, they have a fatal weak spot and that is their eyes, you hit them there with one arrow and they'll go down, my skills with a bow are enough to pull off a shot like that from 100 yards away" Ieyasu explained.

"So if you're so skilled with a bow why do you use an axe?" Angela asked.

"To keep Sayo safe, she's a way better archer then me also it makes a good tool for butcher's work and you can make use of it for other things over all I value my axe more then my bow" Ieyasu answered. "Anyway my parents taught me and Sayo all they know about hunting, I love it also we love bringing our hunting dogs to chase deer; their names are Sharptooth, Runner and Wolf who is actually part wolf plus there is Yelda and her pups, the pups should have grown up by now; my parents have used hunting dogs for years and are actually good at training them; we also armor up our dogs with armor made from tanned mountain bear hides, my parents good tanners as well, overall my parents are good hard-working people and keen eyed hunters who've done their part to raise me and Sayo right" Ieyasu explained. "Angela why don't you tell me about yourself.

"Well Ieyasu my story isn't the happiest of stories, I was born in a remote village like you, when I was sixteen it was invaded by Northern invaders who came to ravage it, suddenly an elite division of Imperial cavalry intervened to push back the invaders, but the victory didn't come without losses, I was one a few survivors, my parents died, my little brother died in my own arms, I contemplated taking my own life to join them, then I was met by the leader of the calvary, a man who was 10 years older then me but he was young and full of youth with black hair and a proud black beard, he was dashing and he pulled me out from the rubble of my home, he saved my life and my village or what was lef t of it, he introduced himself as Constantine Grundel, we fell in love at first sight, I came with him on his campaign as his nurse, my parents were doctors in the village and taught me everything they knew, I helped save a number of his men from injuries that would have killed them, eventually a year later the Northerners sued for peace and submitted to the Empire, we returned to the Capital, I was of minor nobility and he was of a great house, so our decision to wed was a surprise and somewhat of a scandal but his parents were understanding and allowed us to wed, a year later we had Aria; during this time however I learned about the corruption that plagued the Empire it wasn't as bad then as it is now but there were still savage and evil people, I used my skills in medicine to develop poisons, I also trained in the arts of the assassins under Barbara Oarbough a renowned master of the craft, during my prime I killed hundreds of corrupt nobles, military officers and their accomplices in evil, most with poison and others with my skills in blades, I learned the art of torture from a gaoler who had retired from his trade due to age, and practiced it on rats, and later went up to people, the worst of scum I hunted died this in manner, I believe that it is best for those who are absurdly evil to die in agonizing deaths a taste of what they will receive in hell when they die, in my opinion one shouldn't keep the devil waiting with sinners' souls but I'm he appreciates that I've warmed them up for him" Angela explained, she did this all while smiling.

"So that's where Aria gets her skills from, I never expected someone like you who is so beautiful to have such dark secrets" Ieyasu stated his vision of nightmare Angela in his head.

"You probably think I'm a monster, well I'm not, I don't do horrible things to innocent everyday people, I'm no monster I'm a Monster Hunter; I hunt the monsters to keep safe those they prey on, if I have to use cruel methods to do so I will, they deserve nothing less then suffer as they made innocents suffer" Angela stated. "But don't worry I don't do it much anymore, Aria's has received my torch; I taught her everything she knows, so that she can do her best to keep people safe, I do acts of kindness to those in need not just because it is the right thing to do but to keep safe those who are innocent of danger and to make amends for my sins, I know what I've done to evil people is morally wrong but I try my best to make amends so that when I die the Gods the gods will see that my good deeds outway my bad ones, hopefully one day world won't need people like us to deal with the monsters in human skin however until that day comes we must do our best to fight evil in all its forms, Human or otherwise, including the Ratmen of legend" Angela stated.

"The Ratmen, the Skaven, I've heard legends of them, how they dwell beneath the earth how they are believed to have come from another realm, the battles of the First Emperor against them to drive them into the depths; the sheer vileness of a race where survival is one where you can't trust anyone; I'm glad that they are either a myth or extinct" Ieyasu stated.

"You should never put out the possibilities of enemies existing, most people would laugh if you told them that there are nobles who feed people the flesh of innocent human beings just for kicks or who torture people for enjoyment, or that there are monsters worse then Danger Beasts in human skin, besides Ieyasu there is always a bit of truth in legends" Angela replied as the carriage stopped. "Ah we are here Ieyasu welcome to my favorite building in the city" Angela stated as they got out. "The Grand Library of Talshar the Wise, where anything can be learned and where knowledge can be found" Angela explained, suddenly a town caller shouted.

"Come one come all to the Marvelous Sabatini Show, grandest of spectacles and greatest of manageries; see the wonders of the greatest show and circus in the world, Preforming now at the Umatora Theater!" The crier announced.

"Ooh that sounds fun" Angela stated.

"A Circus, I've never seen a real circus before" Ieyasu remarked.

"Yes we must go see it after I show you the library, lets see about getting you a library card and finding you some choice of literature that you like" Angela stated and led him into the Library while the guards stood watch over the carriage.

They browsed the books after Ieyasu was led to the librarian who had him fill out some forms and handed him a metal card which was engraved with a combination of numbers, Ieyasu then browsed the books with Angela and found a number of interesting subjects, he noted Angela's interest in books regarding history, medicine and unsurprisingly assassin's techniques, he himself was interested in tales of adventure, legends of the past, books regarding hunting, tactics and love. Soon they had amassed a collection of books that the two guards who accompanied carrying them were stressed, at that point they proceeded to check out, Ieyasu and Angela were given a month on each book until they had to return them. After leaving the library it was about noon and Ieyasu's stomach grumbled in hunger. They then proceeded to head to one of the fine restaurants owned by the Grundel family and ate a fine lunch before proceeding to the Umatora theater where the Sabatini show as about to start their first performance of the day. Ieyasu and Angela sat down, after doing so a masked man in ordinary clothes sat next to him along with a beautiful woman and little girl. "Don't be scared, I just wear this mask because of injuries I have; I'm Bols and this is my Wife and daughter; we heard the Sabatini show was in town and having seen them prefom I want my daughter to see them" Bols introduced himself to Ieyasu.

"Nice to meet you Bols I'm Ieyasu and this is my girlfriend Angela" Ieyasu introduced.

"Ieyasu, I recognize your name, you're one of Tatsumi's friends am I right" Bols stated.

"Yes I am" Ieyasu replied.

"Good any friend of Tatsumi is a friend of mine" Bols stated, as if on name Tatsumi showed up along with Aria, her sisters and Esdeath of all people.

Soon the show started and there were many marvels to behold: there were many preformers, from dancing bears to acrobats on trapise to firebreathers and jugglers, and clowns dozens of them, the center of them being a man of stout and large stature who was dark-skinned with puffs of dark curly hair above his ears dressed in the traditional clown attire as well as a small baseball hat with a smiley face on it. "Now for Clausy's Clowns to amaze us with their skills starting with Champ's benchpress of Lobo and Sequestor in the boxes of iron" Ringmaster Sabatini announced, two shorter clowns jumped into two iron boxes attached to a barbell.

Champ stepped up and declared "Iron Might!" then picked up the bar bell like it was nothing, then tossed it caught it and tossed up and caught it with on hand before putting it down. "Kids love this! Never grow up kids!" Champ proclaimed. "For our next trick I will juggle water balloons as my fellows throw them at me!" Champ proclaimed then the other 11 clowns gathered up water balloons roled out by a stagehand. They began to throw them and Champ proceeded to juggle them with each water balloon he juggled faster, eventually as expected his fellow clowns bombarded him with squirting flowers causing him to drop the other balloons and get soaked the laughter all clowns involved at the Audience and the smiling of Champ. "Good thing this make up is water proof right guys?" Champ stated and laughed.

Above Ieyasu laughed hysterically with Angela laughing sweetly, Lubbock and Yami who along with Tatsumi, Aria, Fal, Air, Luna, and Esdeath laughed to, in addition to Bols and his family. Champ studied the audience. "So many children so many Innocents, I'll make sure they never have to grow up and experience the horrors life has to offer" Champ thought then studied the audience noted three odd girls with different hair colors and beneath them a cute little six year old in between a masked man and lovely brown haired woman. "Especially them" he thought. The clowns stepped aside and made way for a lion tamer and his three lions, he made the lions dance shaking their manes to the crowd, the lions had been well fed and were as tame as you could get a lion.

"This is such a wonderful performance Ieyasu, I'm so glad we came" Angela stated.

"Yes I'm glad we did" Ieyasu stated, the show went on for hours from the afternoon into the twilight, soon the time came to head home the carriage had to take a side road due to construction work on a local bridge and as the carriage moved their driver took a wrong turn into a darker part of town.

The carriage came to stop when screams of children and of others were heard, Angela and Ieyasu got out of the carriage, to Ieyasu's surprise Angela had drawn two Kris short swords from somewhere. "Where did you get those?" Ieyasu asked.

"I keep them in the hem of my dress along with other weapons in case of trouble" Angela stated, Ieyasu had wondered why her purple dress had seemed more bulky then usual. "There are compartments for poison the hilts, I choose King Mamba venom, it is a potent poison that is easy to spread on blades and works fast" Angela explained, he noted that as she said this she was cotted the blades with venom from the click of buttons on the hilts that released the venom.

They proceeded towards the screams with 4 of the eight guards who readied their halberds for a fight, after going a distance they found in a dark alley the mangled bodies of a dozen children, both girls and boys, and of three woman, having been raped and murdered. "This is horrible" Angela remarked in shock.

Ieyasu examined the bodies, he recognized nobody and saw nothing evident, the killer had been brutal and hadn't left evidence, some of the bodies were burned badly, he recognized no one, the next thing that happened was suddenly a group of well armed thugs came out of the shadows. "You monsters!" Ieyasu proclaimed.

"We are just as surprised as you are about this, we came to pick the corpses but it seems nothing is of value, you guys on the other hand well you look like the type to have gold on you, now hand it over and the hot piece of tail too there are twenty of us and six of you" the Thug leader proclaimed.

"Bring it on you Bastards!" Ieyasu challenged Belvaac at the ready. The thugs needed no invitation to attack they were too eager for money. "Ieyasu divide my might, your in too tight a corner to use me as is, say Belvaac divide" the Teigu ordered. "Belvaac Axe of the Blood God: Divide!" Ieyasu proclaimed. "Spector: Visions of future he added, the axe split into two fighting axes and Ieyasu saw one attacker's attack coming and decapitated the man without so much as a chance for him to dodge, two more fell to his follow up swings while Angela's krises dropped three men who dripped in agony, Ieyasu then anticpated a sneak attack on Angela and cleaved the sneak in half before throwing one of the axes into a man about try the same with one of her guards, to his shock the Axe flew back to him after felling its target, Angela stabbed a Kris into a man about to backstab Ieyasu and the two fought back to back while the Guards did likewise, the thugs fell, more came and were cut down, but soon the began to waver and dropped becoming grist for the machine of death, as Angela having gotten a Kris stuck in a corpse flung flechettes at five men and then the runners, after a few minutes it was over; the corpse of the robbers lay dead, Angela went about recovering the blades she had thrown and her embedded Kris and sheeved the blades, both her and Ieyasu were covered with blood in addition to their clothes, the Guards were likewise covered, but their armor had cheated the attacks of the enemies, the most in terms of damage they had were chinks, dents and chipping in their half-plate and chainmail the later missing a few rings. Overall the group was unscathed.

"You are amazing Angela, you truly are amazing!" Ieyasu complimented.

"Thank you Ieyasu, we must leave" Angela stated.

"Ya we should leave" Ieyasu stated then he noticed something out of the corner of his eyes, one of the children's corpse clung to a piece of colorful fabric, he picked it up. "I found this" Ieyasu indicated.

"That's unusual this isn't like any of the fabrics from the thugs, no this is something else, I can't tell what it is in this light, we should head home, then we'll figure it out tomorrow" Angela stated

Later… Ieyasu had gotten out of the shower having cleaned the blood off of his body he was in a bathrobe and was picking out something to wear for dinner; outside the moon was not in sight as the night sky was clouded by rain clouds which were depositing their payload on city. "Ieyasu" Angela's soft voice stated she wore a green gown. "After dinner we need to talk in here, alone, I want to repay you for what you've done" Angela explained.

"Alright" Ieyasu stated, he looked at the fabric he had found in the better electric lighting of room the fabric was bombastic. "I think Seryu may want to have a look at this" Ieyasu stated.

"We'll give it to her in the morning" Angela stated, they then went downstairs where a sober Mine was still in pain from a hangover and thus wasn't talking, she also wore a blue shirt and black sweats and sat next to Naomi and Sheele.

"Dinner is ready now that we are all here: Aria offer a prayer if you will" Angela stated, Aria folded her arms and said a prayer to Esmerelda goddess of the harvest in thanks for the food then concluded it with amen, they then began to eat a lavish dinner. "So while we were on our way back we had to take a side road because Makanora bridge was out, then we took a wrong turn and ended up the shamble district where we found something horrible" Angela explained.

"Horrible as how?" Aria questioned.

"Mangled bodies, women and children, horrible things done to them no idea who did it and after we did so we were attacked by scavengers who were looking for easy pickings" Ieyasu explained.

"Tell me more about this Ieyasu" Lubbock stated uncharacteriscally serious looking at Ieyasu with genuine alarm.

"The bodies were those of children some as young as three, they were horrible mangled, violated, and twisted some were even burned" Ieyasu explained, Lubbock had a look of genuine sadness and dread.

"Oh no" Lubbock muttered. "Not again it can't be" Lubbock thought horrified, no not again.

"Lubbock" Yami stated.

"I'm fine Yami I just- we need to look into this" Lubbock stated seriously.

"I understand: Officer Seryu Ubiquitous is on the case!" Seryu proclaimed.

"I'll go with you, as Jaeger member we can get information that other people wouldn't have access to" Tatsumi stated.

"I'm going with you too Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina stated.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, for now its best to eat and not think of such things or we'll have nightmares" Constantine explained, they then enjoyed a fine meal of turkey with mashed potatoes and other sides of fine food, Angela and Ieyasu finished first and headed upstairs.

"Never let me drink a full bottle of wine again Sheele" Mine remarked.

"Glady Mine" Sheele stated then smirked,

"Hey Mine what's with the blue shirt" Tatsumi asked.

"A punishment for my behavior earlier; I now have to wear nothing pink for a month and every time I swear I have to put three gold coins in the jar with interest" Mine replied.

"I thought it would be fitting, besides Mine you've got to clean up your language if your going to have kids one day" Sheele stated.

"Ya like that will ever happen" Mine remarked while looking at Tatsumi out of the corner of her eyes. "He's such a hottie" she thought.

Upstair, Ieyasu was not surprised when Angela locked the door behind them and even more so when she dropped her dress to reveal nothing underneath save a pair of purple leg wraps which were worn above her legs these left her soft legs bare he noted on her left hip was a burn-scar. "Don't worry Ieyasu I'll take care of you; as for the scar its just a memory of how Constantine as I met, one that will stay with me after he's gone" Angela stated then walked up and kissed Ieyasu, she then pulled up his shirt, noting his chest she kissed and carress his chest licking his one of his nipples elisitating moans from Ieyasu while playing with the other one with one hand, her free hand removed his pants and gave him a handjob, her soft warm hands were apricated and he loved the feel of her hands.

"Angela can have some milk please" Ieyasu asked.

"Of course you can have some Mommy's milk, I think you'll love it way more then old Goat's milk" Angela stated and Ieyasu began to nurse from one of Angela's EE-cup breasts while gropping her bum with his hands, Angela smiled.

"I love Mommy's milk" Ieyasu stated as he switch nipples, Angela was lactating as he drank from her breasts he then grabbed her hands and picked her up finding she was light to carry and he entered her, she was soft inside but also surprisingly tight, she moaned as he thrust into her while he nursed she wraped her hands around his shoulders.

"Oh Ieyasu" Angela moaned, and smiled blushing as she kissed his forehead, the stopped nursing and kissed her a chaste sweet kiss which then turned into less chaste and more bawdy kiss as their tongues danced, Ieyasu moved carrying Angela over to her bed and set her down and entered her missionary style having pulled the curtains around them he went deep sucking on her nipples as Angela caressed his chest putting her hands underneath to play with it, eventually Ieyasu was reaching his limited and Angela wrapped her legs around him to prevent him from pulling out. "Come now Ieyasu give Mommy your seed" Angela teased.

"Yes dearest mother" Ieyasu teased back and emptied his load into her, he hoped she was still able to have kids. She then flipped over present her big butt to him inviting him in, Ieyasu backdoored her. "So tight!" Ieyasu stated.

"I'm glad you like it; Constantine was shocked when he first entered it" Angela stated Ieyasu gave it to her like a tiger from behind and his length at about nine-inches was not sore from the work, eventually he unloaded in her ass. She then turned over again. "Come now Ieyasu I'm sure your pee-pee is sore after your ponding let me take care of it" Angela stated then pushed him down and wrapped her ample breasts around his length, and massaged it slowly.

"I'm in heaven" Ieyasu stated, as Angela used her hands carress his chest and tickle his nipples as she used her mouth to methodically blow him, this was the best thing he'd ever experienced, no other woman could compare to Angela, not any of the floozies he'd banged in his time nor the peasent girls who rewards him for saving them from robbers, she was the best and goddess of his life, a heavenly beauty. Soon he couldn't control himself and creamed Angela with a large bukkake which she licked off. She then used her breasts to massage his chest as she remounted him and rode him while kissing him Ieyasu pulled the sheets over them and they made love for two more hours as the slept beneath the midnight.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Justice Seekers

Another uneventful night's sleep for Tatsumi with his lovely blonde wife sleeping next to him, he woke up to warm sheets in pajamas he hadn't had any nightmares since Aria's comforting, also Aria herself had been sleeping peacefully, Tatsumi looked at her, her angelic beauty as she slept with no problems her soft blonde hair that regardless of what she thought was perfect in everyway, her lovely blue night gown which was mostly obscured by a blanket, overall she was like a princess sleeping waiting for a prince to kiss her, Tatsumi did so on the forehead, and she opened her baby-blue eyes.

"Good morning my lovely wife" Tatsumi stated.

"Good morning my loving husband, how are you this morning?" Aria replied.

"Refreshed and ready for a new day; no nightmares, no problems overall, I'm ready for anything" Tatsumi replied

"That's good, I'm glad to here it" Aria stated, the two of them got out of bed, then changed into day clothes, the door opened and Tatsumi was tackled by a brown blurr which knocked him over and was licking his face.

"Good morning too you too Koro" Tatsumi stated and Seryu walked into the room clad in green shirt and black skirt with black sweats.

"Good morning my fellow soldiers of Justice, Tatsumi it's time to get to work, we'll need to look into the matter of murdered children and find the killer by any means nessecary" Seryu proclaimed.

"Alright Seryu, after we have breakfast" Aria commented.

"Of course, you can't hunt evil on an empty stomach" Seryu agreed

As they walked down the hall they were joined by Naomi in her her usual orange blouse and blue jeans. "Good morning" Naomi greeted.

"Good morning to you too Naomi, how did you sleep last night?" Tatsumi asked.

"Overall not great, I had trouble actually falling asleep, but other then that I slept well, though I was a bit sore getting up, other then that I'm fine Tatsumi; I hope today is a good day" Naomi stated.

They then proceeded to head downstairs where as usual the breakfast on the table was massive and ready, Constantine sat as usual in his chair reading, Angela and Ieyasu were closer then usual this morning while Fal, Air, and Luna enjoyed their food speedily, Mine Sheele and Sayo were again debating and Mine wore a blue blouse and black sweats like she had last night, while Sheele wore purple blouse and white skirt; Sayo wore a red dress like Aria's in design, there was also Chelsea who as normal listened to her music full blast while eating and wore an orange blouse and black sweets. Lubbock and Yami sat next to eachother in their usual attire while eating decently. Tatsumi took a seat, Seryu sat next to him as did Aria and Naomi sat next to Seryu, he then plated up his usual breakfast with orange juice and added at the side for after he cleared his plate Angela Grundel's famous peanut butter cookies which were a staple of every meal and something Tatsumi had enjoyed since he first arrived at their mansion for the first time.

"Good Morning everyone" Tatsumi greeted.

"Good morning my son in law" Constantine greeted then frowned at the newspaper. "Bad news, apperantly more children were found dead this morning, the killer is indeed still on the loose, things are indeed getting darker, so far the Capital police have no leads" Constantine explained.

"This evildoer is too good at covering his tracks where did this happen?" Seryu asked.

"Near the market district by the statue of the First Emperor; the children were street urchins according to the report; I'm saddened by this news, it means that in spite of my family's efforts we still aren't doing enough" Constantine explained.

"Don't worry father I think today I'll go out and about and do my best, my special project is finally ready" Aria replied.

"Yes the project, I hope that it can do a great work, I fear though it won't be enough" Constantine replied.

"Aria what is this project anyway?" Tatsumi questioned.

"I've been furnishing as special district of houses for those in need, they'll live in the homes rent free and a number of businesses have agreed to set up side shops to give these people jobs, I've had to keep this covered up though, the purchase of all this real estate was sure to attract unwanted attention, the last thing I need is Honest finding some way to take credit for this whole project and give him some good publicity, especially since if he does so he could use his ability to sieze the land the properties and sell them to his cronies for them to do as they please; fortunately I've been keeping this quiet, the buildings were complete refurbished and are now perfectly moderate homes, these will help with our side businesses to get people who would want to work hard back on their feet allowing them then get their own housing and establish businesses of their own, within a few years I will have gotten a lot of people back on their feet and they will bring the economy roaring to life, also this will help me develop a network of spies to find the worst of the Capital's criminals and mark them for death; this overall will help a lot of people and you can see why I've been so secretive about it" Aria explained.

"Wow Aria, that's wonderful, I was right about you, you really are the Capital Angel" Tatsumi remarked.

"Thanks for that; also today I think I'm going to make the purchase on Gamul's manor; then we'll have it cleared out of anything that scumbag had that is vile, granted getting all that work done will probably take a month but we'll get it done" Aria explained.

"The manor will be an excellent home for us" Tatsumi stated.

"By the way I don't think I've given everyone here the good news, I've told you Mom and Tatsumi knows, but everyone else I have big news: I'm pregnant" Aria proclaimed, to the shock of many.

"Yes you heard right I'm going to be a father" Tatsumi stated.

"Tatsumi-kun: I-" Sheele thought.

"Dammit Aria beat me to him, no more, Tatsumi isn't a pervert as much as I like to tease him about it, he is a good person, I really have to go about this properly" Mine thought to herself.

"I think I need to talk to him" Seryu thought.

"That's great news we're going to be aunts!" Fal, Air and Luna said at the same time, then high-fived.

"And I'm going to be a grandmother" Angela stated happy.

"This is going to be awkward in the long run" Ieyasu stated.

"I know but it's not too hard to get used to" Angela replied to him.

Everyone finished breakfast and went their sepperate ways, Seryu led Tatsumi to her room with Koro following them. To Tatsumi's surprise Seryu's room was shockingly decorated, as there were dozens of stuffed puppies dolls that resembled Koro, also there was a literal arsonel of weapons adorning one side of the room, next to her bed on a nightstand was a picture of Aria as well as a picture of herself with Aria and family and a picture of a young boy with glasses as well as a picture of two people he assumed were her birth parents, also there were a number of posters mainly posters potraying the capital police, also noticeable was a giant dog bed with a lot of dog toys and other things in fact that entire area of her room was devoted to Koro, who layed down in front of them. "Who's a good Tiegu dog, you are; you need belly rubs" Seryu baby talked getting on her knees and rubbing Koro's belly howled in joy. "You're my best friend, the one person who's always been by my side, who's always had my back since I was 6, the one person I've known in all that time who could take care themselves without me worrying about their safety" Seryu continued. "I love you Koro" she concluded then picked him up and placed him in his bed. "Stay Koro, as soon as Tatsumi and I are suited up and ready to go you will come with ok?" Seryu stated, Koro woofed and shook his head.

Seryu turned to Tatsumi and then said "Alright Tatsumi this is my room, I've actually lived with Aria since I was 10, Ogre may have been my surrogate father but he didn't really have a place for me to live, that's where Aria came in as my BFF, she's a like a sister to me, now for business, if we're going to fight for Justice we must give 110% this is where my armory comes in, the tools of the trade of a Warrior for Justice; I've got a weapon for any scenario; I'll show some of them to your but first Koro: go stay in your play-space until I say its time to go ok?" Koro went over to a corner and jumped in his oversized doggy bed.

They then went over to a large weapon rack which also was an armor rack, Seryu had literally a weapon and tool for any situation. "This is a suit of triple-reinforced Titanium plated armor, it is made of an interlocking coat of plates, it's bullet proof, can tank hits from two-handed Warhammer and because of the forging process it is actually quite lighter then most armors, I've got a few of these, we'll both be wearing them; also Tatsumi do you have any paperwork or a badge to prove you're a Jaeger; I've got one for the Capital Police so people aren't liable to ask questions" Seryu explained.

"Well I do actually have a badge, a very gouche badge that Esdeath made for me to show I'm her second in command" Tatsumi answered fishing out a badge.

"That's great; now to show you more of my Arsonel of Justice; starting out with these" Seryu stated and picked up two tonfa batons after putting on two gauntlets. "These are my hands of Justice, they look like normal police batons but they aren't, inside them are concealed pistols, I can't count the amount of times evildoers saw me pull out my batons and thought they'll have an easy time only for me to turn their grinning faces in crushed tomatos; they are my first tool and my personal favorite, next come's these my claws of Justice, they look like normal gauntlets but each conceals a sword of the sharpest stainless steel, capable of slicing thru any enemy" Seryu explained, then she turned to massive Sniper rifle that would make Pumpkin envious. "This is my long hand of Justice, I am a master marksmen, it can hit an enemy from 1000 feet away; I've modified it with a scope and it is light to carry" Seryu explained then turned to a sizeable gun with multiple barrels. "This is my Justice launcher; bullets don't do for this baby I load this thing with flechettes, those are small iron spikes, but they do way more damage then a bullet; I've turned many an enemy into cheese with this one I've also got five types of rounds my Justice rounds, my Explosive Justice rounds, my Toxic Justice Rounds, my Justice Flechettes and my Ultimate Justice rounds, I've also got four grenade types, Bombs of Justice, Blinding Bombs of Justice, Gas bombs of Justice for knocking out enemies and goes well with my Gas Mask of Justice, and my Chain bombs of Justice which chain up evildoers in metal nets" Seryu stated, then turned to a massive missile launcher. "This is my Ultimate Justice Launcher; I've never had to use this one other then testing it and this one packs a massive wallop, I'm more then capable of wiping out an entire battalion of foot soldiers with it, fortunately I've never needed to use it and hopefully I won't have to but knowing how dangerous things are getting it will probably see use before the war against Honest ends" Seryu explained, there were a number of other weapons but she turned to a tool kit filled with a number instruments of torture, destruction and multi-purpose use. "Here's bag of Justice, I keep the tools of my trade in them; because sometimes Justice gets messy; and these things allow me to get information out of people; they also have a number of other uses, also I keep my shackles of Justice in here, once I've got someone in these they don't get away: now to my Koro section" Seryu stated and showed Tatsumi a wall of equipment dedicated to Koro: including Armor of varying size, battle claws, a back mounted cannon, a tail blade, and to his surprise a number chewing balls. "These are Koro's gear; I have a suit of armor for which ever size I need him to grow to with the biggest set being stored outside under a tarp, it's all custom too, here are Koro's claws of Justice, self-explanitory; his gun of Justice, again self explanitary, it's controlled by remote from me; Koro's tail of Justice and finally his Chew-Chew balls of Justice" Seryu explained.

"Chew-Chew Balls?" Tatsumi asked with confused look on his face.

"These are special balls, they will stick to an enemy; Koro will then fetch the ball and Chew-Chew thru the evildoer! Messy yes but it gets the job done, perfect for surprises, how many evildoers expect a dog's ball being thrown at them only for said dog to vicously chew them to shreds" Seryu explained with a smile, the talk about inflicting pain and misery to evil people seemed to make her happy.

"Ok question how do you carry all this and what I'm I going to do with this: I'm quite content with my sword though, because I know how to use that, though I'll take one of these pistols and hope not to have to use it" Tatsumi stated and grabbed a Barretta pistol off the rack.

"Oh! Of course, as to how I carry this its with one of these: my Sacks of Justice, here's my personal sack of Justice, heres Back up number 1, back up number 2 and back up number 3, and for Koro I have his Doggy Bags of Justice; his original and the seventeen back ups, just in case" Seryu explained.

"Why so many bags for Koro?" Tatsumi asked.

"If you owned a Teigu pet dog for 12 years you'd learn that they tend to need to chew on stuff and bags are no exception, which is why I keep these high up so he can't get them; you might ask why he doesn't just grow to a size where he can reach, well I don't allow him to change size inside Aria's house and he knows that; so he's always a good boy any other questions" Seryu stated.

"So wait, Ieyasu said some of the bodies were burnt which means the killer has some sort of fire weapon either a flamethrower or a Teigu that allows him to throw fireballs, how do you counter that?" Tatsumi asked.

"With this fireproof suit of course, its made from asbestos" Seryu explained.

"I thought that stuff gave people cancer" Tatsumi replied.

"Ordinary asbestos does but not the kind used for these suits, the fiber is treated with Chak Hound Slime; usually found when you crack their eggs but its also produced under their carapaces; the stuff neutralizes the carcenagins that are adherent in regular asbestos and makes it more resilient to fire then normal asbestos, the only draw back is it makes this stuff dark black to a point where no dye in existance will change it's color so you better like wearing black because that's what we'll be wearing under our armor" Seryu explained, then then stripped into their underwear and put on the suits, followed by the armor including Sallet helms one which had a hole to allow Seryu's pony tail thru, Seryu placed the Long Claw of Justice on her back; she also put on her Claws of Justice, put her Hands of Justice either hip, grabbed several Justice Grenades and her Justice Cannon; she then armored up and equipped Koro with gear, before filling her bag with other things, slinging her satchel over her shoulder then picked up her cannon.

"Alright Tatsumi It's Justice Time!" Seryu proclaimed.

"Ok lets do this" Tatsumi stated then high-fived Seryu and opened the door, as they came downstairs they walked with swagger (Song: Rocking Like a Hurricane) they then stepped out the door but were stopped by Naomi who looked like she was ready for adventure, in that she was dressed in Seryu's spare armor and fireproof suit and had her back up batons of Justice.

"You guys aren't going anywhere without me: I'm tagging along, this whole thing has Yami all emotional about Lubbock who kept her up last night with nightmares" Naomi explained.

"Then join us fellow warrior for Justice!" Seryu invited, they then left the manor.

"First things first we should head to the sight of the most recent crime and look for clues also be on the lookout for trouble" Tatsumi stated.

"Good advice Tatsumi, we'll have to keep an eye out for crime" Seryu stated.

"Not just that, Honest's been trying to have me killed I wouldn't be surprised if more of his hired goons show up to kill" Tatsumi replied.

"Let them come, We'll deliver Ultimate Justice to them" Seryu boldly proclaimed.

They soon came to the scene of the recent crime there were a number Capital police on the scene, Seryu had managed to get the rank of Captain in the force thanks to Aria's parents as she changed her mind about resigning deciding it would be better that she stayed on with the force to shape it into a more reputable and reliable force for Good and Justice. "Captain Seryu it's good to see you" an officer saluted.

"Good to see you as well my fellow soldiers for Justice, this is Tatsumi, second in command of Jaegers, and this my friend Naomi she's new" Seryu explained. "Now I want a full report, what happened here and how, also any evidence to a suspect" Seryu asked.

"Well these bodies were found this morning, no signs of a killer other then this was done brutally, I've never seen it this bad Captain in my ten years on the force nothings been this vile" The officer explained.

"That is truly terrible, any idea of who these victims are?" Seryu questioned.

"We've got some signs, a few of these children have brands showing they were slaves, also we found this" the officer stated and showed Seryu a knife.

"Interesting, this isn't a normal blade, it's quality work so this doesn't come cheap, someone had this custom made which means they have a deal of money, and- look at this" Seryu observed, under the pommel was an engraved symbol of a hawk with jade eyes. "This is a Syndicate weapon!" Seryu stated in shock.

"So the Syndicate's behind this, I think I know the guy; his name is Jerec Makati, one of his goons tried to kidnap Luna two days ago, he's got a major operation in Child slavery and owns a number of Brothels, I think if anyone knows who pulled this off he does" Tatsumi explained.

"I've heard of him, he is one of the more wealthy people in the capital, getting into his home won't be easy" Naomi stated.

"That means it's Jaeger time" Tatsumi stated.

Later… Tatsumi had gathered up seven of the Jaegers to back them up, Wave was the first who answered, Cosmina as well, the Four Rakshasa Demons were up for it and Kurome to his surprise joined up, her reasoning was she hated people who trafficked in children more then anyone else: Esdeath had offered to join but Tatsumi decided against it because it not only would be overkill but would attract unwanted attention; which Tatsumi didn't want in case Makati and his goons weren't the culprits behind the murders. The house was a fortified compond with a number of guards; it was like a small fortress.

"Attention this Tatsumi: Minister of Fun and second in Command of the Jaegers: by order of Emperor Makoto first of his name and General Esdeath the head of army; I declare Jerec Makati and an accomplices under arrest; come quietly and you won't be harmed, try to bribe us or attack and no quarter will be given" Tatsumi proclaimed via a megaphone.

"This is Private property you've got unti the count of ten to get off it" a Guard yelled.

"Sadly it seems there is no reasoning with you; Jaegers ready your teigus; these guys are sentenced to death, take some captives for a public example and I want Makati alive" Tatsumi ordered, each of the Jaegers readied their Teigu, Wave dawned Grand Chariot, Cosmina readied Heavy Pressure, Mez her Naginata Impa's Fury, Suzuka her broadsword Sharkoth, Ibara his great mace Bonebreaker, Sten his flail Crusher of Knights, and Kurome readed Yatsufsa her puppets readied for battle. "FOR THE EMPEROR!" Tatsumi yelled and the group charged, smashing down the gates, cutting down the guards, Wave moved too quick for gunners to react and bullets bounced uselessly off his armor as the sword that Grand Chariot came from cleaved them down, Seryu unloaded from her Hands of Justice killing each enemy with a gunslinger's precision while taking time to throw Chew-Chew balls at enemies who Koro soon killed after devouring their mid sections and heads, Cosmina sent out minor soundwave to knock out several oppenants.

"Flaming fury: Impa's Fury!" Mez yelled the blade of the Naginata ignited and she burned enemies alive, they kicked down the doors and want room by room killing grunts and guards, while knocking out civilians, they then split up to go room by room in teams of two.

Shortly… Tatsumi found a locked door from which he heard children moaning and heavy metal music, he turned to Seryu and the two of them smashed down the door, inside they found a lanky man with sunglasses and spiky black hair in a Mohawk, he was naked and had his length inside a seven-year old girl while fingering two other twelve year old girls all the while a young thirteen year old boy was imbedded in his rear.

"Who the fuck are you and what the fuck are ya doing in my house!" the man, clearly Jerec Makati declared, Seryu and Tatsumi said nothing and they both punched the pedophile in the face, knocking him across the room into a wall mirror. "YEOOGCHH!" he screamed he then found himself picked up by Tatsumi by the neck.

"Kids get out of here and get dressed!" Tatsumi ordered, the kids needed no further word and got dressed and ran out of the room in spite of the fact they were clearly drugged, Koro growled at the man with anger, Seryu put down her bag and opened her hand bag. "Seryu do you have a pair of snippers, first things first this guy's being made a eunach!" Tatsumi stated.

"Wait! Not that: if it's money you want take it! Take It all! No!" Jerec protested.

"We're here about the killings, I found a knife with your gang's symbol on it, and kids with your slave brand: I want know are you behind this if I not who the hell is so we can deliver him, as for your cock that's going and that is non-negotable" Tatsumi stated, Seryu chained the man to a nearby chair then brought up a rather cruel looking pair snipping tools, she smiled maniacally. Then screams followed as Makati was gelded, slowly though but the whole thing pillar and stones was sliced off; which was then thrown to Koro who devoured it; Aria was rubbing off on Tatsumi and had clearly also done so to Seryu who was making Aria's demon face, or rather her version of it which was far more terrifying, as she did her work, soon Jerec was reduced a wimpering mess.

"Now you are going to tell us all your know evildoer" Seryu declared, then he spilled the beans, every detail of the operations of the Syndicate, all the kills, all the players, every crime, every racket, the money the people they were involved with everything he knew, also a confession of every crime, the names of the children, men and women he raped or kept as slaves, the drugs he gave them to make sure they stayed docile, the buyers of his slave racket, the buyer who intended to buy Luna; someone which Tatsumi noted as a direct Night Raid revenge target; everything and anything he knew.

"Thanks for the info, now you are going to be executed but first thing first we are going to make sure you suffer" Tatsumi stated then proceeded to beat the crap out of the man beating him black and blue, he then took out a pair of plyers from Seryu's bag and yanked out every single tooth he had, something which he had to agree with Aria again on yanking teeth was fun; then he shaved his head and yanked out every single nail. "You will receive Ultimate Justice: as much as I'd love to have you crucified for the public to see, you aren't the person that will, your bosses every last one of them will be crucified, but you: you Jerec Makati are dog food; Seryu release the Koro!" Tatsumi proclaimed.

"KORO! HEKATONICHIRES! Deliver Ultimate Justice! Rip him limb from limb and devour him!" Seryu ordered, the Teigu's teeth which had been normal dog teeth turned to rows of sharp fangs which span around like a pencil sharpener, Tatsumi and Seryu smiled as the man screamed as Koro devoured him, yanking the arms first out of their sockets and turning them to ribbons of flesh that were swallowed, followed by both legs, then the lower half, Makati was dead, then the whole body last came his skull which Koro chomped down on and chewed slowy.

Nothing was left of Jerec Makati save some teeth in a bag and the stains of blood on the carpet. "Good boy Koro, you delivered Ultimate Justice now who's next!?" Seryu stated.

"As to who's next, well first off we will go thru Makati's men, every single on of them dead or living that was a rapist will be castrated and their genital's will be fed to Koro, then the survivors will be crucified in the public square: after that we are going to track down the Sydicate's head, I'll have the other Jaegers go after the other leaders; we will take them alive if possible then we will find out who murdered those children" Tatsumi explained, his face now truly terrifying unable to rival Aria's demon face.

"Good Now the time has come!" Seryu stated.

Later that night… The compound of Don Varoki Lechonie was a fortress with security that rivaled the Imperial palace and made Makati's security look like amateur hour. Fortunately for Seryu and Tatsumi they were joined by General Budo of the Imperial guard and a battalion of Imperial Guard troops. "I'm glad you explained the situation, an opportunity of this kind cannot be wasted" General Budo remarked, Budo was a tall, muscular man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a dark gray suit of armor with his Teigu Adramelech: Thunder God's Rage a pair of large golden gauntlets which allowed him to control Lightning, white pants and a red cloak. His shoulder guards were notably large and had yellow tomoe markings on them.

"Indeed and I'm glad Honest wasn't eager to stop this use of troops and his Majesty was eager to supply them" Tatsumi stated.

"A good thing you called me in, those guards aren't normal troops they are elite mercenaries; you made a good call bringing me on board for this as only the Imperial Guard will have a chance of cracking their defenses" Budo noted.

"Alright, we want Lechonie alive, that way we can get the entire scope of his organization and everyone in his pocket also so we can find out the identity of the killer, after that we'll make a public example of him; crucify him" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright then any other things you want to add" Budo questioned.

"Yes I want you to capture a number of his underlings, also he may use slaves as human shields try to avoid killing them at all cost, I want this to be something the Empire and it's people can be proud of and the Emperor can be greatful for, the Empire needs something everybody can cheer for" Tatsumi explained, Budo nodded in agreement.

"Good, I'll ready the troops, I'll inform them of the points, I've already acquired a map of this place and have identified the weaknesses in their positions, as soon as the men are ready we'll crack this place, it will break before the Guard does!" Budo replied.

Shortly… the Guards at the front gate were surprised by the disciplined advance of Imperial Guard troops in their golden and red armor with their great helms with crests of Red Eagle feathers; with their diverse arsenal of weapons and in front of them all was General Budo standing tall with a massive poleaxe in hand wearing the same armor and Tatsumi and Seryu on either side. "What are the Imperial Guard doing here?" One of the guards stated.

"I have no fucking clue you moron, they sure aren't here for a fucking social call" the guard captain stated. "This is private property identify yourselves!" the Captain yelled.

"In the name of his Imperial Majesty Emperor Makoto I Gildanstrom you and everyone associated with Don Varoki Lechonie are under arrest, lay down your arms and surrender, resist and be killed!" General Budo declared, one of the Guards sounded a horn.

"COME AND GET IT!" the Guard Captain bravely declared he was excited at a chance to prove himself against the elite Imperial Guard, and charged right at Budo, who cleaved him in half with one swing of his poleaxe.

"CHARGE! FOR THE EMPEROR!" Budo declared and the rush began, the gates were torn asunder, lightning was flung from Budo's hands and brought down smiting mobsters and killing them with what their comrades assumed was divine wrath. The Guard charged as the foes fell, Tatsumi smashed down the door and he and Seryu rushed in first into a grand entry hall, cut down three armed men then rushed to a dinning hall where a sphagetti dinner was underway with the Don sitting at end of the table with a number of armed guards, they were followed in by 10 guardsmen and Budo. "In the name of the Emperor you are under arrest" Budo proclaimed.

"What a fine guest, General Budo you are renowned thru out the capital have a seat and your friends too" the Don stated relaxed, he was an old man with a great grey beard and mustache he wore a black suit, the two guards next to him readed machine guns and a number of guests were readying side arms.

"KORO NOW!" Seryu stated and the Teigu who had not been wearing armor increased to a massive beast the size of the table, the men with guns shot at him but the bullets were useless, he then devoured the table and several of the seated guests in addition to some not seated ones, Seryu then jumped over Koro and shot the two guards next to the Don with ease before kicking him out of his chair, to the laughter of the Don.

"You have spunk kid and guts to but not much brains" the Don stated then kicked Seryu in the knee stunning her and allowing him to seize her, he then held a pistol to her head.

"Lay down your arms and call off the dog or her brains are mush" the Don stated, Koro wimpered as he shrunk to normal size.

"Let her go!" Tatsumi yelled.

"No boy, you don't see how this works, your in an impass now, what is more important to you: your sword or the life of your friend" The Don replied. Tatsumi and the Guardsmen did as ordered. "That's better now come take a seat; we'll discuss this like civil businessmen" the Don added, Tatsumi sat down on one of the few surviving chairs. "Now what do you want? name it and it's yours, I know everything that happens in this city and in a number of others in fact" the Don asked.

Tatsumi thought, he wanted information, but he also wanted Seryu not to die so he did what he could do at the moment and that was stall for an opportunity, he had the gun that he had taken from Seryu's weapon rack but he had never used one before, he did however have it concealed on his person, so all he needed to do was stall for time, and an opportunity to shoot first. "Alright then first things first, there have been a number of violant murders, this morning a large group of 20 children was found dead in the market square, they were brutalily murdered, a knife from your gang was found on the body and they were branded with it, on top of that last night 12 kids and three woman were raped an murdered, I want to know who's behind these killings I want them brought to justice and an end to all this madness, but most importantly I want Seryu to be safe; I love her" Tatsumi stated.

"You do Tatsumi?!" Seryu stated.

"Yes I love you as much as I love Aria" Tatsumi proclaimed.

"Fine now the information, I have no idea who this killer is only he has been praying on our merchedise and interfering in our rackets" The Don stated.

"You're lying there is no way you don't know who's behind the killing; I will get the information out of you one way or another" Tatsumi stated then pulled out the pistol to the shock of the don and blasted the man's gun hand out of existence and piercing his shoulder behind causing him to scream in agony, the rounds were far more powerful then expected, Seryu then kicked him in the nuts and knocked him down with a gauntlet punch to the head.

"You will talk and suffering will be your motivation!" Seryu proclaimed, then sent Koro on a Rampage cleaning up the remain guards and goons of the Don.

Later… The various Bosses were secured and locked up in the palace Dungeons were the Gaolers would have their way with them to get them to rat, overall the Syndicate the capital's oldest criminal organization and strongest which had stood for 200 years unopposed was dismantled over night; all because of some murders; while the various teams had been at work Aria had found the man who wanted Luna for his purchase and made him scream, before hanging his corpse from a stand with the help of Leone, Sheele, Mine and Taeko who had made mincemeat of the security, for once a Night Raid killing would be turned a blind eye to because the man was among those who's connections to the Syndicate would become public knowledge and they had done the government's job for them. Tatsumi and Seryu however did not stay around, they returned to Aria's mansion, Koro who was exhausted after his rampage in the Don's manor parked himself in a corner of the front room and fell asleep. "Koro's tired, I feel energized" Tatsumi remarked.

"Tatsumi did you mean it when you said you loved me?" Seryu asked.

"Yes I did, I sincerely love you Seryu, when the Don had you, I- I only had one shot, if I missed you'd be dead and it would be my fault, I can't bear to think of loosing you or Aria or anyone knowing I had the chance to save them I'd lose it" Tatsumi stated, Seryu kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm glad you mean it, I've never really be truly loved by someone outside before; my parents died when I was 6, the only real figures I've had to look up to were Ogre, Aria and her parents, Ogre was a decent father to me in spite of his evil deeds, Aria is like the sister I've never had, and her parents, well their more like a doting and aunt and uncle, but nobody has ever truly loved me for being me: I just-" Seryu tried to explain and Tatsumi kissed her on the lips.

"Come on, I'll show you how much I love you Seryu" Tatsumi stated after breaking the kiss and she hugged him.

Shortly in Seryu's room… the armor had been thrown to way side, along with fire proof suits that they never needed, and their underwear which was next to their day clothes they had changed out of earlier; the door was locked and the moon and stars were the only witnesses thru the curtains. "Ugh! Ugh!" Seryu moaned as Tatsumi had entered her ample rear, something that had always been shook at him as a tease, now all his, she hadn't flinched when he took her black cherry and he found himself at home inside her, his one hand on her breasts while she moaned sweetly; the other holding her ponytail softly; she was overall a good person and deep person; someone who if not for him being who he was might have never found someone who loved her. "Tatsumi-kun" Seryu moaned, her hair was so soft, the copper coloring was exotic, she was a beauty, but not just a beauty, his beauty. "Tatsumi-kun will you marry me" she asked.

"Yes I will" Tatsumi replied then unloaded in her, he then dismounted and laid back, Seryu was hesistant. "Just wrap your breasts around it and then lick it" he explained, Seryu did so, wrapping her double-Ds around it and massaging it while slowly licking and sucking, her work with her tongue was fine, Tatsumi actually liked it when they were first starting off it was wonderful for both him and the girl in question, he smilled at how cute she looked with his dick in her mouth, eventually said dick would be reaching it's limit but Seryu was enjoying it, and when it did she swallowed what she could before it sprayed her face and breasts which made her look all the more cuter, she then cleaned herself off and prepared himself.

"So here it is, I never thought this would happen not like this, by someone I love not by some rapist who got the better of me or some prostitute in a brothel, no here by the man I love and is the only family I have: after this no turning back, I don't want to turn back" Seryu stated and impaled herself, the feeling struck her to her core, but it was feeling of love, she kissed him and two made out and tumbled about eventually with him on top they kissed and loved, all to the gentle thrusts into her; a union needed, eventually they were one in soul, insepperable, not even the fact that Tatsumi was about to unload inside her distracted him, he did so without even realizing it, soon the both passed out under the sheets exhausted and sleeping.

Meanwhile…. Lubbock and Yami were heading back to his shop but they decided to make a last patrol check of the neighborhood then they came to a nearby river with a dock and noticed a distressed fisherman who had a face of true horror on his face. "What's wrong?" they asked.

"I found something; here let me show you, I've got to tell the authorities about this" the fisherman stated then lead them to his shack where hanging by a fishing pike was the body of an 11-year-old girl, naked and with words carved into her chest with a blood quill; "This child will never have to grow up, never know the horrors of the world, I know people are looking for me, but they barking up a tree full of people who are blind to me: the Killings will continue I will not rest until every child in this city goes to heaven's embrace" under that was a smiley face.

"No- not again" Lubbock stated saddened, then noticed something more; "The school's people never found me, nor will you, my crime was forgotten but those who should seek, vengeance for the weak" Lubbock ran out and yelled into the sky and cried: "WHY!? NOT ANOTHER ONE I FAILED TO PROTECT WHY!?" then he cried into Yami's shoulder.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: To Catch a Killer: Extreme Edition

The grief from failure was not something uncommon to Lubbock, he had experienced it far too many times, having lost many people over the years to gruesome deaths; avenging those who fell by killing those who killed them some of which he pitied and those people were only just on different sides others however he had no mercy, overall however failure to protect the most recent of the victims of the serial killer whom he had dubbed the Butcher of Children for his crimes had taken its toll on Lubbock. Returning to his humble shop that also was his home didn't help things, despite Yami's efforts to reassure him and comfort him; the whole thing had tired him out because the trouble it took to persuade the Capital Police officers that they had nothing to do with the whole incident. "Maybe I should have gone with Aria on that revenge mission" Lubbock thought to himself, he then placed his gauntlet for Crosstail next to its spool of the Teigu thread from an unknown danger beast, most likely in his opinion some massive spider the size of a mountain but that had been a matter of speculation on his part, considering his occupation in book sales he wondered if that would make a good subject for a comic or novel, granted the story itself would need much more than just a giant spider, overall though he was tired, he changed into his pajamas after taking a shower, then parked himself it his bed, pulling the green comforter over him and allowing sleep to take him.

As he did so a shadow fell over him, sleep claimed him and he was whisked off to dreamland unfortunately not to a land of candy canes and puppies, but a bleak alternate reality; a forest under a blood red sky with a moon like an orange eye shining over it, dark shadows darted back and forth. "This doesn't look good" Lubbock thought to himself, almost as if on que shadows the size and form of men, woman, and children came to attack him, he went to fight back: materializing Crosstail's threads into the form of two swords, countering the shadowy blades and dodging those he couldn't parry, his counters proved too much for his shadowy opponents and they were cut down with ease, he then noted a shadow feminine figure which laughed at him in a childish laugh then attacked him with two swords of its own, Lubbock's blades shattered and he dodged barely the attacks but they did leave grazing cuts that bled, he then used Crosstail to chain up the shadow doing so successfully. "MERCY" the Shadow cried out, he gave none garroting the shadow's neck, which fell limp then the surroundings changed, the trees of the woods were covered with bodies of human beings men, woman and children crucified and violated with gaunt rotted figures, as he turned to look at his surroundings as if on instinct he noticed where the shadows had fallen, in their place were his friends and loved ones. Tatsumi, Aria, Bulat, Najenda, Sheele, Mine, Fal, Air, Luna: all of them dead their bodies bloody with the gashes shocking him, he turned around as if forced to his actions no longer his own and saw the garroted corpse of Yami; with blood leaking from her neck. "Why?" the corpse said despite being dead, as he was thinking how this could get another version of himself materialized this with blood red eyes. "Why because you are nothing to me, but another foe killed" Dark Lubbock stated and cackled madly, then turned into a giant form of Honest. "There is no escaping yourself, YAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!" Honest stated then laughed, before picking up Lubbock and devouring him.

"AAAAGH!" Lubbock screamed then woke up in his bed screaming his face covered with sweat. Hearing his screams Yami open the door running in.

"Lubbock! What happened?! Are you ok?!" Yami shouted concerned, she wore an orange and light blue night gown. Lubbock turned to Yami and noticed she was fine no scratch the whole encounter just a nightmare.

"Yami, I- I just had a very bad dream, a horrible one" Lubbock replied, Yami came over to his bedside.

"It's ok, whatever you saw wasn't real, just a nightmare, you've been awfully stressed lately, I can tell" Yami stated. "In fact I think it's best if I stay in your room and sleep with you- I mean sleep in your bed with you, I don't mean that kind of sleep with you" Yami explained, Lubbock kissed her.

"Thanks Yami, I guess you're right, maybe having you with me will allow me to sleep better" Lubbock stated, Yami got over to the other side of his bed and climbed into it with him, the then cuddled together.

"Everything is fine now Lubbock; you don't need to worry, I'm here for you; I always am" Yami comforted as she held him allowing him to use her breasts as a pillow, she blushed and the two closed their eyes and slept.

The rest of night proved without incident for those two, but not in the rest of the capital, as the Butcher of Children looked about for those children who were either orphaned, up out after dark or weren't well protected, not just children men and women as well who crossed his path, overall he considered so far his nightly rampage a success, he was helped in no small part by his Teigu which allowed him a number of useful skills such as elemental manipulation but also made it so he needed only an hour of sleep every night to operate, thus it allowed him to use the other 7 hours of night to do his killing, the Sabatini show's members knew nothing about his dark secrets mainly because if they did they would have immediately killed him as while it wasn't known to him they were actually secretly spies for the Revolutionary Army who masqueraded as a traveling circus while actually being a secret force that gathered intelligence that would end up in the hands of their superiors and their choice of information was anything from that of military targets to people to mark for death at the hands of Night Raid or other assassination units, granted only a few members were actually spies the rest were people brought in to keep up the act, Champ was one of those. "I'm surprised I didn't come to the capital sooner, there are so many innocent souls needing release to ensure they never grow up and many more who are grown up that need to punished for allowing them suffer because of their apathy" Champ thought to himself, he had to keep a low profile however, he was surprised by the high presence of police and military forces the numbers were of considerable interest as it appeared as if some massive project was underway, he was unaware of the crackdown that was in the process of destroying the Syndicate.

"HALT!" a Capital Police officer stated a tall man backed up by another officer they wore the typical garb of the Capital Police. "What are you doing out past curfew?" the Officer questioned, Champ smirked, cracked his knuckles.

"None of your business" Champ stated, then pulled out a pistol and shot both men dead, despite his tiegu he preferred other means of dispatching opponents if they were a serious threat he'd break out the big guns so to speak, his gun was disguised as a squirting flower just to avoid suspicion, he then left the bodies behind to rot, and ran several blocks down, noting the sun rise, he darted into another district then got back to his wagon quarters, each performer had their own dedicated personal wagon as a private room, Champ kept a journal of everyone he had killed which he wrought in blood, this proved no different and he took out said journal unlocked it with a little key pulled out a blood quill and wrote his account of the night, then put it away before taking out a book and reading it.

The morning dawn shined over Grundewick Manor as much as the other places in the capital, despite the rain the night before there was not a cloud in sight to obscure the sun. Again Tatsumi had had a pleasant night sleep as he woke he remembered he had passed out in Seryu's bed, with Seryu who was sleeping on him, her breasts pressed against his chest and they both of course were naked. Seryu opened her eyes and said, "Good Morning my loving husband to be!"

"Good morning Seryu; you are so soft" Tatsumi commented, then received a kiss, then received a caress of his hands, then noted Seryu crawl back under the covers, then he felt pleasure as he then thru aside the covers to see Seryu with his dick in her mouth and her breasts around his as she blew him. "Seryu- Seryu-Chan, so good" Tatsumi stated, then heard a knock on the door.

"Don't come in I'm naked" Seryu stated as she was interrupted.

"Seryu where is Tatsumi?" Aria asked.

"Where do you think?" Seryu asked.

"In your room; come on Seryu I was wondering how long it would take before you made your move" Aria replied.

"Alright he's in here and you're interrupting my blowjob, we'll be down for breakfast in I don't know 20 minutes" Seryu replied.

"Seryu you and him don't have time for round two, breakfast will be cold by then and on top of that you're still my bodyguard and I need your help, there has been five more killings overnight and Lubbock is a depressed mess over it and I still have to make a deposit to purchase the house that I've got my I on for us" Aria replied.

"Fine Aria; I'll wait till later, but tonight he's sleeping with me again alright" Seryu stated.

"Fine: but I'm not leaving this spot until you two come out dressed and if I hear Tatsumi moaning I'll have to smack you" Aria stated, the threat of one of Aria's smacks was enough to get Tatsumi out of bed and dressed in the clothes he had been wearing the previous day before suiting up for crime-busting Jaeger-Style, Seryu followed suit but still clung to him like glue.

"We're ready" Seryu stated as she opened her door.

"Good now let's have some of my mother's cookies" Aria stated, they then went downstairs to the dining room where they noted Lubbock still in a funk of sadness despite two plates of peanut butter cookies that lay in front of him. "That's not good, what wrong with Lubbock, usually a plate of my mother's cookies will cheer anyone up and he has two right in front of them and he's not eating, and he loves my mom's cookies" Aria thought to herself.

"Here comes the cookie" Yami tried to reassure Lubbock by trying to feed him herself, he eventually took the cookie and ate it, then ate the rest of the cookies then still frowned.

"It's that bad Lubbock?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've never seen him like this before" Sheele stated with a lot of genuine concern on her face and even slight bit of sadness.

"I agree whatever it is though he'll get over it" Mine stated chewing a slice of bacon.

"Why is Lubba unhappy mommy?" Fal asked Angela.

"I don't know Fal" Angela replied to her adopted-daughter's concern.

"I hope he feels better" Air stated.

"Ya I want him to be happy again he's much more funny when he's happy" Luna stated.

"Lubbock had a nightmare last night; all this killing has gotten to him; it's making him sadder then before" Yami stated.

"What happened in your dream Lubbock?" Aria asked.

"Yes the sooner you talk about the better you'll feel" Sayo agreed.

"Alright but you aren't going to like it" Lubbock stated reluctantly, then explained in detail his nightmare leaving nothing out.

"Lubbock that's terrible" Fal stated.

"The worst part is I've had this dream before; only it hasn't been as bad is was before" Lubbock explained.

"Lubbock I know exactly where you are coming from" Tatsumi replied.

"Same here; I had this nightmare the other night Angela was trying to kill me" Ieyasu explained.

"That's not comforting" Lubbock replied to Ieyasu.

"No but the real Angela is, and every time I'll have bad dream now I'll think of her and she'll make me feel better" Ieyasu explained, then took another drink of Hot chocolate. "Angela you make the best hot chocolate" Ieyasu complimented.

"I'm glad you like it, I'm always happy to see people enjoy my cooking" Angela stated.

"What's your secret?" Sayo asked.

"Love, care and a lot of mixing" Angela explained. "Also following the instructions to the letter and a bit of cinnamon" she added.

"I'll gladly admit that your cookies are the best Angela" Lubbock complimented feeling a bit better.

"Thank you Lubbock, it brings my heart joy to see others happy because of my actions" Angela replied.

"I still though don't feel so good about this whole thing though, I've failed in my duty to protect the innocents from the vile monsters in human skin that plague the world" Lubbock stated.

"What is it that's causing you to take this so hard Lubbock? I've never seen you feel this bad before" Sheele asked.

"Before I joined Night Raid, in fact before Najenda and I joined the Imperial Army I was a teacher the youngest in fact in my entire town at 15, I educated the young children of my home town of Joyou, they were 8 to 10, I taught reading and writing, I loved my students they were so young, innocent and had minds needing knowledge, things wouldn't last then came what caused me to leave my job and join the army, when I was 18 a large number of students went missing, including my entire class; a few days later they were found, all of them dead and violated, their bodies too badly mistreated and abused for public eyes; I failed in my duties to keep them safe, they had died because I failed, there were no survivors and the town was too poor to afford the cost of an investigation also there was concern that whoever did it was connected to the government and people wanted to save face in the eyes of those who could massacre the entire town on a whim; Najenda then decided she wanted to join the army, I went with her to be with the person I still cared for more than anyone else, the deaths of my students have always haunted me; then all this happened; the bodies are in the same horrific state as those students that were murdered; the Butcher of Joyou has returned and he must be stopped otherwise I can't consider myself a true man, if I can't protect the innocents how can I protect my friends" Lubbock explained.

"That's a sad story" Fal said, as Air teared up and Luna started crying and ran over to Angela who wrapped her arms around her to comfort her.

"There, there, Luna don't be sad; everything will be fine in the end" Angela comforted her blue haired adopted daughter.

"But the kids, Lubbock-san he- he- "Luna stated in between tears and continued crying into Angela's red dress covered shoulder.

"Don't worry Lubbock while bring this vile monster to justice: Night Raid style" Tatsumi proclaimed.

"I hope we can; only thing is it won't be easy; this killer isn't stupid he covers his tracks quite well" Lubbock stated.

"Well every criminal makes a mistake: he's made one huge one and that is choosing to be an evildoer" Seryu commented.

"She's right, he's got to have left some sort of clue; once we figure out who he is we'll lure him into a trap" Naomi stated.

"You're right; only thing is I'm not confident I'd be able to suitably punish the Butcher for his crimes" Lubbock stated.

"Don't worry Lubbock you won't have to, that's my forte" Aria remarked with a devilish smirk.

"I'd pity the killer if he weren't the most evil man on earth; this killer makes Honest look kind by comparison" Lubbock stated.

"I'm not sure about that one" Tatsumi remarked.

"You're right, whatever the butcher does Honest could do even more deadly, I wouldn't be shocked if the two were one and same" Lubbock stated.

"If only, then we could kill two birds with one stone" Mine remarked. "Or one clean shot" she added with a smirk.

"Alright we need a plan, I think the first things first I'll get in touch with the Emperor then the Jaegers and see if I can get them to help with this matter; heck if Honest isn't the killer I'm sure he'd want this killer dead just for kicks and to protect his image" Tatsumi stated.

"You do that; I think we should send out teams of two to survey the city for signs of the killer, I'll go and see Najenda about this I'm sure she'll send the entirety of Night Raid's clear operatives to look for clues" Chelsea stated.

"Alright then everyone pick your partner and we'll get started" Tatsumi stated, then finished his food and left.

Shortly… "Alright it's settled, Seryu and I will search mid-town, Sheele and Mine will search the market district, Sayo and Naomi will comb the west side of the city, and Lubbock and Yami will search the slums" Aria stated.

"I want to go with you Aria-nee" Fal stated.

"It's too dangerous" Aria stated.

"Too dangerous, too dangerous that's what everyone says, I'm safe with you and Seryu-Chan and Koro too" Fal stated, then walked over to Koro and picked him up. "Who's a good doggy, you are Koro, you are" Fal baby talked and hugged Koro who woofed in joy.

"Koro will keep her safe right Koro" Seryu stated, the Tiegu woofed.

"Fine but she stay's next to you and Koro at all times; Fal don't wander off, I really want you to stay safe" Aria agreed reluctantly.

"YAY! I get to be a detective; lets search for clues, wait I need to get dressed for the part" Fal stated then ran upstairs to her room and came back in a Sherlock Holmes style get up complete with a bubble-pipe. "Let's start searching" Fal stated, then ran off to leave with Aria and Seryu following behind.

"First things first Naomi we have to get you some gear" Sayo stated.

"Right Sayo, I definitely need armor and a weapon" Naomi stated.

"I think I can help you two with that" Angela stated and led them off.

Shortly… They came to a shed in the style of the other buildings, Angela unlocked the door, inside was an arsenal of weapons and armor worthy of the Imperial Palace with weapons and armor from all over the world. "This is our secondary armory, it's reserved for the best of our guards and those we trust most, I keep a number of my tools of the trade here, trust me we have a weapon for every situation and armor for the same" Angela explained then led them thru the armory, Sayo had already donned the armor she won at the Tournament she had dyed the heraldic tabard with heraldry of her own design that of two butterflies one red and one white on a purple background, Naomi searched the armors first and tried on numerous sets until she found a suit of plate-mail that was both light and comfortable to wear, then came the hard choice of weaponry, while Yami was definitely the more martial of the twins Naomi wasn't a slouch as you needed to be skilled to survive in the world of Akame Ga Kill, she took each weapon and motioned it to see how it felt in the hand, how heavy it was and how it handled, eventually she decided on a sica sword, a lightweight but effective sword, as well as long rapier as a backup for reach, then she decided on a moderately sized buckler as a shield, then for range she took two pistols which were light weight but had a decent amount of ammo, she strapped the extra magazines to her belt next to the blades, then dawned a morian helmet.

"I think this will do good how do I look?" Naomi asked.

"Like you're ready for war; let's look about" Sayo stated then the two left, Angela followed them out and locked the armory behind them.

The Imperial Palace 1 hour later… Tatsumi entered clad in a noble set of armor with his fine sword on his back, he walked into the Throne room with a new toy for Makoto to play with. "Greetings your majesty" Tatsumi greeted with a curt bow.

"Hey Tatsumi-san what fun thing do you have for me to play with today?" Makoto asked.

"A new toy that's all the rage; it's called a fidget spinner; just the thing for having fun while tricking people into thinking you're paying attention" Tatsumi stated and handed it to him.

"Ooh this is perfect; just what I need to have fun while Honest san is being boring" Makoto stated.

"Your majesty, I assume that this is all you have to bring here Tatsumi" Honest stated still wearing the tutu and jester's cap that Makoto had commanded he wear for the rest of the week.

"No I have news, last night the Jaegers and the Royal guard dismantled the Capital's largest criminal organization, the leaders now are in the dungeon for interrogation and will soon face justice" Tatsumi stated. "The reason for the raids was due to an investigation into a recent outbreak of brutal killings, however those have continued, we assumed we'd sweep up the killer along with the rest of the Syndicate, but the killer has eluded our clutches, I petition your highness to allow me the resources I need to bring this monster to Ultimate Justice" Tatsumi explained.

"A killer at large, his majesty shouldn't be troubled by this news" Honest stated.

"I'm sure you'd want this to be dealt with too Honest, this killer brings a bad image to our lovely city wouldn't you agree; if he were to be brought down I'm sure the Emperor would be more respected for the death of a brutal criminal" Tatsumi explained, Honest smiled, despite his disdain and hatred of Tatsumi he had to agree that he had a point, the threat posed by this killer to his reputation and that of his puppet would bring no shortage of outcry for the murderer to be brought to justice, he'd hate for a repeat of Zank the Beheader.

"I see, then you have my approval I will dedicate necessary resources for an investigation into the matter as soon as they are available, at the moment they are as you said busy going thru the massive influx of now imprisoned Syndicate members, however I can give you access to my spy network" Honest stated, Tatsumi noted that Honest was being too generous, he realized of course that Honest's spies were loyal to him, the last thing he wanted was them on his back regardless of how useful their intel may be.

"Honest you aren't be as genuine as you think you are; come Tatsumi I can be of more help to you" Esdeath stated saving him from having to accept Honest's aid in the matter, he immediately went over to his fiancé kissed her on the cheek and hugged her which she returned.

"Thanks for the save" Tatsumi whispered.

"Anything for you my Tatsu-bunny" she whispered back. "As to resources I can offer I'll give you some of my best soldiers to comb the city I want more details, we should discuss those in private" Esdeath stated, with a wink.

"Alright then; Your majesty I take my leave" Tatsumi stated, Makoto span the fidget spinner.

"Oh Tatsumi-san was right this is fun!" Makoto proclaimed and spun it again and again while Honest began to explain further things, which he tuned out by his focus on the spinning toy in his hand.

Tatsumi and Esdeath left and went to their private quarters; Tatsumi noted the current state of things in the palace how overall things were relatively quite which was odd considering that fact there were usually more people about but that may have been due to the time of day. As they entered said quarters Esdeath locked the door and stripped off her clothes. "Now for our discussion" Esdeath stated, Tatsumi being in love with her did the same and carried her to her room and placed her on the bed and entered her. "So Tatsumi how are the state of things in the Capital I must know all the details" Esdeath stated as he thrust into her slowly in the missionary position.

"Well here's the details, for the past two nights a horrible murderer has been on the loose, he prays on the most innocent of all, children both boys and girls as well as their mothers and older sisters, I've seen the bodies and they've been gruesomely violated and tortured some even burned" Tatsumi explained.

"I see *ugh* go on oh oh oh" Esdeath stated and moaned as Tatsumi hit her g-spot.

"Well this had happened before, a friend of mine do you know him he was at my wedding and I've chosen him as my best man for our wedding" Tatsumi explained.

"Who is he?" Esdeath stated as she continued moaning.

"Lubbock, you remember him, the green haired guy with goggles" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes I do, he and the dark-skinned girl I assume she is his girlfriend?" Esdeath stated.

"Yes to both my dear Esdeath, anyway he was a school teacher in the town Joyou before he and Najenda joined the army and his reason for joining was the deaths of his students by the same killer that now terrorizes the capital" Tatsumi explained, as he felt pent up. "I'm cumming by the way" Tatsumi added.

"Me too- OH!" Esdeath stated as they mutually orgasmed, she then flipped over. "I see go on, not just in sex but with the story" Esdeath stated, Tatsumi obliged entering her rear.

"Well the whole thing has him manickelly depressed over these deaths, he takes it personal even though there wasn't anything he could have done because he had no knowledge of what was happening" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, well he's got to get over this, Tatsu-bunny he needs to kill this killer, otherwise he'll never feel better about this, I'm sure he cares about those he loves and doesn't want this murderer to get his hands on his friends or on his girlfriend" Esdeath stated. "Too good" Esdeath stated as she orgasmed again despite Tatsumi still having barely started. "I think I wasn't done last time" Esdeath stated.

"I intend to let him do that, once we find out who this killer is we'll deal with him Night Raid style, after that we'll strip his flesh and bake it into a pie and feed it to Honest" Tatsumi stated, Esdeath smiled at that.

"This murderer deserves nothing less than that, I'll make sure to turn a blind eye to the Night Raid take down; I'll have the Jaegers not interfere; as to the pie have you figured out how you are going to get it to Honest?" Esdeath stated.

"I'll just slip it onto his food cart when he isn't looking" Tatsumi joked. "Not really I've got an idea how to do it, I'll just have a friend of mine swap Honest's normal pie with that one" Tatsumi stated.

"Good luck with that" Esdeath stated and two continued their lovemaking.

Meanwhile… Fal was looking at a giant stuffed bear. "I want that Aria-nee can I have it?" Fal begged.

"Sure Fal-nee, hey how much for the bear?" Aria asked the shop keep.

"About 30 gold pieces madam" the merchant stated, Aria handed him the gold and he handed her the bear which she handed to Fal.

"It's so fluffy" Fal stated, they had been looking about but their search in Mid-town had resulted in Fal purchasing toys that she liked and those were crowding the carriage's baggage compartment.

"I'm not sure what all this shopping has do with searching for evildoers to bring to Justice" Seryu stated.

"It's called being a good sister; besides Fal spent the last year of her life in slavery, she deserves this treatment" Aria explained.

"Hey Aria-nee your head looks big" Fal stated looking thru her magnifying glass.

"Fal that's not how you use it" Aria explained.

"I've got it big sister, I think know what we need to do, we need to go back in time, back to when these things started" Fal stated.

"You're right, these killings only started two days ago which means the killer must have come in two days ago" Seryu stated.

"Right and that leaves at least 2000 potential suspects" Aria stated, noting that people came into the city every day.

"Right but at least that narrows it down a lot" Seryu stated, Aria shrugged they then continued shopping after Fal returned with a comically large plush Unicorn.

Meanwhile…. Lubbock and Yami checked the slums and found the usual assortment of scum and villainy, the scum that tried to rob them quickly found themselves headless due to Yami's twin hooks and Cross Tail's manufactured sword which Lubbock had with him for keeping a low profile, he preferred not to use Cross Tail proper unless it was absolutely necessary, or he was on a mission. "Lubbock I think this is getting crazier" Yami stated, suddenly they noticed a badly injured Capital Police officer laying on the ground next a dead one in an alleyway; he was badly injured.

"Help me" the man moaned in pain, the two walked over to him.

"What happened to you?" Lubbock asked concerned.

"I was shot, left for dead, the last thing I remember before blacking out was my partner and I asked a man what he was doing out past curfew. He pulled out a gun and shot me and my partner; poor Jack, he didn't stand a chance, the bullet hit me in the shoulder I'll make it through, I woke up a few minute ago" the Officer explained.

"Here I know a friend of mine who's a doctor, she'll patch you up" Lubbock stated and he and Yami helped the man up and carried him to a carriage where Angela was waiting for them. "Angela I found this guy he's badly hurt" Lubbock stated.

"I see help him get in, I'll get my medical kit" Angela stated then got out of the ten man carriage which had been a gift from Aria and helped them get the man in after grabbing a satchel from under the seat, they laid the man on one of the seats, then Angela removed the round which had missed the man's artery by inches, she then began cleaning out the injury using a potent poultice to neutralize gangrene and any other possible causes of infection, she give the man something to bite down on and she then took out a needle and thread began the first of many stitches, as she treated and closed the wound then bandaged it. "There you should make a full recovery, here come with us, I'll get you a meal and you can tell us what happened" Angela explained.

"Gladly miss- "the man stated.

"Mrs. Angela Grundel; and you are?" Angela asked.

"Officer Taro of the Capital Police" the man explained.

Shortly… They arrived at one of the Grundel family's many restaurants and sat down to eat the waiter took their order and left them to talk. "Thank you Mrs. Grundel, it's rare to find people who offer kindness to those in need, especially those from the Capital Police" Officer Taro thanked.

"Don't worry I'm glad to help those in need, besides my daughter's best friend is a member of the Capital police; now tell us what happened to you" Angela asked.

"Jack and I were on patrol for trouble, what with all the killings happening lately the patrols have doubled, anyway we were looking for anyone who might be causing trouble when we saw a guy jump down off of the roof tops into a back alley, we followed him and asked him what he was doing out past curfew, he didn't say anything and shot us, he hit Jack in the head and me in the shoulder, I blacked out and he left me for dead; I woke up about a few minutes ago, I saw what happened to Jack, the bullet hit him in the middle of his forehead; I only hope he died quick, he was a good man, he had a wife and 8 kids, he was a veteran of the force been on it 20 years and has been my partner for 4 years, now he's gone hopefully to the place where there are no crimes, no wrongs and no sudden partings" Taro explained.

"What did the man look like?" Yami asked.

"Tall bulky guy, also a bit stout, didn't see much of him other then he wore a hat, a small one and his hair was curly and all over the place, I didn't see where he pulled the gun from only felt the round pierce my skin and knock me flat and out, I must have hit the ground hard enough to knock me out that I looked dead to him that or he was in hurry" Taro replied.

"Anything else?" Lubbock asked.

"He was carrying a bag of some kind, a big one, we assumed he was burglar of some kind" Taro stated.

"You're a lucky man Taro, you've survived an encounter with a Butcher of Joyou" Lubbock remarked.

"The Butcher of Joyou? You mean the criminal who's been doing all those killings?" Taro questioned.

"Yes, my gut tells me so" Lubbock stated.

"So what do you know about him, and what does the Butcher of Joyou have to do with this" Taro stated.

"The killings are by the same man who butchered all those children at Joyou Free Learners all those years ago, I was there when it happened, my entire class was butchered by him; I've seen the other bodies they were treated the exact same way, you are the first person to escape him" Lubbock stated.

"Well I hope he's brought to justice, I'll say this I'm not going to give up until he is" Taro stated.

"After you have lunch you should give the news to your partner's family about what happened" Angela stated.

"Yes, Carrie will be sad to hear about him, but she'll take some solace that he died in the line of duty, oh shame that he did, he was only a month away from his retirement a good friend to the end" Taro stated.

"A shame, another good soul lost to The Butcher" Yami stated glumly, Lubbock frowned, their drinks were brought to them and Lubbock was only too glad to drown his sorrows in soda.

Meanwhile…. Sayo and Naomi searched he market district and found little save good deals on so nice dresses and on a set of quality knives which Sayo bought using some of the prize money from the Archery Tournament, they had with them another carriage, the soon left the market square and passed the Umatora theater and noted the performers practicing in the parking yard where the various trailers of the Sabatini show were parked. "You know I've been thinking on this Naomi; things starting happening when those performers showed up, I think maybe one of them might be the killer" Sayo stated looking out the window.

"What makes you think that?" Naomi asked.

"Think about it, a travelling show that goes from town to town preforming, it sounds like a perfect place for a killer to hide in plain sight" Sayo stated.

"That is a good point; it seems plausible, but there are at least 70 people in that circus how do we pin down who the killer is" Naomi stated.

"Good point, we need more evidence that's the thing" Sayo stated.

"Then we need to figure out a trap" Naomi added.

"That may be easier than you think; the sick bastard goes after kids right, well if we have kids to bait him with that will do" Sayo stated.

"Sayo you aren't suggesting using Fal, Air or Luna as bait are you?" Naomi asked scared by the prospect.

"I don't see any other options" Sayo stated.

"Well there have to be if we just think" Naomi stated and they continued searching.

Later that evening… Champ had finished the performance for the day and had told his troupe he was off to go get dinner, which did get then began searching for potential victims, his attention came first to a house that was humble and was home to a little girl that he thought was so cute and innocent, unfortunately the masked man that was her father had come home from work earlier than usual and considering the fact the man had a flamethrower on his back he was not going to risk going after his daughter or his wife, he did however watch them.

Inside… "So daddy how was your day today?" Logue asked her father in her sweet little voice as she sat on his lap, she wore a pink overalls over a white shirt and had cute short blonde hair

"Fortunately nothing bad happened today; only good things" Bols stated having removed his mask he had short blonde hair, his face was scarred by a large burn scar over his once handsome face, fortunately Kije and Logue loved him regardless of how he looked.

"That's good to hear Bols, Logue wanted to play outside today, but I wouldn't let her without the supervision of me with my gun" Kije stated, she had mid-length brown hair and wore simple pink dress, she was currently in the process of making dinner.

"I'm glad to see you two are ok, a day doesn't go past without me thinking of you two" Bols stated.

"I still don't like having that tank of yours next to your chair Bols" Kije stated.

"I know you don't but Rubiciate won't do anything without me controlling it, the tank is perfectly safe" Bols reassured.

"I really wish you didn't have to take the job you have to keep us fed" Kije stated.

"Well my new job is a lot less hazardous then my previous job" Bols joked.

"Sure hunting dangerous assassins is way safer then burning out Danger beast lairs" Kije replied sarcastically.

"They aren't after me which is fine by me" Bols stated.

"You're right, I'm just a worry-wart that's all Bols" Kije replied, then hugged him and was joined in the family hug. The whole thing was frustrating to Champ who was observing the thing and he left the three to their conversation. "Bols I have good news, this is for you to Logue; I'm pregnant which means another bundle of joy is coming our way" Kije added.

"That's wonderful Kije!" Bols proclaimed.

"I'm going to be a big sister, oh I hope it's a girl so I can braid her hair and play with her" the seven-year-old Logue stated with joy.

"If only, trust me Logue you don't get everything you want in life though" Bols stated.

Meanwhile… Champ continued his search for potential victims and noted a carriage pass by, he got a brief look and noticed a familiar blonde girl and another familiar blonde girl, as much as he wanted to go after them the fact they were protected by 12 armed guards deterred him from doing so; then he looked about further and noted a shortage of anyone about apart from guards, according to a new decree a mandatory curfew was in place till the killer (him) was caught and executed. "They think they're clever don't they, well I'm three steps ahead of them" Champ thought to himself then he noted a young mother and daughter walk by, then he noted two heavily armed guards protecting them, yet again people weren't taking chances with him about which was admirable because it gave him a good challenge. He was disappointed and found himself having to return back to his trailer as there were too many sharp people out, he would have to wait for an opportunity to strike.

Meanwhile… Everyone had gathered around the table waiting for dinner and to go over the day's findings "Alright lets debrief any leads people?" Tatsumi asked.

"Nothing on our end" Mine stated bluntly.

"Nothing on ours either but Naomi thinks the killer is with Circus that came here" Sayo stated.

"We actually found someone who survived the killer" Lubbock stated.

"Really? Tell us more" Tatsumi stated, Lubbock then told them officer Taro's story.

"That's interesting, so we have a description to work with" Seryu stated.

"Yes a pretty broad one at that" Mine commented cynically.

"Wait I remembered something" Ieyasu stated, something that had gone out of his mind due to his relationship with Angela, he then took off to his room and returned with a piece of fabric. "I found this on one of the bodies, one of the victims a young woman was clutching this in her hand" Ieyasu stated showing them the flamboyant piece of fabric.

"Let me see that" Fal stated, then looked at it with her magnifying glass. "This looks like a piece of one of those clown shirts look at the stripes there the same as the ones warn by the clowns at the show" Fal stated.

"So one of them is the killer; but which one" Yami stated.

"Let's think which one of them fits the build described by Officer Taro, if we can't come to a conclusion we'll head to the show tomorrow and figure it out" Aria stated.

Meanwhile… Champ had decided that he was going to have to go out into the country side if he wanted to fill his desire to rape, torture and kill, the city was too guarded now for any killings on his part so he would have to expand his range so to speak, the trouble would come in how he would manage to get over and back in with the city walls in the way, that however had an interesting solution, there was a decent sized porthole to allow water from the Kadaki river that followed thru the city to flow out into the countryside, as long as he didn't mind getting wet it would do, in fact he could use his Tiegu to dry off.

Back at Grundewick manor everyone had retired for the evening and Lubbock and Yami had headed home to Lubbock's store/house and Lubbock had gone to lie down, when Yami came in and joined him in his bed, it was fine by him she was there to keep him comforted and to be there in case his nightmares resurfaced. As they slept Yami was plagued by a nightmare; in it she found herself in cavern wrapped in Cross Tail's strings. "Please mercy!" she cried out.

"Sorry a friend of mine was killed by a girl who played the same trick" Lubbock stated.

"Lubbock it's me Yami your girlfriend, don't give in!" Yami yelled.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know you" Lubbock stated, and the strings wrapped around her neck tightly.

"AAHHHHHHHH!" Yami screamed waking up Lubbock.

"Yami what's wrong?" Lubbock asked.

"I had a nightmare" Yami stated, Lubbock hugged her.

"It's alright, it's just a bad dream, you are here for me well I can be the same for you" Lubbock stated, Yami kissed him on the lips.

"I love you Lubbock, more than anyone else, I've never met someone who's cared so much for me" Yami replied, she then began to unhook her bra.

"Wait Yami, no, not yet, I can't not until the Butcher is brought down and dead, I don't want to do this only for you to die, not until you're safe and I don't have to worry about you being in danger from that monster" Lubbock stated, as much as getting laid was a personal fantasy of his, mainly with Najenda being the one in the fantasies now since replaced by Yami because of Najenda's relationship with Tatsumi, he was still a virgin after all but his personal code of honor prevented him from doing so as much as he wanted to until the person who haunted his dreams and threatened everything he held dear was dead.

"I see, you really do love me that much, Lubbock will you marry me?" Yami asked.

"Yes, as soon as the killer's dead and within the day it happens" Lubbock stated, she climbed on top of him and they held each other tight and fell back asleep.

The following morning Tatsumi woke up with his legs entangled with Seryu, they had steamy sex the night before and Seryu was still passed out in his arms, Koro still slept in his oversized bed, he had no intention of getting out of bed until Seryu had woken up and they had at least three rounds of sex, she may have been new to the whole thing but she certainly was a cougar in that department, he rubbed his hands thru her soft copper hair which was something he treasured, her lovely locks were something he loved dearly mainly because she took her time making sure it was as lovely as possible. Seryu opened her lovely eyes and looked into those brown orbs. "Good morning Tatsumi-kun" Seryu stated.

"Good morning Seryu-chan" Tatsumi greeted and kissed her, she kissed back, and thru back the covered and began kissing down the length of his body, lower, lower, and lower till she came to his erection and began blowing him, she was becoming rather good at this, he figured at some point she'd rival Cosmina but that would take time, her tongue licked down the length and she sucked his balls then took the length into her mouth sucking it and relaxing it, she used her free hand to caress his nipples, then she wrapped her breasts around the length and continued to suck and deepthroat him. "Seryu-chan I'm going to cum" Tatsumi stated and did so, Seryu swallowed the entire load, then smiled and presented her loins to him, Tatsumi got up and brought his head to the loins she wrapped her legs around him as he got to work with his tongue.

"Oh! Ugh! Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi- you're- ugh! Amazing" Seryu moaned, his tongue was impressive Seryu loved that he knew exactly where to go, he then inserted a finger in and began to finger her as he ate her out, Seryu was in bliss, but soon she couldn't contain herself and came, Tatsumi licked up the juices and got up to enter her proper, their loins merged and he began his slow thrusts, he then brought his tongue to her right breast and begin to lick her nipple, then began to suckle it. "Oh Tatsumi- OH!" Seryu moaned, then wrapped her arms around him, letting him do his thing, she loved the feel of his lips on her breasts and Tatsumi loved the taste of her sweet milk; it was as if a dormant part of him still had the instincts, perhaps it was because his birth mother nursed him a lot before she met whatever end, that thought of his birth mother caused him to stop. "Tatsumi what's wrong?" Seryu asked noting his stop and frown.

"I just was thinking about my mother, I never knew her, but all this breast-feeding makes me think that I don't know how much she fed me, and I don't know about her at all" Tatsumi stated.

"That's sad Tatsumi, I wish I could say I knew how you feel but I knew my parents, loved them for six years of my life, I was so sad to see them go; I don't know how to comfort you on this beyond more sex" Seryu stated, the mood had been killed by this but Tatsumi figured that he might as well continue, because it was the only way Seryu could comfort him, so she did, assuming full control over the whole thing for the next six rounds, Tatsumi felt better after that, he had brought a morning change of clothes luckily Koro hadn't played with them, Koro may be well-behaved and a Teigu but he was still at heart a dog and had all the curiosity of one, Tatsumi dressed in moderate conservative attire, it was neither flamboyant nor plain it was between the two and consisted of a fine green cotton shirt and tan pants, Seryu dressed similarly dawning a purple shirt, a black skirt and long green socks.

They then left the room with Koro following them and came to the dining room where the usual group gathered around the table, Tatsumi and Seryu plated up their usual and sat next to Aria. "Good morning two of my favorite people under the sun my BFF and my husband" Aria greeted.

"Good morning my lovely wife: how are you this morning Aria" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty good all things considered, hopefully today we can figure out who this murderer is, speaking off there were several killings not in the capital but in the country side: I've decided today we're going to check out the Umatora theater and see if the theory about the killer being one of the clowns there is true; also it seems the security in the Capital proper has caused our target to broaden his territory to the outlaying farmlands and villages; which means it's a perfect place for a trap" Aria explained.

"That requires us to figure out who the killer is" Tatsumi stated.

"Yes which is why we are taking my sisters out to see the show undercover" Aria stated.

"How does that help?" Tatsumi asked.

"Simple this killer goes after kids, we keep an eye on each member and see how they react" Aria explained.

"I still think that's a bit risky" Naomi stated.

"I know I don't like it anymore then you do, in fact I hate having to risk my three lovely little sisters, but they volunteered they know the risks and it gives us all the reason to fight twice as hard to bring this monster down" Aria replied.

"I don't like this Aria, not at all" Lubbock stated.

"Ya I agree with him" Mine stated.

"I don't like it either, but does anyone have a better plan? If so raise your hand" Aria stated, no one did. "The morning show begins in an hour, just enough time to eat breakfast and get there with time to get refreshments and good seats" Aria explained. "Lubbock, Yami, Seryu, Naomi, Sayo, Tatsumi and I will go with Fal Air and Luna, with seven Night Raid members by their side they will be perfectly safe, Sheele you, Mine and Chelsea will search the performer's trailers while the show is going on and see if you can find anything, focus on the Clowns first, Seryu has gotten you three Imperial police uniforms so that nobody will ask questions" Aria explained.

"What about me?" Ieyasu stated.

"You will go with my Mother as she searches for other possible suspects and helps people out, it's possible the killer may not be who we are suspecting so it's best to have someone to look for other possible suspects" Aria explained.

"We are all in agreement then?" Constantine stated.

"Yeah, but I seriously think this is a bad idea" Naomi stated.

Later at the Umatora Theater… Aria's plan seemed to be working so far, while her team watched the show Sheele and her team combed the various trailers belonging to the performers, there weren't any guards as security of any kind was focused on protecting the theater and thus left the trailers unguarded, granted they were locked but Chelsea's tool kit from Gaea Foundation allowed her a hand set of unbreakable lockpicks, and soon they went from trailer to trailer searching for any clues and taking care to leave everything exactly the way they found it. "Nothing here, damn it I hope Aria's right on this because otherwise I have no idea how we are going to bust this creep" Mine cursed.

"That's another three coins for the Swear Jar Mine" Sheele stated.

"You and that fucking jar, I really can't understand your fixation on it" Mine stated.

"That's five for an F-bomb you know the rules Mine" Sheele stated.

"Yeah but it doesn't mean I have to like them: you're better at getting my money then Leone is at conning people" Mine replied as they walked to the next trailer.

"Shut it you two; I'm going to need to her the mechanism" Chelsea stated and worked her magic unlocking the door, the trailer they entered proved to be larger than the rest and bed was well made which was surprising, they looked around noted a chair with name Champ and looked at a number of photos on the wall, Champ with a number of people, fellow performers, kids who had posed get their picture taken, and political leaders; heck he even had a picture taken with General Takemori of the Revolutionary Army, granted when he was still in the Imperial Army. "This guy seems well traveled" Chelsea remarked in a whisper.

"Well let's see what he has" Mine stated a proceeded to search, Sheele and Chelsea did likewise overall he didn't really have much hidden, eventually however Sheele found a journal, along with a number of others.

"Here looks like I found his diaries, as much as I hate invading other people's private thoughts I'm going to" Sheele stated and attempted to open the journal noting it had a lock on it. "That's weird, there is a lock on it, I don't keep a lock on my diary" Sheele stated.

"I do" Mine chimed in.

"Here let me see that" Chelsea stated and Sheele handed her the diary which Chelsea opened with a bobby pin; she then looked at it was alarmed by the red ink, which smelled of dried blood. "This is not good" Chelsea stated dropping the book aghast, Sheele picked it up and looked thru it.

"October 21st 1583 of Imperial Calendar: I am please in my most recent action, another innocent soul that will never grow up, his screams as I purified him young Louis, he was so tender and tight for one so young, his little sister was equally tight, how they screamed as I released them, one slash, two, blood fresh and release, their mother, was one wench and she was satisfied- I can't read any more of this, it's so vile despicable" Sheele read then the dropped the book, Mine picked it up and turned the pages breezing thru to find the blank pages then turned to last entry.

"December 18th 1583 of Imperial Calendar: I'm forced to broaden my field of work, my recent killings in the capital have attracted attention, the Empire cracked down and dismantled the Capital's largest Criminal Enterprise in an attempt to catch me, no luck on that part, I found myself foiled from getting my hands on the little blonde haired girl and her mother, that masked man that is the girl's father and his flamethrower are enough to keep me away from them, saw the cute little blue haired rich girl in a carriage with her older sister; they had double the guards since last time they are absurdly wary, granted with three beautiful little girls and one equally beautiful piece of tail I can't blame them, I checked followed them home and noted that they live in a fortress of a Mansion, no way in hell am I going to be able to get in there, I don't think Night Raid could get in there, So went outside the city there was large culvert to allow the river to flow out the wall, no guards there at all, I then came to one of the surrounding homesteads, got in thru a window and slashed the throat of the farmer who slept then I raped his wife, as hot as she was, then I tied her up and got all three of her kids and made her watch as I purified all three of them I told them they'd never grow up, never have to go thru the horrors of adulthood and go straight to heaven, she called me a demonic hell spawn, I snapped her neck and fucked her corpse, Not sure what I'll do tomorrow night there were a good number of homesteads I doubt the city guard will notice a second run, or a third" Mine read, her composure shattered and she broke down in tears. "That monster: I'm going to end him; I'll get pumpkin and blow his fucking head off!" Mine proclaimed and threw the journal at the wall.

"Don't worry we'll get him, also that's 10 gold coins for two F-bombs" Sheele reassured.

"Fuck!" Mine swore.

"15" Sheele stated with a smirk.

"You and that fucking jar!" Mine stated, jumping up and down in anger.

"20, actually its 23 because of the d-word and the f-bomb you dropped before we came in" Sheele stated grinning with her eyes shut as Mine steamed.

"Ladies please, we need to get out of here, we've found our killer, let's put everything back the way it was" Chelsea explained, they did so making sure everything was just as they found it, then left and locked the door behind them, then darted off.

An hour later they met up at the carriage with everyone else after the show ended. Mine still weeping and being hugged by Sheele, Chelsea frowned. "Alright guys what happened?" Lubbock asked.

"We've identified the killer thanks to his journals; Mine and Sheele read them; Mine's took what she read very hard, also she owes 15 gold coins to Sheele's swear jar when we get back" Chelsea stated.

"Alright who's this monster; what is his name?" Lubbock asked.

"His name is Champ, he's the big bulky clown with the barbell trick, he's a Tiegu user and he's well-traveled; he's got an extensive record of his kills, about 20 journals worth of murders, every entry written in his own blood, this guy is a monster; also he's got his sights on Fal, Air and Luna, also another girl a little blonde-haired girl whose father wears a mask" Chelsea explained.

"That would be Logue, Bols's daughter she's a sweet little girl, that makes things even worse, I don't know which is worse though the fact he's after my sisters in law or that he is after my friend's daughter" Tatsumi commented. "Man this scumbag is completely worthy of a gruesome death, and I wouldn't wish this on anyone else, but this guy deserves to be on Honest's plate" Tatsumi added.

"I fully agree" Lubbock stated.

"Now we know who the killer is we'll set up a trap, he's going off the Countryside and he's making a mistake because outside the capital he's fair game for Night Raid" Aria stated.

"Yeah!" Mine proclaimed. "I won't shoot this monster, he deserves a slow agonizing death" Mine added.

"Now how are we going to pull it off?" Tatsumi asked.

"I have an idea!" Luna proclaimed, "Why don't we go camping, we'll take the ten-man carriage and go camping without any guards then the five us: me Fal, Air, Aria-nee, and Tatsumi will sit around the campfire singing campfire songs, while the others hid in the woods, we'll look nice and unprotected Champ will come and we got him!" Luna explained.

"That's actually a pretty good plan Luna: you are very smart for your age" Yami stated.

"Thank you Yami-san!" Luna thanked.

"Alright I don't like this but it's better than anything I can think of" Naomi stated.

"Neither do I but I'll be with my sisters" Aria stated. "One more thing, Lubbock gets this kill, anything you want to add" Aria added.

"Yes Aria, I want you to make him suffer, give him a taste of what hell as for him, I'll use Cross Tail to help draw it out as long as possible" Lubbock replied.

Later that night… Champ noted the gates would be closing soon, and noticed something odd, a large carriage, which was unguarded, the carriage approached the guards and one of the passengers got out to explain to them their intentions, he noted it was blonde girl with three little sisters. "How opportune" Champ thought, then went to the culvert and swam down river, after doing so he followed the carriage keeping a respectable distance but not losing track of them. He then waited until the campers set up their tent then their campfire, he noted them: the Blonde girl, her three sisters, and the young man that was always with her every time he saw her; he had a well-made sword which he put down as he set up the stones and logs for the fire, then took out his flint and started to make the fire, a spark of light, then a roaring flame. Champ waited patiently, waiting for them to drop their guard, the sang campfire songs, roasted marshmallows and chocolate to make s'mores he noted as they talked that the young brown-haired man was the blonde girl's husband and that the girl was pregnant, how pleasant but he wasn't going to wait nine months for their child to be born and rape the infant too so as he thought they had lost themselves in marry making he approached their fire with a gun in hand. "strip all of you!" Champ barked, then noticed something was off, they weren't surprised to see him, nor scared, in fact the girls began making faces at him, he was shocked, sudden a hard blow struck him causing him to drop his gun he turned towards the attacker noting a dark-skinned woman with black bob-cut hair with two twin-hook swords drawn. As his attention was turned to her found his foot get bitten hard by an oversized dog that resembled a danger beast, he attempted to ready his Teigu when metal threads wrapped around him a garrote caused him to pass out from lack air.

Shortly… Champ opened his eyes, tried to pull on the power of his Tiegu only to notice his tiny cap was out of reach, he turned to notice a group of people, the Blonde girl was grinning, a grin that said, "oh you've backed the wrong horse and you are shit out of luck." "Good you're finally awake Champ, if that is your actual name though you are better known by another name the Butcher of Joyou!" the Blonde proclaimed, a green haired man walked up to him.

"Don't bother trying to escape, my strings are made out an extremely strong Danger beast's threads, they'll get tighter the more you struggle" the man stated and punched Champ in the face. "Do you remember me?" he asked.

"No I've never met you in my life" Champ stated.

"My Name is Lubbock Tobo Lokari, formally Professor Lubbock of Joyou Elementary's Language arts class; you remember Joyou Elementary, I bet you do I remember it, I remember my class all 50 students name by name, I remember the times we had the lessons I taught, the games we played as a reward for good grade across the class, then I remember their mangled bodies, their saddened parents, what you did in Joyou is unforgivable, my friends Mine and Sheele read your diary; Mine broke down and cried which is saying something considering since she is always the strong and brave; How many children have you killed, what demon commands you to murder the innocent and their families, I'd like to know what drives you" Lubbock interrogated.

"What drives me? What drives me; well you are just mean adults, I was born to family enslaved, when I was six I was bought by a cruel master, he rapped and whipped me daily, I grew stronger resisted his abuse, and when I was 14 I killed my first man, my master, then I released the other young kids from their suffering I purified them, made their innocence safe and released them from this cruel world, I took it upon myself to make them smile, I became a clown, and went from town to town making sure kids never had to grow up that they kept their innocent pure souls out of the hands of the cruel adults I'm their protector their guardian I'm-" Champ rambled before Lubbock punched him hard in the stomach.

"A Monster, a demon in human skin, you are no protector of children, you are a murderer, a sexual predator, a rapist, a vile monster who has no remorse, you took everything I cared for and left me with nothing but my friend Najenda and a desire for vengeance for past five years: I was 18 when you murdered my students: I loved those children I loved them like they were my own! You took them and violated them! You didn't keep their souls innocent you defiled their purity! You raped them! You murdered them! You tortured them! You killed my children!" Lubbock proclaimed and repeated punched Champ hard. "NO! No more will you plague the innocent no more will I have to live with nightmares of those I failed to protect, their spirits will rest in heaven but you Champ, there is a special place in hell for men like you, for the worst monsters; but I'm not going to kill you, not yet, first you'll get a taste of what the Devil has in store for you, then I'll send you thru the doors, so scream, let the forest echo with the agonies suffered by your victims now your own, then when your torments in the mortal world are over: well don't keep the Devil waiting for you" Lubbock judged. "Aria he's your now make him suffer, suffer for all his victims, then he'll go to hell" Lubbock stated.

"With Pleasure, girls ready your scary faces just like we've practiced" Aria proclaimed her smirk turning to her demonic face everyone stepped aside. "Fal, Air Luna, I have lessons to teach you, tonight's lessons will be on: Torture" Aria stated smiling to the three, she handed them each a pair of plyers. "Lesson number 1: the old favorite yanking things, we'll start with his toenails" Aria stated then took out a knife and sliced Champ's shoes off leaving his ugly feet. "This is how you do it" Aria explained then clamped down on his big toe's nail; then yanked it causing Champ to scream loudly. "Your turn Fal" Aria stated.

"Alright Aria-nee: you wanted to do horrible things to me: well now I get to horrible things to you, you do bad things to kids well kids can do bad things to you" Fal stated her face becoming a perfect copy of Aria's along with Air's and Luna's, she yanked out the next nail, Air took the next and Luna the next; soon they ran out of toe nails.

"Now for the next lesson, breaking bones, here take this hammer and whack him with it until you her the bones crack" Aria stated and handed Luna the hammer smash, crack bash, soon the bones in his leg wear broken. "Good job Luna, that's our lesson for now; now watch me work" Aria stated, then stood up and went over the carriage and pulled over a large barrel, then opened it, the smell of chemicals reeked in the air, Aria then cut off all of Champ's clothing. "Time for your bath" Aria stated and lowered Champ in after yanking all his finger nails, she deposited him in, and he screamed, inside was a mixture of painful chemicals that Aria's mother had figured out would inflict pain without killing them, Aria took advantage of his open mouth and used her plyers to yank every single tooth from his mouth, she then thru them in the fire, as Champ was bathed in the chemicals, Aria pulled out a large branding iron and put it on the fire, once it was orange hot, Aria pulled Champ out of his chemical bath his skin marred and burnt with hole. "Are you in pain, here lets cauterize your wounds" Aria taunted and put the branding iron on his stomach, he shrieked, then she took the iron to his junk and his shrieks were agonized, she then branded both hands, his feet, and his cheeks both on his face and on his butt. Champ showed true terror in his face, he never had face someone so terrifying not even his former master was this cruel, she then put a pan on the fire, Champ was wondering what that was for surely she didn't intend to make dinner and force him to watch her eat it, it didn't comfort him that all her friends were watching and smile. "Now to do something that should been done years ago, I'm going to remove something you value as much as your head" Aria stated then showed him a menacing set of pincers, the pincers clamped on his burnt cock, she then took out a kukri and sliced it off, both plyers and stones and Champ screamed louder than any of his previous screams, she then took his junk and put it on a fire, she then came back with a hammer and nails. "Now if you think I'm done causing you pain I've only just begun" Aria proclaimed and took the first of many nails and hammered them in, nailing him to the tree body and limbs all, she then brought out a skinning knife and began flaying him, his skin torn and wrent but in a way that he wouldn't bleed, in fact every time he did so she rubbed salt in the wounds causing more screams, she then peeled it off and cooked it alongside his genitals which she loaded into a pie tin along with any more skin, it smelt like roast pork, she then cut off his feet and his arms, blood poured from holes which were soon cauterized by hot metal, he was no longer a man but skin and bones barely alive his face gone, nose gone, skin gone but he was still alive barely. "I'm done Lubbock you do the honors" Aria stated.

"Any last words" Lubbock stated.

"So you're not better than I am" Champ stated.

"I am better then you: I only kill if I have to, I don't torture my enemies I just kill them quickly, I'll show you why people like you: fear the Night! Fear the Night! We aren't ordinary travelers, we are Night Raid and we are your worst nightmare, also there's no waking up from this, now you die and don't keep the Devil waiting" Lubbock stated, then readied Crosstail's strings hooked them at various locations on Champ's body then to Champ's agonized screams drawed and quartered him pulling him apart. "It's done It's over" Lubbock stated with cold expression that made Akame's look like a smile, Aria then took the choice cuts of meat from Champ's corpse, then threw those in a bag, she then threw his cooked junk and skin to Koro who devoured them, Tatsumi took Champ's head.

"I'll collect his journal's tomorrow, and I'll bring his head to the Emperor, along with a Champ Pie for Honest, leave the corpse here as a warning, lets head to HQ and get some rest, we're done here, and we need rest" Tatsumi stated.

The following morning Imperial Palace… Tatsumi walked into the throne room with a cart which had two pies on it along with the 20 journals of Champ and Champ's severed head. "Your Imperial Majesty I bring good news; the Butcher of Joyou and the Capital has been brought to justice, I bring you his head and Journals, also Minister I brought a Pie for you, my mother-in-law's cooking" Tatsumi explained and handed the Pie to Honest.

"Ooh! PIE! Can I have some?!" Makoto asked.

"Not that one it's for Honest-san besides I've got another pie for you alone, its blackberry" Tatsumi stated, then handed the second pie to Makoto, Honest took a bite out of the pie.

"YUMMY! THANKS TATSUMI-SAN!" Makoto yelled joyously as he began to devour the pie.

"This is good, and not poisoned, you really know me Tatsumi, you really do its just like my chef's make" Honest stated impressed by the Man-Pie.

"I wish I didn't know you that well" Tatsumi said honestly.

"So how does the Butcher of Joyou factor into all this, from what I've heard he was never caught" Budo remarked.

"My Team and I went thru his journals, the 10th one describes the murders in detail; I'm one-hundred percent certain that the Butcher of the Capital and the Butcher of Joyou are one and the same: now he's dead and I'm one hundred percent certain I heard it from the Devil's mouth he confessed when we caught him in the act; I'm keep his head for a friend of mine who's interested in it; the body's probably danger beast food by now" Tatsumi explained.

"So how did you pull this off?" Esdeath asked.

"I'd be glad to give you a complete debriefing in private General" Tatsumi said with a wink, and two walked off.

Later that day Lubbock and Yami were wed in a private ceremony with their friends and family to witness it, Yami's dress was lovely but simple after their wedding they went home to their house, Lubbock closed up early.

In Lubbock's room… "Are you ready?" Yami asked Lubbock.

"Yes, I because know you are safe" Lubbock stated and stripped off his suit letting her see him naked for the first time, she reciprocated removing her wedding dress and folding it to the side, revealing what she wore underneath which was an outfit made for dancing and picked up two of the transparent orange cloths she wore on the hips of her dress.

"Lubbock before we well got at it, I thought I'd put on a show for you" Yami stated then began to dance, and dance she did, the movement of her hips was mesmerizing to watch, the fact that she stripped while doing so made it all the more enjoyable to watch, to a point were Lubbock had to keep himself from drooling, her performance lasted five minutes and he enjoyed every minute of it, by the end of it she was naked save the nylon stockings and garter belt she wore, and she climbed onto the bed, and flashed her ring, a small gold ring that had a diamond on it, he wore a gold ring, both of them had spent their hard earned cash on the best ring for each other. Yami studying him and he did her, she noted his member was longer then she thought a full 10 inches, on top of that she was shocked to note the hair around it was green which meant that the hair on his head was its natural color. "I'm surprised Lubbock I didn't realize your hair was naturally green" Yami stated, she then looked at his member which was full mast and took her D-cup breasts and began to massage the length while slowly sucking it, Aria had told her that was what she did with Tatsumi first and he loved it, Lubbock smiled and moaned as Yami cutely sucked his shaft, Lubbock was happy, bliss, he was having the night of his life or afternoon of his life as it was only 2 pm, still he was having fun as was Yami she was doing something she wanted to do for him for a long time, this wasn't just sex, this was loving union as they were husband and wife now.

Eventually Lubbock couldn't take it anymore and loosed his load, the white cream covered Yami's face and breasts apart from that she swallowed. "Wow, this tastes good" Yami stating liking up the cream. "I think you should try it, I don't mean this, I mean well, if a girl can do things to a man's parts a man can do the same to a girl" Yami stated clumsily, Lubbock got up kissed her picked her up and laid her flat, then kissed down her body and began to lick her honeypot she wrapped her legs around him, his tongue worked wonders for a man who'd never done it before, he took a finger and having a well thought out knowledge in this field fingered her, Yami moaned sweet moans, Lubbock was happy to hear them, he tasted a bit of pre-cum and loved the taste of her juices, eventually she released and he sucked up the entirety of it. Yami flipped over and shook her rear invitingly. "Please Lubbock, take me here first, Seryu said having Tatsumi taking that first makes the first time less painful" Yami explained Lubbock did so, and she immediately nearly regretted it, but the pain turned to pleasure and Lubbock thrust into her as he rode her, his hands caressed her breasts and she moaned sweet moans, the light reflected their shadows which played out on the side wall, and did so for ten long minutes till Lubbock and Yami both reached their limits and both came.

Shortly… "Yami are you ready?" Lubbock asked as he laid back waiting for her.

"Yes" Yami stated and impaled herself kissing her virginity goodbye and formally consummating their union, she shook up and down moaning, Lubbock pulled her against him and sucked her breasts, the alternated positions back and forth making love in position after position, Lubbock enjoyed the tightness of Yami and soon once again unloaded in her, this time the seed went to her core and would soon begin making a new child, a worthy product of their love, a pinnacle of their relationship, they kept making love as the sun grew low in the sky and after doing so they had dinner home cooked by Yami herself which was good. "I love you more than anything Yami" Lubbock stated. And she said "I love you more than life itself Lubbock I couldn't live without you" Yami stated.

In the Palace, Honest was surprised that the pie Tatsumi gave him wasn't poisoned and even more by what was in it, and shocked by the letter taped to the bottom which he read. "I heard you enjoy eating people, as sick as that may be I think that I can say I'm glad to see you eat this one, an ironic fate the Butcher himself was butchered into a pie; just remember though what happens, this man made the mistake of going after my friends and family, make the same mistake and the Devil will enjoy your company" Honest read. "PS Honest: I don't poison my enemies, if I'm going to kill them I do so straight up, signed Tatsumi. "What a clever young man, I will say this though, the butcher makes good eating" Honest thought, then laughed a jolly but evil laugh.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Ice Queen's Wedding

Tatsumi woke up to a new day and of course noting his lack of clothing he had to remember who was in his bed with him and who he did last night, he then noted a warmth along his entire body and that he had been sleeping on his side which meant only one thing: Esdeath. Tatsumi turned to look at how sweet she was when she was sleeping, her blue hair which flowed like silk, her lovely blue eyelashes which were perfect, her blue eyebrows which were well kept, and of course her beauty. Tatsumi was happy, the warm embrace of Esdeath was something he loved and the fact she was so warm yet could be so cold was a surprising twist that made it all the more enjoyable; he turned and kissed her sleeping face; he remembered that last night Esdeath had taken him aside for a thorough debriefing regarding the takedown of Champ the Butcher of Joyou, one long discussion led to sex and then more sex, and more sex; hours of it, then on top of that they had a lengthy discussion regarding his friends and his opinions on the Empire as a whole, then they had dinner, Honest attempted to poison him again but failed to do so, then Tatsumi had decided to stay with Esdeath for the rest of the night which of course led to you guessed it: more sex, Tatsumi wondered what other things Esdeath wanted to do. "Good morning Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath stated interrupting his thoughts.

"Good morning my Ice Queen" Tatsumi replied, he considered it a fitting title and she enjoyed it, the name struck a chord in that it reflected her personality perfectly. "How are you this morning?" Tatsumi asked, but had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Horny, and on top of that happy, I need more love Tatsumi I intend for us to have children and I won't stop until we have one in the making; I'd like to ask you what do you think we should name our first child?" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi flipped over and entered her, and she started moaning.

"I was thinking something winter themed for the girl anyway, if we had a daughter we'd name her Icy and if we had a son we'd name him Lucas" Tatsumi stated and begin to suckle her left breast.

"I like the name Lucas, Icy I'm not sure, I have mixed feelings it may be blunt but I don't know I was thinking Darancar after my father for a son and for a girl Misha: but I like the name Icy too, you know what here's the plan, if our first daughter has my hair we'll name her Icy, if she has brown hair Misha" Esdeath said in between moans.

Tatsumi stopped drinking "What if we have twin girls?" Tatsumi asked.

"Then we'll use both names that way we both win; ooh you are so big and oh is it just me or has your cock grown bigger since last night?" Esdeath replied.

"No it's still the same size Esdeath, you're just naturally tight that's all" Tatsumi stated then kissed her; they continued making love for about three more rounds, Tatsumi was pretty sure that at this point Esdeath was pregnant because with the number of times he came inside her he was sure that she was pregnant, but she, of course, would have him keep at it until she confirmed her pregnancy and even then he was pretty sure she would gladly have him ride her perfect ass as much as possible and stimulate her breasts; her boobjobs were the best thing about it, her heavenly bosom was the one of the two things he loved most about her, though he honestly thought it was her hair that he loved most, it was so exotic and something that no one else had, not even Luna her hair was a darker blue then Esdeath's icy blue hair, and it was as soft as silk.

Shortly…. "Tatsumi we are going to spend the day together, tomorrow I have to finalize plans for our wedding and the day after that is our wedding day, as such I've decided to educate you in the most important thing you can learn, how to survive in the game of politics, who you can trust, how to build a network of loyal informants and importantly identifying your enemies and figuring out how to destroy them" Esdeath explained, she had dawned something which was complete out of character, because whenever she went in public her garb was semi-militaristic, even the outfit she wore at the Tournament where he won her heart was militaristic as it represented the goddess of war, but today she wore something notable: a long blue gown which was decorated with silver thread and citrines, it left nothing bare save an ample spot for her cleavage which was to be expected though it was less to flaunt her breasts but to show of her Teigu; she wore her hair in a long ponytail had back by a black hair scrunchie, she wore also a black cape and wore a mask. "I figured in the next two weeks though I would host a Masquerade Ball to celebrate our relationship and that it would draw out those who express interest in our relationship" Esdeath explained.

"All this seems complicated" Tatsumi stated.

"Don't worry I'll break it down so that even a country bumpkin like yourself can understand it, if a girl who was born to a Nomadic clan of warriors can understand court intrigue you can too; so let's start out simple with spies: number one rule of both politics and war is that to defeat your enemy you must know your enemy, their goals, their art, their culture, and in the case of political enemies their desires and how you can exploit them, in order to do that you must set up a network of spies to gather intel" Esdeath explained.

"So how do I do that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi first things first is that you need to establish who you can trust, first things first there are three people you know you can trust and those are your two father-in-laws and me, your father in law Constantine Grundel is a trusted advisor who also happens to be the minister of construction which means he is charged with maintaining and building new structures thru out the Empire, Ikamuru Chouri is the former Prime Minister and is one of the longest-serving statemen in Imperial history the man is 63 years old and he's been thru more than anyone else, he currently holds the position as the Empire's top diplomat, a position that he held when he was still Prime Minister, the job suits him as he could convince a charging Centaur to stop midway and go home, much less get trade deals that are extremely lucrative, well with the people who will trade with us anyway" Esdeath explained.

"What about you?" Tatsumi asked.

"I am the Grand Marshal of the Empire, I hold complete command over the Empire's military however the Emperor's regent has final say over matters of war; as it currently stands the only conflict is the internal uprising of the Revolutionary Army and as such I have taken a back seat with only taking missions as the Regent orders, at the moment I am currently tasked with hunting Night Raid something which you know is quite easy; oh it would be so easy to wipe out the entire group, but you know my reasons for choosing not to do so" Esdeath explained.

"Alright who shouldn't I trust?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that is a decent sized list, first things first Honest but you know that so let's start with the council: the Minister of Finance is the first; his name is Makaro Isshi, he is a shrewd man with a love for money, the man is greedy to a degree that it would rival the Dwarves' love of wealth, the love for money is extreme that he will go to any lengths to get his hands on it; I would not be surprised if he is embezzling a large amount of the Royal Treasury's money, also I know for a fact he's devaluing the currency, this silver Dukar is more nickel then silver and on top of that he's debased the newer coins, look at this, one side has the crest of Emperor and on the other is an image of Makoto, I can fairly say this coin is a shame of its former glory; something that requires a great deal of correction, Makaro is not to be trusted under any circumstances he would rob a beggar if the beggar had one coin in his bowl" Esdeath explained then paused. "That reminds me; a large group of elite brigands have been ambushing caravans from the north to no end, few escape them; those they take prisoner are sold as slaves; I have it on good information that they are under the employ of Minister Isshi, they have been giving him a decent cut, they get to keep most of the money however recently Isshi made a mistake that allowed me to find out about this scheme of his, he recently made payments for arms and armor from the direct army sources, the bandits now use imperial weaponry and armor, this unto itself would not have attracted my attention however he went out of his way to acquire the documents to label these brigands as Imperial Rangers, that was what caught my attention, a loyal adjutant feigned a bribe and told me about the minister's payments and it didn't take much digging to figure out what he was up to; however I'm in a bind here, because these guys are using official documents they are immune to prosecution under the law, as such I don't have the authority to neutralize them; you can see what I'm getting at here can't you" Esdeath explained, with a smile.

"You want me to deal with this don't you; I see, well I'll see what I can do, it shouldn't take too much effort, I'll deal with it soon" Tatsumi replied.

"Well do so after our wedding, I want it done right and effective, it should put Makoro on notice or rather on ice, because I'm sure there are some documents that would look nice and incriminating, which would make him easy to remove from power by using said documents to expose his corruption, then he's toast you can walk in and take the position as his successor" Esdeath replied.

"But I don't know anything about managing money beyond that I need for a daily life how am I supposed to manage all the Empire's finances?" Tatsumi replied.

"You don't have to, all you need to do is influence Makoto into choosing a successor; that will be your father in law Constantine Grundel: he does have a way with money you know" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi blushed he hadn't considered putting Aria's father in the position. "Tatsumi you need to understand when you have the power to do anything you should use it to best of your ability to make the world better" Esdeath stated.

"Esdeath tell me more about the world are there other things out there? I heard from Chelsea about the Easterners and how they have 4 arms I was wondering if there were other things like them, things that aren't exactly human," Tatsumi asked.

"Well I'm glad you asked, each of neighboring lands has a second or third race that dwells there; In the west stand the Kingdom of Tharakal, ruled by the Dwarves, oldest and greatest of races, in their mountain halls, they are the most advanced people in the world but they have closed themselves of from the outside world save as trade permits, it was said that the First Emperor learned how to craft the Teigus from the Dwarves, however over time when the knowledge was lost many emperors tried to and failed to take the knowledge from them crushed by the defenses of the Dwarves it was said giant men of metal destroyed armies with ease without seeing dwarves at all, Of the many things in this world I know my limits and I would not do battle with the Dwarves, they are too strong to face and they have the knowledge of millennia of wars, there is a reason the Empire does not invade the western lands, not just because the Western Tribes are great warrior but because they are allied to the Dwarves and the only case in which they would leave their mountain halls would be to defend those who they trade and consider true friends also in the west dwell Minotaurs I noted one in my tournament and I've no idea what he was doing this far from his lands, and there are a LOT of Orcs, the Empire used to have a much larger population of those aggressive greenskinned creatures but the Pearl Emperor drove them out centuries ago from the heartlands, these days the only Orcs you'll find in the Empire are in the western provinces, though you will find that Goblins and Hobgoblins still abound in the Empire as a whole. Goblins are scheming and conniving creatures that don't really like anyone and are rather aggressive though they stick to the forests and only come out to raid, I've heard of tribes that ride Giant Spiders, whereas the Hobgoblins are mostly civilized, you can reasonably interact with them but they live largely in the Eastern parts of the Empire beyond the Matahai Mountains and are largely nomadic and ride wargs into battle" Esdeath explained.

"Anything else what about the eastern tribes?" Tatsumi asked.

"To east leave the eastern tribes a race of people that is near human as they have four arms instead of two, it's said they were once like normal humans until they began to breed with Tsuwagdani, the Serpent men, man with the upper body of a man the hair of a man, the hood of a cobra, the lower body of a snake and four arms, they have many breeds too with differing variations however they are of the same species; in addition the Centaur princes rule their pastures and ally with both men and Tsuwagdani, they have the upper body of a man and lower half of a horse, they are mighty warriors in themselves but sometimes those of the Eastern tribes fight from their back as one would a normal horse and sometimes the Centaurs breed with both men and Tsuwagdani, there are also normal humans in those lands and they fight on horseback with bows, the people of the east are the second group of people that I would not fight, many emperors have tried to conquer the east only to have their armies annihilated by the arrows of the steppe warriors, not even with the advancements made have we been able to make ground, every time the Empire has fought them they use their land as their ally as they scorch the earth and leave nothing for the soldiers and they constantly raid and attack, it also fire arms are of no use because they have figured out how to craft armor that makes bullets useless because of the material used to craft it, any invasion would be a prolonged war of attrition, and having engaged in one against the Southern Tribes would not want to do so again" Esdeath explained.

"What about the southern lands anything there" Tatsumi asked.

"Large swathes of Jungle which had great cities, the grandest belong to the Lizardmen, they consider gold to have no value and trade it willingly for things they actually have use for, they are also mighty warriors, they are generally neutral but have joined the Empire as tributaries for each city is different from the other, they know the jungles well and were willing to offer up their warriors as guides and mercenaries, with their aid I was able to allow us victory over the Southern tribes, for their help and because of their great strength I allowed them to keep their cities with the requirement they send tributes of gold which as I said before they don't value it for any reason, they treat it like you would any other rock which is astonishing; they are the only real civilized race down there however the most terms of exotic are the Danger Beasts which are stronger then any in the Empire" Esdeath explained.

"What about the north" Tatsumi asked.

"There are two races in the north both of larger stature then humans, the first are the Yeti, great white furred men of subtle intelligence, they are advanced but not as much as the Northern tribes who used them as slaves, however they are fierce warriors and have fought the Northerners for centuries on end, when my army invaded they flocked to join us for a chance to destroy their oppressive masters, I predict they will become loyal citizens of the Empire in time as they are long-lived and don't forget a good done to them; the other race are the Giants, they are not the lumbering brutes with little brain in the Empire no they are massive smart and live to ages beyond count, they are an old race and like the dwarves are master craftsmen and build massive strongholds in the mountains, they also have great herds of massive mammoths which feed on the snow grass, a castle of the giants could easily fit the entire capital and still have room to spare, and they live in those castles in the thousands, fortunately they had no desire to do battle with us and bent the knee save that we allow them to keep to themselves" Esdeath explained. "Other then the things I've told you about there are other things, Wave told me during his time in the navy of mermaidens, as well as isles home to men with webbed feet, green skin, and sharpened teeth, they still had hair but were aggressive and wouldn't talk with outsiders, however, they live too far away for the Empire to concern itself with them; beyond there, my knowledge of the world ends with that of a known lands, for all I know creatures of myth and legend exist and that may not even have a name" Esdeath added. "But enough of that Tatsumi I'd like to know more about yourself" Esdeath replied.

"Well about me, well there isn't much to tell, I lost my parents when I was a baby and was found by a villager from what would become my home who took me home, I was taken in by loving surrogate parents, I was trained in the tasks required to farm, hunt, and importantly read and write, my surrogate parents believed that if I didn't know how to do either someone would con me out of my money by charging more than something was worth or use false advertising to sell me something that wasn't worth the money spent on it, of course they didn't teach me how to spot a con artist as that was the first thing that happened to me after I arrived in capital was that my future lover Leone conned me out of my money leaving me out on the streets to be taken in by Aria and her family; other then that I was trained as a swordsman when I was old enough to hold a practice blade and over the years became a formidable warrior, capable of killing a Class A Danger Beast with ease, the whole thing though left me a bit arrogant and to an extent my two best friends Sayo and Ieyasu were as well, first thing I did was when I arrived in the capital was to sign up for the army, I got mad at the recruiting officer when he said I would be starting off as a standard grunt instead as an officer, with that he threw me out telling me he had enough volunteers as it stood with the recession going on that he could afford to throw out someone who thought themselves too big for their britches; that was how I met Leone who told me she had connections that could get me in as an officer, she was lying of course but I was a sucker for a beautiful woman and was desperate enough that I gave her all the money I had which I got from taking out danger beasts and notorious bandits along the road: I was left to wait in the pub we had our discussion at for hours until the bar keep told me she had conned me and threw me out into the street, so I figured that I'd sleep outside for the night and then take the bracelet I was given and pawn it off the following morning, it was given to me by my village elder as a good luck charm, some good-luck charm I thought it was, well I was wrong in thinking it was bad luck, because honestly if I didn't get conned by Leone I wouldn't have met my lovely future wife Aria" Tatsumi explained.

"So how do you feel about Aria?" Esdeath asked, impartial, Tatsumi didn't hear any jealousy in her voice but he couldn't be sure what she felt about Aria.

"Aria is the kindest, sweetest and the most caring woman in the world, she is also one of the most beautiful woman in the world, my sweet Capital Angel, I call her that because she really is one of the few good people in this city, she's always going around helping those in need trying her best to help, she is a kind and sweet soul and she'd give the clothes off her back for someone in need, and not just the normal ones the luxury clothes at that; she's always caring, I honestly owe her my life on more then one occasion, but the one I owe her most was that she found me on the streets when I was in need, if she hadn't found me I couldn't have guaranteed that the next person to find me wouldn't have been someone who would have brutally tortured, raped and murdered me; but Aria she loves me we obviously fell in love at first sight, also I wasn't the only one she saved from a terrible fate she saved my friends Sayo and Ieyasu; I really am I debt to her and gladly gave her the only thing I could repay her with: my undying love" Tatsumi answered.

"I'm glad to here you think so highly of her; I've met her several times before your wedding to her in fact before you even came to the Capital, I can agree with you on her kindness; she is also strong showing one of the greatest strengths, Tatsumi I believe that the Strong survive and weak perish but I also believe that it is the duty of the strong to protect those who are weak and to help those who are weak to become strong: Aria is one of those people, she helps those who are weakened by poverty to get back on their feet and become stronger people, she is also a strong woman and can handle herself well; I respect her and I can agree completely with her choice of you as a husband; you are strong, handsome, caring, also you are above the corruption and sickness of the capital and strive to do your best to remove it also I value your ability to make the right calls when the situation requires it and that fact that you are loyal to those you care for and strive to help them to be stronger; also you treat Makoto with respect and care for him as much as I do; you are the greatest man in the world and if any person deserves the love of many women including my own it is you" Esdeath replied. "So what about your friends Sayo and Ieyasu, I'd like to know more about them," Esdeath asked, she was smiling, something which Tatsumi was glad to see he loved her smile.

"Well Sayo and Ieyasu are dear to my heart, the two of them are siblings twins in fact, they were born about a day after I arrived in the village; we grew up together and quickly became friends, they taught me how to hunt and I taught them how to read and write, we also learned the dangers of the lands around our village and how to deal with them; Ieyasu and Sayo are great fighters, they are nearly as good as I am with the blade while they excel with the bow, Sayo is arguably the best archer in world in my opinion but you know that after that demonstration last week, Ieyasu can be a bit of perv but he also funny down to earth and just a good guy all around and Sayo well: I- well she's the first girl I loved, she received my first kiss, granted we were young and hormones were driving us, if it hadn't been for Ieyasu killing the mood and interrupting it I think we would have gone all the way and Sayo would have ended up with a swollen belly and I would be receiving no end of anger from her parents; well good things come to those who wait and the night of the day she showed off her archery prowess here at the palace we actually did go all the way, honestly we still loved each other and just never really got to express our feelings in the village, but when we got the chance that her parents wouldn't be able to stop us well we went all the way; I'm worried though I got her pregnant and honestly we need to get married" Tatsumi explained.

"That is nice to hear about your friends, speaking off I think we should make our wedding a double ceremony, you can marry Sayo at the same time as you marry me" Esdeath explained.

"You'd do that?" Tatsumi asked surprised.

"Of course anything for my Tatsu-bunny, I would gladly help you in that regard, like I said if anyone deserves the love of many women it is you Tatsumi" Esdeath stated, they stopped and kissed each other; tenderly and romantically holding each other tightly against their chests. They stopped and Esdeath said "I love you my Tatsu-bunny no one will ever replace you" Esdeath explained.

"I love you too Esdeath, my Ice Queen; now I've told you a lot about my past why don't you tell me about yours," Tatsumi asked.

'Well where to start, I was born among the Patras clan, a nomadic tribe of warriors who fought against the Northern raiders; my mother died giving birth to me leaving my father to raise me, I may not have been the son he wanted but he was determined to raise me to become one, every day of my life was a struggle to survive, our tribe fought battles often, the moment I was old enough to wield a blade my father had me join him in battle, I killed my first enemy at 5 years of age, and more followed; I was respected among the people of my clan they were proud that while I may have been a girl I was fighting as hard as a man; but all good things don't last forever, one day when I was 8 my clan was ambushed by the Northern army, we fought long and hard but it was for not, my father and I managed to escape the battle my father viewed it as the sign of strength that one should live to fight another day; however as we withdrew he was mortally wounded by an arrow; as he died in my arms I wept he told me that he not to weep for him because he wasn't strong enough, but he had been strong enough to ensure my survival, my father told me that the greatest act of strength was allowing one who was weaker then you to have the chance to grow stronger especially at the cost of your own life, he died in the woods that day, I made a cairn for him and took his sword, I was the last of my clan, our warriors had been slaughtered to a man that day, and the women and children were taken as slaves, those who didn't resist, the vile cruelty shown to them made me swear vengeance and that one day I would see the North broken, after that I took work where I could, though what I chose as my profession was the only thing I knew how to do and that was war: I fought in the fighting pits from age 10 defeating many opponents, at the age of 13 I joined the Imperial army as they had proven their strength, I rose thru the ranks rapidly as my skills in arms and in strategy allowed me to gain rank quickly; at the age of 16 I was the Empire's youngest general ever; and at 17 the best general and head of the military as appointed by Makoto's Father Emperor Yoritomo, 18 years ago his brother Emperor Isshin the Lost vanished without a trace and his brother Makoto's father took the throne, a year after my appointment he was assassinated along with his wife causing Makoto to ascend to the throne, the regent was Honest who had wormed his way to being the Emperor's most trusted advisor, to a point where the Empire which had been stable under his rule began to rot, a year after Honest took power and became Prime Minister the economy which had been strong under Makoto's father faltered into a recession, corruption which had been cowed under the previous Emperor became more rampant and the nobles more vile and searching for new ways to enjoy themselves, in addition to that crime rouse as Honest began to devote the Empire's resources into mostly failed conflicts, a number of my colleagues were assassinated or flung into suicidal missions due to opposing Honest's rule, this along with the recession and excesses of the nobles led to the rise of the Revolutionary Army, while there had been uprisings during the reign of Makoto's father they were isolated incidents, the new organized force become a serious threat, but not serious enough for Honest to want to take immediate actions, he has designs on the North and began a bloody campaign, I wanted to participate but his majesty's life was something I wasn't go to endanger for my quest for revenge, I knew for a fact that if I left the Capital Honest would do everything in his power to manipulate Makoto to vile ends, I was assigned as his guardian when he came of age and thus I became his tutor, and as head of the military chose his personal guards to those exclusively loyal to him and myself, also on top of things Honest attacked the Eastern tribes and attempted to attack the Western tribes as well, with four wars I was left with a choice of battles and assumed a defensive posture decided it would be best to force a stalemate with some of the enemies and focus on one at a time; eventually the Northern war got out of hand, I was during this time approached by old friends of mine who wanted me to join the Revolutionary Army, I refused not wanting Honest to put one of his puppets in my position and allow him to usurp Makoto's throne, I value his life dearly, he's the closest thing I've ever had to a child of my own, then as the body count in the North piled up and my powerbase was secured by a victory I won against the Western tribes which was big enough for them to peace out I gladly took command of the Northern Campaign, and within a month won a conflict that they said would take three years to win; I finally had my revenge Tatsumi, my clan was avenged, I buried 400,000 Northern warriors alive in the Battle of the Hakarti pass killing most of the Northern army, then sacked the capital of Kalsliv bringing the Northern king to his knees, he was my last romantic pursuit I heard tells that he was a mighty warrior, yet when I challenged him to duel he refused believing that dueling a woman was beneath him, how wrong he was when I humiliated him in battle, he was reduced to a shell of a man, licking my boots stripped of any clothing, he had proven himself weak and unworthy of my affection he didn't fit the scroll's description save the physical features and thus I considered him unworthy, not only unworthy as a leader but not even fit to lick my boots, so I killed him by caving in his skull with my boot; then I returned to the Capital, Honest took command of the Three Beast from me for his own dirty work, you killed them bringing you to my attention even more so after your marriage to the former Prime Minister's daughter as well as Aria, which made me even more interested in you, you then took control of two Tiegus which proved your strength more, then the final thing happened you won my tournament, I knew from that moment I found the perfect man for me, one fulfilled the entirety of what was outlined in the scroll, you are my husband to be, I can think of no one more worthy then you for my undying love and affection" Esdeath explained, soon they entered a large room with many woman dressed in revealing attire and they were of varying appearance but they were all beautiful. "This is my gift for you in advance, 70 virgins from varying tribes as concubines; use them as you see fit" Esdeath explained.

"They aren't slaves are they?" Tatsumi asked.

"No just mere servants of mine, I was gifted them as part of my accomplishments and as a means of keeping things secure in the capital while I'm gone as they act as my informants and if needs be Assassins, each of them is trained in my own strict form of training, they will educate you in those matters and those of court, they will also bear your children and keep you protected; their loyalty is to me and you exclusively, Honest or any other wretch wouldn't dare lay a finger on them for risk of it being cut off; enjoy Tatsumi; I've got other matters to attend to, including preparations for tonight's ball, also I would have you do something else for me, an old friend of mine may be wondering about how our relationship is progressing, I know she's in the Revolutionary army but no one else does, as far the public is concerned she is war hero, as far as Honest is concerned the one person who's harder to kill then me; I think you know who she is I want her to come to our wedding as my maid of honor for friendship's sake, also I'm aware of your relationship and if she wishes to tie the knot with you at our wedding tell her to be my guest; also I talked to Dr. Dorothea and she made a breakthrough that she would be interested in very much so in fact, also I want you to tell her that I am on her side but am waiting for the moment to sway as many people as possible to our cause" Esdeath explained.

"Wait you're seriously going all the way" Tatsumi replied incredulously.

"Very much so, I've tired of Honest's corruption and the deaths of three of my most loyal servants were one of the last straws, the last came by his lack of concern for the populace with regard to the Butcher of Joyou's rampage and that he considered you more of a threat then a deadly serial killer and rapist, as such I am merely waiting for him to give me the perfect opportunity to turn as many to my side as possible and expose his corruption to the public as a whole thus causing a mutiny in the Imperial Army and the chance for Makoto to declare him an enemy of the people until then however this conversation never happened, also there is still the matter of those who would see Makoto dead, until they are gone I cannot in good conscience change sides and let a innocent child and his sisters be murdered by people who think him the spawn of the devil; now however Tatsumi enjoy yourself; after you are done do as I instructed and speak to our mutual acquaintance and but before you do speak to Dr. Dorothea about her project I'm sure you will want to know about it" Esdeath replied, leaving Tatsumi to his new concubines, he went inside and Esdeath locked and shut the door behind him.

Three hours later…. Tatsumi was now refreshed after his recent amorous adventures with 70 women that Esdeath had gifted to him as concubines, the overall enjoyment was great as he taught them all the ways of pleasure, he now was heading to Dr. Dorothea's lab. Tatsumi went inside and found Dorothea at work with a curious flask mixing in a mixture of alchemical ingredients. "Fascinating, this project is so useful, Stylish may have been a brute and had no qualms about doing repulsive things but he did make a number of breakthroughs that once ironed out will benefit the world as a whole, but this one, I think it may be the best of them all" Dorothea said to herself and then turned around. "Ah Tatsumi, it is good that you are here, I trust Esdeath told you about my newest project?" Dorothea greeted.

"Yes she did, hey I was wondering when am I going to get my Teigus back?" Tatsumi asked.

"As soon as I'm finished with them, it will take about 4 more days then I'll give them back, by the way when you come back to collect I'm going to need you to stay here, I'll be running some tests on you to gauge the effects the Teigus are having on you specifically, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours, they are rather simple tests but I will warn you in advance I will need to draw blood to check the effects on it, you are of descent from the Dragon Emperor which means you have Imperial blood somewhere in your family tree" Dorothea explained. "But that's not what you're here for, this is my newest invention, I call it Renewal; it was a project that was in the finishing stages of Dr. Stylish's files, I have been dedicating time to finishing his more civil research, the effects of this is that is a regeneration formula, capable of healing all but fatal injuries, I preformed extensive testing on Pigs and so far it has worked, I recently performed however a test on a human being; a soldier who lost his arm during the winter campaign, he volunteered for a decent payment and once I used this wonderous formula it regrew his lost arm, I tested it again on other people to similar results, I made sure to scan for any flaws in this before testing it on people but the effects are astonishing, I've developed a regeneration formula" Dorothea explained.

"Are you sure there is no negative side-effects, last I checked Stylish wasn't the most reliable person to trust" Tatsumi replied.

"I am aware of that, however when it came to matters of human anatomy and augments as well as other less than savory experiments he was a genius, my laments he used science for evil rather than good, but as such I have succeeded in completing the more feasible experiments, according to his documents the formula was based off of his Tiegu Perfecter as a set of gloves that allowed him to regenerate from any injury, this formula is perfect, he spent years trying to perfect it and once he did it was only a simple matter for me to replicate his success: in addition to my study of Imperial arms I majored in Chemistry, Alchemy and Biology at University among other subjects" Dorothea explained. "Now General Esdeath informed me that you two had a mutual acquaintance who had lost an arm and eye am I correct," Dorothea asked.

"Yes," Tatsumi replied.

"Good, I think it's only fitting that because of your shared friendship and the high status of the person in question that she be the one that receives this treatment before I go public with it, she can also promote this" Dorothea stated.

"So what do you intend to do with this formula after the fact?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I intend to figure out a way to mass-produce it but that will take a few years, after that I intend to sell it to all those crippled and maimed by war, both soldier and civilian alike, regardless of side, I as am a medical doctor and my oath requires me to treat the injuries of anyone in need regardless of anything: so what do you think about my offer" Dorothea replied.

"I'm not sure, I'll talk with my friend and see what she thinks about it, if she agrees we'll get back to you within the hour" Tatsumi replied.

"Good now that's all I wanted to talk to you about, Cosmina is out and about something about looking for wedding presents for you and Esdeath" Dorothea explained.

"Thanks for that info, I figure she was out when I wasn't tackled by a flying glomp when I came in, by the way, tell her she's going to need to by more gifts, I think the number of brides is going to go up" Tatsumi replied.

"Up? You are one smooth operator" Dorothea complimented, Tatsumi left, taking the most direct path out of the city towards Night Raid HQ, on his way he was jumped by more would be robbers whom he dispatched without much effort on his part, overall the amount of people trying to kill him had gone up recently what with the assassins Honest was sending at him, he then passed into the main square the where the clock tower stood tall and proud over the square in the afternoon sun, he stopped to look at the large crosses on which hang the corpse of the leaders of Syndicate, including the Don who had attempted to murder Seryu, each of them rotting and being pecked at by crows, near these were heads of minor leaders on spikes, overall since he arrived in the Capital the criminal population was fast on the decline, as he went about he was again attacked by would be assassins who he killed even faster than the first group, ever since Spear had his sword reforged the blade had cleaved thru men with ease, the overall state of affairs was relaxed besides these encounters, he did pass Aria's carriage and she stopped to say hi but allowed him to continue on his way after he explained where he was heading, he then left the city and continued by secret paths to Night Raid HQ.

"Hey Merraid" Tatsumi greeted as he entered the base, Merraid surprised him by leaping out of her chair and kissing him on the cheek, she then giggled and let him thru, she was teasing him, Chelsea was right Merraid was serious about now being Bi, it really shocked him, but it was not a surprise what with Gil's flirting, he passed the twins who he had yet to assign official bodyguard status what with the whole string of recent murders and then Leone who he kissed and then continued on coming once again to Najenda's office for once she wasn't smoking in fact she hadn't been doing so for a while now.

"Hello Tatsumi, it's been a while my love" Najenda greeted, Tatsumi took a seat in front of her.

"This isn't exactly a social call, Najenda I have news: Esdeath said that she is going to change sides she is just waiting for the perfect opportunity to do so and to allow her to bring over as many people as possible in doing so, also there is something else, she's marked a bandit group for death, I'll fill you in on the specifics soon but just the jist is that they are well armed with best the Imperial army has thanks to their benefactor and in addition to that Esdeath can't take direct action because these guys are technically Imperial army due to some legal maneuvering, so she wants Night Raid to eliminate them, they are constantly waylaying merchant caravans and travelers, its getting worse, so because of this they are marked also I'm recommending a bigger team than usual, these guys are well armed and dug in deeper than Grand Mole" Tatsumi explained. "Also there is something else you've been invited to our wedding, Esdeath's own invitation, also in addition to that she's offering something else, Dr. Dorothea made a breakthrough, and well it's a formula that allows people to regrow their limbs and other things, I really am in favor of this, but I wanted your opinion on all this" Tatsumi added Najenda looked at him, then thought, she thought long and hard then she sighed.

"Tatsumi-kun, you really put me in a bind, I trust Esdeath's word because she would not have any reason to lie to you, she really loves you, she's correct that my arrival wouldn't be suspicious my identity in the Revolutionary army is not known, we are very secretive about who are members, I thus would be safe, as to the bandits, next week you and I will lead a team to deal with them, as to the invitation to the wedding I accept but I want to tie the knot with you Tatsumi, I've, I've got news for you, I'm pregnant, I'm sure you've noticed I've not been smoking, I stopped the moment I found out I was with child, I tested it, Aria examined me and I am positive I'm pregnant with your child, I want to take our relationship to next level Tatsumi, I don't want our child to be born out of wedlock that would be a matter of serious concern for me, I was born out of wedlock and I know the pain that my surrogate mother felt by the fact I was born to another woman and the shame that she gave me as a result; I don't want that happening to our child as such I will be marrying you, as for the offer from Dr. Dorothea, I'm not certain, but if you want to take the risk I'll gladly do so, if you are in favor of it I'm in favor of it, besides a personal dream of mine has always been to get my arms back, I mean I knew it was pipe dream at most but a chance to get my arm back I'm taking it" Najenda replied. "So that's settled I'm going to get changed so I don't look like some insurgent after that well we'll head to see Dr. Dorothea, I really hope this works" Najenda stated, Tatsumi stayed in his seat as Najenda stepped out to change, she then came back in relatively normal clothes, these consisted of a green sleeveless blouse, long black sweets with a green cloth skirt and her usual boots, overall not much difference from her ordinary attire; she still wore her prosthetic and eyepatch, they then left HQ and went back into the city where they stopped at the square.

"Wow, there's a lot of people that were executed recently," Najenda remarked, having seen the crucified corpses and severed heads.

"That's all my doing, we took down the Syndicate what you see there are the leaders of the organization" Tatsumi explained.

"Impressive, I'm glad you told me that or I'd assume them to have been killed for less noble reasons" Najenda replied.

"Don't worry; overall the Capital is much safer than previously what with my efforts to make a difference in this city; granted I don't think I'd ever be able to drain this swamp of corruption" Tatsumi remarked, the two continued on, they were attacked by would-be robbers which allowed Najenda to show off her marksmanship as she pulled two concealed pistols and gunned down several of the thugs before Tatsumi could draw his sword, he was even more impressed that she did so with only one eye, he cleaved thru the survivors who still were standing their ground. "Nice shooting, I've never seen you do that before" Tatsumi complimented.

"I haven't had to with my status as a commander but yes I was one of the best gunslingers in my regiment and even more so when I rose to the rank of general; I've killed my share with these pistols; my skills aren't as good as they were before I lost my eye; look at these bodies, if I had both eyes I would have only need one shot, but each of these has three rounds in them at minimum, in my prime, before my injury, I could shoot an enemy in between the eyes with one shot, now I'm lucky if I hit the head" Najenda replied putting the pistols into their concealed holsters, those happened to be on her waist and were covered by her skirt. "The holsters are quick draw, I have yet to meet someone who's faster than me on the draw. Anyway Tatsumi-kins lets keep moving" Najenda added, she then took his hand and they continued on, leaving the corpses of the thieves to rot in the afternoon sun, it was actually a warm day despite being in the middle of winter well warm enough you didn't need to wear a jacket at any rate.

Shortly they arrived at Dorothea's lab and walked in the door, Dorothea was currently writing down notes as she hovered over devices that gaged the readings of the two Teigu swords she was examining. "Interesting: very Interesting," Dorothea said to herself as she examined wrote down her notes and looked a number of screens. "Ah Tatsumi come in, take a seat I'll be with you as soon as I finish writing this" Dorothea greeted, Tatsumi did as instructed with Najenda sitting next to him and holding his hand.

Dorothea finished her writing and got up. "Ah this must be the famous General Najenda, General Esdeath speaks highly of you, she told me you retired after a campaign against the southern tribes am I correct?" Dorothea questioned.

"Yes, I've lived in the Capital since then apart from taking trips to visit old colleagues of mine" Najenda explained.

"Indeed, and having seen your injuries for the first time I'm certain you are the kind of person that needs this formula; Renewal I've called it; so if you would remove your prosthetic and your eye patch to I can see the extent of your injuries after that I'll give you an injection of the formula" Dorothea explained, Najenda did as instructed and Dorothea was surprised by how much of her arm and eye was still left. "Fascinating, not as bad as I thought it would be well set down and I'll get a needle and the formula" Dorothea stated in a sweet voice as she stepped out of the room.

"So that is the famous Dr. Dorotthea, I've heard stories about her accolades, I never met her though and she looks a lot like Aria" Najenda remarked.

"I know, I thought the exact thing too," Tatsumi asked.

"The real question is how she manages to keep herself looking so young and fresh, she's been around since I was a kid and was a famous scientist when I was a kid in fact longer than that" Najenda replied.

"Ah that; well that can be attributed to my Teigu, if I drink blood it allows me to retain my youth and strength, fortunately, I don't require human blood as much as my Teigu bemoans it pig's blood is a perfect substitute, their blood is the exact same type as ours and thus keeps me looking nice and renewed, speaking of Najenda I've readied the Renewal so mind this" Dorothea explained and then faster then Najenda could blink she injected her with a needle, to Najenda's shock the wound healed instantaneously, then she felt growing pains as her lost arm regrew in its entirety also the vision in the lost eye was restored then as soon as it began it stopped, Dorothea handed her a mirror, Najenda moved her new arm then grabbed the mirror with it, she then looked at herself, her scar was gone, her eyes were the same as they were when she first looked at herself in a mirror.

"Please don't be a dream, don't be a dream and if it's not don't turn me into anything absurd like a giant lizard or a butterfly," Najenda said to herself.

"You don't have to worry about either of those things, I tested this formula extensively" Dorothea reassured.

"Thank you, Dr. Dorothea I've never felt this good in all my years, wait does this have a problem for a pregnancy?" Najenda replied.

"I've tested that too, don't worry it is perfectly stable, also this isn't entirely my work most of the groundwork was laid by the late Dr. Stylish, as barbaric and uncouth as he was in his practices the man did make some impressive breakthroughs that in a number of years will benefit humanity as a whole" Dorothea explained.

"Well there's something I'd never have to say but thank you Dr. Stylish for this, speaking of-"Najenda stated.

"Don't worry I am not at all concerned about his recent death, good thing that he did die, because if I had found out about all this when I got here I would have drained him and left him a husk, experimenting on human beings how barbaric, even more so when he was doing so against their will, how despicable, one of the first things me and my assistant Cosmina had to do was clean up his mess, if it weren't for those experiments of his I don't think we would've got it done in a timely matter" Dorothea replied.

"Experiments?" Najenda and Tatsumi asked.

"Yes them, apparently from what they've told Dr. Stylish paid numerous people over the years to acquire criminals to test his more stable experiments on, the side effect though was that he made additional modifications to make them subservient, I have corrected those and they now work me as paid employees, not that they use the money for anything in fact they are quite content to stay here which is fine by me, as long as they're working hard and not having any problems with me I'm fine with them here, besides it saves them the extra distance to work" Dorothea explained. "Now if you two will excuse me I have work to do, so now that you are done here leave, I can't be having any distractions; also Tatsumi come back here on Monday for your Teigus and the additional tests for you but compared to these those should take only a few hours" Dorothea concluded, the two of them left.

Shortly… Tatsumi looked at Najenda, her body was now without scars of any kind, her eyes were lovely to look at, little lavender gems, her hands were soft to hold and hold them he did and held her against him. "I'm feeling better Tatsumi, you've- you've done more for me then I could ever have dreamed of, you made this possible that I could have my arm and eye back I- I love you and will do so forever, you've earned it, I'm at loss for words about how much you mean to me" Najenda said to him.

"Let's go home, my home, or rather Spear's home, I haven't seen her in a while and I don't think you and her really got the opportunity to interact" Tatsumi offered.

"I'd like that, a lot actually" Najenda stated.

An hour later…. Spear Chouri was practicing her glaive-work and while reciting the stanzas of the martial combat tomes used to teach those of The Order of Imperial Fist, she was in her dojo clad in a white cloth wrap covering her chest and simple light pants she was barefoot with her long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail to prevent it from disrupting her movements, the only thing different was her wedding ring something that she valued and her Teigu Ring that had formally belonged to General Liver an opponent she killed, she continued to thrust, stab, puncture, striking the practice dummies with her wooden quarterstaff which was a stand-in for her glaive. "Akari, Makta, Du Mak!" Spear shouted as she launched a fierce series of strikes at the dummy. "Rythem of the blade, Rythem of the arm, strike with wade and strike to harm" she chanted and continued the onslaught, chaining attacks from her feet into attack, she struck each dummy a dozen times at least before delivering a strike to each's neck proclaiming "Your dead!" to each one before relaxing her posture she then placed the staff against the wall and began to do yoga while chanting. There was a knock on the door. "Who is it" Spear asked a bit irritated for having her practice disturbed.

"Your one and only" Tatsumi replied, Spear leaped up and ran sliding the door aside and hugging Tatsumi.

"There you are, I've missed you, you've been so busy these last few days haven't you?" Spear questioned hugging Tatsumi and kissing him on the forehead non-stop while his chin relaxed in her breasts.

"Yes I have been, what with my spending time with Aria, destroying a Criminal Empire and bringing an absurdly deadly serial killer to justice I've not had time to visit you" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"And now you've come home, well you are staying with me for the next few days" Spear stated.

"I think I'll stay here too for the next couple days, I'm Najenda" Najenda greeted as Spear had ignored her.

"Sorry my apologies, General Najenda; I am perfectly fine with you staying here, I'll get you some of my spare clothes, or if you want I can take you shopping tomorrow" Spear greeted shaking her hand. "Wait a minute, last time I saw you Najenda you had an eyepatch and prosthetic arm, now you have both arms and eyes what happened here?" Spear asked taken aback by the new hand.

"That I can explain, Dr. Dorothea developed a new formula to regrow limbs and heal injuries" Tatsumi answered.

"Wow, that is impressive; so your arm grew back, and your eye is as good as new" Spear asked.

"Yep; still getting used to having them back, I owe this all to Tatsumi, if I hadn't managed to convince Esdeath to change sides I don't think this would have ever happened" Najenda replied.

"He speaks highly of you which is good, any plans for the next few days?" Spear asked.

"We're getting married" Tatsumi explained.

"Ooh that's juicy, I must know when," Spear asked.

"In the same ceremony, I marry Esdeath" Tatsumi replied. "I'll be getting hitched to Sayo too, which means I've got to talk to her and give her the news about all this" Tatsumi explained.

"Well I'll send a carriage to the Grundel residence to fetch her and invite her to dinner, and Aria too" Spear stated.

"So how's your father doing Spear?" Tatsumi asked.

"Busy, what with having to constantly figure out how to counter Honest's political games and trying to improve the Empire as a whole and up his security even further, after that assassination attempt you foiled he has thrown out all the stops in security preparations; to a point where he's got a private army following him outside at all times, and when he is in the throne room he is protected even more than he used to, he is not taking any chances, he knows he is one of the best chances the Empire has against Honest in keeping him from tearing the Empire completely apart" Spear replied. "Anyway I'll change, I need a bath after all my exercise, I think I'll whip you into shape at some point Tatsumi, you aren't at the level you need to be if you are going to be using advanced fighting techniques, you are going to need a lot of training; next Saturday we begin my extreme gauntlet of pain, if you think Night Raid and the Jaeger's push you hard well you'll see how hard an Imperial fist can push you" Spear explained, she then walked past the two of them leaving them surprised.

Later that evening… Tatsumi was sitting at the table, there were about nine people: himself, Najenda, Spear, Aria, Fal, Air, Luna, Sayo, Naomi, and Leone the latter two having tagged along; they were all dressed in fine clothing for dinning. The table itself had been set up as ornately as possible with fine candlesticks interspaced between decorations, fine silverware sat next fine china plates and silver goblets, and soon servants brought in food: a large boar, threw fat turkeys, a large pot of potatoes mashed to perfection, fine fruits and grapes, good refreshing sodas and wines, as well as fine garlic bread and breadsticks with hot cheese to dip it in, as well as some chocolate muffins topped with warm fudge , all in all as much as you would expect from a noble family's larder. Everyone plated up their food and ate; the sunset outside the dining room; Leone downed five bottles of wine before being stopped by Tatsumi. "No, I don't want you getting drunk in front of my sisters-in-law" Tatsumi lectured.

"Ah common Tatsumi, I can take about three or so more bottles before I start getting properly drunk" Leone stated.

"We both know that it's one and a half before you top out and muddle your wits, besides you might be pregnant and if you do I want you to sober up so our baby stays nice and healthy" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright, you're right, I shouldn't drink any more of this stuff, as good as it is you know I'm glad Spear let me have this much, Aria's parents won't let me have more than one bottle" Leone stated.

"Because the last time they did it resulted in us having to change out the carpets, no thank you Leone; get drunk on your own time," Aria remarked.

"Alright, alright, no more booze for the rest of the evening, besides I've got other plans for tonight anyway" Leone stated then winked at Tatsumi.

"Not going to happen Leone he's sleeping in my room tonight," Spear remarked.

"Threesome please?!" Leone whined.

"What's a threesome?" Air asked.

"I don't know I think it's when three grownups do something together" Luna stated.

"Aria-nii can you tell me what a threesome is" Fal asked.

"When you are older Fal, but it's a word that has a number of meanings the one Leone's referring to isn't for kids to know about till they are older" Aria replied. "But yes it is something you can only do with three people, so at the very least you know that" Aria added.

"Being a kid isn't that fun you don't get told anything about what the grown-ups are saying" Air stated.

"What are you talking about Air: being a kid is amazing you don't have any obligations or things to do, once you're an adult you have all sorts of hard work ahead of you" Aria reassured.

"Not where I come from" Sayo replied.

"Not where I come from either" Naomi agreed.

"Ok what I was trying to say is you have more freedom to goof off as a kid, you lose that as you get older" Aria clarified.

"So Tatsumi what is with invite here," Sayo asked, she was sitting directly across from him while Spear and Aria sat to either side of him.

"Well Sayo I meant to ask will you marry me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Of course you baka I'll marry you Tatsumi, you only had to ask, now when is the question" Sayo replied.

"This Saturday alongside Esdeath and Najenda in the Imperial palace" Tatsumi explained.

"Whoa you are serious, ok now I'm terrified, how am I supposed to act in front of Esdeath, much less in a shared wedding with her?!" Sayo panicked, Najenda nudged her in the shoulder.

"Don't worry I'll help with that; she and I are old friends I know exactly how to help you carry yourself" Najenda stated.

"What about a dress?" Sayo asked.

"We'll make a custom one" Leone remarked.

"Why don't you get married to him while you're at it Leone?" Sayo suggested.

"Not in the same room as Esdeath, besides I don't want our wedding to be some grand affair in a royal palace, I want a nice quiet private ceremony with only my friends and 'family' to watch" Leone stated.

"Speaking of dresses what do you have in mind boss?" Leone asked.

"I've got something special in mind" Najenda stated with a smirk; then looked at Aria who smiled in agreement.

"I never thought I'd see you like this, with your arm and eye restored, you know I offered to loan you Lionelle to see if that would bring them back and you refused" Leone replied.

"Well for starter Lionelle is your Teigu and from my experience it is impossible for a Tiegu to have more then one user at a given time, and even if I could have used it there was no guarantee that it would have worked, and even if it did I had no reason to want my scars healed at the time; anyway enough about what could have been, Tatsumi and Esdeath have given me this second chance and I'm not going to talk about the past Leone: speaking of I have an announcement I am pregnant and as such I will be quitting smoking for the sake of my unborn child" Najenda replied, everyone bar Tatsumi was surprised at this development, Tatsumi could only close his eyes and deliver his iconic guilty as charged smile.

"That's wonderful news Najenda!" Aria exclaimed. "Now I'm not the only one here who is pregnant" She added.

"What does pregnant mean?" Air asked.

"It means you are going to have a baby" Aria explained.

"Oh so that's where babies come from?" Air asked.

"Pretty much" Aria agreed.

"So how are they made?" Fal asked.

"Don't ask that Fal, you know Aria-nii's answer is going to be 'I'll tell you when you are older' just like a lot of questions we ask her about boys" Luna stated, imitating Aria's voice for the quote.

"Exactly Luna" Aria stated.

"How old do we have to be?" Air asked.

"About a year older then you are so you'll find out soon" Aria said smiling.

"A year that takes too long" Fal complained.

"You'd be surprised how fast a year passes, besides its already winter so this year is on the way out" Najenda explained.

Tatsumi finished his food. "That was delicious may I be excused?" Tatsumi asked.

"You haven't even had dessert yet" Spear stated, Tatsumi blushed having forgot about the best part of food at Spear's house: desert which topped that at Aria's manse but only slightly. Soon servants brought out bowls of ice cream, as well as cakes, fine pies, and a number of other deserts. Everyone dug in and soon everyone was full and left the table to head to their rooms.

Shortly… Tatsumi was not surprised that when he entered Spear's room she locked the door and kissed him, it was clear to him she missed him and needed his loving touch; something which he would gladly provide to his loving wife. Spear stripped down to nothing leaving her naked as the day she was born and Tatsumi did likewise and picked her up and entered her, they then locked lips kissing each other romantically, as Tatsumi carried her to the bed and laid her down and continued to thrust inside her, they kissed for a bit and Tatsumi soon broke it to suck at Spear's breasts, they were ample DD- cups and Spear enjoyed the feel of his lips as he suckled her breasts like a nursing babe. Spear moaned, cute moans, as Tatsumi intensified his thrusts, his loving wife was in bliss and he was too, he alternated nipples and continued to drink will working his tongue in at the same time licking the areolas as he nursed. Spear wrapped her hand on his head and smiled, she was happy, she had missed him for the past weak and was glad to finally have him home with her; she smiled as he continued his thrusts, but she was reaching her limit before he reached his and orgasmed, a minute later Tatsumi did the same filling her womb with his seed this time not missing his mark and impregnating his loving wife though neither of them knew it at the time. Spear then flipped him over and kissed him down the length of his body eventually coming to his still stimulated length, she then wrapped her breasts around it and began to lick the tip as she massaged the length with her breasts, Tatsumi moaned as she worked her magic, Spear considered this her favorite position as it allowed her to please him rather than vice versa, Tatsumi folded his arm across his chest while using the other to wipe the sweat of his brow as she continued to intensify her efforts, Spear was sweet, he loved the smile she made as she rubbed her breasts up and down, then the cuteness she had when she had his dick in her mouth, she was sweet, he was glad that he saved her life, he was grateful that such a sweet kind and loving person was spared from an evil fate, he had a feeling that the fate would have been the one he saw in his nightmare, but it didn't do him good to think about dark things, she was safe and alive as well as being his loving wife. Eventually, he orgasmed again covering Spear's sweet face with his gooey white load, she licked it off and then shook her rear inviting him in, he obliged pulling her against his chest entering her ass, she smiled and as Tatsumi placed his head on her shoulders she kissed him, locking lips, soon they pulled each other undercovers leaving the moon to shine in thru the window as their moans continued into the night.

Two days later…. The day had come for the wedding, the previous day had been spent getting prepared for the ceremony, including getting custom gowns made for Sayo and Najenda by the royal tailors, getting the final provisions for the wedding feast, and clearing out a room for the ceremony. Tatsumi had spent the time with his new concubines, getting to know them, better pleasuring them, and starting to set up his spy network, two of his new concubines Camillia and Lillian were assigned to watch Makoto and keep an eye on the young Emperor to ensure his safety, three more were assigned to scout the various wings of the palace, five assumed the role of courtesans who would gather intel on the major nobles so that he could sort out the bad eggs from the good, and he had an entire group dedicated to watching Honest, though each of them was well-armed so that Honest if he tried anything would regret it; overall he was concerned for the safety of them but they were eager to advance his cause and were loyal to him, it was steadfast loyalty as well thanks to Esdeath's training. Tatsumi now wore a white suit, his tie was red, he also wore a white top hat and sported his bracelet which he didn't wear as often for concern that it would make too many people try and take it from him, it was lucky though and he was the luckiest man in the world at the moment. "You ready for this?" Lubbock asked.

"Of course he's ready this is Tatsumi we're talking about" Ieyasu started giving a light-hearted punch to Tatsumi's shoulder.

"I'm ready for this" Tatsumi stated.

"I'm looking forward to this, Tatsumi you've always been like brother to me now we will officially be so, through marriage" Ieyasu stated.

"Thanks my future father-in-law" Tatsumi stated Ieyasu blushed reminded of that fact, he would at some point be both Tatsumi's brother in law and his father in law, which made things complicated; the overall thing was though he'd get used to it.

"At least it's simpler for me" Lubbock stated.

"Right, at least until Naomi gets with him" Ieyasu commented.

"Please Ieyasu be serious" Tatsumi stated, granted Naomi had been friendly with him but it wasn't that level of close, Ieyasu may be full of blue mud but he might be right, he felt some chemistry with Naomi and while he didn't know that she felt the same with him.

Tatsumi then looked at his bracelet, he noted the intricate metalworking, the gold was fine but engraved with imagery of a forgotten era, the emeralds and peridots shined in the electric light.

"It's time Tatsumi" Wave stated as he opened the door, he wore a fine suit.

"Alright guys lets go" Tatsumi stated, he then walked out of the room followed by his men of honor: Lubbock, Ieyasu and his newer friend Wave. He had hit it off with Wave as he had a similar story to his own in that he came from a village and wanted to make a name for himself, the army turned him away so he joined the navy and became an Imperial Marine on a warship, he rose thru the ranks by his merits and the fact he was able to use the Teigu Grand Chariot, he soon was transferred to Esdeath's command after two years in the Navy as he was considered a better asset to the army which had turned him away. Tatsumi went thru the halls of the palace which he had since learned the pathways thanks to his consistent daily visits coming up with new ways to entertain and make Makoto happy.

Tatsumi came into the Grand Hall and approached the alter, the priest who had performed the ceremony for his union with Aria and Spear was there to perform this one as well, he studied the audience and noted the familiar faces who wore their finest clothing, he also noted a large stage which had been set up and where the Umatora Theater troupe were making the final preparations for the Wedding's entertainment, he had picked out which of their shows they would perform and it was a more serious tale then a satire making fun of Honest, mainly because as much as he wanted to get under the Prime Minister's skin he thought a satire at a wedding would be in bad taste; another time perhaps, the actual performance was about the military campaigns and life of the Dragon Emperor, whose story was known only in surviving documents and myth, Tatsumi wondered who the Dragon Emperor truly was and thus was interest in seeing a tale about him, he also thought a more military themed play would be something Esdeath would enjoy, so there was that too.

Tatsumi stood and waited, and waited and waited, soon as he was getting bored of waiting a door opened and the brides entered, all three of them: Sayo wore a purple and gold sleeveless dress with a belt of golden flowers and a transparent cloth in the center showing a gold skirt she wore underneath, she wore a veil and on top of it white roses and butterfly pendants, she wore white boots and white gloves, her dress had no coat tail to hold. Najenda wore a lovely green strap-ridden gown with a black coat tail, her shoulders were covered by green puffies and black roses, her veil was green and she also has more roses, her silver hair shined with light as it was wrapped in braided ponytail and she smiled, a pleasant thing she only did with him but having done all he did for her she was happier than before. Both gowns paled though in comparison to Esdeath's though, it was a gown worthy of the Snow Queen, it was blue with purples and golds thrown in, the patterns in the fabric resembled actual crystal, the corset accented her already impressive figure, she wore a necklace of ice crystals, her vail was blue and decorated with ice crystal flowers, she wore blue lipstick, her shoes were soft slippers, overall she looked like the Queen of Winter, and her coat tails followed like snow on the ground. The three stepped up to the altar, the bridesmaids and the men of honor gathered around, all of his friends were there save those of Night Raid who had wanted posters, Mez was not among Esdeath's bridesmaids though as she had the ever-important task of keeping Makoto behaved speaking of the Emperor was positively giddy and Mez struggled to keep him from jumping for joy, Chelsea smiled at Tatsumi from the side as did everyone else. Honest of course was not smiling he was annoyed but kept up a false grin, Tatsumi wondered if the man would be happy with anything Tatsumi did short of him killing himself which would never happen and Tatsumi resolved not to allow himself to be killed under any circumstances.

"Dearly beloved" the Preist began and Tatsumi turned him focused on his brides' smiling faces, until the time came for him to say "I Do" which he did happily and was then kissed by three woman at once, he kissed each of them in turn in order of meeting them, the audience bar Honest cheered, then each of the brides thru their baquotes, Najenda's hit Honest right in the face, will Mez and the Emperor caught the one thrown by Esdeath, Ieyasu then ran to catch Sayo's and made a touchdown catch and grinned happily. "Alright People now for a performance everyone is looking forward to the Umatora Theater Troupe will now perform Glory of the Dragon, a play about the might Dragon Emperor" Tatsumi proclaimed, and everyone turned their seats towards the stage and the show began with an opening by the leader of the Troupe setting up the tale of the take; then the opening act began, the play lasted 3 hours with a 1-hour intermission for everyone to eat; the food was lavish and Makoto's chefs had exceeded even the preparations of Tatsumi's previous wedding, it was a feast worthy of an Emperor, Tatsumi thought, then after the glorious meal the show continued. The show was about the life and legend of the Dragon Emperor, his early years had him doing feats that involved him strangling a mountain bear at the age of 12, killing his first man at 7 years by throwing a rock at him, Tatsumi could by the rock throwing but not the Mountain Bear, then came his younger years and in early conflicts against the many kingdoms that would later come to form the present day borders of the Empire he won many victories, also it portrayed the woman he loved, the narrator said that it was told that the Dragon Emperor had a 1000 wives and 10,000 concubines and 100,000 sons and 300,000 daughters; though historians said he had many more brides, his feats in battle against many enemies, both man and beast and how he slew monstrous Danger Beasts of incomparable size, how won wars against the Mythical Skaven in five wars of grander and greater size, to the point where he sealed their warrens so well and built mighty enough bastions staffed by advanced automatons that they never would have a chance to break thru to the surface again, the older the Dragon Emperor became the grander his deeds, to the point it was said that all lands paid tribute to him and that had even discovered the way to make new Imperial Arms and crafted his mighty blades and armor from a great dragon and bloody handed god, his reign according to the historians lasted 100 years until he died in sadness after the woman he loved most died he cried and lost the will to live, this was the saddest part of the performance and Tatsumi wept at the man's fate, eventually the Emperor died three days later from a broken heart; After his death the Empire fell into Civil war because no clear heir was named by the Emperor. The performance concluded and people applauded, even Honest found himself applauding because even he had to admit they were good performers, to the point where he forgot why he wanted them dead in the first place.

This left only one part that remained of the ceremony, the bedding, the groom and his brides retired to the private quarters of Esdeath with a number of Jaegers standing guard at the door, Tatsumi knew Honest would be an idiot to try the same thing twice but he wasn't taking chances; his spies had already foiled three potentially fatal attempts that Honest had prepared via subterfuge and he had a feeling Honest would try another attempt.

Fortunately Honest wouldn't have a chance to strike at him when he was most vulnerable and was naked in his marriage bed as his brides had stripped him and themselves of any clothing and had gotten to work making love to him, Sayo gave him a blowjob while Najenda and Esdeath allowed him to alternate drinking the breasts of either while the one not being suckled massaged his back and head, Sayo not to be outdone gave Tatsumi a massage of her own with ample d-cup breasts while alternating techniques every 30 seconds to give Tatsumi the best blowjob she was capable of giving, Esdeath kissed him on his back as he drank from Najenda's breasts she also massaged him with her massive mammaries which Tatsumi had yet to find a rival to as far as her figure was concerned, not even Leone had bigger breasts than Esdeath and before her, she had biggest boobs he'd ever seen. Soon he unloaded in Sayo's mouth and Tatsumi decided he would take his first tail of the night, and after a case of pick and choose he chose Najenda and rode her rear end, he drank from Esdeath's breasts and Sayo finger his nipples while massaging his back, then Tatsumi kissed Esdeath and their tongues danced while Sayo kissed his back, Najenda moaned as Tatsumi banged her and held her new hand while she moaned into the pillow, he then came once more and pulled out and turned to Sayo and entered her, he laid his head back and Esdeath parked herself on it to allow him to work his magic with his tongue while Najenda licked his balls and played with his pecs, this continued until Tatsumi released again while Esdeath and Sayo did the same, he licked and sucked Esdeath's juiced of him unaware his seed struck true. He then pulled out and entered Najenda while sucking Sayo's breasts as Esdeath wrapped her legs around him, played with his bum with her hands, and kissed his exposed cheek with blue lipstick. Tatsumi then pulled out and unloaded all over Najenda's breasts, she was already pregnant so he didn't want to do anything that for all he knew would impact the health of their unborn child. He didn't hold back with Sayo however and spread her butt cheeks and entered her backdoor with grace and Sayo moaned in pain and pleasure, he caressed her hair while kissing Esdeath as Najenda massaged his back with her DD-cup breasts and wrapped her arms around him. This continued until Tatsumi gave her a full load, he then turned to the bride of honor however the woman who made this all possible for him: His Ice Queen Esdeath, he entered her eagerly and kissed her deeply, she was completely submissive and happy, Sayo and Najenda lay down alongside them and watched to two love birds make love not wanting to interrupt this moment, one that Esdeath had been waiting to have for years, the scroll had come true, she was happy, Tatsumi was even more so, both Najenda and Sayo smiled at this, and two continued for a few minutes before the two orgasmed Tatsumi filling Esdeath's womb and giving her the child she wanted.

Then they continued to make love using every possible position, this lasted for hours and eventually they all passed out under the sheets, Tatsumi holding all three of them close to him and swearing to himself as he passed into dreamworld not to ever let them go, his best friend, his silver-haired goddess and most of all his Ice Queen.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Goddess, the Sorrowful, and the Dragon

That night in Honest's office the Prime Minister dinned on forbidden meat, the most taboo of meats, human flesh; he had a secret dumbwaiter installed to ferry the that which he loved most to eat from the kitchen to his Office which adjoined his room. "Seculent flesh, so fine so sweet, give me a nice fresh piece of meat" Honest chanted to himself as chowed down on the most vile of meals "This one was quite the screamer, so my chef says" Honest stated, with each meal came a note describing the person he was to eat, he had on his own time cooked his own meals but that was before he rose to power and and got into the position as the Spymaster of the Empire, it was hard to escape his vision save you were as shrewd as he was. "This is good" Honest stated. "Indeed it is" a voice stated. Honest stopped then studied his surrondings and saw a tall young man with white hair like his own but he was well fit and much like a younger version of himself. "Syura? You're dead, it can't be you" Honest stated.

"Of course it's me and yes I'm dead, dead because of your failure" Syura stated.

"Failure how is your death my failure!" Honest yelled at that figure.

"How to say this, well for starters you let me go out of the palace without an escort, how long does one of your relation survive without bodyguards to keep them away from dangerous people or people that look normal and yet are dangerous" Syura stated sitting on chair in front of Honest.

"That isn't my failing it is your's you wandered off drunk, you got yourself killed by Night Raid-" Honest tried to rebuke.

"You let me go out of the palace on that day, you thought I was ready for the challenges ahead of me, you were wrong and here I am dead" Syura stated turning into a skeleton in his clothes.

"It's not my fault! What would you have me do!?" Honest stated.

"Remember your true loyalty" the Skeleton stated and faded away.

Honest looked at the skull of Syura in front him on his desk with sorrow, his son not his first son but the one he treasured most was dead and all he had left to remember him was the skull on his desk. Honest finished eating then looked at the palm of his right hand: the mark was there; the mark was the letter V encircled by a pentagram which itself was incircled by a circle. "My true loyalty yes" Honest stated, suddenly the room was warm, surprisingly warm, Honest then it became red with blood light and smelled of sulfer a portal opened and out walked a demon, an Arch Demon.

The demon had dark burgundy red skin with glowing red eyes with a long shoulder-length flaming brown hair and long dragon like horns, he had large bat-like wings and claws like those of a gargoyle and long demonic tail with the head of a spear at the end of it. The demon wore molten red, burgundy and black armor which covered a burgundy robe with long sleeves, the armor started with an articulated curiass with the symbol of a pentagram on it and which covered his body with demonic pauldrons covered his shoulders, the armor continued to the waist where a plate skirt of molten plate covered his hips, a long tunic-robe flowed down to his feet which were covered by black boots, at his side was a demonic rapier which was made of silvery hellish alloy with its flamboyant hilt covered by bloodstones; above that was larger broadsword which had the same mark that adorned Honest's palm in the center of the crossguard and had a prounced curved on the end, on his other hip was a book that had the image of a demonic skull of Pit Lord. "Honest its good to see you" the demon greeted.

"Lord Valtor?! It's a surprise, human meat milord it was from some virgin farmboy?" Honest offered stammering.

"I'll pass I don't eat lowborn, I've been going across the planes of existance accounting for those who have made pacts with me and I thought why not check in old Honest see how he's doing" Valtor stated.

"At the moment not as good as it could be, I've been having a practical crisis, Assassins from a group called Night Raid have been attacking throughout the City killing many, first they went after lower ranking people no concern of mine but then in this past month they've become bolder and brazen, and recently they've taken my son from me, and he was one I had the most faith in, and before that they killed my brother-in-law, as well as killed several other people connected to me: I've lost access to one of the most lucrative flesh trade markets in the capital due to them, but my son that was the worst of them; on top of that matters of court haven't been going well, it all started when Esdeath came back to the Capital I had heard previously that my predessecor Chouri was returning back to the city with his daughter so I commandeered the Three Beasts to kill them, they were killed by some young farmboy and on top of that the boy ends up getting married to his daughter as well as the daughter of that honorable fool Constantine Grundel, and if that was insulting enough he ends up become Esdeath's lover and her second in command, and on top that the Emperor made him Minister of Fun a new office made just for him, and Makoto that brat; he used to be so easy to control but as he's gotten older he hasn't been listening to me as much and since that farm boy Tatsumi arrived he's basically near uncontrollable at his point, well not completely so but this boy has gone thru all sorts of ideas to make my life hectic, bringing preformers to preform here, hosting weddings for that upstart farm boy, forcing me to dress up in a pink tutu with jester's cap and preform ballet while Esdeath thru ice at me in addition to making me wear the whole get up for the rest of that week all to impress some common girls who were adopted into the nobility by that idiot Constantine Grundel; how does all this happen, I don't know what to make of this" Honest explained.

"Well then you're having an interesting life so far about this farm boy tell me about him" Valtor replied, curious how one person could cause this servant of his such grief and misery, something which Valtor delighted in watching.

"Tatsumi, that I don't know what to say: I hate him, this hick from the countryside an upstart farmboy, somehow manages to kill the Three Beasts, three extremely powerful Teigu users one of whom was one of Empire's best generals, by himself then he ends up marrying the daughters of two powerful rivals of mine then he gets the Emperor's favor and the Emperor decides to host a wedding here for him. the boy had his wedding then I thought oh well I won't be hearing anymore from him but no he ends up become Esdeath's whore and on top of that her second in command of her new Jaeger corp then recently her husband! Then on top of that he speaks with the Emperor in his own room and plays games with him, games; then when I come in and try to bring that brat in for courtwork he gets all snarky and decrees that he will only come with me if I can bet his new friend Tatsumi in a game of chess; I humored him and thought really a farm boy playing a game of chess against me, I can handle him, I was wrong, that boy managed to out maneuver me then when I tried to put my piece back on the board he near broke my wrist stopping me from doing so; then he beats me, then him Esdeath and the brat mock me and gloat shacking their asses in my face, then I was left to manage all the affairs of the court for the rest of the day; on top of this he makes Tatsumi his Minister for Fun a position he made up but now he's got complete leave to walk about the royal palace as he wishes and despite my best efforts I cannot kill him, then there's more, the farmboy wields two Teigus! Two Tiegus! And on top of that they are legendary Teigus of the Dragon Emperor lost for centuries, not just that only one of the Emperor's blood can use them, yet this farm boy this hick this bumpkin this son of a whore is somehow able to control those two Teigus and I have no idea how he could be of Imperial descent considering it took the liberty of killing most of the pretenders at the beginning of my reign! I am not sure what I'm going to do only that when I manage to take that boy down I'm eating him raw!" Honest stated.

"This Tatsumi sounds interesting" Valtor stated.

"You aren't helping, surely there is something you can do for me, I'll give you anything you ask just name it I will give it to you my lord from deeps" Honest stated.

"Anything egh? well I have something for you that I'm willing to give you for a price" Valtor stated sitting down in an armchair.

"Well for starters that chair is not fireproof" Honest stated.

"Ooh you're right; besides it's not that comfortable" Valtor stated and conjured up a demonic looking chair which hovered above the ground. "Now first things first I'm going to need my scribe: Braakuth!" Valtor yelled.

"Coming master" a large imp stated coming out of the portal with a clipboard, he was dressed in a white shirt and pants with a blue apron and blue visor, all tailor made for his anatomy, he had long hooved legs and a small pointed tail with small horns on his head which had orange hair he had bright red skin and held a quill with a demented demon creature following him around while another served as a writing desk. "What do you require of me master?" Braakuth asked.

"I need you write down a contract, Honest I'm willing to offer you a bit of demonic power in exchange for something in return: I will not despose of your enemies that is not within the paramaters of our contract, however I am permited to give you things for a price" Valtor explained. The Imp used his quill pierced the back of one of the abominations and held it up ready to write out a business contract. "For starters Honest you said you'd be willing offer up things, well blood is what you will have to pay, I want first 100 virgin women fair virgins, I want them alive so that I may take them as concubines" Valtor explained.

"Agreed what else?" Honest asked.

"I will require one of your own flesh in blood, one of your sons to serve as a new demon warrior in my service preferably the oldest one but I'm not picky and will accept any suitably fit member of your progeny" Valtor added.

"I'll give you that anything else?" Honest asked.

"Come to me and hold out your unmarked hand" Valtor requested, Honest did so getting out of his chair and walking up to demon holding out his right hand. Lightning quick Valtor drew his rapier and sliced off the outstretched hand Honest yelled in pain. "Excellent, because you've give me that you can have the first third of the deal, bring me the other two offerings and you'll receive the ability to summon lesser demons and control them" Valtor stated, then outstretched his hand, from the stump grew a crimson claw like hand, demonic like.

"This? This is demonic, unsightly! Abominable! And perfect for me. Wait how in the 13 circles of Hell am I supposed to keep this hidden?" Honest remarked.

"by wearing a glove, also you'll need this" Valtor explained handing him a bracelet. "That will keep it from melting everything it touchs, wear a glove at all times and you'll be fine" Valtor stated. "Now summon me once more when you have brought me the other parts of deal, you've already paid in one part of the deal, Braakuth sign for him" Valtor ordered, the severed hand walked over to the imp who picked it up and gave it the blood quill, the hand then signed Honest's name on the document. "He'll be keeping that, I told him that I'd give him a mortal's hand to handle the menial paperwork and he'll have that one; farewell for now my slave" Valtor stated and left the portal closed and the room returned to normal.

Honest went over to his room and searched for something suitable to cover his new hand, he stoped when he came to his set of Sun Armor, the suit he wore when he was still a crusader in Order of the Dawn one of the Empire's most prestigious Paladin orders; he took one of the right gauntlet and put it on, then smirked. "It seems fair but feels foul, there are no shortage of fools in this world" Honest stated to himself then laughed, then yawned and went to his bed.

The following Morning Tatsumi found himself headed to Jaeger HQ for more intensive training, Esdeath had insistated on having Kurome come up with a more harsher training regiment which meant he was in for a world of pain. "I hope she doesn't push me too hard, I have to go on that mission to kill those bandits and I can do that if Kurome puts me in a hospital bed with her training, I swear I think she's dileberately trying to kill me" Tatsumi thought to himself, he entered the HQ passed the front desk and headed inside, he didn't have to go far before he ran into Kurome, who wasn't alone she was accompanied by a blonde woman who Tatsumi hadn't seen before and who was remarkable attractive; she had a long blonde hair and green eyes, she wore a brown hat, vest which was joined by a red scarf, and boots she also wore a gray long-sleeved shirt underneath, her skin was lively and had no blemishs. "There you are Tatsumi" Kurome greeted. "Are you ready for pain?" Kurome stated.

"As much as possible, just don't kill me, also who is she" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, I'm Doya, I'm Kurome's bodyguard, I'm from southern borderlands, I don't mind her or her puppets, so consider me an honorary member of the Jaegers" the woman replied.

"She's been with me for a year and half now, ever since I saved her from a well armed group of bandits, she's stuck around since then" Kurome explained. "Now enough talk you have training to do and trust me make one mistake and you will either be crippled or dead" Kurome said with a smile, Tatsumi mentally shivered at that grin how anyone could be talking about a matter of potential death and grin like that was beyond his comprehension which was surprising given how much Aria smiled on missions when she was slaughtering hapless enemies.

Tatsumi was led outside to an elaborate gauntlet full of various obsticles and death traps, he noted some open places but he figured that Kurome was not going to give him any breathers, she was going to make his existance hell for the time on the gauntlet, he noticed something else or rather somebody else, someone who was running right for him faster then normal. "Tatsu-Kitty!" Cosmina yelled tackling him in a hug, she was wearing a purple cheerleaders outfit in addition to her typical rabbit eared headband, she also had pom-poms which Tatsumi felt brush against his side. "I'm here to cheer you on" Cosmina explained giving him a bear hug. "The big mean gauntlet is going to be hard, but I know you can do it Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina explained.

"Thanks Cosmina, now could you let go you're crushing me" Tatsumi stated pained.

"Oh Sorry Tatsu-kitty, I'll try not to hug you so hard in the future ok?" Cosmina stated and kissed him, leaving a lipstick mark on his cheek.

"Enough of this; Tatsumi first things first strip, you will only wear your pants for this challenge" Kurome explained, Tatsumi did so reluctantly Cosmina took his clothes and put them on a nearby chair. "Keep your sword you will need it, I have crafted this extensive gauntlet with Esdeath's help she knows what you are capable of and crafted this based on her daily training regiment" Kurome explained, Tatsumi was shocked, Esdeath's training regiment if this gauntlet of challenges was what was her usual training regiment was then she was tougher then he gave her credit for.

"Ok, this is going to hell isn't it" Tatsumi commented.

"Oh this is going to be worse then hell for you, this is my personally crafted gauntlet, I've been going light on you but this time I'm pulling out all the stops, you either pass this test or you die" Kurome stated. "Doya will be assisting me in this endeavor so don't think she's just hear to watch, also I brought some friends" Kurome stated, her puppets entered the courtyard on que. "They're hear to watch and observe, should you fall you will join their ranks I won't let such a great warrior such as yourself go so easily" Kurome explained, she then flung a knife at Tatsumi who caught it before it hit him. "Good you've passed the first challenge consider that a warm up, I'll be waiting for you at the end of the Gauntlet see you there, if you survive" Kurome stated then smiled.

"You can do it Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina ressured.

"I know I can, I just am not looking forward to this" Tatsumi stated. "What are you going to do here Doya?" Tatsumi asked.

"Going to test your dodging skills" Doya explained going to a nearby gun rack.

(Song Push it To the Limit: Scarface: start) Tatsumi readied himself then entered the Gauntlet, the gate locked behind him, no turning back, then came step one spike traps, spikes came up out of the ground on the narrow passage way, he noted that they had a pattern so waited on the safe stone to figure the pattern out, then he jumped over each trap to get to end of the traps, then came the next challenge, a large open area with one exit as the gate closed behind him, he then ran as boulders were launched from catapults maned by Kurome's puppets, Kurome lied about them not getting involved in the test, so he did the only thing he could, dodged weaved and ran like a speeding cheetah trying to catch a wildebeest, this proved to be challenge but he soon managed to get thru. The gate closed behind him again and he dashed for the next door, he tripped the first pressure plate and had to jump to dodge the spinning blade traps that came out of the ground and dodge from side to side to avoid swinging spike ball traps, eventually he made it past those traps too, and he entered a long hall which seemed to be absent of traps, then Doya came over carrying an assault rifle and his gut told him she wasn't going to be using blanks, so he ran dodging the automatic fire bullets impacted walls the next area was large and open with several cages, the gate at the end was shut, the cages were filled with Class D danger beasts; the insectoid Chak Hounds with their dark blue carapaces head with mandibles and rows of razor sharp teeth clawed feet, these ones were large and fully grown and there were about 20 of them, Tatsumi drew his sword and all the cages opened and the creatures charged from all sides, Tatsumi leapt to dodge their charge allowing them to crash into each other, he jumped from Chak Hound to Chak Hound driving his sword into the top of the neck the part that was unprotected by their carapace shells on reflex having fought these creatures before and knowing their weaknesses struck them there, he then had to dodge acidic blood. With the Chak Hounds dead the gate opened and he entered the hall were giant pendulum blades swung, Tatsumi then dodged each blade getting to the end of hall and came to a large open room where an Earth Dragon was locked up and once again released on him, he repeated his feat on the road to the capital dicing the creature with speed and ease, then continued onward to large tar filled hall where he saw Bols with Rubincate to side, he ran without hesitation as Bols lit up the tar with hot napalm, Tatsumi ran quickly to avoid the burning flames and entered the next area where several well armed prisoners were chained, they were clearly death row inmates as marked by the brands on their shaved heads they then were released and charged at him with two handed maces, Tatsumi cut down each of the men like they were nothing but tatami mats set up to test a sword's sharpness, dispatching the final one with a kick to the skull, each of these battle challenges caused him to change his fighting style, Kurome had crafted the challenge for that purpose. The next challenge was an open room with several phials each containing a different liquid, Tatsumi instinctively knew that all but one of those was poisoned; fortunately Aria and her mother had taught him how to recognize any poison which was going to be useful here, he took the lids off of each flask and smelled them, he poured the ones which he recognized immediately as poison on the ground then continued until he came to last which he smelled as clearly wine but it was sour which he dumped out, the gate opened which meant he had chosen correct, all of them were poison and he didn't touch any of them he entered a large open courtyard where Kurome waited for him.

"I'm impressed Tatsumi, you've survived all the traps, challenges and everything I had on offer for you, you even survived the poison challenge which was good your smarter then I gave you credit for, now for your final challenge me: defeat me in battle and you will have completed your training" Kurome stated then drew Yatsufsa, Tatsumi readied his blade and barely parried the first attack he then countered with a series power blows before having to block a series of rapid flurries, Kurome's fighting technique was quite familier to him, in fact it was the same one Akame used but with a more defensive approach, Kurome's strikes were impressive with Tatsumi having to parry and dodge he then relized that leveraging his strength wouldn't work in this case, so he decided to change his fighting style again mirroring Kurome's own with a series of swift strikes chained in with the used of his body, he had to keep up his parries swift adjusting his fighting style again to one that was the perfect counter and using under parry knocked Yatsufsa out of Kurome's hand catching the blade and holding both swords to her neck.

"Dead" Tatsumi stated, with a smile. (Song End)

"I yield, excellent Tatsumi, you've passed my challenge, I think you are certainly ready for more dangerous missions in the future, it also means I won't push you too hard anymore during training, as much as I did before" Kurome stated taking Yatsufsa from him and sheeving it.

"I'm glad to have succeeded" Tatsumi stated, "That was intense, I'm going off to my favorite hot springs now see you" Tatsumi added, he then went to Cosmina and put the rest of his clothes back on, he then kissed Cosmina. "I'll be back later Cosmina, head to Spear's house and I'll see you tonight" Tatsumi stated.

"Looking forward to it Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina replied then made out with him, Doya blushed at this, Tatsumi then left.

An hour later… Tatsumi relaxed in his favorite hot springs letting the warm water sooth his skin as he sat in the water naked. "Hey Tatsumi-kun" Chelsea stated, Tatsumi opened his eyes, she wore a orange bikini and nothing else, she put down a towel next to Tatsumi's own towel then stripped and got into the water with him.

"Chelsea; its been a while" Tatsumi greeted, Chelsea swam over to him and kissed him.

"Yes it has my love, I we need to spend some time together right now, I've not had time to do so and when I saw you go to leave the city well I stalked you here without you noticing" Chelsea replied.

"It's good that my stalker is a beautiful auburn haired girl rather then some creepy kid with a camera who's a fanboy of mine" Tatsumi replied, Chelsea giggled.

"You know you always know how to make me laugh" Chelsea stated and kissed him softly and held his hand, they smiled at each other.

"Good thing no one else knows we're here" Tatsumi stated, unaware a certain pinkette was watching them from the bushes.

"No one does, which is perfect, we are alone, we have no one to bug us, no trouble no danger beasts, no Imperials trying to kill us, overall we are nice and safe; perfect for something well private if you get my drift" Chelsea seduced playfully, moving from just floating together in the water next to him to kiss him, Tatsumi kissed her first and wrapped his arms around her, she did the same and two made out, Tatsumi moved his right hand to caress her hair he loved her pinkish aubern hair and kissed her deeply his right hand moving to her bum, she moaned into the kiss as his hand clasped her right butt cheek, he moved her leg and took his now erect length and entered her, the two made out as the began to have sex, Chelsea moaned as Tatsumi moved his mouth to drink from her left breast drinking from her loving her milk, he hadn't established a grading system yet for milk but Esdeath's was the best with Aria being second and Chelsea third this was something he kept to himself of course, he was happy, she was happy as the two made love in the water his hands in her auburn hair Tatsumi was greatful to see her head still on her shoulders and was doing his best to make sure she kept it there. The depths of Chelsea's loins were impressive and but they were still tight inspite of the amount of times they'd had sex since that wonderous night with her and Sayo; not that he hadn't banging Sayo during the same time period he had just married Sayo after all and had to think of time to do so with Chelsea.

As they made love Chelsea's and Tatsumi's moans obscured the moans of someone else, Mine rubbed her loins thru her pink panties and licked her CC-cup breasts while moaning in pleasure. "Tatsumi-kun" she thought to herself, she had to be honest she was a pervert which was why she constantly called Tatsumi one to conceal it, she had feelings for him, they were caused by her respect for his fighting ability, his handsome features, his persistence, his loyalty to his friends and his determination to make things better for people in the Empire, she was even more impressed though by the size of his sword, and not the one on his back, she then left got up and left the two to make love and ran off back to her room in base and continued to pleasure herself with her finger masturbating in the nude, while at the same time Tatsumi rode Chelsea's rump doggy style against the edge of the pool, the overall state of things was considerably good all around.

Sheele was walking by Mine's room when she heard moans and walked in on her. "Oh I'm sorry Mine, should have knocked!" Sheele apologized shutting the door, Mine primed herself and changed her underwear which was now soaked, it was the only article of pink clothing she wore due do her current restrictions on her wardrobe, her attire right now consisted of a lime green and magenta frilly blouse, black sweets and warm leg warmers and arm warmers both of which were lime green like the blouse, the blouse felt soft against her skin as she didn't wear bras, she didn't like the way they felt against her breasts wore instead tank tops but today she was feeling like not wearing even that mainly because of the recent fact that when she washed her tank tops recently the turned pink from white which would've under normal circumstances been fine but with her current limited wardrobe options for the month enforced by Sheele under Angela's orders along with her swear jar ('That Fucking jar' that Mine despised with every fiber of her being and which she had nearly filled) and the next 20 or so jars waiting to be filled, Mine wasn't going to push it and risk more punishment from Angela. Mine had a feeling that Sheele wasn't going to stop making her pay that jar until she ditched her swearing altogether which given the small fortune Sheele had amassed it was going to be a long one especially sine Sheele insisted on following her on every mission constantly and having everyone else count the amount of money she owed to the jar it wasn't a balanced system since the others could swear if they wanted to, she had learned her lesson though, watch what you say in the presence of children especially around Angela Grundel.

"Sheele what were you doing?" Mine asked after she invited Sheele back into her room.

"Oh well I was coming to ask you if you wanted to go shopping, I've amassed a lot of money recently and I thought I'd buy somethings" Sheele replied.

"Yeah, money you've taken from me because of that- jar" Mine stated stopping herself from adding an f-bomb before the word jar, the state of things was getting quite annoying for her and so far it was improving her manners and making her less profane. "Sheele lets be honest with each other how do you feel about Tatsumi?" Mine stated.

"Well I- I- have strong feelings for him" Sheele stammered taken aback by the question, she knew Mine was asking her if she loved him, and to be honest she did, she hadn't really felt strong feelings for someone in years now, 2 years to be exact nearly three. Her feellings for Tatsumi came of his cute nature and his willingness to take risks that she wasn't brave enough to do honestly, well at least she thought she wasn't she had her secrets ones that she didn't tell lightly not even to Mine her best friend or Seryu her other Best friend, she also loved Tatsumi because of his looks, his funny persona and the fact that he was someone who could care less about her being an airhead, well the airhead part was an act she wasn't as much of one as she let on but that was because she had her secrets and could present herself as she wanted to, but right now she was who she was. "Alright Mine, I'll level with you, I really like Tatsumi, really like really like him; and you have feelings too, and don't deny it I heard you moaning his name and have seen you do this before" Sheele replied honestly.

"Wait you watch me masturbate- Sheele you pervert!" Mine exclaimed.

"No but I hear you doing it, the walls aren't soundproof, and your room is right next to mine, so do you love him?" Sheele asked.

"I- I- I- I DO! I FUCKING DO! I LOVE TATSUMI-KUN! I LOVE HIM DEARLY! I WANT TO BE HIS WIFE! I WANT TO FUCK HIM OFTEN AND WANT HIS BABIES! I FUCKING LOVE TATSUMI!" Mine screamed.

"That's 15 coins; now I'm glad you are honest and got that out so now we need to get his attention" Sheele stated.

"I'm not going to dress up as whore to impress him" Mine stated.

"Three more coins, and you don't have to, you just need to explain to him, spend some time with him, I'm going to that first I want you to prep yourself do what you have to get your feelings across, with luck we'll both be having threesomes with him every weekend starting this next weekend" Sheele replied, Mine got her coin purse and handed Sheele 18 silver coins, Sheele smilled and took the money. Mine frowned as her friend left her, she considered things how she was going to approach this, she decided she was going to take this with tact get to know him more then she had been and tell him more about herself, she didn't know Sheele had the samething in mind.

Later… Tatsumi was approached by Sheele who asked him to go with her as she went shopping something which he said he'd do, they strode along the paths to the city going thru farmland which was lying dormant under the winter snow, he of course was ready for the current weather and she was too and wore a warm shawl over her usual dress. "Tatsumi we need to talk so we'll take a detour alright?" Sheele stated honestly.

"I'm fine with that what is it you want to talk about Sheele" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I want to talk about myself, I haven't told you much about me have I?" Sheele responded.

"No you haven't really apart from your current things I've not heard about your past" Tatsumi agreed.

"Well before we start things off, have you ever heard of the Sorrowful Ones?" Sheele asked.

"No I'm not familier with them, I've lived in the countryside for most of my life so you can see I'm not the most knowledgable person about things" Tatsumi replied.

"Well the Guild of the Sorrowful Ones is an ancient order going back to the time of First Emperor, they are a guild of assassins the best in the world, now you might ask what they have to do with me, well it all started when I was little 5 years old, my parents were taken by slavers I managed to escape by hiding in a secret hideaway in our home, they were moderately well off and had given me some things in case they didn't come back which they didn't. I never saw them again. I wasn't able to afford my home which was repossessed by the Viceroy of the city where I lived, so I was out on the streets in big city of Trader Town, I know the name isn't imaginative but its called that because it sits on many trade routes, it's the largest city in the Empire apart from the Capital, anyway I was out on the streets, a five year old girl against the world, but I was a smart five year old girl, smart for my age. I was sent an orphanage called Home of Dreamers, it was run by a horrible old woman called Verka the Kind which was a misynomer, eventually one night when I was 6 I had received an extra beating when a dark skinned man in blue robes and a red turban arrived, Verka yelled at him and told him to get out as none of the children were up for adoption; he simply walked up to her and said 'I'm sorry' and pulled out a dagger and slit her throat causing the old hag to drop dead on the ground, the other children cheered and the second caretaker who was nice was afraid, I wasn't afraid of him and asked him who he was and if he could adopt me. He called himself Iben Al-Hashiim and that he came from the Southern Lands and was a member of a secret order. He adopted me as his own daughter and brought me to the House of Shadow Seals in the City of Qarkash; there I was inducted into the Order of the Sorrowful Ones: men and women were allowed to join and they were of all peoples and all types and all races, I was raised in relative wealth but with a stern hand, I was educated in the ways of the Sorrowful Assassins taught how to kill using any number of weapons, taught to kill on reflex, taught how to be in place and not be there at the same time, how to conceal my true personality and how to blend in among the masses and how to kill with lightning speed and avoid being detected; I rose in the ranks and when I was 15 I was a master in my craft, my adoptive father was proud of me, then something unexpected happened, the Grandmaster of the Order died of old age, he was 120 and the time came to choose a new leader. The leader of our Order was chosen by thru the Order's greatest treasure something gifted to to the first leader by the First Emperor: the Tiegu Extese. Each member stepped up to the great pair of scissors and each tried to see if the Arm would accept them, it rejected each one, even my adopted father, eventually it came to me: Extase spoke to me and called to me, it told me I was the one who would restore the Order to it's former glory and would help restore the Empire as well, that I would marry for love and live a long life; it submitted to me, I was gifted the Shrowded Armor and the sacred blades of the First Guild Master and granted the rank of Grandmaster of Sorrowful Ones; I made my adopted father my right-hand and set out to travel the world while he ran the guild. I carried out the most risky of missions killing my targets as we always send our best on those: in the Order of the Sorrowful Ones we believe that taking a person's life no matter how evil or just it may be to do so it is ending the life of a fellow living being, we regard all life as sacred and view that one must forgive a person that we kill no matter their crimes and to forgive yourself for having to do so and forgive them for their crimes, that's why I always say I'm sorry before I kill someone: what you might ask caused me to join Night Raid well that begins a year and half ago with a mission to the Capital I had taken the contract to kill Prime Minister Honest the Guild was given it by the Revolutionary Army and they paid a fortune to do so, we believe in sending our best which is why I went on the mission alone: well when I got here I fell in love, with a young man he was kind, caring, handsome, a lot like you in fact Tatsumi; we dated for some time but a friend of his grew jealous, within three months they ceased to be friends and became rivals, or rather his friend became his rival the young man turned the other cheek, eventually one night as we were heading home we were attacked by thugs hired by his rival they were sent to kill me; my young love fought to protect me killing a few of the thugs before he was mortalily wounded, the remaining thugs attacked me, I pulled a small pair of scissors from my side and they laughed asking what I was going to do with a pair of scissors, they were shocked when the scissors grew the size of a greatsword Extese revealing it's true form, I killed each and every attack save one who's tendons I cut so he couldn't escape I then turned to my young love who confessed his feelings then I drew one of the sacred daggers and apologized as I put him out of his suffering, he smiled as I did so glad that I wouldn't let him suffer. I then turned to the survivor and interrogated him for who sent him, he told me he had been paid by the rival of my love, I thanked him for information, apologized and slashed his throat. I then proceeded to the home of my new enemy and found him in bed with a young woman who slept, I came in and killed him apologizing to him as he died in his sleep, then went out into streets where I was attacked again, I killed my attackers but was wounded, I made my way a few blocks before I blacked out. I woke up inside a carriage my wounds being bandaged by a woman and her young daughter: Aria and her mother, they then brought me to their home where I had dinner, I told them what had happened to me and how I had avenged my love, they recruited me into Night Raid, where I became friends with Mine and the rest, I haven't told anyone else about my past beyond cryptic answers, but you Tatsumi I- I feel the same feelings for the man I loved I really do love you: and I trust you more then anyone else" Sheele explained.

"So that's your story, I must say I'm amazed by it, really quick question though Sheele are you really an airhead?" Tatsumi asked.

"Nope, its all an act, I told you Tatsumi I can assume an persona I want to, in truth I'm a serious person a woman driven by trying to make the world better: Tatsumi you and I are the same age, we even have the same birthday, we are meant for each other, I wouldn't have told you these things if I really didn't feel these things for you, I haven't even told Mine about my past and that's saying something considering she's my best friend, Tatsumi I love you!" Sheele replied, they stopped and hugged eachother, then kissed romantically it didn't matter they were standing out in the open where anyone could see them and let them see them, let them know how much they loved each other. "We should find some place private" Sheele said seductively in a different tone then normal, her face was also seductive, so she was obvious serious.

"Later alright, for now lets just shop and have fun, in fact we'll go out to eat, that reminds me we have a mission tomorrow night so we better use the night we have for love" Tatsumi replied. The two of them continued on their way.

Meanwhile…. Chelsea and Aria were scouting the base of the Ranger Bandits as they were being called, as a nickname suited their false IDs, Aria and Chelsea preformed advanced reconisence, Chelsea possed as one of the Brigands so as to avert suspicion while Aria used Noctis Wave to allow herself to moved about invisible, having to focus her will to keep up the concealment then hide behind things to recover her stamina and then continue on her way; overall they managed to get a read out of the defenses, the overall layout of the base which Aria drew a rubbing of using a pencil and parchment, they also managed to figure out the exact strength of the force against them there were over 75 bandits, each well armed and well equipped in the best of the Empire's weapons and armor, which mean that this would be a tough mission and that Najenda had made the right call on a larger team then usual after searching and accounting for everything they left without a trace of having been there in the first place.

Later that day… Tatsumi and Sheele arrived at Grundewick Manor after shopping and took Sheele's new purchases to her room which Sheele locked behind them. "Tatsumi we're somewhere private I think now I can show you how much I love you" Sheele stated seductively teasing him as she took off her shawl.

"Looking forward to it" Tatsumi stated, he looked at Sheele in her signature sleeveless lilac cheongsam with detached lilac arm sleeves, white stockings and white boots, her soft long purple hair, her lovely eyes sparkling like amethysts. She set Extase in its sealed form aside and kicked off her boots, Tatsumi kicked off his shoes and removed his shirt showing off his chest. Sheele reciprocated by beginning to undo her cheongsam's sash but before doing so she pulled two jambiya daggers from her cleavage and put them alongside Extase, she then removed the outfit save detached sleaves leaving her in her purple bra and thong, she came over to Tatsumi and releaved him of his pants and led him to her bed which in terms of bedding, sheets, pillows and other things screamed no such thing as too much purple, which reminded him of Cosmina's bed room, in fact the walls and carpet were also purple and the furniture was painted lilac. "Sheele I have a question how is it you don't have a wanted poster, you'd think that with features like yours and your choice of weaponry someone would notice" Tatsumi asked.

"That question has an interesting answer, the secret is the shrouded armor and Extase itself, using them I'm able to move at lightning speeds and even if I stand still the most people see is a blurred shadow because of the armor's magical enchantment" Sheele stated and she kissed him, they made out with passion and with true love, Tatsumi fondling her ample rear while their tongue danced with eachother. Sheele then unhooked her bra letting her E-cups free from the confines of the garment; she then flanted them to Tatsumi breaking the kiss. "They're all your Tatsumi-kun; drink them I'm sure the milk tastes good" Sheele teased, Tatsumi did so suckling the right nipple Sheele moaned, nothing was going to disturb them; nobody would in fact, everyone else was out of the house for the day; save the servents who maintained the place in their absence; Tatsumi drank and mentally graded Sheele's milk which he found was absolutely great, sweeter then yak milk or goat milk or the milk of any animal; human milk was his go to from now on when it came to milk. "Tatsumi-kun" Sheele stated, Tatsumi used his free hand to fondale the her left breast while the other still fondled her bum, soon he stopped as a noticible erection rubbed against her vagina separated from eachother by cloth boxers and panties, Sheele pushed him agains the pillows and came down to fish in his boxers which she removed letting his length come full mass; she was impressed by the length; she wrapped her breasts around it and gave him head as she massaged it, she also removed her panties to keep them from getting too wet, Tatsumi loved the way the soft velvet sleeves felt against his skin and loved more Sheele's skills when it came to oral arts, which he had no idea how she was good, he pegged her for virgin but he may have been wrong, that or she knew how to please him; most likely from Seryu chatted with her about him. Eventually he released creaming Sheele's breasts and her face, she smiled and licked it off.

"Sheele let me do the same for you, after all you made me feel good let me make you feel good" Tatsumi stated, Sheele understood and laid back, Tatsumi inserted his tongue into her honeypot and found the barrier was indeed intact which meant of course Sheele learned from Seryu and most likely Leone too how to please him, well he would do the same for her, rather then finger her at the same time as he ate her out he took a newer approach, he took his hands and fondled her breasts massaging them around in circles causing Sheele to moan in bliss as her genitals both of them were pleasured by Tatsumi. Sheele knew now she was right Tatsumi was the man she truly loved, granted she hadn't known him for has long as she knew her previous love interest. Tatsumi's efforts went deep Tatsumi searched for her sensitive spots and most importantly her g-spot so he knew were to put his length when he entered her, he pleasured Sheele further as he played with her nipples, he then alternated from licking her loins to licking her navel and then nipples then her loins again, this was too much Sheele couldn't take anymore and orgasmed, Tatsumi's face was covered in her juices which he drank up.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized for her orgasm.

"Don't worry so what do you want me to do next" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I've always noticed the way you stare at my butt when I'm not looking so I'd enjoy it if you went with anal" Sheele replied, then flipped over and shook her rear, Tatsumi entered it, blood flowed on his length as Sheele moaned in pain and pleasure, Tatsumi then rode her knowing she was fine, this was a personal fantasy he and she had been having for a long time and both were more then happy to live it out; Tatsumi riding her like she was a fine mare, while kissing her as she contorted herself to allowing do so, Sheele's rear was so tight Tatsumi nearly came on entry, he restrained himself for as long as he could but Sheele was too much for him and came in her, they then embraced Sheele turning over to face him. "Tatsumi, I'm ready for you now, I want your children, I want to be a mother I want to live with you as your loving wife for rest of my life" Sheele stated, Tatsumi and Sheele kissed Tatsumi entered her, without pain and with bliss the Guildmaster of the Sorrowful Ones was a virgin no more, she had found the man she loved and wasn't going to let him go, not while she still lived, and she was going to live for him. Sheele was tight Tatsumi found himself inside possibly the tightest woman he had ever banged, he once again turned to her breasts and drank from her teats loving them and giving them all the affection they deserved all the while Sheele smiled with her arms wrapped around the small of his back as he entered him. "We are one" Sheele thought, and soon they were even more so as she and Tatsumi orgasmed his seed filling her womb to the brim and piercing three eggs that had fallen inside it.

The following day….

Tatsumi woke up the following morning with two purple haired maidens in his bed, Cosmina and Sheele, the two had hit it off and had become friends, the two were so alike that for all he knew they were sisters, or possibly cousins; apart from Cosmina's nymphomania anyway; Sheele and Cosmina pressed against him, they soon woke up and proceeded to begin another round of a steamy threesome; which continued into the shower with Cosmina showing Sheele how to more effectively suck his dick, he then got dressed for the day as did Sheele and Cosmina, Cosmina was content to head off to Jaeger HQ. Tatsumi noted that the day was Sunday and which was an annoyance because if it had been Monday he could have gotten his Teigus back and make the attack on bandits that night easier, he wasn't going to make Najenda wait a day though just for that the last thing he wanted was for more people to fall victim to those criminals so he resolved to do his best.

Sheele lead him to Grundewick Manor so they could have breakfast, as much as he loved the breakfast on offer at Spear's house he wasn't going to pass up a shot at his mother-in-law's Peanut butter cookies. If you could call Angela Grundel a mother-in-law she was much like the mother he never had, his adoptive mother hadn't been most motherly person as she was always snarky and focused on practical things allowing him to survive but not really have much fun, Angela was different she was very much a motherly woman what with the way she treated him, she treated him like her own son like the son she never had the chance to have with Constantine; in a way every good thing about her carried over to Aria which was something he was happy about because Aria was going to be a loving mother like her own mother, which was all he needed. Tatsumi walked in the door and came to table he was surprised when Mine of all people parked herself in her chair next to him specifically him as Sheele sat on the opposite side of the table. Mine was of course just giving her usual expression as she plated up her breakfast Tatsumi did the same, he noted she wasn't in a hurry to eat which was unusual, she usually ate faster then this, also there was the fact she kept looking at him whenever she thought he wasn't looking, something was up with her. "That can't mean no- no way- that would be to crazy, Mine of all people" Tatsumi thought to himself about her behavior, then he remembered he was married to Esdeath the so called unclaimable Ice Queen that wanted only one person for her affections and killed people she deemed unworthy or scared them off yet he was married to her, with all the craziness that had occurred since he arrived in the Capital he was forced to admit that nothing was impossible, he felt a pinch of his rear, noted noted Mine out of the corner of his eyes trying to conceal a smirk of "I got away with that." Tatsumi took a bite out of a Peanut butter cookie and realized something about Mine "She's a Pervert! That's why she's always calls me that, she's trying to vent her secret frustrations thru name calling, and she's teasing me, which means she's clearly into me as much as she's smug about it" Tatsumi thought to himself, Mine pinched his tail again and again, Tatsumi was timing her and decided when she went for her next pinch he would catch her in the act. He ate another cookie, Mine had finished her food but was not done with her cookies, she ate those slowly, then she went for another pinch and Tatsumi caught her hand, it was soft to feel; he turned to her and smirked, Mine pouted and freed her hand from his grip, he winked at her saying "I get the message you like me"

Later in the day at Night Raid HQ…. Mine had set up a large number of pumpkins for target practice and was ready to begin. "Roman Artilery: Pumpkin, Sniper mode" Mine stated and the large massive firearm configured itself into its sniper mode which added a scope and smoothed out the barrel of the gun.

"Mine you up for some competition" Najenda stated, Mine turned in addition to her usual getup of her custom black suit she wore a trench coat and her hair which she had grown out in a braid, she had with her an M-24 sniper rifle, at her side were two Desert Eagle pistols covered with silver plating which was enameled with Electrum; gifts for her promotion to general.

"Please you're challenging the Goddess Sniper to a shooting competition bring it: I'll leave a few" Mine snarked, Najenda smirked and knelled next to her with the M-24 in hand, before Mine could fire several of the pumpkins blew up in quick succession, more were destroyed quicker then she could pull the trigger, when she did get around to firing Pumpkin she had little left to destroy.

"I count 28 Pumpkins blown up on my end" Najenda stated. "How many did you get Mine?" Najenda asked as they both stood up.

"6" Mine snarked. "How the hell are you that fast and how do you have that many rounds in you magazine, if I used a gun like that and I have it doesn't carry that many rounds" Mine asked.

"I used an expanded magazine: don't think just because I didn' go out as much that I've gotten rusty at shooting, in fact having one eye allowed me to focus my efforts on this high-quality scope" Najenda explained slinging her rifle against her shoulder. "The time is coming soon for the mission I want you to get everyone together for a briefing" Najenda ordered. "Also Mine it helps to have something to focus your rifle even with Pumpkin" Najenda stated, Mine left to do as Najenda stated but she stopped at the armory first, she then picked up a triangular shield which was heavy but made out titanium, a book she read told her that a marksmens shield allows for a limit protection and to steady the weapon for an improved aim, she then went to everyone and called them to the main briefing hall.

Shortly.. "Alright Men, women, we have a dangerous mission, a high-ranking supporter of the Revolution a secret one has given us the mission to eliminate a particularly dangerous group of bandits they are well armed using imperial weapons and armor, they are in the pay of the Minister of the Treasury who is is making a cut off them so they can harass trade caravans which they then rob, a cut goes to the Minister who has supported their operations for a bigger cut of the profits; recently they were inducted falsely as Imperial Rangers and as former member of the Imperial Ranger corp I take this as a horrid insult; because of the danger of this mission the team will be an eight-man team: that team will be compossed of Tatsumi, Mine, Sheele, Akame, Poney, Tsukushi, Bulat and myself; Lubbock will be standing by with Corniella, Merraid and Gilberda as back up team that will deal with any routers and reinforce if need be" Najenda explained, most of the people were surprised including Mine and Sheele that Najenda was going to be joining them on the mission, but it should have been expected as she was no longer hindered by her previous limitations.

"Are you sure about this boss?" Poney asked, holding her glaive with concern.

"I'm confident in it, I'm more then capable of handling myself" Najenda stated.

"I'm with you Najenda, I won't leave your side" Tatsumi added.

"I'm glad you believe in me at least Tatsumi" Najenda stated and kissed her husband on the lips. "Aria and Chelsea have obtained a complete map of the enemy base, also they have done a head count, there are 75 bandits and they are well armed, but while they may dress as Rangers they aren't trained like rangers, they are robbers and cutpurses we will show them why they fear the Night, I want everyone to be ready for this" Najenda stated and each person went to make the nessecary preparations.

That night… The Night Raid strike team stood on a high cliff overlooking the bandit camp, it was actually well fortified and had a number of fine wooden structures a number of guards were out and about as were a few guys around the campfire. "This is all too easy" Mine stated getting Pumpkin and her shield mount off her back, she wore a black catsuit it was made out of reinforced carbon fiber and Kevlar, it was also was near skin tight, she wore a black head band in her hair and painted war marks from those of the Western tribes on her face with charcoal, she then set up a sniper position on the cliff. "Someone has to watch my back, any volunteers" Mine stated, Penoy stood next to her with her glaive, the rest of the team moved off, Bulat activated Incursio covering himself in the armor and readying the spear, Tsukushi drew both of her pistols while Sheele began to dash with Extase and Akame keeping up with her, Tatsumi sticked with Najenda who had readied her modifyed Saiga shot-gun. The group split and dashed.

Mine gave them a ten second head start. "Lets begin" Mine stated and focused the scope on an enemy sniper which was in a tower. "You're dead" Mine stated and fired, the pink round spun across the valley blowing the target in half and knocking the other half out the tower, the bandits were shocked by this, and stood like morans. "You're dead" Mine stated, firing, another blown up body. "You're dead too" Mine stated fired again dropping another bandit, one ran off towards a nearby cave. "Oh you're so dead" Mine stated and fired again killing the enemy as he ran blowing his head off. As Mine continued her kill streak the Bandits moved her for cover, one of the bandits with a machine gun charged into the forest.

"Eliminate!" Akame proclaimed and decapitated the man, then dodged oncoming shots, the man who fired at Akame was sliced in half by Extase and his torso went flying hitting two more robbers who were charging.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized then turned to the two stunned enemies. "I'm sorry" Sheele apologized and cut the first man in half, the second man was stunned and he saw only a blurred purple shadow infront of him. "I'm sorry" Sheele apologized before cutting his head off, she then darted into a group of five more men who had readied as a firing line, dodged the bullets with super human speed, and apologized to each as she cut them down, a man came up from behind Sheele but had his head blown off by Pumpkin, a tall bandit came charging with an axe when Bulat clad in Incursio dropped down in front of him and speared him on Incursio's spear he then threw the corpse at another enemy which was bisected by Akame. By this point Tatsumi, Najenda, and Tsukushi had caught up with the others, both women went of to either sides pistols blazing while Tatsumi charged with his Greatsword, a brigand was blown in half by one of Najenda's Saiga another met the same fate Tsukushi was dropping man after man, also from the cliff Mine had stopped firing and she and Poney were charging towards the main gates.

"Roman Artilery: Pumpkin Assualt mode!" Mine shouted the rifle turned into a large heavy carbine, as she and Poney rushed in. By this point the remaining bandits were grouping up and had fallen back into the cave, which according to Aria was a large cavern that served as their main base and it was well fortified inside pass the entry way.

"Alright team this isn't over yet" Najenda stated. "Bulat scout ahead, see how good they fare against Incursio's protection and get a fix on their positions" Najenda ordered.

"On it boss" Bulat stated and rushed into the cavern with the spear ready.

"Good Mine you've switched over to Pumpkin's assault mode, it will be needed here" Najenda complimented. "Alright teams of two, Tatsumi you're with me, Mine your with Sheele, Akame you're with Poney, and Tsukushi you'll be with Bulat" Najenda briefed, Bulat came back with minor dents in his armor.

"Boss they are dug in deeper then a nest of Fire wyrms" Bulat stated. "There were about seven guys ahead, and three more on an outcropping, their gunfire gave away their positions, but I'll bet they've moved a bit" Bulat stated.

"Bulat you're with Tsukushi, alright you all know what to do: let's show these Bastards why they fear the Night" Najenda stated and group charged into the cavern, the nest of bandits was pretty deep everyone dodged to the side to allow Bulat to tank the hits with Incursio, Tatsumi regreted even more not having Smaug so that he could act as a second tank and bring the flame, Sheele charged ahead speeding past rounds and running along the cavern wall as she lept and brought down Extase on two enemy gunners, Tsukushi dodged and weaved and fired rounds into the enemies on crag catwalk, Mine sprayed the same catwalk, and five bodies fell limp.

Tatsumi cut a man in half as Najenda shot two more in the heads with her Saiga causing their heads to blow up like watermellons, Poney then speared another enemy jumped over rounds and snapped the neck of another enemy with her momentum crashing down on him and caving in his wind pipe and drove her glaive into another enemy "Fear the Night!" Poney yelled and was joined in by the other members, the remaining bandits cut and retreated further back into the cave as Mine charged after them spraying them down with pink energy rounds, she then charged further in.

"Die Mother-Fuckers! Die! FEAR THE NIGHT!" Mine yelled as she ran off

"We got to keep up with her or she'll get herself killed" Tatsumi stated then ran after her.

Mine yelled grunts of rage as she was in berserk fury and was running towards routing enemies with all the rage of Han Solo on the Death Star, and like Han Solo into a large group of enemies but in this case instead of a hanger bay filled with Stormtroopers she came to a lit cavern room with twenty enemies and fired, the enemies fired back she dodged and sprayed more rounds causing them to fall. "YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! YOUR DEAD! DIE! AND DIE! AND DIE! DIE! ALL YOU MOTHER-FUCKERS CAN FUCKING DIE!" Mine yelled as she sprayed them down her face down right demonic like a certain secret mastermind from the Dragonropa series as she sprayed enemies, as she charged into the room one came at her with a dagger to her throat.

"Put the Gun down you crazy Bitch!" the Bandit stated, Mine was shocked but before she could comply the Bandit's demands he was cleaved in half by Tatsumi with his greatsword.

"Thank me later" Tatsumi remarked then cut down another enemy, Mine came out of her haze of bloodlust and was now relaxed shooting the enemies in controlled bursts; blasting them to bits, the group pushed deeper and deeper into the caves killing each bandit down to the last, which tried to kill Tatsumi with a great-axe before his face was blown up and body blown back one Najenda's Desert Eagles, having exhausted all the ammo for her shotgun. "Alright that's the last of them" Tatsumi stated.

"Double check everyone, search the caverns for any more, then after that we search the caves for anything of value we can use and on top of that any evidence connecting this back to the Minister for Finannce" Najenda ordered, the group did so sweeping the caves clean, they then searched the caverns made off with a large amount of goods and other valuables taken by the robbers which they took to a nearby wagon, then then saw to counting and pilling up the dead robbers. At the end of it all there were 172 dead robbers, apperantly Aria and Chelsea's numbers had been wrong, the also found a number of people held captive whom they freed and told them not to forget what they'd done and vectored them to Grundewick Manor after returning any stolen valuables to them; they then returned to base.

Later… Tatsumi dressed after taking a bath, he had just finished putting on his pajamas when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"It's me" Sheele stated.

"Come in" Tatsumi invited, the door opened and Sheele stood in the doorway in her purple night gown and stockings, she was joined by Mine who wore an aqua nightgown and leg warmers.

"Mine has something she wants to tell you" Sheele state shutting the door behind them and locking it.

Mine stood there impassively with her neutral expression. "Come on Mine we already discussed this, you agreed to do this it's time" Sheele stated.

Mine steamed then relaxed. "Alright Mine don't hold back you can do this" she mentally reassured herself. "Tatsumi, We've know each other for a while and we've been friends I say loosely, I- you are one of the most interesting men I've ever met, you aren't a pervert I am, I just call you that to make me feel better, the truth is Tatsumi I, I- I lo- oh fuck it" Mine stated and rushed up and kissed him, Tatsumi was shocked that his jaw dropped, she took the advantage to slip her tongue in as she gropped his bum, she soon broke the kiss. "I love you Tatsumi I fucking love you, I really do, you are the most badass mother-fucker I've ever had the opertunity to fight alongside, you've saved the lives of so many people, heck you even helped Sheele get out of her shell, I want you, and only you; You saved my life and I've, I've dreamed of this, I say your name when I masturbate, I'm going to do it here and now, Sheele and I going to give the romp of your life and when it's over we're going to do it again until we all pass out in your bed" Mine stated then pulled off her night gown she wore no underwear underneath; she decided that that tonight was the night, and as much as a part of her wanted to back out she had taken that part of her blasted it to death with Pumpkin no regrets all that was there was a love for Tatsumi, she kissed him passionately, while Sheele stripped and removed Tatsumi's clothes for him, unbuttoning his top and removing his pants and boxers, she then lead both of them to bed.

Mine readed herself no foreplay, no warm ups she was going to have him bang her hard and rough in pussy; she impaled herself on his length throwing her virginity to the side, as she kissed him, Sheele licked Tatsumi's balls, Tatsumi broke the kiss and drank from Mine's CC-cup breasts. Mine moaned in bliss and euphoria, she had finally mustered up the courage to tell her crush how much she loved him and now she was finally fulfilling her wet dreams, nothing ever to note. She kissed him on the forehead her pink lipstick leaving a mark, she then pushed him back and kissed him full on the lips as she ruffed Tatsumi, she liked it rough and Tatsumi gave it to her rough all the while Sheele licked his balls and she then crawled over and kissed her allowing Tatsumi to drink from her much larger breasts, Mine smiled her pink eyes shining bright as the Tatsumi came, she came too, from their union new life was in the making. Tatsumi then pulled out and spread Mine's huge cute ass and road it hard and rough like a sabertooth tiger, while kissing Sheele, who giggled as Tatsumi's tongue went in, Mine herself moaned. "Tatsu-kun Tatsumi! Fuck me! Fuck me Hard! I'm your Bitch to fuck whenever you want to!" Mine exclaimed in pleasure as she turned and enjoyed the thrusts. "And Sheele I don't Fucking care how many fucking coins I'm going to have to put your fucking jar! All I care about is fucking and getting fucked by the man I love" Mine exclaimed looked at her.

"Mine you aren't a bitch, you're a beautiful woman that cares for her friends and is really protective of those she loves and love me more then anyone else on Earth" Tatsumi replied.

"You're right Tatsumi I'm you forever girl and nothing will ever change that, not even if we die and reborn on diffirent worlds will we be separated we will always find a way back to eachother" Mine agreed as Tatsumi once again came inside her, he then pulled out and entered Sheele, and allowing Mine to sit on his face, he demonstrated that his tongue was equally as good as his dick at pleasuring a woman.

"I'm keeping count of how many bad words you say, so far not counting the mission your up to 47" Sheele teased, Mine kissed her.

"Shut it, Sheele, I'll show you how much I love you too" Mine stated and kissed Sheele inserting her tongue into her while pressing her breasts against Sheele's both of them being pleasured by Tatsumi on either end, the pleasure was intense and soon both girls orgasmed Tatsumi did likewise filling Sheele again while he licked up Mine's juices, the two swapped position but Mine instead of mount his length decided to blow it, Sheele joined her in this helping her to do it properly, Mine's breasts were just big enough to massage his length granted Sheele had the same idea of course she did, but given that Sheele had bigger boobs then her Mine figured that was the first thing she did for him which she was right about, overall Tatsumi came rapidly because of their added stimulation, Mine and Sheele still having not reached that level yet, Mine once again mounted his length this time with no pain she then drink from Sheele's breasts something which Sheele moaned about, Mine really hadn't had the option to do so in her life because her mother hadn't been that stacked, Sheele however was a goddess. "No Mine she's your friend and future sister in law you love her but not as much as Tatsumi- still though she is fun and we could do this when he's not around but- who am I kidding we sleep in the same house as him and as soon as he and Aria buy the place they have their eyes on you'll move in with them- still though when the two of us are by ourselves in private why not" Mine stated, she had resolved that while she and Sheele would on occasion have sex with each other they were just friends and it was part of their relationship with Tatsumi that way they never were jealous of each other. "Still though when I have a daughter I'm naming her Sheele" Mine thought and smiled as she drank.

Sheele orgasmed and Tatsumi did as well causing them to alternate form again this time he rode Sheele's ass and kissed Mine while massaging her soft breasts he rode Sheele like he did he previous afternoon, night and earlier that morning the tightness of Sheele was not surprise to him, he was enjoying it and in 3 minutes he came inside her rump and pulled out leaving both Mine and Sheele to look at him practicaly asking for what they were going to do next. Tatsumi then had an idea for something else and grabbed both Mine and Sheele and pressed the two against him so he was as close as he could get to be in both of them at the same time all while the two clung to him and he held them close to his chest, he couldn't take much more he was tiring and he passed out, both Mine and Sheele smiled and kissed eachother and made out for a bit before taking the blanket and wrapping it around him and themselves, then wrapped their arms around him.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Doctor's Designs

Tatsumi awoke from a slumber to a mess of pink hair. "Holy Crap I actually did it with Mine" Tatsumi mentally commented, he had expected that to have been a dream however his doubts were smashed by the pink hair in his face also the fact his hands were wrapped around her. He looked to the other side to notice Sheele awake and looking at him smiling. "Good morning" Tatsumi greeted.

"Good Morning Tatsumi-kun" Sheele greeted, Tatsumi blushed at the fact she wore nothing save those sleeves she usually wore with her Cheongsan, he tried to move but found himself embedded in Mine's rear from last night.

Shortly…

"Man that really did happen, I never thought Mine would ever straight up admit she loved me and then immediately prove it by doing me" Tatsumi stated, they had left Mine sleeping in his bed, she was a heavy sleeper and Tatsumi was not going to wake her up for fear of prevoking her tsundere ire. "I've got to get going, Esdeath will want me to give her the good news, in fact I bet that whole mess has the Capital stirred up" Tatsumi added to Sheele.

"Good Luck Tatsumi-kun please be careful" Sheele replied.

"Don't worry I will be" Tatsumi reassured, he darted out of the base but didn't get to far before he ran into Chelsea, literally causing both of them to fall flat and causing Gaea Foundation to spill it's contents. "Sorry" Tatsumi apologized helping Chelsea back up.

"It's fine I'm ok, Tatsumi heading off?" Chelsea asked.

"Yep, I've got to get to Jaeger HQ Esdeath will be quite interested in the news of last night's attack" Tatsumi replied then noted that she was wearing a Rapier. "Chelsea, that's new" Tatsumi added.

"Oh this, this old thing, I've had it for a few years now, I've used it before when it was just the seven of us Oarbough Clan members on our own, but since I've taken to spying work under Night Raid I've not taken it with me for a while" Chelsea explained.

"Why are you wearing it now?" Tatsumi asked.

"Call it a gut instinct but something tells me I'll need it, besides Gaea Foundation isn't the end all be all of weapons, in fact it's not a conventional weapon so I can't rely on it for prolongued fights" Chelsea replied.

"Hey Chelsea, I want you to keep an eye on Honest's political allies, I think it's time for marking future targets, you'll need the sword, I want you to survey them blend in as one of the guards, poke around I want you to look into anything related to Honest, unless Najenda has any other priorities this is the most important thing we can do, if we take out Honest's allies we isolate him, we take out him the war is over" Tatsumi requested.

"I can do that anything else?" Chelsea asked.

"Disregard any missions against the Jaegers, I don't care what the higher ups think, they have too much potential as an ally then anything else" Tatsumi stated.

"You really trust Esdeath that much?" Chelsea asked,

"Yes and if she's lying I won't be back, but I seriously doubt it she is my wife now and that counts for a lot" Tatsumi stated.

"Just be careful" Chelsea replied.

"Don't worry, I'm not worried even if I have to fight 30 Class A Danger Beasts at once I'll be careful and safe" Tatsumi joked, as if on que they heard the snarling of a large creature and out of the ground a large fully-grown Earth Dragon emerged and let out a roar. "Great a warm up exersize" Tatsumi commented drawing his sword.

"I'm up for it" Chelsea stated drawing her rapier and assuming an offensive posture, they waited for the beast to commit it's strike only to jump out of way from the attack and leap on the claw, Tatsumi sliced the the claw while Chelsea and him charged up the outstretched him, the beast howled in anger and attempted to swat them only for them dart up to behind the back of the creature's head, Tatsumi and Chelsea darted over slicing exposed parts of flesh dealing damage, Chelsea then climbed up to the chink in the back of the neck and thrusted her sword in, the blade tore deep, then tore the underskin connected the carapace of the creature as Tatsumi sliced the flanks, the Earth Dragon roared in agony, Chelsea then climbed the beasts neck to the top of the head and stabbed the blade repeatedly into the beasts' skull piercing the brain and causing it to collapse.

"They don't make Class A danger beasts like they used to" Tatsumi remarked.

"That was epic, you know I haven't had a fight like that in a while, you should take me with you and Akame when you guys go danger beast hunting" Chelsea commented.

They continued onward to the city gates without incident after arriving they went their sepperate ways, Tatsumi to Jaeger HQ and Chelsea to do her spying, mentally Tatsumi worried about Chelsea considering the consquences were she caught as a spy, the visual of her severed head from his nightmare came to mind and he immediately flung that mental image out his head by focusing a calming image of Aria in her underwear, that cheered him up, the amount of stress this put on him would have been enough to cause a lesser man to start drinking, not something Tatsumi intended to do, mainly because being around Leone and fighting to keep her sober was enough to make him worry, the big concern with regard to her was making sure that she had a healthy child, because if she did get pregnant he had no desire for their child to be, malformed or a stillbirth just because Leone wouldn't point down the bottle for nine months.

Tatsumi soon arrived at Jaeger HQ and was determined to keep himself steady, if Esdeath intended to have him held captive to draw out Night Raid and kill the other members she's be waiting for him at the front desk with the entire membership of the Jaegers to detain him. Fortunately as he walked in he had no such worries, the receptionist was at his desk doing the tasks that his job entailed, Tatsumi continued on, half expecting Cosmina to tackle him in a flying glomp.

Tatsumi was half right about the glomp only it wasn't Cosmina it was Esdeath herself. "TATSU-BUNNY! I have wonderful news you have to be the first to see it" the Empire's finest explained, Tatsumi blushed and followed her to her office where he sat down next to her. "Alright stay there for a second Tatsu-bunny, and I will show you, I've finally figured it out" Esdeath excitedly declared, she then turned to a closet and went in coming out with four different outfits. "I've finally figured out our uniforms, there are five of them I know you see four at the moment that's because five is heavy" Esdeath stated then went thru them. "This is casual attire we'll be wearing it at the base usually or out in the field" Esdeath explained showing him a green and blue uniform with gold trimming before showing him the next one. "This is formal wear" Esdeath stated showing of a white dress shirt with a black suit jacket and pants. "This is for training" Esdeath explained showing of a red tracksuit with golden trim like the normal uniform. "This is the military ceremonial dress uniform, I know it looks a lot like the first one the difference is that one is made of heavy duty fabrics to withstand the abuse that comes of the job, this is much softer and way more suited for the role of ceremonies, also I made a custom feature of a conceled dagger, just in case of someone wanting to assassinate you at a formal gathering" Esdeath explained.

"What about the fifth one?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll get that one, hold these" Esdeath stated dropping the uniforms in his hands, she then came back with a maniquen on wheeled cart, said maniquen was clad in a fairly impressive suit of armor, it was made of many interlocking plates which connected to a central curiass, the armor was made out triple-reinforced titanium but it was overlayed with brass: the armor when put on would offer full coverage, the helmet for the set was a crested sallet. "This is our combat armor its made of the highest quality materials avalible within the Empire, I'd loved to have used that impressive alloy the Easterners use to make firearms near useless but the war with them has cut off the supply of it, not that Easterners would make armor for the Imperial Military even if you paid them a room full of gold, any way this armor will be for dedicated combat missions, it is lightweight and fluid, I'd love to get a higher grade material but barring the acquisition of an Eastern smith and the metel they use to make the armor or a supply of the metel used to make Teigus this is the best we will have; granted I'm sure your Teigu's armor will offer protection and Grand Chariot will protect Wave but other members of the group will need that protection: so what do you think?" Esdeath asked.

"Well if I'm honest I like it, question though why the blue and green color scheme?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well the colors are those of our eyes my beloved Tatsumi, you are my equal in regards to leadership in the Jaegers and thus I wanted these uniforms to represent our undying love" Esdeath explained.

"Thanks so how long until you'll get these for everyone?" Tatsumi asked.

"About a few weeks, give or take, I'll need to have smiths work the finest quality possible and I want the tailors to do their best, I don't want anything less for our lovely uniforms" Esdeath replied. "Now how are Tatsumi, anything interesting happen?" Esdeath stated.

"Well remember that problem about bandits disguised as army rangers you couldn't deal with, well that problem is solved, also I found this at their base" Tatsumi explained and pulled out a series of letters and documents.

"Interesting very much so, I do believe the Minister for the Treasury will soon be out of a job and a head: that makes things easier, I'll deliver this information to the Emperor, he'll be quite likely to deal with a problem if I just ask" Esdeath replied after looking over the documents, "Yes very telling these are just perfect blackmail material, were this any other politicion this would allow you control of him, but in this case it will only serve to incriminate him; you and your 'friends' have done an excellent job; anyway for today I have no need of you, Dr Dorothea has informed me you would be participating in a number of tests, good luck" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi left her office then the building and headed for Dorothea's lab.

Meanwhile… Sayo and Aria had gone shopping yet again and with her sisters, this was a lot easier then normal as Sayo was allowed to take a more focused effort on her shopping then normal as Aria was too busy with her sisters to disrupt Sayo's fine tuned shopping senses. "How much for this?" Sayo asked a merchant showing him a necklace made of pearls with garnets hanging from it.

"About 500 gold no less these are from the South Lands" the Merchant stated, Sayo looked at the product and noted that the necklace was off, the pearls didn't really have a luster to them and the garnets well, she took one look and saw a crack in one.

"No thanks, 500 gold a necklace made of beads and red glass I'll pass on it" Sayo stated.

"But wait I assure these are genuine pearls and garnets" the Merchant tried.

"No I'll show you" Sayo stated and to make a point drew one of her knives and drove the pommel onto one of 'garnets' shattering it. "You are nothing but a con man I'm going to find a more legitmate merchant" Sayo retored leaving the merchant to cry at his lost profits. Sayo turned to a more reputable merchant who was from the city itself, also the merchant was backed by Aria on the quality department, Sayo looked around and turned to notice someone. That someone was a tall young man about her age he was handsome though not as handsome as Tatsumi in her honest opinion, he had short fine-combed blonde hair, blue eyes, fine short mustache, and wore a green suit jacket over a whiteshirt with a bow-tie, his pants were black, he had a sword at his side.

"Good morning" the young man greeted.

"Morning" Sayo replied.

"What is an angel such as yourself doing on a fine day as this?" the young man asked.

"Shopping for jewelry, also don't bother flirting I'm married" Sayo shot down flashing her wedding ring at him.

"Shame, a woman such as you must have married a fine young-man of fine noble stock" the young man.

"No, he like me is from the countryside, we've been friends for years and only tied the knot a few days ago" Sayo replied.

"Indeed and where did one such as yourself come by on such money to afford this?" The young man asked.

"He married two noble girls before marrying me; Don't ask I'm not jealous one of them happens to be my best friend; you never gave me your name" Sayo replied.

"Richard, Richard Harwick, glad to meet someone such as yourself madame?" Richard explained.

"Sayo, no last name, though that is normal no grand names in my family history, my parents are hunters by trade, I also happen to be one alongside my brother" Sayo replied.

"Indeed that's even more interesting, not only are you beautiful but strong and independent" Richard remarked.

"Yes I am, I'll take this, and these, and these" Sayo stated talking half to Richard and half to the merchant whom she just gave a decent amount of gold to in exchange.

"Sayo I remember your name from somewhere- ah are you the Sayo who won the Archery tournament a week and half ago?" Richard asked.

"Yes, and I must be going" Sayo stated started to leave.

"Wait, I must invite you over to my Father's mansion for dinner, bring your friends and family tomorrow night alright?" Richard invited.

"Alright well I have a map of the capital mark the place and maybe we'll come over, maybe" Sayo stated with a wink, pulling out a map, he marked the location with a pen from his jacket pocket, then looked at his pocket watch.

"Farewell Sayo" Richard stated and left.

"That was weird, something about him was off I don't like it, well we'll come it would be rude to reject an invitation" Sayo thought to herself, she then thought father's mansion. "Wait he said it was his father's home I wonder I've got to think this thru, my gut tells me something is up that guy has the hots for me and something tells me I've got-" Sayo stated when she noted Tatsumi walk thru the market square and accidently bump in Richard.

"Watch where you are going!" Richard snapped.

"Sorry" Tatsumi apologized.

"I should think so" Richard stated.

"Sayo!" Tatsumi exclaimed and ran to hug her.

"Tatsumi-kun" Sayo greeted and kissed him, Richard watched the scene with interest, the man carried himself with a noble posture and wore fine clothing but he could tell a country born person when he saw it.

"Him? She- he can't be, his hair its, so fine and eyes, green eyes so rare, this is infuriating, someone so fair as her to married to a hick like him that's- calm down Richard, keep your composure, earn his trust, earn their trust and kill him, take her as your personal bed slave and you'll do fine- yes you will" Richard thought mentally, then smirked at the number of possible ways to make Tatsumi suffered, he was going to possess that lovely Sayo and anyone who stood in his way would die, he didn't care who or what went against him, he then continued on leaving the lovey-dovy couple to their business.

Aria approached Sayo and Tatsumi who were currently in a romantic kiss. "Mind if I cut in?" Aria greeted.

"Oh Aria, my bad we were just- Tatsumi what are you doing here I thought you said you were heading to Jaeger HQ?" Sayo replied.

"I went there and Esdeath gave me the day pretty much off, I still have to visit Dorothea to pick up my Teigus so I'll be gone for a few hours, Dorothea said after she was done with them she'd run some on me" Tatsumi explained.

"Well hopefully you come back with your limbs intact, I'd hate to think what would happen if she were like Stylish" Aria commented.

"Don't worry Dorothea's nice, she actually considered Stylish a savage that if she herself had ran into while he was alive would ripped his throat out" Tatsumi explained.

"Still be careful" Aria remarked.

Tatsumi left the two be. "So Sayo what did you get?" Aria asked.

"This beauties, they're perfect for the formal dress I bought last week" Sayo explained.

"Interesting anything happen?" Aria asked.

"Oh we've been invited to dinner tomorrow night by this guy, he clearly has a crush on me I don't feel like going just because I don't like the fact he still is interested in me despite me being married" Sayo stated.

"Don't worry Sayo, if you don't want to go you don't have to, besides there are other things we can do" Aria replied.

"Like more shopping?" Sayo asked.

"Exactly, and after that we can go to Umatora theater I'd like to see the Sabatini show now that Champ is out of the picture and see if its better without him" Aria stated.

"They're still in town?" Sayo asked.

"Yep they will actually be here all winter, the Ringmaster announced they were staying in town, they planned to head north in the spring to tour the new proviences: I think they want to avoid both the snow and the unrest from the conquest I'm not sure the Northern tribe are overly found of the new government" Aria explained.

"I don't think they'll rebel anytime soon from what I heard about the details of the conquest I don't think they'll have an army to fight with for decades: Esdeath was very through with that conquest" Sayo stated.

"That was a guarantee, why do you think that Honest sent her there in the first place, Esdeath makes sure that if a war is won it stays that way" Aria stated.

"I don't understand the slaughter though" Sayo stated.

"Sayo what would happen if you beat an enemy in the fight after he bullied you?" Aria asked.

"I would think they'd have learned the lesson and wouldn't try again so I'd leave him there" Sayo stated.

"Well Esdeath doesn't think like that, her approach is knocking the enemy down wins the first fight she then kills the enemy while he's down to make sure he doesn't fight her again" Aria explained.

"I still don't understand it" Sayo replied.

"I'll explain it to you in better detail later" Aria remarked. "Now let's continue shopping" she added.

Later… At the palace Honest was pleased to run into person he needed for both phase 2 and 3 of his deal with Valtor, his son Eugene; the boy was of similar build to his late brother Syura but had a mustache regardless he was just as capable as his younger brother who shared the same mother and Honest considered it a shame to have to give up such a promising son to his demon master but a deal was a deal and Honest made sure to keep those he made with demons; as they were not ones you could back out of. "A Eugene, just the person I needed to see my boy, I have an important task for you" Honest greeted.

"Alright father what is it you have need of me to do, hopefully it will actually be fun" Eugene replied in a German accent.

"Don't worry for this one you will be richly rewarded, our master demands a sacrifice of one-hundred virgin women, I want you to acquire 100 of them, do not despoil them they are for our Lord Beneath the Earth: I want them brought to the Alter in Blackclutch Forest with not one hair out of place, you are not to harm a single hair on their heads, that goes to you and whatever cultists you take with you, anyone who fails to follow this order well they'll suffer a terrible fate; Understood?" Honest explained.

"Yes Father I will do as you command anything else?" Eugene asked.

"Yes summon me when they have arrived I will begin the ritual and you will participate, at the conclusion of the ceremony you will have received one of the highest honers possible for your service" Honest explained.

"I will do as you command, it will take me a few hours but I will see you tonight" Eugene explainded.

"Good" Honest stated and smirked.

As Honest was laying the seeds for his next scheme Tatsumi was navigating an alternate route to Dorothea's lab, the usual rout was blocked by a building that had collapsed due to flaws in the foundation and in the overall project as a whole, as such he was forced to cut thru the slums, and in this case literally cut thru them as numerous thugs wanted to rob him, the result of these encounters left severed limbs and heads on the ground at infrequent moments, despite his kills it didn't seem to dent the population of parasites that profited off the misfortune of others as more crooks and cutpurses would replace the ones he killed which really didn't help his opinion. "If I ever became in charge of the city I'd clean these slums up" Tatsumi thought, then considered the likelihood of that happening and laughed mentally knowing he had a better chance of being struck by lightning and surviving then he had of being the big cheese of a capital.

With more grit and killing then Tatsumi had expected he arrived at Dorothea's lab his normally fine clothes stained with blood from the slain criminals who had attempted to deprive him of his possessions and life, he knocked on the door and the door was opened by a remote control, the metal door slid open allowing him to pass. He entered the laboratory and noted Dorothea wasn't at work at the moment, most likely handling other experiments as the facility was quite extensive and the Doctor had a number of projects going on unrelated to his current Teigus or to anything of import to him, so he sat down in a nearby chair.

Shortly Dorothea returned, in place of her usual blue dress she wore a white labcoat and blue blouse with sweets, her orange eyes sparkled, Tatsumi noted that if it weren't for the eyes she'd look too much like Aria. "Ah Tatsumi right on time; I was afraid I'd have to send Cosmina to fetch you" Dorothea greeted.

"Speaking off" Tatsumi was going to ask.

"She is out shopping for the day, which is good because I can't have her disrupt my experiments speaking of I've learned some interesting things about your Teigus if you'd follow me" Dorothea explained, Tatsumi followed her, she lead him down a number of halls to a large open room, the walls were scorched and cut. "Don't mind the shape of the room: I've done some combat testing and the walls show the results; at the moment I've been unable to get their potentials unleashed, most likely due to the fact that they require their user to be controlled, however I've done some other tests; carbon dating puts them back to the reign of the Dragon Emperor which was unsurprising however what was a surprise was the fact that they seem to respond fine to making contact with the other; the swords act as if they are desiged to work with each other exclusively" Dorothea explainded.

"So what else have you learned?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I have an interesting discovery, apperantly these swords have minds of their own but much more independent then that of a regular Teigu, they do however speak but most of what they say is in the Old Broadering Tongue which the Empire hasn't used 300 years, so I've not been able to decipher much of it" Dorothea explainded. "But what I have recorded and have deciphered speaks of conflicts from a long time ago, the sword Smaug speaks of deeds of the Dragon Emperor as a whole while Valruost focuses on his deeds in battle, from what I've learned here is rather extensive; mainly the wars fought by the Dragon Emperor once he attained these blades, according to Smaug the Emperor was a man of remarkable intelligence knowing how to force the enemy into making critical errors that allowed him to win fights, also he was shrewd enough to convince those under him to fight to extreme lengths, everything the Emperor did was with intent and strategy to play to a bigger picture; the peaceful parts of his reign weren't entirely peaceful as the Emperor would constantly go out and hunt the many outlaws and thieves that threatened the Empire's roads and villages he also crushed numerous internal threats from corrupt nobles to provincial uprisings, overall the Dragon Emperor was a wise and mighty ruler that lives up the legend from what I can gleem" Dorothea explained. "Now however I've done all I can with these swords, I've run all the tests that are safe to preform and now I need to preform tests on you; I need to see the effects these weapons are having on you and other people; also I've managed to gleam some parts of the construction process for Teigus but that required some persuasion and deciphering on my angle and I have yet to completely get a full access to it, however I am able to safely say that for the experiments involved with that process I will require the parts of danger Beasts; and not normal ones, Class A or higher, I need any materials for that research and so I'd like you to as soon we're done with the testing take Cosmina and the more capable of my new assistants to track down and acquire some suitable parts, I will want the most vital parts of any particular danger beast" Dorothea explained.

"Alright Doc let's take care of those tests you have for me and then I'll see about getting a hunting team ready" Tatsumi replied.

"Good now accompany me" Dorothea ordered, Tatsumi did so and was led to a large room with a number of humane medical tools at the center of it was a bed.

"Alright first things first I will require you lay down on that bed, I'm going to get the first of these tests out of the way, I will be taking a blood sample to check and see the effects on your blood" Dorothea explainded, Tatsumi did so, Dorothea brought over an empty IV for the purposes of storing blood with a two tube connection to drain it. Tatsumi pulled up his the sleeve of his arm, he expected Dorothea to inject a needle to break the skin and connect it to the IV tubes, he hadn't expect her to bite him hard in th right arm with the two fangs, she then drank some blood and released the arm which she inserted the two tubes that would drain the required blood.

"OUCH! WHAT THE HELL DOROTHEA!?" Tatsumi questioned.

"My apologies, its been a while since I last 'fed' my Teigu requires me to get sustianence, usually I can sate it with pigs blood but I've been so devoted to my work I neglecteted to do so and I couldn't control myself there, I just, sorry about that" Dorothea replied, with a sad face, Tatsumi glared at her, then conceded it was something she couldn't control.

"Ok well that's one way to draw blood" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry I'll refrain from doing so in the future" Dorothea responded, she felt something about him, raw power, the blood was unique while she had drained the bodies of outlaws who had attempted to rob her and condemned criminals this was different, the blood itself radiated energy, the same as the two Teigus but far more refined and- there was something else there something more. She thought on this while waiting for the packet to fill with Tatsumi's blood, Tatsumi was still in mixed feelings, part of him wanted to get as far from Dorothea as possible but the other wanted to stay, thinkings she was lonely.

Soon the IV did it's job and Dorothea detached it from Tatsumi and bandaged the wounds. "There that should do the job, now I'm going to have to give you some combat tests, I have prepared a room designed to take the abuse of a Teigu user, as such it should allow for complete tests, I be using pigs as a stand in for normal targets, this will allow me to gage the damage potential on a human, after that I have other tests for you" Dorothea explained, she then led Tatsumi out of the room. She then lead him to a nearby room which was set up for combat training, the room itself was the size of the gauntlet that Kurome had put him thru a couple days ago and was fitted with numerous targets consisting of pigs, both dead and living. "I will require you to preform numerous attacks with both weapons to each of the targets, use the Teigu's to their potential but not to maximum potential I want there to still be stuff to examine" Dorothea explained then shut the door behind him and went to nearby glass box overlooking the room. Tatsumi then activated the dragon armor, the red plates covered his body with a meneacing helmet with crest of a dragon's head atop it, the helmet provided complete coverage with lense allowing him to see clearly thru it.

"Smaug: Flaming sword of Rhuin!" Tatsumi shouted and the sword lit up in flame. "Valruost: Barbs of blood!" Tatsumi shouted and the bloody red straight blade sprouted notches designed to tear and bleed, Tatsumi then sliced the first target the dead body of a pig with Smaug, cutting clean thru and cooking the meat where it hit, the next target a live pig received a slash from Valruost which tore the flesh causing it to squeal which was quickly silenced by Smaug. Tatsumi carved thru the various targets hiting them with the weaker attacks which his Teigu's generated, granted he was improvising on the fly as both Teigu's gave him the words to use to get the desired result out of the weapons. He soon finished the task leaving roasted pigs across the room as he dismissed the armor and sheeved the blades.

"Impressive: that was a far more then was possible my tests, the damage here is extensive, suffice to say these are some of the most deadly Teigus in existance" Dorothea stated as she walked in the room, she then studied each of the carcasses, inspecting the damage, she was impressed at Tatsumi's desire to make his kills clean and efficient leaving plenty of material to analyze. "The targets struck by Smaug have been cooked clean thru and well-done, those hit by Valruost have extensive damage and there are a number of barbs in these wounds, the contrast between the damage is interesting" Dorothea remarked.

"More then she thinks" Valruost declared to Tatsumi mentally. "Tatsumi place my blade against your wound from earlier" Valruost requested, Tatsumi drew the sword to Dorothea's shock and pressed the flat of the blade against the skin, Tatsumi felt pain like his flesh was being grafted together which it was, he didn't know that. "There if you remove the bandage you will find your injury has completely healed: Tatsumi I know you worry about Dorothea however I have the ability to sense the blood inside a person her's shows only genuine concern and interest in your safety, and she expresses sincere regrets for her actions earlier" Valruost explainded. Tatsumi not exactly trusting the sword sheeved it and removed the bandage to a shock and concern of Dorothea only for both to be astonished by the healing.

"I've never seen this before, I've seen the use of regeneration thru my own successful experiements in the matter including the recent use on General Najenda; however I've never seen a Teigu with these powers inherent in it, I've heard tales of some existing however I've not seen one for my own eyes also that would explain the accounts of the Dragon Emperor managing to recover from wounds that would have felled a normal person miraciliously and I now know how he did it: he needed only to press the flat of the blade to injury and it would heal: I'm not sure how extensive the healing ability goes however and would caution you in using it, there may be drawbacks or wounds that it can't heal" Dorothea commented. "That is one test I hadn't thought of though, now for the other physical tests, I've only had the liberty of having one Teigu user to preform them and that was Cosmina" Dorothea explained.

"Here's a question how did you two partner up in the first place?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that has an interesting answer, well we met about 3 years ago after Cosmina had seen to the village that had tried to end her life, she was passed out in a stable without clothing, bleeding. and holding her Tiegu close to her, I have no idea what happened to her, the most she told me was something about pretty boys and a drinking contest, I can only assume she was taken advantage of while she was drunk, raped and left in the stables for dead, as to why they didn't take her Teigu I know that it would have burned their hands to touch it, so odds are they left it with her, I patched up her injuries and carried her to my inn room without anyone seeing then saw to clothing her in my spare clothing, when she woke up the next morning I explained what happened and after telling her repeatately we had not had intercourse of any kind she decided to tag along with me when I told her I was moving about since then she's been a reliable assistant and hasn't left my side. I have no idea why its probably because she either finds me attractive or is just interested in my wanderlust which is fitting because she doesn't have a home to return to: I take care of her, make sure she's in good help and paid her for her services as my assistant, granted she spent most of that money on 'pretty boys' as she calls them which I'm sure is just her way of saying prostitutes. I relized that this would be a problem the last thing I needed was my assistant getting pregnant and then having to care for her child in addition to all my other work: to counter that issue I simply created a device that would prevent her from having any children as long as she wore it, its that bracelet she usually wore, she's stopped wearing it now that you've come into her life and I worry about you getting her pregnant but given the fact she rambles nonstop about you when she's in the mood and hasn't talked to me about anyone else it is clear to me she is solely interested in you" Dorothea explained.

"So anything else I should know about Cosmina?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes but I would recommend you ask her: that reminds me I have a certain test that I needed her for which means I'll have to require a substitute: I'll require you to stay in this room for the time being" Dorothea explained then opened the door which was a furnished bedroom, he went inside and she left him there.

"Valruost tell me she doesn't have the thing planned for me I think she had planned for me" Tatsumi asked his Teigu mentally.

"If you are worried about her engaging in fucking you she has that a last resort opition, however that happens to be what is involved" Valruost explained.

"Wait if Cosmina's out who's she going have preform the test that isn't her?" Tatsumi asked.

"That is an interesting question to which the blood didn't answer, needless to say however Tatsumi she may have not been attracted to you before, when she drank your blood however she's extremely attracted to you, no doubt she won't let you leave until she's lost her maidenhood to you" Valruost replied.

"Great I thought she'd be a last person who want my dick, but I was wrong Again, which doesn't surprise me at all; I'm glad to have the ladies going after me but this is getting quickly absurd, almost as if drawing you has attracted them to me even more" Tatsumi replied.

"Manipulation of the minds of mortals is a power beyond me Tatsumi know this however I can sense their intentions whether they be good or ill and I can also gage the health of a person, I can heal the wounds of war but not the diseases of the flesh: so don't assume I can heal your father in law of his Cancer" Valruost replied to to him, shooting down something Tatsumi had considered.

As Tatsumi debated with his Teigu, Dorothea went to the quarters of one of the former members of Team Stylish now dubbed Team Dorothea: her name was Mimi and she was the only female member of the group: Mimi had long, green hair and green eyes. She wore a purple hairband and a black choker with an arrow-like piece hanging from it. She wore an orange outfit that exposed her shoulders and upper chest. This outfit had a purple line going across it. She like the other members of Team Dorothea were formerally minor convicts that had in place of facing death were givin to Stylish for experiments, Mimi had previously according to Stylish's files been a a theif who had robbed a prominent noble, she had been modified with body augments the most promenant being enhanced hearing, though her ears were normal sized they were capable of hearing equivalent to that of a canine, on top of that another modification was a partial labotamy which made her submissive and made her obedient to Stylish's orders, without take away their fighting instincts. As such Mimi was now loyal to Dorothea along with the other members of the team: Hana, Kaka, Me, Toby and Trooma. Of this team she was interestingly a virgin: Dorothea had preformed a physical on each of the members and she, Hana and Kaka were the only virgins in the group, something which was initially a surprise but a study of Stylish's files revealed he was a homosexual who used Me, Toby and Trooma for sexual relief, Hana, Kaka and Mimi were spared because Stylish didn't find them attractive. The fact that Stylish had partially lobotomized these people in addition to using three as essentially sex slaves made her blood boil and made her despise him even more: to a point where she was considering finding where his corpse was buried and running experiments of the unpleasant variety on it: however she had put that idea on the back burner as she did not want to get herself arrested for grave robbery.

"Mimi I have a task for you, it is for the sake of a scientific experiement, I would've had Cosmina do this but she is out shopping and thus unable to do so" Dorothea explained.

"What do need of me Mistress Dorothea: I will do as you command" Mimi replied in a silken voice.

"As much as it pains me to do this I require you to have intercourse with Tatsumi: I really don't want to but short of doing so myself I don't have any other options" Dorothea explained.

"I'll do so Mistress anything for you" Mimi replied.

"Are you sure I really don't want you doing anything against your own free will: especially with something such as this" Dorothea questioned.

"Why not, Tatsumi is an interesting guy and certainly a looker, Cosmina-san talks non stop about him I want to see how good he is for myself" Mimi replied, Dorothea was still conflicted, yes Mimi was doing this of her own free will but she was having her do this for the purposes of science, granted she had Cosmina do this sort of thing in the past but Cosmina was doing that completely of her own free will and nymphomania, Mimi was a former slave to Stylish who had abused his other slaves for his own sick twisted enjoyments and for science, by asking her to do this was she truly better then him?

"Yes I am" Dorothea told herself mentally, she was better then him, she paid these people, she took care of them she treated them well she didn't use them as slaves also she didn't experiment on innocent human beings like Stylish, she was better then him. "Alright I was only asking because I don't want to be acting like Stylish and have you do something you don't want to do" Dorothea replied.

"You're not Dr. Stylish Mistress Dorothea: you are better then him in any and every way, you treat us all with respect, care for us, pay us, and you don't ask much in return: besides I meant it when I said I want to see Tatsumi for myself: I've never had the chance to be with a real man before: not that I've ever had the opportunity to do anything of the sort at any point" Mimi stated, Dorothea felt confident now. "Now if you will excuse me mistress Cosmina left me something for such an occasion and I must ready myself I will see you soon" Mimi stated.

Shortly… Tatsumi waited and debated but also learned more about the history of his ancestor thru the memories of the Teigus, he was impressed by the feats of battle accomplished by his ancestor but also his conquests in the bedroom he also learned something else, the blood of his ancestor had some interesting side effects those being brought about by Valruost, apparently according to the blade it made him more appealing to woman not to an overwhelming extent though, and over time the blood was watered down, Tatsumi however still had the blood no matter how watered down it was. "I have question for you two I'd like to know where my Dragon blood comes from" Tatsumi inquired.

"We do not know, perhaps your memories may yield an answer, however any such memory would be locked far in your past, when you were an infant, we know your origins Tatsumi you have no knowledge of your parents as such we have only that what you know and even then we don't know it all" Smaug explained.

"I can see the same, perhaps there is a way however to access your memories however doings so would require a Teigu that allows you to see the past: such artifacts exist but they are lost to the ages: to find one would be a tremendous undertaking and would require you to journey far from the Capital" Valruost explained.

"But it's possible I would gladly lead a Night Raid team in search of one if only to know my past, I want to know, I'd like to know where I came from and I want to see the past, I- want to see my real parents" Tatsumi replied to both of them.

"We will see, it would take time however it is possible" Smaug remarked as the door to the room opened.

Into the room walked Mimi, clad in the garb of a high-class courtesan which was an orange kimono which was transperant: she walked up to him. "Greetings Tatsumi-san; I am Mimi, Mistress Dorothea has sent me to preform intercourse with you in order to gage the effects your teigus have on your sexual prowess and performance" Mimi explained, removing the kimono revealing rather sexy underwear: Tatsumi was sure both outfits came from Cosmina, which did not surprise him, Cosmina obviously bonded well with Mimi being that she was only female of Stylish's former team, which meant that being as she hadn't had the chance to interect with other women until Dorothea and Cosmina came to be in charge it didn't surprise him that she'd take her more femine traits from the social Cosmina rather then the detached Dorothea.

"Alright I can help you with that" Tatsumi stated getting up and leading her to the bed; Tatsumi was concerned about what he was doing. "Mimi are you doing this because you want to or because Dorothea ordered you to?" Tatsumi asked.

"Both, but mostly because I want to see if you are exactly what Cosmina says about Tatsu-kitty" Mimi stated.

"First off don't call me Tatsu-kitty, I think Cosmina would be annoyed if you did that, secondly I don't have any qualms against this now, thirdly I want you to follow my directions I guess you haven't done this before have you?" Tatsumi replied.

"No I'm a virgin, Cosmina taught me how to do things though" Mimi replied, Tatsumi wasn't surprised that Cosmina would do that, if she was boasting about his prowess in bed to Mimi she no doubt taught her how to do things. "I'll take good care of you" Mimi stated and releaved him of his clothes, to show his length at full mass. "WOW! Its bigger then I thought it would be" Mimi stated, Tatsumi blushed that was what every girl said when he gave them their first time with him; the room was filled with motion sensors and scanners to study their every movements. He removed Mimi's top revealing her ample E-cup breasts, he then lead her to the bed.

"Alright first things first we'll start simple with oral: I'm sure Cosmina told you what to do" Tatsumi stated, Mimi nodded and wrapped her breasts around his length and began to massage it slowly, then quicker, she then kissed the tip of his cock and proceeded to give it head licking it and sucking it, all the while massaging it with her breasts; Tatsumi moaned in pleasure, as did his Teigus who felt what he was feeling thru their mental link. The relaxed and soft pace at which Mimi was doing this was methodical rehearsed, and somewhat macabe but overall enjoyable, Tatsumi was relaxed, casually moaning and laying his head back against the pillows as Mimi blowed him, Tatsumi noted her skill at using tongue which he guessed Cosmina demonstrated to her.

This lasted for a few more minutes before Tatsumi orgasmed, creaming Mimi's breasts and face, Mimi licked up the mess with her tongue. "Now what are we going to do next?" Mimi asked. Tatsumi got up and laid her flat, then proceeded to go to her loins with his head, he inserted his tongue and went in in search of her sensitive spots, found she was still a virgin and found them, Mimi moaned as he ate her out, he stuck a finger in her naval and massaged one of her breasts with his free hand. "Oh! Tatsumi-kun, I've- never experienced this your better then Cosmina with your tongue" Mimi stated, Tatsumi wasn't surprised that Cosmina had sex with Mimi in her education given Cosmina's nymphomania, Tatsumi understood Cosmina of course would have to do something like that, but he was glad to here he was better then her at preforming oral sex on a woman, which was saying something given Cosmina's skill in doing that thing with him. Mimi continued moaning, Tatsumi continued licking, eventually the virgin Mimi couldn't take any more and came, Tatsumi licked her juice and found they tasted different from a normal woman's juices, possibly due to Stylish's tampering with her body.

"Alright Mimi, flip over and bend over" Tatsumi instructed, Mimi did so presenting her massive ass to him, he couldn't resist and tapped said ass and found that it was tight, not as tight as a certain Blue haired general who he was married to but still remarkable tight, Mimi moaned as he thrust into her she moaned deeply as Tatsumi banged her doggy style, her moans were cute Tatsumi had to admit they reminded him of the ones Seryu made when he took her in the ass, he rubbed his hands on her breasts and put his head on his shoulder and kissed her, he taught her how to kiss as she was an amateur at best with it; Tatsumi gladly rode her.

As Tatsumi and Mimi mated, Dorothea was intransed by the scene and was masturbating to the sight, she wanted Tatsumi now, she had been denying the feelings she was feeling after having drank some of his blood but it was becoming hard to deny, Cosmina's rantings about him had given her some context, but here seeing him in the act it was something else, his blood called for her, it made her Teigu go into the heat remembering something of the Danger Beast it had been in life and it was transferring it's feelings to her; she had joked in the past on the day she met Tatsumi after her test on him and Cosmina and that had been dismissed by her pursuit, but after drinking some of his blood she found a lot of attraction in him, what was to stop her from pursuing a romance with him, she didn't know how to romance someone never having any feelings for anyone this was something new for her: she decided to change her attire into one of Cosmina's dresses of the slooty variety; then watched and observed. Tatsumi had finished pleasuring Mimi anally and had just entered her, he was sucking from her breasts; Dorothea clasped her own d-cup breasts and was envious of Mimi for the larger breasts but wasn't going to use surgery to enhance their size, she was confident in her beauty and needed no surgery to enhance it. "I must sample him for myself" Dorothea said to herself.

Tatsumi couldn't take it anymore and came inside Mimi; her milk tasted delicious, no doubt more alterations by Stylish. Mimi slumped over exhausted, Tatsumi turned to the door where he saw Dorothea walk in, she was dressed in one of Cosmina's outfits to his shock. "Dorothea?" Tatsumi questioned flabbergasted and his length rehardened he covered it in embarresment.

"No need to cover yourself Tatsumi; I have seen enough, I really can't just watch and observe, I must experience this for myself not just for science but because I- I- can't control my feelings for you, drinking your blood did something in me; it's causing something I've never felt before is that what love feels like?" Dorothea explained and questioned.

"Dorothea" Tatsumi stated. "Yes love is a feeling, but are you really sure about this?!" Tatsumi questioned getting off the bed.

"YES! I know it I love you Tatsumi, your essence is the finest thing I've ever experienced, you're a caring person, you treat Cosmina well and you didn't take advantage of Mimi during this test: I can't resist I want this, NEED this, I-" Dorothea stammered then ran up to him and kissed Tatsumi; her first kiss and a sloppy one at that, but still a kiss of love. Tatsumi felt her press against his chest, her hands wrapped around him, he knew she meant it; she really did love him, he wasn't going to reject her for fear of what it might do to her, if she loved him that was enough for him, he took his hands and undid the straps on the corset, then unstrapped her bra, and removed her skirt and panties leaving her in stockings, orange ones that matched her eyes and the blue ribbon she wore in her hair; Tatsumi studied her, and she placed his hands on her D-cup breasts, and he fondled them causing her to moan, he then lowered his head to drink from one causing Dorothea to moan more. "Tatsumi-kun, Tatsumi-kun! I've never felt so good in my life" Dorothea moaned, Tatsumi stopped drinking and picked her up, she was light to carry and moved to the bed where Mimi was still passed out, Tatsumi laid Dorothea back.

"I'm going to do everything I can to pleasure you Dorothea; I'll be gentle and loving" Tatsumi explained, he then kissed her lips, then her cheek, then her neck, then her nipple which he took a drink from, then her naval, going slowly to her loins, he inserted his tongue into her causing her to moan in pleasure, Dorothea was fully in the heat, Tatsumi did as he said he would taking his time and finding her sensitive places with his tongue eventually reaching her barrier, he pulled his tongue out and licked the out folds of her vagina before going back in, his tongue was wonderful to Dorothea who hadn't ever experienced something like this before, the licking and drinking was blissful, too much bliss Dorothea orgasmed and Tatsumi eagerly sucked up her juices.

"Tatsumi that was amazing" Dorothea stated honestly, Tatsumi kissed up her body once more and kissed her.

"Are you ready? Once I do this there won't be any turning back." Tatsumi explained, Dorothea nodded, he entered her, snapping her barrier, Dorothea didn't scream she simply kissed him affectionately and locked tongues with him, he thrusted in taking it slow and steady with his thrusts wanting to get the most out of this and making sure Dorothea was comfortable, as he was doing this he felt a warmth against his back, and that was Mimi.

"Mistress, allow me to comfort you and Tatsumi" Mimi explained, she massaged Tatsumi's back as he continued to take Dorothea in the missionary positition, Tatsumi broke the kiss and laid back.

"Mimi sit on my face" Tatsumi instructed, Mimi did so and he inserted his tongue into her folds causing her to moan loudly, Dorothea continued to moan as she went up and down on his length, she was in heaven, Tatsumi placed his hands on her breasts and fondled them while Dorothea brisled, she came too leaking all over his loins and Tatsumi tried to pull out but Dorothea stopped him.

"I've never had the opportunity to test what happens when a child is born of two Teigu users much less one that is a descendant of the Dragon Emperor" Dorothea explained, Tatsumi came, so did Mimi and Dorothea smiled. "Mimi leave us, I want to spend time with Tatsumi alone: instruct the others we are not to be disturbed: also I want to talk with Cosmina when she gets back" Dorothea ordered, Mimi redressed and left the two to their own devices. "As for you Tatsumi I think I'll spend the rest of the day with you we need to know each other if we are to be lovers" Dorothea stated.

"I can agree with that" Tatsumi stated then rode her ass doggy style while fondling her blonde hair.

Meanwhile…. A man screamed inside a room, as he was tortured. "That isn't loud enough country filth; oh you are useless, nothing more then trash, cattle, your screams are a joy to my ears: a shame the others don't last as long as you have, but you you're resilent, I'd consider using you to test my latest poisons but I find it more fun to beat you and do things to you" a Blonde man stated grinning demonically; the man never gave his name to his victims, which he preferred to do this to men only, the women on the other hand they made excellent bed-slaves for himself, granted he had a special place for them to stay, but for men and boy children he had no mercy, granted he did get his kicks from shoving sharp objects up their asses but not his loins no he would not sully his loins with filth, the joy from torture was only surpassed by the joy of fucking women and young girls of the country side; but that was only his side joy. He loved poisons, acids and other chemicals that could be used to his advantage, diseases too, all too enjoyable to test on these hicks from the countryside, these men, some which were ugly some plain he hated them, but the ones he despised most were men more handsome then him; and if anyone from these country filth dared rise above their station and wed noblilty and rise to nobility those he swore to do his worst to. "You are strong, I'll grant you that, perhaps a test if you will; I'll give you a weapon, you defeat me in battle you will have earned your freedom, fail and you will die but not quickly I will test my poisons on you: if my newest poison works well I know just the hickish village to test it on, the one that is right outside the capital full of ingrates who dare to come back and forth into the Capital, bah, the Capital is no place for people like you" The man stated, he demonic grin tightening as he looked at the young man who glared venom at him. He left his shed and returned with a sword that was bloodied by the blood of the previous failures, this long blade was once a fine sword that had belonged to a traveling bladesmen of commen birth that had challenged him to honer duel to avenge the honor of his niece whom he laid with, the man died screaming, he had lost track of how many had tried to fight him for their freedom this man would be no different.

The tortured man was released from his shackles he was naked save a tattered loincloth, his torturer wore a business suit and drew a rapier which he readied for a fight, the man picked up the sword and attacked, his blow was parried, he then attacked again but stopped knowing he wasn't taking this smart he was playing to his oppenents hand, he then took a shrewder approach and struck hard with fients, but that didn't work either, he left an opening in his guard which was exploited he was pierced in the side wounding him, he tried a more aggressive swing only to have his hand chopped off. He screamed in pain. "I thought so, you've lost, which means its time for more pain, I've got something just for you" the Torturer stated, then took a tube out of his pocket and poured it into the man; for a moment the man was fine apart from his bleeding wound from the stump where his hand was; however that didn't last, he felt hot, very hot, his sweat began pouring, suddenly he noticed the sweat wasn't normal sweat it was blood, blood pouring from his pores, his skin rent and peeled back, it was as if he was being flayed alive, the back of his arm pelled, the skin falling off as if it was paper but not just his arm his entire body, his hair fell out, muscles fell, out, he was bleeding profusioly, he screamed until his vocal cords snapped like they were cut by scissors, every orgen failed one by one, but he was still barely alive, the acids in his stomach poured into his body desolving the skin, then blood poored and he died.

"Ah it works perfectly, this manflayer poison is perfect for my designs, tonight I will take a flask and fill it with my poison and pour it into the well of a nearby village; then the hicks will die, all of them in pain and agony; this is the ultimate torture its perfect! AHAHAHAHA!" The Torturer proclaimed and cackled maniacally. "Soon I will make this stronger, perhaps I can rid society of these unwashed filth once and for all" He added and grinned his blue eyes glinting with evil in the dark.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: The Capital Angel of Death

That night Tatsumi returned home to Grundewick Manor, while he may have been sleeping evil never does in the nearby village of Cadalwick a shadowy figure came to the well that provided the village's sole water supply; he dropped a red liquid into the water and left, this sinister plot would bare its teeth in its goal the following morning however a far more darker event was happing in the Blackclutch Forest. In the depths of the wood were the only light that shined was from torches a dark alter of greasy black stone and red marble stood, it was intricate and demonic in design with elaborate symbols, the alter itself was as big as a house but as tall as a fully-grown redwood tree, but the trees of the Blackclutch Forest towered over it still. On the alter a 100 virgin women of varying description were chained, the were beautiful but afraid, they weren't the only ones chained down, a dark-haired man was shackled to the slab in center of the alter behind it was a red archway of demented design with the carved image of a pentagram in the center. In front of the alter was a great statue of a demon, it was being worshiped by a cult, they were clad in blood red robes, and there were hundreds of them. "Magzu Vazda Valtor, Imeprana Gardu Valtor, Impernant Vaku Valtor" the cultists chanted, of them a single figure strode forth to the alter.

"Father why?" Eugene questioned.

"Because power, don't worry son you will be rewarded, you will ascend to demon hood, our lord bellow grants me strength but for you he grants his blessing" Honest stated, grinning, a small motley of fat men were brought forth and pushed into a large pot and boiled alive behind him, soon a table was filled with fell meats, Honest strode forth with the cultists and feasted on the choicest of cuts, devouring them like a scene out of Dante's Inferno. Honest then came forth to the alter. "Valtor Abaadon our lord bellow, lord of Power, Lord of Sheogh, Son of Khandnaga and Daltadora, brother to B'aal and Velvet, come forth to the offerings given by your servant, humbled to you, bring forth to your followers and bestow them with might come forth from the depths of power in the name of the Father bellow Lucifer the Father of Lies, Father of Murder, Prince of Darkness, King of Hell, come forth!" Honest prayed, the pentagram glowed and a rift opened an umbral portal opened and the Arch-Demon Valtor strode forth.

"Ah Honest, my faithful servant you have done well; 100 virgin maids, fair and beautiful, no more no less: as requested" Valtor stated, the women screamed. "Don't worry you will be fairly treated in my abode, however you must become subservient!" Valtor declared and from his hand brands came forth, a dark mark on each woman. The mark is a transparent V-like shape, styled as a demon face/skull with 2 horns, with purple borders. The mark glows a lighter purple. Then Valtor opened a portal under the women and they fell into it. "Now for you, your name son of my servant" Valtor inquired.

"Eugene" Eugene stated.

"Eugene, a name unworthy for a demon: you are now named Argadon Lord of Flame and War; you will serve as one of my generals, I bestow upon you the title and form of Pit Lord; you serve me now" Valtor declared and flung him into a portal breaking the shackles as he did so. "Now to you Honest, hold out your mark" Valtor ordered, Honest did so. "Magog Imed Dakr Masu Vadar!" Valtor casted, the mark glew an eerie purple and Honest did likewise. "I bestow on you the power to command and summon the lesser demons of Hell; I bestow on you the ability to infuse their essences into mortals: I grant you this power for your loyalty and offering: serve me well Honest: upon your death I grant unto the rank of Arch-Demon Lord of Sheogh, your name is Honest no more your name to me and to the cult is Volgoth Ugor!" Valtor decreed, Honest bowed fully.

"Yes my lord and master I will endeavor to prove myself worthy of your boons I will offer forth more to you: I've prepared for you stewed nobles: a feast worthy of one of the Lords of Hell in thanks" Honest replied.

"I have no need of sustenance at the time being, I do have need of the pleasures of the flesh, I will be enjoying my new bed-slaves: farewell Honest" Valtor stated and disappeared into the smoke. The Cultists then began to feast on of flesh of the nobles and then afterwards engaged in acts of sodomy.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi slept peacefully with Aria pressed against him in her nightgown, while he slept peacefully Aria didn't. Aria faced turned to Sayo chained to a hook and stripped. "Your hair is so soft kempt! I can't stand it while I have such unruly hair, I've had enough" Aria declared and picked up an axe and cleaved off her legs Sayo screamed. "I'll show you to be prettier than me" Aria leered her face demented and psychotic, and beat her branded her with irons, yanked her finger nails, slashed her, then rubbed salt in the wounds.

"Aria I'm your friend!" Sayo screamed.

"You thought so!" Aria declared and crushed her windpipe.

"Enough I won't stand for this any longer!" Aria declared looking her dark reflection down.

"Oh really well your nightmare is only beginning" false Aria declared, and Aria found herself shackled and naked, then Tatsumi walked in naked. "Come my love lets torture this bitch together!" False Aria stated.

"Yes my love! But first we should make her watch" False Tatsumi replied, the two stripped and engaged in sex in front of Aria, then to make things worse the lifeless corpse of Sayo came to life, the leg regrown, her eyes bloody red, her pendent bloody red, and joined in the debauchery; Aria tried to close her eyes but couldn't then after they were finished she was stripped and violated, then tortured.

"If you think this story has a happy ending you haven't been paying attention" False Aria declared then pulled out a hammer. "I wonder what happens if you make someone half-dead!" False Aria stated and pulled out a hammer.

Meanwhile as Aria was tortured in her nightmares a shadowy figure looked into his Crown and laughed. "Yes Scream do so in pain, torture her see herself! HAHAHGGAHAAA!" Honest declared grinning dementedly in his blood robes and then laughed.

"Now for your end! Tatsumi kill her!" False Aria ordered, False Tatsumi drew his sword and slashed across her abdomen.

Aria woke up screaming, she also woke up Tatsumi. "Aria what's wrong?! Are you ok?!" Tatsumi asked, he hugged her as she shivered.

"I had a nightmare a very bad one" Aria replied her face still scared.

"It's ok I'm here for you, I know how you feel, I've been there, you were there for me and now I'm here for you" Tatsumi reassured and held her tight and kissed her.

"Thanks Tatsumi, I'm glad I have a loving husband like you to support me; let's get some sleep" Aria replied and the two went back to sleep hoping to have a long night's rest, well that was the intention, they got two more hours of sleep before the sun dawned then they woke up again. "Good morning Tatsumi" Aria stated waking up looking at him with her baby blue eyes.

"You slept better right?" Tatsumi asked as he woke.

"Yep, I had a great dream about you and I at a ball; speaking off wasn't Esdeath going to host one next week?" Aria replied.

"Yes she was; a Masquerade ball" Tatsumi answered.

"That sounds like a fun idea; well lets get ready, we have busy day ahead don't we?" Aria remarked. They got dressed and went downstairs where the usual suspects were gathered around doing their usual daily routine; the big difference being Mine and Sheele getting up to kiss Tatsumi. As they sat down they noticed the absence of Chelsea which worried Tatsumi he feared she may have been caught he'd find her severed head on a pike in the middle of the plaza, his fears were abated when Chelsea walked in looking noticeably bleak and sat next to him after moving a chair to do so as he was sitting on the edge next to Aria.

"Chelsea what's wrong you look like something bad has happened?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Yeah Chelsea-san smile its good day, the sun is shining, breakfast is wonderful and mommy's going to take us shopping later" Air tried to reassure.

"How are you feeling?" Tatsumi asked.

"Bleak. Sad. Confused; and outraged" Chelsea replied her face a mash of grief, resentment, fear and anger.

"Ok what happened?" Tatsumi asked.

"Alright; you're not going to like this" Chelsea stated and pulled up a newspaper and handed it to Tatsumi who looked at the front page, Tatsumi was aghast and nearly dropped the paper onto his plate; Aria grabbed it and looked at it.

"This is horrible just- horrible" Aria remarked, then passed the paper around the table while avoiding showing it to Fal, Air and Luna.

"Great Zardock's Ghost!" Constantine proclaimed. " We'll discuss this after breakfast in the Lounge, Fal, Air and Luna you are to stay out of the room while we decide what to do, this is a matter for Adults only" Constantine barked out, everyone listened, then went back to eating breakfast to put the question in back of their minds and they did eat, making sure to clean their plates and the table of any food, the servents then came and cleared the table for them and the adults went off to the lounge minus Yami and Lubbock who got the stick of keeping an eye on Fal, Air and Luna for the time being.

"Alright this matter is of immediate concern: this morning the village of Cadalwick near the Capital outskirts was found bare of life by a morning patrol, they did a search and found bodies, virtually the entire village's population, they were red with blood, the skin had been flayed, hair fallen off, the internal organs ruptured and bones like paper; a search of the village yielded the source of the problem, the well water, the hounds of the guards were in terror of it, so they trapped a fox and fed it the water; the fox died from the same thing the villager's died from, we need to investigate the matter" Constantine briefed.

"First things first we need to investigate the bodies" Sayo stated.

"I can handle that, I'll head to the Hospital and collect samples to try and identify the cause" Angela stated.

"I'll go with you" Ieyasu said with a smile. "For security purposes of course" he said with smirk and his eyes closed.

"Now for speculation, is this a disease or something else?" Aria stated. Everyone thought for a bit.

"Hopefully if it's a disease it isn't contagious" Mine stated then shivered at the thought, few things scared Mine, but the idea of a disease that caused a painful agonizing death worthy of a torturer's best made her skin crawl.

"Something doesn't feel right about it, if it's a disease wouldn't we have heard news of it from other provinces and villages?" Naomi questioned.

"Yes, but it's possible that this was the start of an epidemic" Aria countered.

"An epidemic that clearly was spontaneous and came from well water; something tells me this isn't natural" Naomi stated.

"So you think it might be manmade?" Sheele replied her curiosity and serious side coming to play, which was near out of character for most people present.

"Man-made is a possible option, I've made poisons before from mixing various chemicals and herbs" Angela stated.

"So have I mother; but if it is man-made someone would have to be both extremely wealthy to get the resources needed for this in addition to being a master of poisons in both using and making them" Aria stated..

"Someone like you?" Naomi charmed.

"Please don't put that in my head; I'd never do something so heinous, the very idea of that is- is- repugnant and unworthy of a civilized mind, besides I make my poisons to kill a single individual and rarely make stuff that can kill a dozen people, no this serious alchemy beyond my knowledge, also I even if I could make a poison this vile I wouldn't these images why? These were innocent people" Aria stated defensively.

"Easy Aria no one is blaming you for this" Chelsea reassured.

"Yeah you're our friend you wouldn't do that" Sayo agreed.

"Besides you were with me last night" Tatsumi stated, Aria held him tight as both sat on the same couch, Tatsumi rubbed her belly. "Anyway no one here would do that, if we start accusing each other then we'll not get anything done, also there is still the possible of it being a disease like Cholera" Tatsumi added.

"Tatsumi is right: we all were here last night right?" Sheele agreed, Mine looked at Angela.

"Don't look at me like that Mine; you know I only kill evil people, besides I was with Ieyasu last night" Angela remarked.

"Yes you were and boy oh last night you were awesome" Ieyasu stated slurring his speech.

"I can verify that, they kept me awake for hours" Seryu stated, questioning why Ieyasu had chosen to the stay in the room next to hers.

"I was out doing spy work, I didn't see anything related to this whatsoever, all I did was scout out the villas and mansions of some of Honest's allies, other than trying to figure out what dark secrets they had I wasn't doing anything else" Chelsea stated.

"Alright lets move on, Angela and Ieyasu will head to morgue at the hospital to preform autopsies, the rest of us will go about our daily schedules, when they get back we will investigate further: also I am aware of the dinner that we have been invited to; I will not be able to attend I have important matters of the court to attend to I've been made Minister of the Treasury" Constantine explained.

"What happened to the old Minister?" Aria asked.

"He was arrested and executed, corruption apperantly he had been working with a group of bandits to raid trading caravens, even providing them with equipment and false documents: it's a mess you should have seen what happened at court yesterday: Esdeath walked in confidently and presented documents to the Emperor and accused the Minister of the Treasury of corruption, Honest didn't hesitate to turn on him and Makoto didn't hesitate to order his death: I didn't see the execution but I saw his corpse hanging from a cross in the city square" Constantine explained.

"That's good news looks like our mission against the Ranger Bandits was a complete and through success" Tatsumi remarked.

"That was you're doing?" Constantine asked.

"Esdeath gave me the intel at court two days before our wedding, Aria and Chelsea verified the info and Najenda lead a raid team that took out the bandits, I brought the documents to Esdeath and the rest wrote itself" Tatsumi explained.

"Wait Esdeath!? Mother-Fucking Esdeath gave you that informations!?" Mine exclaimed.

"Language Mine: that's five gold for the jar" Sheele remarked resulting in a tirade of inventive epithets from Mine that would make a sailor envious and that are too colorful to put down in print, who then stormed out of the room mumbling under her breath. "How much money does she owe to the jar now?" Sheele questioned.

"If I had to guess about 100 silver pieces" Tatsumi replied.

"And I thought Mine couldn't get any more inventive with her language" Naomi stated. "So who's going to give her the bad news?" Naomi added, everyone ran out of the room at that. "Great I hate it when I'm the goat" Naomi stated and clenched her fist in frustration.

Later… Angela and Ieyasu arrived at the local hospital, this hospital was named the Angela Grundel Center for Medical Aid, which was owned and operated by the Grundel's and did charity work for the less fortunate inhabitents of the Capital, they were allowed in and lead by staffer to the morgue, Angela put on a set of gloves and peeled off the flesh of one of the corpses, she collected other samples and bagged them up, she then headed for the best lab for medical and disease analysis in the Capital, her own in Grundewick Manor, it was in was in an out of the way corner of the main house and behind a secret passage, she kept her research secret and only allowed Aria and Constantine to see it, Ieyasu was the new exception.

Ieyasu was fascinated by the number of jars, phials, test tubes, beakers and other equipment on offer in the large room, which had electric lighting like the rest of the manor, also it had a number shelves on which were various things, some had ingredients, others tools, and few stored poisons and diseases; the centerpiece was a large table on which sat the finest of Angela's tools including a microscope. "Ieyasu I'm going to need your help, put the samples by the table, then put on a lab coat and gloves" Angela instructed, Ieyasu did as instructed, Angela also readied herself and took a look. Like Walter White making his favorite product to sell Angela Grundel was quick to get to work, the first thing she did was to check and see if the cause of death could be caused by anything natural, she went thru and checked the samples against any and every disease known to her and man-kind as whole: no matches were found.

Shortly….

"Fascinating, this isn't natural, it is definitely man-made, I've ran this against the microbes of every known disease and found no matches, in fact it doesn't have an microbes at all; now look at this sample, here a tube of my gut rot poison look at it under the microscope" Angela remarked an instructed, Ieyasu had no idea what she meant by microbes or a number of scientific terms she had been talking about but he did take a look at the microscope and noted the flaccid chemical of a man made poison, noting nothing that really looked weird. Angela then took the tube out, a placed another underneath. "This one contains Rubola" Angela explainded, Ieyasu studied and noticed the microbes and recoiled.

"Eew, those things are what disease are made of?" Ieyasu state aghast.

"They are called bacteria, there are two types of diseases, viral diseases and bacterial diseases, bacteria are tiny life forms, there are many types they are perhaps the most numerous life forms in the universe; viruses are something else, they aren't alive so to speak, they are something else; something I don't know, anyway science lesson aside the poison doesn't have any of these in it because it is so toxic that they die on contact" Angela explained then put a sample of flesh. "This poison seems to cause humans to wilt like a flower, I'm going to try and replicate it with the materials I have on hand to verify my theory it will take me a couple hours but I think I can recognize the ingredients" Angela explained. "So do me a favor Ieyasu, fetch Aria I think with her help I can get this done faster and crack this, if I can prove this is a poison we know that whoever made this had the resources of someone of great wealth, the only question is what would drive them to do such a heinous thing: also I pity the lab rat I have to test this on but its better one rat dies so that we can save a large number of human lives, who knows the lives we save may be our own" Angela explained, Ieyasu left and found Aria who was in a middle of helping Seryu and Sayo with their hair.

"Hey Aria, hey Seryu, Hey sis" Ieyasu greeted.

"Hey Ieyasu what is going on?" Seryu asked.

"Well Aria your mother need your help with her experiments; I'm not much help" Ieyasu explained.

"Alright then, I'll go help" Aria stated then left.

"Hey have either of you seen Tatsumi?" Ieyasu asked.

"Nope, he headed for Jaeger HQ earlier, I might add for a member of a group trained to go after Night Raid he isn't good at his day job" Seryu stated.

"That's to be expected when he is a member of Night Raid" Sayo replied. "Let me finish Aria's work Seryu" Sayo added and got up to finish styling Seryu's hair which was now was not different from her usual style except for the addition of a new dog hairclip and two braids that now rested on her shoulders. "There finished" Sayo stated, Seryu looked at herself in a mirror.

"I look- Amazing! You look fabulous too" Seryu stated, Sayo had her hair in a ponytail, Ieyasu left the room as they began to talk about other subjects.

Meanwhile Tatsumi found himself in slums once again but on patrol, Mez was assigned to be his patrol partner, Esdeath had decided it was best for the Jaegers to familierise themselves with each other and the city; that led to a dispute over who would be Tatsumi's patrol partner: so Esdeath decided to settle it diplomatically, put everyone's name in her hat bar her own and having Tatsumi draw the random name and Mez was the lucky girl; Tatsumi liked Mez, she was done to Earth refreshingly eager and sure of herself, she also was a team player; Tatsumi told her a bit about him and she did the same; apparently her father had trained the Elite Seven and each of the members was like a sister or brother to her; granted they were orphans selected from families that didn't want them so they had the option to bond, she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and become an Imperial guard, which she did, and became even more motivated when her father was killed by an assassin sent by a organized criminal family. Her training led her to joining the prestigious Rakshasa Demons the elite four guards who guarded the Emperor, becoming a guard for Makoto before getting the rank on his coronation. "I think this place is a disgrace to the city, for people to live in this conditions is appalling" Mez remarked about the slum they were walking thru.

"I can agree with that, though I don't think there is much that can be do to fix it" Tatsumi stated.

"I think that something can be done, Makoto can change this when he's older right?" Mez stated.

"I can agree with that, but as long as Honest is running the show nothing can be done short of cleaning the streets of criminals" Tatsumi stated.

"Like them?" Mez stated pointing at Night Raid wanted posters; the people in question for them were Cornelia, Martha, Bulat (Not up to date), Akame, and Gin.

"Pretty much but worse, with Night Raid they operate by a code of ethics and they are specific about who they kill, other criminals don't have those codes, the Butcher of Joyou for example had none" Tatsumi replied.

"Good point, still though people who commit crimes should face punishment for them" Mez remarked, then noticed something Lubbock and Yami. "Hey what are you to doing here? This isn't safe." Mez shouted at the two.

"Hey, Mez, ease off, they're my friends; Hey Lubbock, Yami, though I do agree with Mez why are you two here?" Tatsumi asked them, Lubbock turned to Yami and then to Tatsumi.

"Looking for anything unusual, what with all the crazy stuff going about I thought we'd look for any signs of trouble" Lubbock answered truthfully.

"I see, well your just concerned citizens looking to help people, you know I can respect that, you two are good people, just watch yourselves this is a dangerous place" Mez stated clutching her Naginata firmly.

"Don't worry about it; I used to be the army, I can handle myself" Lubbock explained.

"And I used to be a mercenary until I met him and well my life changed" Yami explained. "Don't worry we'll watch ourselves" She added. Mez noticed that they were armed which made sense no one goes out unarmed in the Capital.

"Alright well you two carry on, any friend of Tatsumi's is a friend of mine, in fact I remember you two from his wedding; you two are such a cute couple" Mez replied. They then left Tatsumi and Mez to continue their patrol.

Back at Grundewick manor… the day was growing late but Angela had figured out the mixture of the poison and verified her theory, indeed it was a murder, an act of mass murder on a grand scale. "Now comes the question of figuring out who did this" Aria remarked.

"Yes, something that will require digging" Angela stated.

"At least we have dinner at the Harwicks to look forward to" Aria chimed.

"Yes, the Harwicks, you know they are an odd family, very reclusive, Lora Harwick really doesn't get involved much in the broader world and you really can't tell what he and his family are thinking; the most I remember about the Harwicks was when Loras Harwick's wife left him when you were 5, she never told me why only that he had done was destroy her trust in him, I guess he had an affair and broke her heart, the only odd thing is he hasn't remarried at all in that time which means he must have had his heart broken in return or he has no desire to remarry; his son is the same age as you, your father and I considered him as potential for match making but we decided it would be better for you to find your own love like your father and I did" Angela replied. "Still though I can't help but get the feeling something is off about this, why would the Harwicks invite us to dinner, they are usually reclusive" Angela stated.

"Sayo told me Richard Harwick invited her and any friends and family she wanted to bring; so I agreed with her; I think he was a crush on her; I don't know if he's making moves on her or he's just trying to be friendly" Aria stated.

"That is interesting; Aria I think we should have Chelsea keep an eye on the place; we'll take a small Night Raid team with us, you, Tatsumi, me, your sisters, Sayo, and Ieyasu as for the team well I think we should take Seryu, Leone, Mine and Sheele with Chelsea as back up" Angela replied.

"You think the Harwicks are behind the poison?" Aria asked.

"Nope but call it caution, you can't tell where some people stand with their political views now a days; there are some people who would gladly invite your father and I to banquets with the intention of killing us, so consider it a mother's instincts" Angela replied and then smiled.

The day grew late and those going to the dinner returned home; Angela and Aria explained their findings; that the cause of death of a vile poison, manufactured by an unknown individual or individuals; they dressed in the their best attire but also concealed their weapons on them; Mine turned Pumpkin into a small pistol that could easily be concealed in her corset; Sheele shrank Extase to the size of a normal pair of scissors, Koro was of course a dog so no issues hiding that, and Lionelle was a belt; Tatsumi didn't conceal either of the Dragon Emperor's blades but wore them proudly on his sides, Aria kept her usual concealed arsenal of throwing knives, shurikens, and her pair of Kukris, she also wore her sawback rapier on her side, she also had Noctis Wave; Angela kept concealed her arsenal of weapons daggers, knives, shurikens, and her krises, also she gave a pair of daggers to her three adopted daughters, Ieyasu wore Belvaac openly as he swore to be Angela's bodyguard, Sayo didn't bring her bow but she did bring her pair of knives that she had bought during the hunt for Champ; overall the group may not have looked it but they were armed to the teeth in case of trouble. There was also Chelsea would be searching the grounds as one of the guards but would have her Rapier and Gaea Foundation to bail her out. "Alright we're ready to go, remember something may go wrong so we are ready just in case that happens" Angela briefed.

"And if something goes wrong remember-" Ieyasu began.

"Get that kids out first" Fal, Air and Luna interrupted.

"Get the Kids out first and then everyone else behind" Tatsumi concluded, they then left and were joined by the most elite of the household guards minus Gaurry who stayed behind to watch the manor in their absence, they then loaded up into the ten-man carriage and rode to Harwick House, as the mansion of the Harwicks was named.

The Journey was without incident, no soldiers blocked the path, no thieves attempted to rob them, no broken wheels, no injured horses, nothing remotely bad happened, Aria held Tatsumi and Fal's hands, Sheele, Seryu and Mine chatted, Leone was bored, and Ieyasu and Angela well they were being love dovy while Luna and Air played rock, paper, scissors with Sayo. Chelsea walked alongside the carriage in her hooded cloak, one hand always on her rapier. Soon they arrived at the mansion which was even more ostentatious that Grundewick Manor; overall the place was quite fascinating; the guards allowed them entry thru the gates once they explained their purpose; and thus they were led in. During this entry Chelsea split off from the main group, she had assumed the guise of one of the Grundel Guards, she then looked for a lone guard, which she found rather simple as one was nodding off near a tree to the side of the manor, she then knocked out the guard and disguise herself as him to begin snooping around.

Inside the group was greeted by Richard Harwick in person alongside a troupe of maids and butlers. "Greetings hello there Sayo and Friends, and family no doubt you must introduce me to them all" Richard said in a cheery voice.

"Alright Richard; this is my Husband Tatsumi, the blonde on his arm is my sister in law Aria Grundel, the four lovely ladies are Mine, Sheele, Seryu and Leone and they are my husband's mistresses, the older woman is Aria's mother Angela Grundel and her bodyguard is my twin brother Ieyasu, also these three lovely little girls are Air, Fal, and Luna they are Angela's adopted daughters; they used to be slaves but were rescued and taken in as part of Aria's family; they are super sweet" Sayo introduced going to each person, Koro woofed. "I nearly did forget about you, this is Koro, Seryu's dog" Sayo added.

"Well it's nice to meet you especially you Koro" Richard stated, Koro growled at him.

"Koro! Don't be rude" Seryu stated and picked up her Teigu. Koro woofed at her. "No I don't think he's an evildoer, it's ok" Seryu reassured and put him back down. "Sorry about that he gets uppity around people that he thinks are up to no good" Seryu apologized.

"No not at all I'm alright with it I love dogs" Richard stated flustered. "But where are my manners, come the Chefs are preparing dinner as we speak and my Father is waiting to see his guests" Richard stated and led them to a large dining hall over which was a large chandelier; sitting at the head of the table was white haired man who was in his late 50s, he had a small handlebar mustache and slight beard, he wore baroque robes and a turban; he was slightly overweight.

"Ah you must be the guests my good son Richard was telling me about, come sit down: Loras Harwick is my name and this is my abode" the man stated.

"I am Angela Grundel, and this is well my family such as it is; my husband would have liked to be here, but he was recently given the position of Minister of the Treasury and had meetings to attend to" Angela stated going to take a seat; Ieyasu pulled a chair out for her and she sat in it he sat next to her, Fal, Air Luna and Aria followed suit sit next to Angela in that order Tatsumi sat next to Aria and everyone else sat down.

"Yes I invited Sayo a good friend of yours I trust? As I requested she bring her friends and family here" Richard asked.

"My son-in-law's 4th wife, and my Daughter's best friend; speaking of this is my only trueborn Child Aria; these three are my lovely adopted daughters Fal, Air and Luna, they were rescued from slavers and we adopted them; this is my semi-adopted daughter Seryu Ubiquitous, these two are Sheele and Mine, this is Leone and this is my son in-law Tatsumi, and the fine gentleman sitting next to me is my bodyguard and future husband Ieyasu" Angela explained.

"Wait I have some questions; future husband?" Richard asked.

"Oh that, well Constantine has cancer and he has given Ieyasu and myself blessing to marry when he's gone" Angela explained.

"Forth wife? How many wives do you have Tatsumi" Richard asked.

"5, Aria, Spear, Sayo, Najenda and Esdeath; and when I say Esdeath I mean that Esdeath and that Najenda" Tatsumi stated.

"Your bluffing" Richard stated.

"No I'm not, Esdeath is married to me, she just happens to be busy being the Emperor's Guardian and head of Military for her to come to events like this" Tatsumi replied.

"Anyway while you all are waiting I'm sure you would like some refreshments" Loras stated.

"Yes drinks" Richard stated.

"Good get me a tankard of your finest Ale" Leone stated confidently.

"Head up she drinks a lot" Sayo told Richard.

"Servants, get our guests some drinks, ask them what they want and prepare it for them" Loras ordered, the butlers asked for their drinks of choice and returned with them.

They chatted around the table telling stories; and talking about each other; Richard and Tatsumi shot each other glares as Tatsumi noted him looking at Sayo; which really peeved him, on top of it when he thought Tatsumi wasn't paying attention Richard seemed an awful focused his bracelet. Tatsumi wasn't the only one keeping an eye on Richard, Aria was doing the same, she didn't like this, not remotely; something was fishy. Out came the food and Aria and Angela were brought a decent sized helping of pork with potatoes both of which were covered by gravy; Aria and Angela took a good look at and smelled the food and noted something, it was faint but it was there. "Achoo!" Aria sneezed, Angela did the same. "Oh no gravy I'm allergic!" Angela stated sneezing, Aria did the same. "Sorry we'll step aside alright" Aria and Angela stated and left the room, everyone else dug in. Both Richard and Loras sent frowning looks at each other, then the others began nodding off one at a time; slowly steadily passing out.

"Father those two are still awake they didn't eat the food" Richard stated alarmed.

"I'm aware of that; servants: send word to the guards, those two are to be knocked out and brought to our shed; son what would you of have them" Loras asked.

"Something tells me those two are going to be more trouble than its worth, as much as it pains me to say: Kill them" Richard replied, "As for these take them to the shed; I'll see to them soon enough but take the girls to my room" Richard ordered and the servants carried them out the kitchen door, Richard following them out, Koro ran off after Aria and Angela and caught up.

Shortly… Aria and Angela hid in a hall, they didn't have the layout of the place but their guts told them to hide, they locked themselves in a study. "You smelt it right?" Aria asked.

"Yes, Hemclover; it will knock someone out 30 seconds flat, with just a little bit of it: I'll bet our hosts don't have good intentions for us at all" Angela stated.

"I think we know where the Harwicks stand politically, they are loyal to Honest" Aria stated.

"Obviously, now we need to figure out what to do" Angela stated, Koro whimpered. "Don't worry we'll help Seryu, Koro, we'll be alright" Angela reassured, they heard voices and a servants passed, chattering about a shed and Richard's room. After they passed they devised a plan; Angela would go to Richard's room and Aria would handle the shed.

Shortly… "Alright pretty girls you sleep tight" one of the Servants remarked as he shackled Fal, Air and Luna. "Hey Zack which one do you think Richard will take first" the Servant stated.

"Probably the blue-haired girl" Zack stated, he was stout butler with a black beard and curly black hair.

"I think he'll take the little blonde I sure would" another stated.

"I would go with the pinkette, how often do you see one of western chicas you don't often" another japed, then they laughed, they were blissfully unaware; of two things, the first was the angry mother with a pair of krises drawn was coming up the stairs behind them the other was that the purple haired woman they thought was knocked out wasn't. The man noted the purple haired girl get up. "Oh look one of the sleepy heads is a light sleeper I'll knock her out" the man stated, then noticed her hand go to her dress. "come on baby come make my day" the man sneered, he was shocked as she pulled out a Jambiya dagger from her cleavage.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized and then fast as lighting sliced his hand off with her dagger as she pulled Extase from her bun, the scissors becoming the size of greatsword, and sliced the man in half with a clean swing; before lobbing the dagger at another man killing him before flying back to Sheele's hand, two of remaining servants pulled out guns, but quickly were stabbed in the back by Angela Grundal, leaving Zack by himself to rush over Fal and hold a gun to his head.

"STAY BACK! Or I'll shoot her!" Zack stated panicked.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized and flung her dagger quicker then the man could reacted and struck him in the throat. "I'm sorry for the mess Angela" Sheele apologized.

"Really it's no trouble, Sheele I'm surprised though I thought you would've been knocked out" Angela replied.

"Hemclover? Amatuers work, I built up an immunity to it when I was 10" Sheele stated. "I recognized it immediately and faked my passing out so that the idiots would take me to a place to escape from" Sheele explained, she was not projecting the mask of the clutzy airhead but of the serious methodical Sheele.

"When you were ten, Sheele what happened to you as a kid?" Angela asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Sorrowful Ones?" Sheele asked.

"Yes, the order of Ancient Assassins from the time of The First Emperor, I've heard only legends; you're one of them?" Angela asked.

"Yes, not just any though I am their Grandmaster" Sheele explained, recovering her dagger. "This Dagger is one of the two blades that belong to the Grandmaster, I have both the other is in my cleavage like this one was, Extese is the Teigu of our order; it is the weapon of the Grandmaster" Sheele explained.

"What are you doing in the Capital?" Angela asked.

"I'm here to kill Honest; the Guild has been paid a fortune for his head death and we send our best to do so" Sheele explained, one of the men Angela had stabbed in the back groaned still alive, Angela picked him up.

"You are going to tell me everything about the place!" Angela stated pinning the man against the wall and giving him her demonic face and glare

Meanwhile… the Servants opened the shed and threw the unconscious Tatsumi and Ieyasu into it after taking their weapons; or attempted to as Valruost and Smaug burned the hands of those who tried, inside the shed Tatsumi and Ieyasu lay out unconscious next to the corpses of dead men and boys who had been tortured to death. In front of his servants Richard Harwick stepped forward. "Finally I have you right where I want you Tatsumi! Helpless, unable to resist, Sayo is mine, your friends or whatever they are, are mine now I'm going to do to you what I've wanted to do since I met you, you Country hick, but first things first I'm going to take that lovely bracelet of yours off your hand" Richard stated and grabbed a hatchet ready to chop it off.

A shuriken flew out from the shadow nearby and struck Richard in the hand causing him to howl as he dropped the axe to pull it out. "You won't lay a hand on my Tatsumi while I still draw breath!" Aria declared as Noctis Wave's cloak wore off, standing imposing her baby blue-gown against the light of the full moons.

Richard turned to his servants were stupefied by the sight of Aria appearing out of nowhere. "Don't just stand there you useless dolts kill that whore!" Richard ordered his calm visage turning demented, they drew swords and charged at Aria.

"Really you accuse me of being some tramp who isn't faithful to her husband" Aria replied, then flung out a barrage of daggers and Shurikens, these blades pierced the servants in various place, killing them all. "Is that the best you have or are you scared to fight a girl" Aria taunted.

"GUARDS!" Richard yelled, no response.

" It appears it's just you and me now; you are a noble we don't have to be enemies why are you defending these country filth, they are beneath your station, join me and we will enjoy this together!" Richard offered.

"NO WAY! I will never lower myself to the level of you, you filth- I am Aria of House Grundel, Wife to Tatsumi mother to the child that is in my womb; I am not some prick of a noble; no I'm better then you; I'm the Capital Angel, and for you scum: I'll show you why you FEAR THE NIGHT! I AM NIGHT RAID!" Aria declared hopping to scare him.

"Night Raid why am I not surprised, I figured you and your gang of assassin would come after me and my Father sooner rather then later, but someone like you, I never thought someone of noble blood would care for such peasant filth" Richard stated. "However as much as I would love to spill your husband's blood here and now I am a gentlemen and respect the rules of engagement; when it comes to those of Noble blood, you may associate with cattle like him; but you have the right to challenge me" Richard stated. "I've grown fond of this hobby of mine, devising poisons, torturing country men and boys, taking their girls and women as my playthings, in fact I enjoyed the news this morning that my Manflayer poison worked as effectively as it did so many cattle slaughtered and it warmed my heart to hear of those deaths, however as much as love these obsessions of mine it was never my favorite hobby, no that dear Aria is dueling, and as such I challenge you to a duel to the death" Richard declared, back lit by the moon his blue eyes had a slight red to them his red suitcoat and pants like blood, he drew his rapier with a fencers flourish.

"Challenge accepted, you face the Capital Angel of Death" Aria stated and drew her sawback rapier; then it began. (Song: Last Courtesy Call: Nightcore)

Aria glared down her opponent and he flourished his blade expecting her to make the first move, well move she did lunged and he attacked parrying her lunge, their blades locked and pushed back as the two gracefully fought; their clash of blades was like dance between the moon, each sliced parried, trying to gain an edge over the other, each studying patterns of the other's attack, clashing dicing.

As they fought Chelsea had met up with Sheele and Angela who were cleaning up the servents and guards, or rather they met up Chelsea who was standing in the dinning room her rapier stained with blood of Loras Harwick. "You won't believe the insane shit they were hiding in that shed in their yard" Chelsea remarked.

"The shed, wait Ieyasu!" Angela stated and they ran out the back door, where Aria and Richard were locked in a duel.

"Stay back! This is between the two of us" Richard declared as the other three arrived.

"Yes mother please, this vile bastard is mine!" Aria replied "Get Tatsumi and Ieyasu to safety now!" Aria ordered, they did as instructed, Aria parrying and deflecting blows, after Tatsumi and Ieyasu were gotten to safety Angela held Sheele and Chelsea back.

"No this Aria's battle let her do it" Angela ordered, both Sheele and Chelsea reluctantly held back.

"I'll admit Aria, I've never met a woman so fine with sword, in another time and place we could have been husband and wife, yes I recognize your handiwork I know a fellow torturer's stance, were you and your family just as delightful as mine we'd be perfect for each other" Richard commented as he parried two blows. "You like it too you like to see when the scum of the Earth get what they deserve you are contemplating doing it to do me now; come tell me what torture do you have planned for me, what agony, tell me oh this is making me so horny" Richard taunted as he countered with his own.

Aria was mentally regarding his challenge this was getting dangerous he was trying to get her to crack; trying to make her lose her grip on rational thought and blind herself to his attacks, but no, she wasn't going to in fact at this point she was wondering if honor meant anything to this man at all, then realized it didn't well if it didn't matter to him, fuck it, fuck honer, fuck chivalry, she wasn't just a noble girl defending her honor she was a Night Raid Assassin trying to kill a psycho who had murdered and tortured innocent people just for fun! "NO! Noctis Wave: Wave of Confusion!" Aria yelled her face going full demonic, her Teigu glew with purple light and her eye glew purple, suddenly multiple Aria's faced Richard and he struggled to keep up with the attacks in fact he was overwhelmed and with a slice of her blade Aria, the real Aria not one of her shadow clones, broke his guard and sliced off his hand causing him to scream as the limb was severed, Aria caught his sword in air and her shadow clones disappeared. "It's over!" Aria declared glaring Richard down as he stood on a knee.

(Song End)

"Good Aria, Good, bring on the Torture, what are you going to do, yank my teeth out, give me an acid bath, make me drink my own poisons, hang me from a hook and chop my legs off; come on bring it I just want to see how demented you are!" Richard taunted with a demonic visage, it was like dark reflection of her own face, Aria frowned. "Oh tell me, do it, I'm waiting" Richard taunted.

"No; you are so evil I'm not going to give you the dignity of what you want, if you want me to torture you to death I won't" Aria declared and swung both blades across Richard's chest cutting him clean in half in one clean sweep killing him; leaving him dead on the ground but before he died he knew fear. "It's over; I've- I'm the Capital Angel alright, kind and caring to innocent and good people, but evil people like Richard: I'm the Angel of Death!" Aria declared, then ran to Tatsumi. "Tatsumi-kun are you alright" Aria asked as Tatsumi groaned.

"Aria-chan? What happened last thing I remember I was eating dinner?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll tell you on the way home; first things first though, we are going to clean this place out" Aria stated.

Later…. Clearing the manor was easy to do with no remaining resistance, the maids and serving girls had been drugged slaves taken captive by the Harwick men; the found Loras and Richard's diaries which kept an accurate account of their kills, apparently Loras's wife left him when she found out about his hobby, so to find fulfillment for himself and young son he took taking young girls and women captive from countryside as a sex slaves; they would also serve as his maids and servants; the entire female household was enslaved to him and the men of the household, Richard had a penchant for poisons and loved to mix and use them. After gathering these they cleaned out the vault of all the money the could carry which they loaded in the carriage after explaining to the guards what happened, then after clearing out and freeing the slaves the took bodies of Richard and those who died outside in the house and set fire to it, as well as to the rotten shed which had no survivors in it, they then rode away leaving the flames to burn away the rotten remnents of Harwick Manor. They then arrived home and had a proper dinner after explaining the debacle to Guarry and the heads of the household.

Shortly… "Good night Fal" Angela stated tucking the blonde hair girl into bed.

"Good night mommy" Fal said, Angela kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night Air" Angela said and kissed her as she tucked her in.

"Good night mommy" Air replied closing her eyes.

"Good night Luna" Angela said as did the same for Luna.

"Good night mommy" Luna muttered as she was given her bear and fell asleep.

Angela then left the room and came to Ieyasu. "You know I was terrified for you" Angela stated.

"Thanks my love: I'm glad you did your best to save me, even if Aria killed the guy who was going to kill me" Ieyasu stated in his pajamas.

"You know that whole incident left me a little flustered, and warm: Ieyasu would you like some 'Mommy's' milk" Angela flirted, Ieyasu needed no invitation and relieved her of her night gown and underwear while she did the same.

Meanwhile… "Tatsumi I'm sorry about this whole, you too Aria, my guts told me Richard was bad news from the beginning I really put us all in danger just because someone was being nice to me" Sayo apologized.

"Sayo it wasn't your fault, look on the Brightside we took out one of the Capital's worst scumbags and we are better for it, I am better for it Sayo" Aria reassured.

"And we'll sleep well tonight" Tatsumi stated.

"Not just yet" Aria stated with a wink and the three of them made passionate love into the night.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Fallen Paladin

 **In memory of Buddy Cheney 2001-2019, you were always the best Bird, Laughter has gone from my heart, I will miss you always, but we will meet again in God's Celestial Kingdom**

Now I dear readers must remind you all that this is a story told by me Erasiel Darkar, your humble author; here amoung the the chapters of Tatsumi and his friends I asked if he what he thought of Honest three years on from his death: He told me that he pitied him having now known his full life story and considered his death a mercy for a broken man who had descended into madness and had become a demon both in human skin and in the afterlife.

As my duty here is to keep an account of the story of Tatsumi he has requested that I tell you the story of Honest, or his life as Tatsumi saw it, for you see when Tatsumi fought his final battle against Honest it was a battle of minds where Honest attempted to break his and those of his friends and family, they won this battle but the backlash of the energy shattered Honest's mind, it had an added side effect however of allowing them to see his entire life up to that point, where Honest had done likewise while attempting to break their minds. So now let me begin the tragic story of Honest, the most evil man who ever lived in Tatsumi's world but also one who has one of the most tragic stories possible.

Its began 56 years before the events of this story during the reign of Emperor Vorandalt the Old, the Empire was in the state of civil unrest, the old Emperor had issues decided who of his many children would be his heir, also however he had spent a large amount of money and thus was forced to downsize his military amongst other things to pay off the debt, this downsizing left the northern and southern borders of the Empire vulnerable. In this wake the Northern and Southern tribes took advantage of the Empire's weakness and raided the undefended frontier towns and villages.

In the north was the village of Tal-Rai, this humble hamlet was known for it's stern and hardy people but also for its mines were copper and silver were in abundance, thus it was guarded more heavily than most; however with the recalling of Imperial troops the village was left with only a modest militia that while well equipped, well train and courageous was not enough to stop the large Northern Warband that attacked it; the raiders struck and battled, the militia slew a great number of the raiders but were overwhelmed and forced to withdraw; the raiders managed to break thru the palisades and walked in; they were after two things, money in the form of the raw silver and copper and people to take as slaves. The leader of these raiders broke into the home of a young mother of three, her husband was a merchant who was away trading; was unable to resist and made an offer, she would sleep with him willingly if he agreed to spare her and her children, the man agreed and took her to her room and raped her. Fortunately the leader exhausted himself and the woman drove a dagger into his temple, killing him, and at the same time the raiders who had lost themselves in looting were caught off guard by the surviving militia who had recovered their resolve and were nearly slaughtered to a man. The Village had lost a number of its people but they had killed the raiders and would be able to rebuild.

Three months after the raid the woman's husband returned home to find his wife pregnant his inclination was to find whoever did this and rip his head off, but she explained that he was dead, the merchant learned about the raid and found out his wife had been raped but in exchange, her rapist had been killed by her when he passed out exhausted. More months passed and a baby was born, his mother named him Valdis Dietrich and he took the last name Unwillingborn for his birth of rape, he was a large baby with white hair, his adopted father did not have the money to support him due to losses he had suffered during the raid in terms of goods; thus his adopted father took him south to the city of Kardnoth, specifically to the fortress-monastery overlooking the town and home to the Monastic Order of the Silver Hammer; these monks followed the god Zez-Ki-Ell who was the Defender of the people, they took their name from Hardask Mahl, a Teigu Warhammer made of an unnatural alloy, said to have been gifted to the Third Emperor by the Dwarves as payment for slaying a might S-rank Danger Beast named the Cracker of Holds, the Warhammer was kept in the monastery by that Emperor who was entombed inside the Great Pyramid that overlooked the city and to which the monastery guarded.

The infant was brought forth to the priests who the father told the story of how he came by him, the man had always been a firm and good man who would have raised the child as his own but did not have the means to do so, had he had those means this world would have been entirely different; but the Merchant had always wanted one of his children to pursue a life of faith; thus he brought this child to them. The Priests counseled amoung their number and accepted, the abbot had the child brought for to the Oracle of Zez-Ki-Ell for blessing and to see a glimpse of the child's future. The Oracle studied the child and went into a trance; she told them what she saw, she saw this child had the potential for greatness, he would be a mighty warrior and a leader of men, but she said also to beware that madness and greatness were two sides of the same coin; that the most important trait of this child would be honesty, if he was honest with himself and with others he would go on to righteousness and greatness but should he deal in deceit he would fall to evil, he would be great but his greatness would be that of infamy, cruelty, malice and abominations; thus the priest gave the child a new name as was customary to those new to their order and christened him Honest.

Young Honest grew in relative peace, he was raised by the monks who taught him the skills needed for one who would go on to greatness; he learned to read and write soon after he learned to walk and talk, at a young age he was tutored in the histories of the world, the history of the order, military tactics, practical life skills, cooking and tailoring; at the age of 8 he took the vows of the order the vows of Honor, Loyalty and purity, Honor was to treat others always with respect and do no wrong without in turn putting it right, Loyalty was to be loyal to those of your faith, family, and order, and Purity was to keep the body clean of the things harmful to it such as hard liquor and smoke, other than that the monks were not too different from normal people. When he was ten Honest learned to fight, the members of the order fought with warhammers of all types, as well as halberds and wind maces, Honest learned to fight with each weapon but also other weapons as well, at the age of 12 he was a great warrior capable of contending with the others, also at this age, he towered over other children of his age. His knowledge of other things was also great if perhaps greater then that of martial pursuits.

One day when Honest was 16 the monastery was visited by traveling knights, but not just knights Paladins of the Order of the Radiant Dawn, the most prestigious of holy orders in the Empire, they who crusaded against the undead, Danger beasts, Northern Raiders and other enemies that threatened the Empire. The knights were recruiting new members to join the order, all one needed to do was to be of righteous faith and strong enough to defeat one of their order in combat. Honest towered over his fellow men thanks to the northern blood, his hair was cut short and his face clean-shaven, Honest was the first to step forward, along with a number of others, Honest faced one of the knights in a one on one duel to the yield, Honest struggled but managed to use clever tactics to beat his opponent by discovering a weakness in his technique, he was one of a handful of monks who managed to defeat one of these paladins, thus Honest was allowed to join the order, he collected his few possessions among them his books and baby blanket and what else he had left of his old name, he was told by the priest who was his guardian who his family was and he knew who he was, Honest had accepted who he was at this point and was ready to begin his journey.

Within a month he arrived at the stronghold of Shai K'dath home to the Order of the Dawn and was given the rank of Squire of the order, he was then educated in the ways of Paladin taking additional vows to protect the weak and destroy the forces of evil, he was then trained in more weaponry then he had used at the monostary however he still preferred his Warhammer which had been given to him by the Abbot after he had finished his martial training. Honest then began the duties as a squire, learning to become a knight and doing what his master had need of, his guardian knight was a strong warrior but a wise one, Honest learned the lessons of a squire well, and served on a number of missions, where he was hard as steel on the field but humble and honorable in victory, giving mercy to those who deserved it but slaying those who souls were rotten with evil, the missions were not as dangerous as those assigned to the more elite members of the order, the greatest being the Crusaders of the Dawn, Honest aspired to rise in strength. At the age of 18 he was knighted and granted a noble title in addition to the Sun Armor and Solor blade used by those of the knighthood order, within a year Honest began his rise in the order slaying Danger Beasts, Orcs, swarms of Goblins, Necromancers and even the Ratmen that dwelt beneath the lands. Yes great were his deeds and as he aged he rose in rank becoming renowned across the Empire. Yet as he turned 32 he lamented that he had not yet met a woman who could capture his heart, despite the many admirers he had. Then she came into his life, her name was Lilian, she was a squire to him around 16 and a warrior as brave as him, she was a goddess in beauty with deep brown caramel skin, lovely blue eyes, and hair as white as snow, they were kindred spirits and a couple months after their first meeting and the completion of Lilian's training they married.

Within that year a child was born to them on campaign this was a son named Valdis after Honest's orginal name, the boy was healthy and Honest soon grew to cherish him however the time he spent with his family beyond his beloved Lilian was limited as he found himself constantly going out on increasingly dangerous missions fighting strong enemies with his warband of fellow knights as he had by this point risen to the rank of Paladin, during one of these missions Honest killed a mighty ancient Warmock Troggoth; a towering troll among trolls that was the size of a giant and had lived for ages, he was soon called Honest the Stalwart for his deeds, and at the age of 25 was granted the rank of Crusader and then began his greatest of deeds, battling ancient beasts that guarded hordes of treasure and who had plagued towns and villages for 1000s of the generations, his kills rose as he slew dozens of ancient monsters; leaving Honest the most praised member of his order, during this time he took another wife named Kalma and Lillian gave birth to another son they named Eugene and soon he rose to the most prestigous rank that of Grandmaster of the Order of the Radiant Dawn. As Honest's deeds grew in their valuer he drew the favor of Emperor Valkorian the Stern; Honest had at this point taken three squires and was now 40, his future looked bright; then one day it began to turn black and events were set in motion that would lead to a dark future for Honest and the Empire.

It began with a report from the north; raiders had been sighted on the borders and Honest and a party of 40 brave crusaders rode north to fight them; when they arrived they found themselves at the Village of Tal-Rai which had been beset by the raiders; the militia and a few stout sellswords held the line and the crusaders drove their steeds into the rear cutting down the raiders and killing many of them and sending the rest running. However the battle was not without cost, among the dead was Honest's former mentor, but that was not the end of his losses, he knew the name of the village from the monks and knew it was his home town, so he searched for his home and asked around for the merchant, his adopted father had retired at this point and his son now ran the business, Honest met with him and was told a grievous news, his mother was deathly ill, she had caught Cholera and was dying, Honest met he, she was proud of his deeds and died in his arms, it was then that Honest began to doubt but this was put out of his mind by the need to finish off the raiders to prevent them from escaping and returning to rape and plunder another day.

So Honest and his knights followed the routers tracking them to an old ruin. That ruin was named Charn by the locals who believed it a charnel place of a tenebrous past, the ruin was made of a greasy, oily, black stone as dark as obsidian and harder then granite. The only oddity that was clearly not part of the ruin was Dwarven shrine which was made of a completely differant material. The Reavers were held up inside the ruins and after a breif battle they were put to the sword with Honest slaying the last of the reavers at the foot of the Dwarven Alter. It was there he made a fateful desicion one that would drive him down a dark path and destroy the man he was: on the altar was a crown, made of admantine and studded with onyxes. The crown whispered and Honest recognized it immediately as a Teigu something that he knew was only borne by a greatest warriors so disregarding the Dwarven runes that warned of dire fates for those who touched the object in question that he couldn't read took the crown and placed it on his head and whispers came into his mind.

When Honest returned home he found more sad news the saddest news of all his wife Lillian who had been pregnant when he left had died in childbirth; she gave birth to twins whom Honest named Lillianna and Syura, Honest was saddened by her loss and began to grieve the whispers took advantage of this grief and drove him, in his depression he took to wenching and womanizing, taking additional wives, he also retired from the order's active ranks and took to eating as a means of coping, his fortunes turned again two years later when he was asked to become the order's representative to the Emperor a position he accepted reluctantly notwithstanding that the Capital Melitine was a nest of vipers in the royal court and within the city itself, then he took his family moving to the capital using the fortunes he had amassed from the treasures gained from beasts and bounties to buy a large mansion near the Palace itself. When he arrived at the Capital he began to dabble in politics, something which began his corruption, it started simply as a goal to improve the Capital and rid it of corruption turned into a game of survival, where Honest realized that honor and chivalry would not allow him to survive the cutthroat politics of the Royal court the voices told him that he was going about it the wrong way though he tried to keep to his morals, eventually however he began to lie, and with that as the Oracle predicted he began his descent into madness; the voices proded his lost and grew in him a resentment for the world but also a desire to bring back from the dead those he loved most as such he looked in the libraries of the Capital for information to help him in his pursuit over the matters of death, he found a mysterious tome; a dark mark on it's cover and learned of the forgotten god, Valtor, old legends that Honest remembered from his education among the Order told of his deeds, that his followers had been hunted to near extinction by their many enemies and the Order of the Radiant Dawn had driven them to that point in Empire. Part of Honest, the zealous paladin, wanted to take the tome and cast it into the fire but the whispers told him otherwise and to read it at least before he made up his mind after all no harm would come of reading a book, he stopped when he found a dark secret: the tome told that it was possible to bring back the dead in a resurrected form if one pledged their soul to Valtor, this changed everything Honest was willing to do anything to bring his beloved Lillian back.

Then he began his work, searching for knowledge and searching ruins for answers. Then during what would be the last of five days of Emperor Galadof's reign tour the domains around the capital in his wanderings, he took only those he trusted, those who would follow him anywhere and do as he commanded, those consisted had followed him from the monastery who had joined the Order of the Dawn, they had stuck together and had been thru enough they would gladly follow Honest into the depths of Hell if he asked it of them, and those 38 remaining companions from the mission to Tal-Rai.

During these wanderings Honest discovered something, a dark ruin like unto the one in the north 500 miles south from the capital on the Southern border, the ruin was abandoned and made of greasy black stone with buildings; nature didn't even touch it, a sense of evil was about the place but Honest and his followers were not scared and they entered the ruins. They found a hidden passage in one of the few remaining buildings and that passage led down, deep underground. The passage however was not a bare cave it was man made and decorated with images of a fallen civilization one older then the Empire itself the murals told of tales of a great empire that had once spanned the world, of ancient warriors older then them and images of their gods; or rather god, the other creatures depected bowed to one being who held greater power then others and to whom the forgotten people also paid homage as their sole god; over time the imagery began to get more dark, images of wars, battles, human sacrifice, cannibalism, men and women preforming acts of sodamy and debauchery with both each other and Demons, slavers that cracked whips, tall pyrimads, of rulers that looked terrible, some like they had done terrible things and the worst of all were monsters who's images were more like beast then man, Honest and his companions soldiered on however as the former was desperate and the latter would follow him to what ever end, reaching a door with the engraven image of the pentagram with the Letter V in the center, with an inscription written in blood, as they looked at it the inscription and it changed to that of their own languge and read: "Who so ever ventures forth must offer up blood of their own, enter if you are of willing heart with those who will not part, if you are a craven man and choose to leave that which is not made of mortal plan you will wander the rest of days wondering what would have happen had you paid"

Honest took a dagger and removed his gauntlet and sliced open his palm and rubbed it on the door, the door glowed with red and purple light, which covered the round door markings and the inscriptions along the walls, then the door slide aside to room lit by blood light, Honest ventured forth and his companions followed, in the room was dark alter the center of which was engraved a pentagram at the base of the statue, the statue was of the god depicted on the walls, they entered the room and as the last men passed by the door it sealed behind them leaving them in the blood light. In front of the altar was a sacrificial table, the size of a man, with a jagged dagger of demonic metal on it, under the pentagram was a plaque which like the door the writing on it turned into that of their own language. "Valtor Abaddon, Arch Demon, god of soccerers and servents of shadow, mightiest of Sorcerers and Slayer of kings, the God of the Empire of Yeenkar; To summon forth the demon lord offer up a man of some worth, on you trust and one of faith, I know this might seem hard but you have no other option as you are trapped inside" the Plaque read, Honest looked at those of his followers, one of whom panicked, it was a man called Lorik, he had been a loyal friend of Honest since their days as squires and had followed him anywhere: this was as far as he was willing to go, he had hoped to reach the alter and purify it for the gods, however he was now trapped the whispers in his head were now yells telling Honest that he must do what was needed to leave lest he and his companion, each of his former friends debated amoungst themselves, and came to a resolution, whether by reluctant agreement or willing devotion they all took Lorik and restrained him to the alter while Honest drove the dagger into his heart and offered him up in sacrifice, a portal opened and the Arch-Demon Valtor came into the room. "It has been nearly 4000 years since i was last summoned and i sense- a familiar presence" Valtor greeted then told who he was Honest and his followers listened to the demon's tale. "I see you are reluctant to pledge faith" Valtor stating looking at Honest who raised his sword, Valtor froze him in place then placed his hand on the crown. "Inhabit this warriors body my servent Volgoth, take him as your vessel and thru his body, you shall bring about my glory and your return" Valtor declared and Honest's eyes glowed red for a time then returned to yellow. "I- feel different" Honest remarked, darkness consumed him as Volgoth came to the fore. Valtor turned then to the others and they swore allegiance to him holding out their hands to receive his mark on the palm, Valtor offered them rule over the domain, viewing them as a means to restore his cult to power in a new more corrupt Empire: to demonstrate his might Valtor showed them an image of the Emperor in his private quarters having just gotten out of the bath, Valtor said a spell and the Emperor fell dead of a heart attack. Honest was questioning it inside but Volgoth had the mastery of him and was told by Valtor to return to the capital with his followers, within the week they arrived in the Capital which was in the morning, the 40-year-old new Emperor had died of a heart attack, at this point Honest and his followers stopped doubting, Honest then managed to talk himself in as the new Spymaster of the Empire; the new Emperor was crowned and he was named Isshin IV he was young 20, with a fresh lovely wife with a young baby born just a day ago.

Honest then had a new plan, or rather Volgoth had a new plan for you see at this point the demon Volgoth which had been trapped inside Ephialties the Shadow Crown now had great dominance over his mind and save for the strongest of Honest's values that of his family the demon had control of first objective was to get his way onto the New Emperor's council, Emperor Galedof the Stout took the throne from his father Valkorian the Stern who died at the old age of 89 and his death now left his son Ishinn in charge, and the council was being shaken up, the new Emperor was in need of new advisors while a number of his father's advisors would stay on such as the minister for architecture and development, the diplomatic minister was also the prime minister, however, the position of Minister for War was open; there were a number of potential candidates and Honest was among them as he was very good with military matters; however, there was a clear favorite: an old man by the name of Lyon Clark who had served as the second to the Minster of war and who had years of experience and political influence that Honest didn't so Volgoth decided to make it easy for Honest to get the position, he had him pay an assassin to kill Lyon Clark and the assassin succeeded.

Honest had committed his first crime and there was nothing he could do about it as the demon had near-total dominance of his mind; he then killed the assassin when the time came to pay him, it was then that he had the issue of disposing of the body; he was hungry at the time and he had heard stories of what the Southern tribes did to their enemies, the tribes of the Furthest south believed that eating your foe after killing them was a great honor as you inherited their strength and knowledge; Honest decided that it would be a suitable idea to eat the man, so he took the body to a remote location and butchered it, leaving not even the marrow in the bones; he then cooked it, to him it was the greatest thing he had ever tasted. Soon he received the job of Minister of war and grew in power and influence trying to shape the court but he encountered a new problem the young emperor was rather shrewd also his wife had just given birth to a son who would become his greatest enemy so he devised a scheme to deal with the threat to his plans.

An opportunity presented itself three months later when new Emperor decided to tour his domain, with his wife and young infant heir: Honest decided that this was the perfect opportunity to see the new ruler die; so Honest took a group of his most loyal followers hired mercenaries and followed the Emperor and his retainer's into the countryside, he waited until he was two days from the capital in dense woods the overall countryside that was as far from any garrison's as possible so he waited till nightfall then sent the mercenaries forward; the rain came down and he gave the order to begin the ambush, the emperor's bodyguards fought to the death; including the four ranking Rakshasa Demons at the time, no quarter was given, the Emperor himself fought to allow his wife to escape and fell after cutting down many of his attackers, the Empress ran with her child off into the woods never to be seen again by Volgoth. Honest then saw to the mercenaries killing them to prevent any witnesses then he left with his men had seen to the Emperor's death, within a month his brother was crowned the Emperor; Honest then used his time to manipulate the new ruler however with the stewardship of Prime Minister Chouri and a number of other skilled ministers and advisors Honest was unable to do any real changes that he wanted, so he let the 15-year old emperor rule and used his time to dedicate a new cult for Valtor and erected secret alters; Honest's cult consisted of corrupt nobles, military personal and a number of people interested in the occult.

During this time Honest dedicated his efforts into learning more demonic lore but also to producing children siring many both legitimate and illegitimate and raising his children, with special focus his sons and some of his , Honest viewed his daughters at this point as little more than as a means to getting alliances and influencing politicians and thus kept his more darker aspects hidden from them which proved rather simple. During this time his excesses increased and he began to more readily eat human beings but also engaged in the rape of women, men and children before eating them his favorite part was the flesh of a woman's womb, even more so the woman was pregnant; and he waited, wanting to influence the new Emperor but not able to do so, eventually the Emperor married and his wife was a gardener, a lowborn servent, someone who Honest treated with disdain. They then had a son they named Makoto which was useful but the new Emperor was a more reclusive person rarely leaving the palace and never the Capital, the death of his older brother had caused him to be wary; granted he knew nothing of Honest's involvement in the matter but he still was cautious, three years later the couple had twin girls, Honest managed to maneuver himself into the government more; and manage to get some of his political allies into positions of power, enough that soon he had a majority of allies in the council.

Six years later Honest was presented a once in a lifetime opportunity, the Emperor and his wife were planning to kill him which was perfect for Honest to kill them in turn; he took this opportunity with both hands and assassinated both of them, he raped the empress making the Emperor watch as Honest savaged her and gave her to his men to do as they pleased, once they were done he raped her and then ate the choice flanks of her body while she yet lived, she died in terror, Honest then strangled the Emperor to death.

This left a young Makoto in charge and Honest as Regent, something too good to resist, and it allowed him to oust Chouri as Prime Minister and seize control of the Empire; however it was not as simple as he expected, the Emperor had a protector in the new Supreme Commander of the Army, General Esdeath, his guardian and tutor in addition to the four Rakshasa demons who were chosen by Esdeath and Makoto, with one acting as his secondary guardian and tutor.

So it was Honest began his reign of terror, his corruption allowed the already corrupt and dark Empire to become darker and twisted, his heart darker, his enemies internally were dealt with by assassinations and sending them to fight wars that Honest started with the three neighboring nations, many political rivals died, however, this prompted outcry and anger among the populace, his surviving enemies created the Revolutionary army which was backed by the three nations the Empire was at war with; the group lead by those who had been loyal to the previous Emperor but held no such loyalties to him. The war began and internal threats intensified and a year after the conflict began a new threat from the Revolutionary army rose and struck down many of the corrupt nobles and military officers: Night Raid was born.

And that my dear readers is the story of Honest, a once honorable man who fell to demented evil, the conclusion of his story will be at the end of this story.

 **Buddy Cheney 2001-2019; the Best Bird to the end: I love you Buddy and the world won't ever be the same without you**


	21. Omake 1

Omake 1: Making Faces

Tatsumi walked up to Aria who was with Fal, Air and Luna who were dressed in gowns that matched their hair, Angela was combing Luna's hair. "Now for the most important and our favorite lesson of being a secret assassin who tortures evil people to death: Making a scary face" Aria explained, then made hers. "BOO!" Aria yelled, and all three eeped. "Now for you three to learn how to do it; First things first smile; it starts with the smile" Aria explained, Fal, Air and Luna smiled.

"What are you doing Aria?" Tatsumi asked.

"Teaching my new sisters the importance of a scary face" Aria replied.

"Well can you teach me how to do it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Sorry can't, explain rule number one of Grundel Scary Faces Fal" Aria replied.

Fal picked up a little book and put on a pair of reading glasses: "Rule number one of Grundel Scary Faces: No Boys allowed" Fal explained.

"Really is that it Aria; all because I'm a guy means I'm immediately disqualified from learning how to make scary faces: please you taught me how to torture evil guys to death and what poisons are which and how to spot them; and you aren't going to show me how to make scary faces" Tatsumi replied.

"No, its just that it takes, specific muscles that only girls have" Aria replied.

"Now that is a load of bull s- crap" Tatsumi replied stopping himself from swearing in the presence of Angela Grundel.

"No it isn't Tatsumi and I will demonstrate: Fal you've been practicing the smile now for step two visualize your pain and those you hate most" Aria explained. "Now take a deep breath: visualize anger; what you'd do to the people you hate most: then take that picture and add extra levels of torture" Aria explained, Fal's face simmered. "Now Tatsumi I need you to stand there" Aria ordered.

"Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"I need somebody to scare: alright?" Aria replied, "Now Fal pretend Tatsumi's the person you've been hating the whole time and make the first face that comes to mind" Aria explained, Fal stepped and made a face worthy of an Oni statue and roared, causing Tatsumi to wince; Fal truly was scary. "Now Air and Luna it's your turn, do what I just had Fal do and then make the first face that comes to mind" Aria explained, Air and Luna then did so, Luna made a face that resembled the Joker's and Air well her face had turned into the far more terrifying visuage of Pennywise's true form from It, Tatsumi shivered at Luna's face and yelled in fear at Air's resulting in him landing flat on his butt in fright.

"Alright I think you're all doing good" Aria explained.

"I can't tell which of you has the scariest face; if it's anger that drives these: I can make a scary face too using your technique" Tatsumi replied then tried the technique and made one face which resulted in laughter from Fal, Air and Luna, then another with same result and over and over again. "Alright fine: I can't make a scary face like any of those: why is it they can?" Tatsumi asked.

"It's all about facial muscles, in addition to have suffered some sort of trauma in the past, pent up rage at a person who put you thru that trauma and importantly building it up and making the first expression that comes to mind" Aria explained.

"Alright then who of you has the scariest face then?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh I know it's me!" Fal proclaimed.

"No it's me silly I've got the scariest face!" Luna argued.

"I made Tatsumi fall flat with mine!" Air interceded.

"Girls stop it: we will settle this diplomatically, Aria come here; the five of us will demonstrate our skill in scary faces, or visages of terror to use another term" Angela explained. "Tatsumi sit down in that Chair over there alright, We'll each make our faces the order for which will be youngest to oldest" Angela explained, Tatsumi sat down. "Fal you'll go first" Angela instructed.

"Ok mommy!" Fal replied and walked over to Tatsumi, smiled creepily and then did her Oni demon face: Tatsumi wasn't scared this time.

"Good one Fal; pretty scary" Tatsumi judged.

"Alright Air, it's you turn, see if your scary face knocks him flat twice" Fal commented then stepped aside to allow Air forward, Air didn't really say anything she just preformed a headstand, causing Tatsumi rotate his head, and did her scariest possible face, the true form of Pennywise face: which caused Tatsumi to be spooked.

"Alright Air It's pretty terrifying; the kind of thing you wouldn't want to see in a back alley" Tatsumi judged after recovering his composure. "Next!" Tatsumi declared, and Luna stepped forward, paused to keep her bunny hood from blocking her eyes; then stood in front of Tatsumi, then turned around; did a giggle and produced a face that would give the Joker second thoughts about going near this girl, needless to say Tatsumi yelled in fright but stopped. "Alright extremely terrifying; Aria your turn" Tatsumi stated and winked at his wife.

"So Tatsumi are you ready to be scared?" Aria commented smiling.

"Aria I've seen your scary face so many times now it's become comical" Tatsumi remarked, she frowned turned around and produced her demon face; Tatsumi's response to it was to sit up and kiss her on the forehead. "Not even remotely scary anymore to me that is; to anybody else especially Ieyasu and an Earth Dragon it is the stuff of nightmares" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright Tatsumi but I wasn't talking about my face; I was talking about my mother's scary face: Fal, Air and Luna you are going to want to brace yourselves for this" Aria replied with a smirk.

"Please Aria; your mother is the sweetest person in the world there is no way she could successfully scare me" Tatsumi replied with a smug grin.

"Alright then Tatsumi then there shouldn't be anything for you to be afraid of right mother?" Aria remarked with a knowing grin.

"Right Aria" Angela replied with her back to Tatsumi; Angela smirked then turned 180 degrees and produced a terrifying visage worthy of Medusa and her two sisters themselves: a face so terrifying that to describe it would require a descriptive ability beyond my own as a writer.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAGH!" Tatsumi shrieked then ran away out the door yelling "You win Angela! you win!"

"I'll go make sure he doesn't hurt himself mother" Aria remarked and followed Tatsumi "Come back Tatsumi!" Aria shouted running out as Ieyasu entered the room.

"What are you girls doing?" Ieyasu asked.

"Making scary faces; Tatsumi was scared off by Mommy's scary face" Fal commented.

"Tatsumi scared of Angela please there is nothing to be afraid of here" Ieyasu replied.

"You sure?" Angela asked then made her terrifying face, Ieyasu soldiered on and hugged her.

"You could never scare me my sweet Angela my truest love" Ieyasu replied leaning on her shoulder.

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

 **Author's note: this is first of a number of Omake joke chapters; don't worry Chapter 21 will be coming soon; I need your my dear readers though: Review and suggest options for our next chapter which will be another focus Chapter featuring Naomi the sister of Yami and a new character who is going to throw a major spanner in Honest's plans and one that will hurt him emotionally as well; throw your guesses in the reviews: Special thanks to my Co Author Neo-Byzantium once again; This story wouldn't exist without your ideas and giving the inspiration to write it!**


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Desecration of the Dead

Two Weeks later…

At the Palace… "I'm pleased with your decision father" a young woman said "Not" she thought. The Woman had tan-brown skin and long shoulder-length white hair; her figure was that of an hourglass, she was a beauty, clad in pink and white gown.

"I'm glad to here it Lillianna, your wedding will be on the morrow: I trust Lord Masterson will be informed promptly" her father Prime Minister Honest replied, he then left her room.

"Alright Lillianna tonight it's now or never; I've put up with a lot of my father's decisions over the years but this is too far, I'm not a commodity, and Lord Masterson is an old man who's 30 years older then me; screw my father's political games: I'm out of here, I'm old enough to make my own decisions and I don't need my father to make them for me" Lillianna thought, so she came up with a plan, she would get coffee for her guards and doctor it to knock them out, then she'd get to the palace stables, swipe a horse and amscray, all she needed to do was get herself some money which was easy to do she just had to take it from his safe which she knew the combination for.

That night she put her plan into action after knocking out her guards she dressed in a conservative warm wooly pink and white sweater which didn't really conceal her figure, as well as warm sweets, good firm riding boots, mittens, leg and arm warmers and warm coat. Then she crept outside and down to the stables which were not guarded, she then took a horse and fled out of the palace and into the city.

Later… Lillianna had gotten a considerable distance from the palace but had gotten herself lost, she had to throw off a group of suspicious guards but managed to do that at the expense of her knowledge of the area. Suddenly she was stopped by a group of well-armed men who terrified her horse which threw her off in a panic causing her to fall onto the cobblestone road, brusing her. "Well, well, well what have we here boys?" tall glowering man stated.

"Looks like a hot piece of tail for us to play with" one of the grunts stated.

"Right let's take her and get those clothes off of her" one of the men stated coming up to her, he dropped his pants. "Suck on this bitch" the man stated, other men followed suit and closed in around her.

Suddenly one of the men fell dead. "What the hell?!" one of the thugs yelled before being decapitated, another guy's head exploded from a blast of pink energy, the leader and a few others panicked, the man exposing himself to Lillianna was struggling to get his pants up with one hand and was getting ready to drive a spear into her with the other as he was bisected by a flaming sword, two more grunts dropped dead and the leader was roped up and dragged upward to a nearby building before his throat was garroted.

Lillianna recovered from being dazed and noticed a young man offering her his hand. "Here let me help you up" the young man offered.

"Thanks, I'm Lillianna and you are?" Lillianna asked.

"Tatsumi" Tatsumi replied, then four other people came over, one was clad in ninja armor and had taken off a mask to reveal a young blonde woman with an odd headband with a blue ball decorating it to one side, then there was a young dark-skinned woman with twin hooks in revealing attire, a young man with green hair and a young pinkette who climbed down from the roof tops with rifle slung over her shoulder.

"You really need to be careful out at night" Aria stated coming over.

"Thanks, I'm Lillianna, I- well I'm a runaway, my father wanted to marry me to a man who was way older then me against my will, I ran away and was planning on getting as far from the Capital as possible, but I got myself lost, who are you guys?" Lillianna asked.

"People who help people like you, the people who clean up the scum of the city and get rid the problems of society, to sum it up in two words Night Raid, don't worry we can help you, do you need a place to stay?" Tatsumi asked.

"I could use one, just don't take me back to my Father I'm sure he'll be wanting to put a price out for my return don't take it" Lillianna replied.

"Alright I'll take you back to my in-laws home alright?" Tatsumi reassured.

"Yes, I- I have to repay you for what you've done" Lillianna replied.

"Don't worry I don't do this for money I do it because it's the right thing to do" Tatsumi replied. "You guys good without me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Don't worry Tatsumi-kun it will be easy with the Goddess Sniper on board" Mine bragged.

"Shut it Mine, we'll be fine" Aria stated then kissed Tatsumi before he left.

Later at Grundewick Manor…. Tatsumi lead Lillianna inside, it was around 8, Night Raid missions were more active during the winter with the shorter days, the plan had been to go out, kill one of Honest's political allies with an elite team then get back before dinner: that was until they saw Lillianna in danger and helped her. "So this is your in-laws house, you're part of Night Raid aren't you?" Lillianna asked.

"Yep, whatever you've been told about us its propaganda by that demon in human skin Honest: we only kill evil people" Tatsumi replied. "As for my in-laws well they found the group and provide us safe haven and recruits, they are some of the kindest and most caring people in the Capital" Tatsumi explained and led her into the den where he was immediately hugged by Air, Fal and Luna.

"Tatsumi-Nii!" all three stated and tackled him in a group hug.

"Alright good to see you three too" Tatsumi replied breaking the hug. "Lillianna these are my sisters-in-law, Air, Fal and Luna Grundel, Fal, Air, Luna this is Lillianna we just saved her from some would be monsters" Tatsumi introduced.

"Hi" Lillianna greeted.

"Hi" Fal, Air and Luna said at the same time.

"A Tatsumi you brought someone home with you" Angela Grundel asked as she arrived with Ieyasu at her side.

"Yes, this is Lillianna, Lillianna this is my mother in law Angela Grundel" Tatsumi introduced.

"What about me?" Ieyasu asked annoyed at being snubbed.

"Oh yeah, this is my brother in law and best friend Ieyasu" Tatsumi introduced, a bit annoyed.

"Here lets get you dinner and some clean clothes; you've been thru a lot and need some taking care off" Angela stated getting out of her chair.

"Thanks for your hospitality, are you any relation to Constantine Grundel, the minister of the Treasury?" Lillianna asked.

"Yes, he is my husband, those wonderful little girls are our adopted daughters, and I guess you met our actual daughter Aria earlier" Angela replied.

"Blonde girl in the ninja outfit?" Lillianna asked.

"Yes, also I don't think you've been properly introduced to my son-in-law Tatsumi, anyway Tatsumi get her a change of clothes, I think one of Sheele's outfits should do, I'll go make some hot chocolate and get some of my cookies, I'll have the servants start whipping up some proper dinner: Ieyasu you come and help me with the cookies; Fal, Air, Luna, go get one of the Guest rooms ready" Angela explained and ordered, everyone got to work like a well-oiled machine.

Shortly… Lillianna sat next to Tatsumi at the dining table, Angela Grundel put out a few plates of Angela's famous peanut butter cookies and handed everyone some of her equally famous hot chocolate, then sat down herself next to Ieyasu. "Thanks for your kindness" Lillianna thanked.

"You're welcome, in this family we always help those in need, now tell me about yourself" Angela stated.

"I'm a runaway, my father is a noble of high office, a long time ago he was a kinder and more caring man but over the years he's done something I don't agree with, and recently he told me that I was to be married to a man twice my age, that was the last straw so I ran away, but I really didn't think it thru, I got myself lost throwing off some suspicious guards and then I got ambushed by some thugs, they scared my horse and he threw me off, those men they were going to do horrible things to me, they were going to rape me; I thought I was done for, running away from having to get my virginity taken by a man I had no affection for and twice my age to getting defiled and probably murdered by evil men, that was when Tatsumi and the rest of Night Raid saved me; I owe Tatsumi dearly, I don't have much, I just want to stay away from my father's wedding plans, so can I stay here until I can come up with a plan?" Lillianna explained.

"Of course you can stay here, stay as long as you need to, don't worry about us turning you over to your father, by the sounds of things he doesn't seem like a good sort" Angela replied, Lillianna breathed a sigh of relief. "Tatsumi after dinner would you be a good gentleman and escort her to her room?" Angela requested.

"Yes I can do that Angela" Tatsumi replied, then ate another cookie.

Later… Dinner proved to be a joy, Tatsumi was a bit sad to be having it without Aria but given the fact the mission against Lord Chumbolt was a serious one he was willing to make that exception. Tatsumi escorted Lillianna to the guest room which had been readied for her, she was staying rather close to him. They arrived in the room which was a good-sized guestroom and one of many such rooms in Grundewick Manor, Tatsumi turned to leave but Lillianna locked the door. "Wait" Lillanna said locking the door. "Tatsumi I've not had a chance to reward you for saving my life, I don't have anything but this to offer you" Lillianna explained and began stripping.

"Wait I didn't just save your life for this" Tatsumi replied.

"Please, this is a reward, also Tatsumi I've got another motive, if I do this my Father won't be able to marry me off, if I'm not a virgin I'm useless to him; so please do this for me; you saved my life I can offer my undying love to you for that, also to keep me from my Father's hands" Lillianna replied alarmed.

"Who's your father and why are you so scared of him, to a point where you're willing to give yourself to a stranger sexually and marry him" Tatsumi asked.

"I- I better tell you now, but please don't run away if I do; my father- my father is- my father is Prime Minister Honest" Lillianna explained, Tatsumi's jaw dropped.

"WHAT?!" Tatsumi replied at the realization the daughter of his greatest enemy was trying to get inside his pants and into bed with him. "I- I- great this makes my life all more hectic, this isn't a trap, Honest didn't send you to kill me?" Tatsumi remarked after recovering.

"Kill you- No why? I'd never harm another human being; why would my father want you dead?" Lillianna replied.

"At the moment I'm his number 1 target on up and coming political rivals to kill, in fact he wouldn't be satisfied until I'm not only dead but served to him well done to eat; and only after he forced me to watch him eat everyone I love as the worst form of torture" Tatsumi replied.

"WHAT!? Eat you?! My Father- he wouldn't- he- he- he- I-" Lillianna replied terrified by the thought.

"Wait you don't know that your father is the most evil man in the Capital and a cannibal rapist murderer pedophile who I'm pretty sure is a demon in human skin" Tatsumi stated.

"NO! I didn't know that, I mean it would explain a lot of things, how a number of my ladies-in-waiting disappeared over the years, why he always has me stay out of his office, the one time I threw up after eating a piece of pie he offered me- I- my father is a monster; Tatsumi protect me- I'm sure he'll be livid I've run away, look you are one of his enemies he doesn't know where I am so let's do what I had planned, you take away my maidenhood, tomorrow morning we'll elope and get married in one of the smaller temples then I'll hide here for I don't know the rest of my Father's life" Lillianna responded, then broke down in tears on holding onto him, Tatsumi hugged her.

"There, it's alright, I'm here for you, I get it, Look I'm one of the most dangerous enemies Honest has at the moment, in fact I hold more power then he thinks I do, I'll protect you; we'll protect you" Tatsumi reassured.

"You'll do that? For me? For a total stranger and the daughter of your worst enemy? Thanks Tatsumi, you truly are worthy of my undying love and affection, screw political station and screw my father; I'm my own woman and I'm going to marry who I want to, and my father isn't going to control my life anymore" Lillianna stated and removed her clothing, she did the same to Tatsumi, who picked her up and carried her to the nearby bed.

"Lillianna I'll do my best to be gentle" Tatsumi stated, then kissed her on the lips and down her body to her loins where he began use his tongue to find her sensitive spots, he found them, Lillianna moaned as he did so, he used his hands to massage her massive breasts, f-cups as big as Esdeath's, Tatsumi worked his magic with his tongue. Tatsumi's efforts were too much for Lillianna to bare and she orgasmed Tatsumi sucked up the juices.

"Tatsumi take it, I don't want you to tease me" Lillianna asked. Tatsumi readied himself, and entered her, kissing Lillianna on the lips to ease the pain, Tatsumi looked into her sweat blue eyes and ran his right hand thru her silver-white hair, Lillianna moaned. Tatsumi broke the kiss and went immediately to her left breast, the grey nipples were noticeable against her chocolate skin, this was new to him, his first proper interracial experience which was good it felt great, Lillianna was tight and he was snug up inside her, so he begin to drank from her heavenly bosom, Lillianna moaned in pleasure. Tatsumi loved the taste of her milk, as he drank Lillianna stroked her hand thru his soft brown hair, using the other hold Tatsumi's hand, the deepness of Lillianna was something Tatsumi hadn't experienced before, she was a virgin yes, but the inside of her folds swallowed up the entire length of his phallus allowing him to truly go balls deep. Tatsumi used his tongue to lick her nipple as she drank from it, soon he alternated to the other one, he was taking this whole thing nice and slow, his instincts told him that he was going to have a hard time explaining this to Aria, suddenly he knew he was reaching his limit, she wrapped her legs around him to keep him inside, not that Tatsumi wanted to pull out, he knew her game she was doing this to basically spite her father but she genuinely had some feelings for him, this wasn't just sex for sex's sake no it was love on some level; granted not fully true love yet but it would go there.

"I'm cumming" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"Don't I need your child, it will teach my father a lesson, but I want children, just don't stop" Lillianna replied and Tatsumi unloaded, at the same time she orgasmed, Tatsumi stopped and pulled out, Lillianna flipped over. "Well now I'm in the mood for you to take me in my ass, don't hold back" Lillianna replied smirking back at him, Tatsumi did so and rode her doggy style, her rear was even tighter then he expected over all Lillianna was a true beauty with a body to match, granted he was doing his best to pleasure her; this was her first time and he intended to make it as special as possible. Lillianna was blushing as Tatsumi rode her, he used his hands to massage her breasts caressing them and loving them for soft orbs they were, she moaned as he upped the tempo then slowed down before going up again, trying to strike a balance between speed and enjoyment. Lillianna knew he was at his limit when he increased rapidly; she had reached hers to and she came.

She pushed Tatsumi flat. "What are you going to do now?" Tatsumi teased.

"Oh I'm going to give you a heavenly experience, I've seen a few of the palace girls at work, granted Syura had me watch as a means of education; I may have not agreed with my brother on a lot of things but one thing I did agree with him on that if a woman has big enough tits to wrap around a man's cock she should do so and give him bliss" Lillianna explained then wrapped her chocolate orbs around his length and began to massage it in a fine paizuri, she was doing amazing but he guessed that Syura probably had her learn about these things. "Well I rarely say this but Syura was right, this is amazing I love this are you loving it Tatsumi-kun?" Lillianna asked.

"I am, you are giving Sheele and Esdeath a run for their money with the way you are making me feel and you've only just started" Tatsumi replied. "You know you should start licking the tip of it while you're at it" Tatsumi added, Lillianna did so licking the head of the length using her tongue she snaked along it, breaking her paizuri to engulf a third of the length and suck it, then popping it out to lick the length before preparing herself for taking the full length, she sucked in a third and then half and adjusted her mouth and suppressed her gag reflex before deepthroating him down to the balls; and sucking it, Tatsumi was impressed the depths of her mouth were impressive he had a feeling that with a lot of education from Cosmina: Lillianna would be a master at pleasing him orally. It was too much and Tatsumi released without warning Lillianna who surprised by the whole thing let go and the whole load creamed her face and breasts.

Lillanna licked herself off. "This is actually decent but it's a bit salty; also Tatsumi warn me when you are going to do that next time" Lillianna replied, they laughed and Tatsumi pulled her up and entered her once more and wrapped a blanket over them.

He continued his rounds for about another hour until Lillianna passed out, he wrapped a blanket over her after putting her underwear back on, redressed and left her to sleep, he then headed to his room or rather Aria's room as the two were now sharing it as a husband and wife; granted he considered the decorations to be a bit girly but that was to be expected from Aria; he changed into his most romantic underwear possible a red and black speedo and black slippers and grabbed a few things then went off to Seryu's room as he had an engagement waiting for her when she came back from her patrol and laid on his chest on her bed to wait for his bride to be to come home, he also covered her bed with rose petals from a number of flowers after lighting a few scented candles. She arrived rather worn out but was surprised by the welcome Tatsumi had prepared for her.

Meanwhile…. As Tatsumi and Seryu enjoyed a romantic encounter and as the Night Raid team carried out their raid on the home of a murderous pedophilic noble who was a fan of raping children and their mothers while watching their fathers flayed alive, the bodies of the attackers who had ill intentions for Lillianna lay fallow on the cobblestone streets, these bodies were not alone however as a mysterious cloaked figure strode forward in the rain, he held in his hand a curious staff that also was a scythe. "Fresh corpses, ah the boons of living in the Capital, there are no shortage of bodies to play with, not these however at least not that way not my type not even remotely, however they will make do, they'll make good thralls to command, and I didn't even need to dirty my blade to acquire them" the hooded figure stated. "Rise and serve me anew" the figure commanded and from his palm green necrotic energy poured forth, the energy flowed into the lifeless corpses, those intact enough to be used, and the bodies stood up, blue orbs shining in place of eyes. "More thralls to command; come my undead brothers we have work to do, my father's plans move forth and we all have our part to play" The man stated then cackled before leaving. (Song: Spooky Scary Skeletons)

The undead shambled with their master carrying the weapons they had in life, he lead them to a nearby cemetery where he led them to nearby shed where they picked up spades and shovels and began to dig up the graves and open crypts. "Another graveyard more servants to command; also take anything of value the wealth will bring for more potential corpses, come now sing my minions: Spooky Scary Skeletons!" the Necromancer stated, he then turned to a certain tombstone or rather two tombstones and instructed two of his zombies to dig up. "Yorik father of Yami and Naomi, as well as Marti, mother of Yami and Naomi; both rest in peace" he read. "What a lovely couple, they'll make excellent additions, in fact I'll raise them as Wights" he added, the zombies soon struck the the coffins and broke them open to find two mummified corpses, the necromancer cast a powerful spell, two fell spirits came forth and infused themselves into the skeletons which rose with blue fire eyes as Wights. "The night is dark and we rule it" he proclaimed and cackled before outstretching his palms and letting energy pour forth that caused the bodies of the dead to dig themselves out of the earth as zombies and skeletons under his control. (Song End)

The following morning Tatsumi and Seryu came to the table after dressing where nobody was currently at apart from Aria, Ieyasu and Angela, Aria immediately got up and kissed him, she was shocked when Lillianna came into the room and ran up and did the same. "What the hell?" Aria exclaimed.

"Yes well that's a long story" Tatsumi stated.

"Explain, we have time for it" Aria remarked giving him the glare, Tatsumi sat down, Seryu sat next to him on one side and was confused.

"Well if it's about the romantic thing Tatsumi did for me last night I'll explain" Seryu remarked.

"No, no, no, it's about our new guest: miss, I don't think we were introduced" Aria replied.

"Lillianna, I better tell you the whole story" Lillianna stated and explained to Aria in depth, when she concluded Aria's jaw dropped.

"Wait you're Honest's daughter?! You ran away, and then came here after we saved your life and your first instinct to get out of an arranged marriage is to sleep with my husband and then decide to marry him?" Aria questioned.

"Yep pretty much" Lillianna stated.

"You are a very interesting woman and you better not have done anything bad to my Tatsumi-kun; if you did well, I'll have Seryu feed you to Koro" Aria replied.

"Why would I ever do something bad to the man who saved my life, I simply rewarded him with the only thing I had to give him for saving me and well the best way to make me useless to my father, also I'm going to marry Tatsumi I've decided, yes it may be early but I'm doing it just to spite my father and make sure he can't marry me to anyone against my will" Lillianna explained, Aria was still confused but was willing to just accept it, as they finished talking everyone else arrived at the table, a few people had overslept notably Mine who had exhausted herself after the mission last night mainly do to her deciding to help Aria in torturing their target to death and screaming like a maniac while doing that task. The servants brought breakfast and everyone dug in, as it progressed a servant brought Constantine the paper which after he finished eating he read as usual.

"Well this is shocking" Constantine stated after reading the front page.

"What is father?" Aria asked.

"Well overnight apparently the graveyard on Kartak way was raided, every crypt every grave was emptied, dug up not even the bodies were left in them, nothing, this has got to be one of the most brazen acts of grave robbery I've ever seen" Constantine remarked.

"Kartak Way are you sure about that Constantine?" Naomi asked.

"Positive, no sign of the culprits, some of the graves were as if the dead themselves dug them up; like I said the most brazen act of grave robbery I've ever seen or heard of" Constantine replied.

"My parents were buried in that cemetery, are you sure every grave was dug up?" Naomi asked.

"Positive, not one grave undug, why this happened is beyond me" Constantine stated.

"Perhaps the dead got up and walked away daddy" Luna chimed in.

"You have an overactive imagination Luna" Mine replied.

"Actually that's not a bad idea, I've seen many things in my years Mine, and I have seen the dead return to walk, but not as they were in life, neither alive or dead, but undead" Constantine stated.

"Wait you've seen the dead walk now I've heard everything" Mine replied.

"I've seen it too Mine" Sheele commented.

"Please Sheele there are no such things as ghosts" Mine replied.

"Yes there are, I should know" Sheele stated.

"Really then prove it" Mine stated, Sheele knocked it off not wanting to tell Mine about her experiences in as a master assassin in the Order of the Sorrowful Ones.

"Please lets not be to concerned about it, I'll have a Jaeger team look into it, it's definitely worth investigating" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'll go with you, my parents were buried in that cemetery, plus I'm not part of Night Raid so I shouldn't draw attention" Naomi added.

"Me too, Grave robbers are evil doers: nothing more insulting to the dead then taking that which was theirs in life, especially if you take their body, how are they going to be come back someday without it" Seryu commented, Koro barked in agreement. "Yes you're coming to Koro, I love you, my good Teigu yes you are, here have some Bacon" Seryu added.

"You know Seryu you should join the Jaegers too, it would be great to have two double agents instead of just one" Naomi suggested.

"Thanks but no, I'm quite content being a Night Raid informant, Police officer and Night Raid member" Seryu commented. "Also that would mean I wouldn't be able to partner up with Tatsumi, because I wouldn't partner up with anyone but Tatsumi-kun" Seryu added.

"I can see where you're coming from, still though you could help us from time to time Seryu, most of what we do in the Jaegers isn't too different from Police work" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes but there is still the matter of me not being able to your patrol partner" Seryu commented.

"I could put a word in with Esdeath to make you a special exception" Tatsumi replied with a wink.

"Alright I'll give it a thought, so what about the twins you said you'd make them your bodyguards" Seryu asked.

"We are working on the outfits for that still" Loris replied, she had come to visit Tatsumi while Meela and Martha were busy coming up with suitable outfits.

"Leave it to you to two to make it a fashion decision to decide on being Tatsumi's bodyguard" Seryu teased and everyone laughed apart from Loris.

"Anyway thanks for the breakfast, I'm off to work" Tatsumi stated and left.

The new uniforms for the Jaegers had finally come in and Esdeath had made them mandatory; so Tatsumi wore his proudly, both Naomi and Seryu followed him out and he stopped and turned to them. "Wait before we go anywhere, we need to see to getting you equipment Naomi" Tatsumi commented.

"Right: so lets go check out the armory and see what we can find" Naomi replied so they headed towards the armory shed which Tatsumi unlocked with one of the spare keys that Aria had given him. They went thru it and Naomi faced some interesting options, Seryu suggested that she take additional weapons as back up and equipment that suited her style of fighting; to that end she decided the first thing she needed was a ranged weapon so she went thru the weapons on offer, she didn't have the skill or strength needed for a bow which meant either a crossbow or a gun; she ruled out the crossbow because it would take too long to reload, leaving her with the well-stocked fire arms offered by the Grundel armory, which was not just a tribute to their wealth they happened to be the owners of Empire's finest arms company; thus from these she choose an AK-47 assault rifle a weapon that she had seen used by the manor's guards and had some practice with; next came her close quarters weapons, she looked thru and found two Fighting Axes made out of fine steel which she grabbed then saw something equally impressive, a double bladed sword staff; which had a falchion like blade on either of it, her father had used a weapon like this and taught her how to use it; his old blade had been stolen from her by the same robbers who sold her to Bach. With the weapons out of the way Naomi saw to getting the best armor possible, this came in fine set of plate armor that was composed of interlocking plates which were made out of a highly durable alloy, the kind that that could take abuse from a number of different weapons. "Can you two step out? I need to change" Naomi remarked and Seryu and Tatsumi stepped out to let her change into the armor, she did and came back to them.

"Now lets get going and serve up some Justice; because when it comes to Justice we should give 200%!" Seryu proclaimed.

"WAIT!" a voice yelled, they turned to notice Lillianna who had come out in one of Angela's spare dresses. "Tatsumi: you and I need to get married today: my father will be searching all over for me, the sooner we marry the sooner we can thwart his ambitions" Lillianna explained.

"Alright, Lily, I- we'll do it, but I need to talk with my employer about it alright; the last thing I want to do is have a ceremony and not invite my friends to it" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok Tatsumi: I'll just talk to Mrs. Grundel while you're gone, see if she can let your other friends know about it, also she'll want to see to getting me a wedding dress; so yes I'll see you there" Lillianna stated and kissed him. "Be careful Tatsumi-kun you're the best person I've ever met in my life I don't want to lose you so soon after meeting you" Lillianna added, Tatsumi hugged her.

"Don't worry I'll be ok: I don't die easily" Tatsumi reassured. "Alright I got to get going any later and everyone will want to talk my ear off" Tatsumi replied and he left with Seryu and Naomi following behind.

Shortly… "So Tatsumi how exactly did you get yourself involved in all the stuff that's happening in the Capital" Naomi asked.

"Well I came from a village out in the countryside hoping to make a living in the city and find a way to get the taxes on my village lowered; speaking off I think I can ask my father in law to do that now that he's in charge of the Empire's money but anyway I came from a remote village about two weeks from here and when I arrived I tried to join the army; unfortunately I was too much of a hothead and thought that my skills would warrant me a higher rank; so I got the boot: there I was trying to come up with another way into the army when a certain blonde walks up to me and tells me she knows how to get me and would help me if I get her a drink, well I did and before she got herself completely drunk I asked her how to get in and she said it was all about connections and with the right amount of money she could get me in thru people she knew; well I was an idiot and gave her all my money figuring I'd make Captain at least with that; well naturally she took my money and never came back, the bar owner gave me the boot and I was left outside on the streets with nothing but my sword, bracelet and the clothes on my back, so I decided to get some shut eye and well I get woken up by a carriage where another blonde was offering me a place to stay: Aria my sweet Aria; thanks to her that's how I've gotten where I am today Naomi and I can't express thanks for all that she's done for me" Tatsumi explained.

"That's an interesting story Tatsumi" Naomi stated.

"There's more to it Naomi but its best that he discuss the rest in private you know sensitive information" Seryu remarked.

"So tell me about yourself Naomi" Tatsumi replied.

"Well first off Yami and I are twins, I'm the older twin and I've got a bit of stubborn streak, my mother told me it was a fight to get me out of her womb and the midwife was sure that I was alive when I came out, anyway Yami and I grew up here in the Capital where we were born, my father was a mercenary, and we knew our mother for a few years she was a barmaid, our life was good, until we turned ten that's when it went wrong, our mother came home one night from work, completely beat up and tattered clothing; she died a few days later; she had been on her way home from work where she was ambushed by some toughs she wasn't able to fight them off and they took turns raping her and they beat her with whips, our father hunted down the killers and turned them in for a bounty; after that experience our father decided that the reason our mother had died was because she wasn't able to resist her attackers, he was concerned for our wellbeing and tutored us in the craft of mercenaries, taught us how to fight with all sorts of exotic and impressive weapons; he would often take us on campaigns where we would do our best to help where we could, though granted we never got to go into actual battle because he wouldn't let us do that until we were of age; well our life was like that until about a year ago when he died, he died a natural death in his sleep; he had left us a sizeable amount of money enough to pay for his funeral and to keep us by for the future; but we were left to support ourselves so we took up minor jobs as mercenaries and danger beast hunters; we captured our human targets alive because they were worth more that way, most of the people were those who had stolen money from people or taken loans and not paid them back and they really didn't have a means to fight back; so we took those guys captive. Some time passed and we took more dangerous jobs, eventually however a job went wrong we were hunting slaver hunters and our employer actually lured us into a trap; I fought with a couple of others to hold a rearguard so that the rest of our team and a few freed slaves could escape, Yami wanted to stay behind with me but I told her I would be fine. So I was captured they took us to the nearest slaver trader which was a man named Bach, Yami actually went looking for me and met with him, he offered me to her at a price of 5,000 gold pieces; so she went took the most valuable and the most dangerous contract possible: hunting Night Raid, if I had known my sister was doing something that crazy I would have stopped her, good thing Yami survived, the others didn't, I really am glad she survived the encounter; I wouldn't be able to live with myself if my little sister died fighting to earn the money to free me; to be frank Yami hadn't even killed another human being before; the most in terms of killing she did before that mission kill danger beasts; hell she even choose her swords specifically because they could be used to capture an enemy in addition to killing them; so that's pretty much my story, you know what happened next, Bach died and I was freed, I've stayed at the Grundel's mansion and well been a bit a lazy; we probably still own our home but I bet we've amassed quite the upkeep bill" Naomi explained.

"Well that's an interesting story Naomi; you know you could always ask Aria's parents to help with that, those two will do anything for people in need" Seryu commented.

"No: our father taught us one thing and that is pay your debts and do so from your own pocket, besides they've done so much for me and Yami already I can't possibly bare to ask them to cover the price of my family home" Naomi replied.

"I'll bet Yami would" Seryu teased.

"Please don't joke about that; though you are right, my sister will gladly accept the help of other people" Naomi commented then laughed. "Anyway Tatsumi what's your family like?" Naomi asked, Tatsumi frowned. "Whoa sorry" Naomi apologized knowing she had touched a sensitive subject.

"I never knew them, my birth parents, they were killed when I was an infant, a farmer from my village pulled me out from under my mother's corpse and took me to the village, I was raised by a young loving couple however my adoptive parents believed in tough love, I was in for a hard life with not much time for actual normal family activities, my adopted parents are hard workers who focused intensively on their work, my father was a farmer but also the militia captain and a hunter, he was also the Elder's son so I kind of had a bit more development then most in that I had a real education, I was able to learn how to read and write as well as swing a sword possibly, killed my first Mountain bear at 13, learned how to prepare fine bread and muffins from my adoptive mother; Sayo and Ieyasu were my only steady friends growing up, I had other friends but those two are the only ones who would follow me to hell and back if I asked them to; other then that I a- was just a simple country bumpkin" Tatsumi explained.

"That's sad, I can see where you're coming from, I just can't share the pain you have of not knowing your true parents" Naomi replied.

"Hey anyone want to know my tragic story?" Seryu joked.

"Do you have one?" Naomi jested.

"I do, why do you think I live with Aria? My story is similar to yours Naomi in that I was born and raised in the Captial, but I lost my parents a lot sooner; my father was an officer in the Imperial Police and my Mother his loving wife; I was their only child; well you might ask how it happened; when I was six my home was attacked by well armed masked men; my father was killed fighting them and my mother was raped in front of me, I hid in a cabinet while this happened and I ran off; where I was surrounded by more of the masked men; so I ran into an alley; and hide near garbage can, there was no way out, then something happened, I heard a dog woof from a box nearby and met my best friend Koro; the masked men came to attack me; well they had made a mistake; Koro growled at them and they laughed, then Koro unleashed his trump card grew to his max size and devoured the evildoers whole; so with Koro we went back to my house and we delivered Ultimate Justice to my parent's killers; my mother survived the ordeal, but she died nine-months later in childbirth giving birth to a child of one of those monsters; the baby was left with me; I was alone apart from Koro at my half-brother; so I was sent to the local orphanage; which was owned by the Grundel family they didn't separate me from my half-brother who my mother named Damian; I spent 4 years there until one day Aria and her parents came to the Orphanage which overall was a good place, well Aria and I became friends and Aria begged her mom and dad to take me home with them and they did along with my half brother, it turns out my Father was a good friend of Aria's dad who saved him from an attempt on his life so they adopted me; sort of I never took the family name and kept my last name Ubiquitous; I was told stories of my father's police work and when I was 14 I joined the Capital Police under Captain Ogre the Demon, he was like a second father to me I worked on the force for 4 years and dispatched many evil doers and I enjoyed it; I really loved my work and Ogre was proud with me; I wanted him to be even more proud of me so I started looking into stuff on my own, and about half a year ago I came upon the trail of a shifty merchant named Gamul; he was an lamp oil merchant and was pretty wealthy but had expanded his trading pursuits to other goods; however things started happening that didn't add up; business owners were found guilty of practices that were out of character for them that information came from Gamul, those businesses were purchased by Gamul, and on top of it, the families of the rival merchants disappeared as well, eventually I looked into it and found more and more clues, I started stalking Gamul in my free time, keeping track of daily routine; Koro didn't like the smell of him and I agreed he stank of evil; so one night we had gotten enough information that we decided to stalk Gamul one night with hopes of catching him in the act of a crime and then arresting him and bringing him to Captain Ogre to show him how good of an officer I was at bringing evil doers to Justice; it didn't happen I found something that changed my life forever; I found out Ogre was part of the corruption in the capital, Aria over the years I'd known her always warned me that the Capital was full of corruption and evil criminals; I always took her word as the truth as there were no shortage of criminals but I didn't understand her true meaning, she meant that some of the people who looked good could actually be truly evil; A man I looked up to Captain Ogre a man I considered as much as a father as my birth father; someone who I thought was like my father had been was actually one of the worst evil doers I've ever known, he was rotten thru and thru; I could have killed both of them, had Koro rip them apart then and there but I didn't I knew that wouldn't be just; in fact I questioned what was just and what was truly Justice; I've learned that Justice is doing the right thing before the law but that the law is not solid it is very fluid and what one person considers just is different from another considers just; so I did the only thing I could do, I ran away, ran far from them then talked with Koro, the only real family I have left apart from Damian and the only person who can feel what I feel and we both knew I should go to the person I trusted the most, Aria; so I did and well; you both know the rest" Seryu explained she then turned to Tatsumi. "By the way Tatsumi, thanks, you had the strength to do what I couldn't, and you did what I wanted done, you showed mercy in giving Ogre a swift death, that in True Justice; punishing those who are evil especially if they use the law to hide their evil"

"I'm glad you think so highly of me" Tatsumi replied, they were near Jaeger HQ now; their conversations had taken up the walking time to HQ which they had reached without anyone trying to kill them; or rather Tatsumi as he had made a significant amount of enemies.

"That's the reason I love you Tatsumi, you've shown me what True Justice is and you are truly just and kind" Seryu stated then stopped and kissed Tatsumi on the lips.

"So why haven't I seen your brother about Seryu?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because he is pretty shy, spends most of his time in his personal study of a room that the Grundels gave him; he's a real bookworm: has all his meals brought to his room and rarely comes out; I really should have you meet him; he's the only real family I have left apart from Koro; granted we're half siblings; he has the same hair as me but he has the grey eyes of one of the masked men; I did get a good look at them as Koro ripped them to shreds" Seryu explained.

"I'll gladly meet him; I'll bet he doesn't even know you have a boyfriend let alone a fiancé" Tatsumi commented and Seryu laughed, they entered the Jaeger HQ passed the receptionist who didn't question the fact that Tatsumi was being accompanied by two unknown women. "You know Tatsumi we should get married soon" Seryu suggested.

"I know, do you have any preferences you know I'll do anything for you Seryu" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I had something modest involved, but I do want a custom dress; something nice and green; you know green is my favorite color, a nice shade of lime green would do with a few other things thrown in for good measure; specifically something the same color as your eyes" Seryu replied and they entered the main hall.

Meanwhile at Grundewick Manor in an underground facility beneath the statue in the backyard…. Angela and Aria walked into her private center with Fal, Air and Luna. "Alright you three are old enough to start learning some very practical skills; welcome to the Angela Grundel school on assassination, torture, poisons and medicines; you three may be adopted but you are Grundel women thru and thru our family duty is to help those less fortunate in need by any means necessary and keep them safe from those who would do them harm; as such the most important duty is to protect those who are innocent of the dangers of the world or who are unable to resist the dangers by any means necessary, the main method is by eliminating those who pray on the innocent; there are monsters in this world of ours and many wear human skin; thus it is important to find these monsters and slay them but before killing them we must make them suffer for their crimes before the go to the devil; as such we will be teaching you three in the arts of Grundel Assassin: Any questions" Angela explained.

"Question do we get to do these things to bullies?" Fal asked.

"Not the lethal techniques" Angela replied.

"Do we get to pull people's eyes out?" Air asked with a sadistic grin.

"Yes but only the eyes of evil people" Angela explained.

"Do we get cool assassin clothes like Aria?!" Luna asked eagerly.

"When you're tough enough to carry it" Aria remarked.

"Hey I'm tough" Luna sassed.

"Please Luna, one thing at a time; now I'm going to have you three learn how to use the tool that is useful for all fields of training; the knife" Angela stated and Aria laid out a cloth with numerous knives of differing designs. "There are many different types of knives each for different purposes-" Angela stated to explain.

"Do we get to stab people to death with them!? DO WE!? DO WE?! I want to stab some bad guys to death, please Mommy please!" Air interrupted, her purple eyes and expression were fueled with bloodlust.

"Not yet Air, sweetie; however you will get to stab stuff; it will either be dead or was never alive in the first place to start with and when we have the opportunity I think we can take a criminal or two off the street for more live demonstrations" Angela explained.

"YAY! WE GET STAB BAD GUYS TO DEATH!" Air cheered, both Fal and Luna shushed her.

"I want to hear more of what mommy has to say so be quiet for now Air" Fal lectured, Air shut up but still smiled creepily and thus allowed Angela to continued her lesson.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi found himself in Esdeath's private quarters currently eating her out; Esdeath had ordered him to her office and ordered nobody to disturb them. "Oh Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath moaned, she wore only her leggings as she lay back on the bed, Tatsumi wore nothing, and he used his tongue with skill. Tatsumi knew Esdeath was horny when she looked at him on arrival, he had that effect on Esdeath that if she went too long without him, she would become pent up and horny; usually it happened after about 2 days and the longer she went without him the more moody she'd be, something which he intended to avoid under any circumstance; Esdeath when she was moody could be quite erratic and Tatsumi didn't want someone getting hurt by one of her mood swings; speaking of she'd been having more of them then she usually did and he was sure now that she was pregnant his gut told him that and he bet that as soon as he was done pleasuring her she'd give him the news.

His lovemaking with her was interrupted by Esdeath running off to the bathroom, she came back a moment later. "Alright Tatsu-bunny Good news and bad news: Good news I'm pregnant, the bad news I'm pregnant and Honest is still alive" Esdeath explained. "Tatsumi we need to accelerate our plans a bit more; I want Honest dead before I go into the second trimester I really want what is best for our child and what is best for our child and any future children we have will require Honest to be dead and not a threat" Esdeath added.

"We'll do that, I want to get the other Jaegers on side first, Night Raid has continued to carry out the attacks on targets you kindly gave us and well the damage is having some serious impact" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes I can agree with the strategy, but we must double our efforts, now what was it you wanted to discuss with me earlier" Esdeath replied.

"Alright well last night a local graveyard was robbed, emptied: every grave, every cairn, every crypt empty and a lot of the graves looked like they had been dug up from beneath the ground" Tatsumi replied.

"Well by the looks of things we have a Necromancer on the loose in the Capital, I've faced a couple of necromancers before and there are two types those who dabble in foul sorceries and those who use a powerful Teigu to raise the dead; the first of the two is actually common but most don't survive the training needed rise in power or the efforts of the authorities that hunt them; however in the Capital that is a new one; also this kind of corpse theft means only one thing, an army is being built: one with the intent of taking the Capital; which means we have to stop it; therefore you are in charge of investigating the matter" Esdeath explained.

"Also there is something else I managed to convince my fiancé Seryu to join the Jaegers, she has her own Teigu, but she has one condition for her joining" Tatsumi explained.

"Name it and I will grant it" Esdeath replied.

"She wants to be assigned to me as a patrol partner" Tatsumi replied

"Very well; she will work with you and Mez on your patrols; however I would like to know more about Seryu" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi explained Seryu's story, which caused her to laugh. "Great this is genius not just one Night Raid infiltrator in the Jaegars but two, even if I didn't find Seryu interesting I'd let her in merely for the laughs; if only Honest knew; he will surprised" Esdeath replied afterwards. "Anyway we've talked enough for now, I'm going to give you some enjoyment since you gave me such joy already" Esdeath stated and pushed him back and wrapped her breasts around his length.

Meanwhile at Night Raid HQ… Chelsea was listening to her music and just relaxing having done her job for the day when her door opened to reveal her sister Merraid. "Hey Merraid, what is it?" Chelsea asked.

"Chelsea, I need your help; I want to know how to approach Tatsumi; this is the first time I've actually been attracted to a man; as crazy an idea as that sounds and you are well in a relationship with him so I need advice; the twins aren't any help; Gil is still trying to figure out how to approach him herself, Leone is too blunt about the whole thing for my tastes and Najenda well is busy, besides you're my sister and I we're always here for each other" Merraid explained.

"Alright sis well sit down and I'll give you help with this; first things first you need to try and talk with him; make small talk get to know each other; maybe even tease him; secondly you'll need to forget everything you know about dating girls; boys are a lot more simple to approach, Tatsumi is very respectful towards women so you need to be the same to him, he's a good person genuinely caring, he is one of the few honest people in this world of ours and is upfront about who he is, just do that same and you'll be fine" Chelsea explained.

"Thanks, I hope I don't screw this up, this may be my best chance to get into the same bed as Esdeath" Merraid thanked.

"Whoa, don't get ahead of yourself, also do you really love Tatsumi or are you just doing this to get to Esdeath; if that's the case I'm not letting you hurt him like that; also if you hurt him like that Esdeath will kill you and it would be agonizing; so level with me do you truly love him or are you just doing this to get at Esdeath; because if you are doing this to get at Esdeath I won't help you for your own safety, I really don't want you to get yourself killed by Esdeath over breaking his heart" Chelsea replied.

"No what, I would never be that cruel, also having nearly been killed by Esdeath before during childhood I'm not going to risk pissing her off; also Tatsumi is sweet, in fact he's by far the only guy I've met that doesn't see me as a pair of boobs atop and ass; he's genuinely caring and really is respectful of women and men; he's caring; in fact he's probably the sweetest guy in the world" Merraid replied, she really did want to get to Esdeath but she really didn't want to hurt someone to do it; especially if that someone was the person who Esdeath loved the most; and a person she considered a dear friend and who she had gone on many missions with, Merraid left Chelsea and proceeded to go off to think harder, in the hallway she passed Taeko who headed into Chelsea's room.

Chelsea looked at her other sister who decided to walk in. "Hey Taeko, let me guess it's about Tatsumi right?" Chelsea teased.

"You read my mind; let me guess Merraid just asked you about him?" Taeko replied.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! Give my sister a prize, alright you want dating advice; at this rate I'm going to have to start charging" Chelsea teased.

"I hope not, the last thing I want to do is pay my sister for advice; now tell me how to approach Tatsumi: I'm so interested in him, in fact I've been since he joined up" Taeko replied.

"Well then; for you it's simple, you're my twin and thus we think the same just do what I did for Tatsumi and you'll have him in your bed in half a week; it's way easier with you" Chelsea stated. "Seriously though let's take this from the ground up.

Back in the Capital…. Tatsumi had finished up with Esdeath and collected Naomi and Seryu, he then looked around having to introduce Naomi and Seryu to the other Jaegers each having different reactions to them; he found it hilarious when Wave commented that he had all the luck with the ladies and when Run nose bled at seeing Naomi; of course Kurome was just impassive towards them; Doya was friendly as was Bols, and the demons; and Cosmina well was a flirt; Dorothea wasn't there at HQ and Cosmina told him she was busy on more intensive research and would require him whenever had time; which as far Tatsumi's schedule was concerned would be next Tuesday what with Esdeath's masquerade ball, his work with Jaeger patrols, dates with his girlfriends, coming up with things to entertain Makoto, killing assassins sent by Honest and the fact he had volunteered for a number of Night Raid's missions which thanks to Esdeath's intel on Honest's supporters was easier to do; also he was getting stronger, Valruost was not lying when the blade told him he would increase in strength the more people he killed and the Dragon Armor was getting better.

"Hey Bols, I need your help with something I've got an idea and I need your help to test it" Tatsumi asked Bols.

"Sure I don't know what help I'll be but I'll help" Bols replied and Tatsumi lead him to the training grounds. "Alright Tatsumi what do you need my help with?" Bols asked.

"Well I've got an idea; Smaug is the Dragon Armor which is super resilient and grants me the ability to manipulate and makes me immune to fire; I've got this idea that will be an amazing one two combo" Tatsumi explained then drew the blade and dawned the armor. "Now I'm going to need you to spray the armor with Rubincaite" Tatsumi explained.

"Tatsumi are you nuts?! If I do that I'll kill you; Rubincaite isn't an ordinary flamethrower it's a teigu made filled with Salamander fire oil; if it sticks to you it stays on and there is no putting it out until it burns out" Bols exclaimed.

"Trust me I'm sure the armor will protect me" Tatsumi replied, Naomi and Seryu were shocked that Tatsumi would risk his life.

"Alright if you want to do this it's your funeral, if you die I'm not sure I'd forgive myself" Bols explained and readied Rubincaite, Tatsumi braced himself, the flamethrower unloaded its salamander fire, the armor ignited, Tatsumi inside was unharmed, the armor had completely protected him.

"Now for something else" Tatsumi thought and used his free hand; the flames collected into a massive orb of fire: Tatsumi then flung the orb at a large target shed which took the whole hit, the flames consumed the shed which melted into char; Tatsumi then removed the armor revealing himself unarmed.

"Wow" Naomi thought to herself. "He was willing to risk his life just to test his armor; he either has a death-wish or he isn't afraid of anything; I wonder what he'd do for someone like me" Naomi thought "That was AWESOME!" Naomi cheered presently.

"I'm glad that worked, trust me this allows for some interesting tactics in the future" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway now that the test is out of the way we need to go investigate the graveyard; Bols I'm having a wedding later today; I'll get back to you with specifics" Tatsumi added.

"You are a lucky man Tatsumi; remember though to treat your wives with respect and love and if you have children; keep an eye on them whenever you're near them" Bols replied.

Shortly… Tatsumi had gotten ready his little patrol team; Mez had joined up with him, Seryu and Naomi; so they set out from Jaeger HQ into the city with hands ready to use their weapons at a moments notice. "So Tatsumi care to introduce me to your girlfriends?" Mez asked.

"I'm not his girlfriend" Naomi remarked.

"I am: Tatsumi-kun is the best man in the world and only one who loves me and appreciates True Justice; I'm Seryu Ubiquitous by the way: Capital Police; Captain in the ranks there of; I was initially against joining up with the Jaeger out of concern it would take me away from dealing the evildoers who threaten the ordinary people I'm sworn to protect; anyway I'm joining now; I'll be your patrol partner Mez and Tatsumi's too; my only condition for joining; also this is my Teigu: Hekantonchires: I call him Koro for short; he's so adorable and I love him; he's pretty much the only one of two family members I have left; the other is my half-brother Damian; he doesn't get out much" Seryu introduced.

"Nice to met you Seryu; I'm sure we'll get along just fine; so who are you then; you remind me of someone else though without the glasses" Mez asked Naomi.

"You've probably met my Twin sister Yami, my little sister, I'm Naomi; I'm not a Teigu user as you may have noticed but I have an attitude also I'm a bit of a Brainiac and I take no crap from anyone" Naomi replied.

"Nice to meet you too; I have a feeling the two of us are going to be good friends; so if you're not a Teigu user and therefore can't join the Jaegers as it is a Teigu users only group what are you doing here? are you a friend of Tatsumi's?" Mez replied.

"Friend of Tatsumi's, also I have a personal involvement in this case; my parents were buried in the cemetery that was looted; I've got a vested interest in finding their bodies and putting them back under; I'm no slouch in combat; I've got my share of experience fighting Danger Beasts, my sister and I are cut from the same cloth; our father taught us to fight because of our mother's death he believed that because she wasn't able to protect herself she died so we learned how to fight from him" Naomi explained.

"That's interesting; so you and I have something in common, our Fathers were both insistent on their daughters learning how to take care of themselves and be amazing fighters" Mez replied.

"Nice: Friends?" Naomi replied.

"Yes friends; I'm sure we have a lot in common" Mez replied.

Later… "Well this place gives new meaning to the word trashed" Mez remarked, the graveyard was trashed, headstones were overturned and in some cases broken, statues and stone pillars were knocked over, the doors to the crypts were torn off their hinges, and a thorough search revealed no coffin had been undisturbed, also any valuables had been stolen.

Naomi went over to her parents' graves which as she expected were emptied. "I'm sorry about this; I'll find your bodies and bring them back here" Naomi commented in respect.

"Whoever did this wasn't alone, there are footprints all over the place; Seryu do you think Koro might be able to find any trails?" Tatsumi commented, Koro sniffed around for a bit and then stopped to moan in sadness.

"No luck Tatsumi-kun, there are too many different trails and scents for Koro to follow" Seryu replied with a frown. "Who did this will face Justice!" Seryu declared.

"Hey, Seryu what is the punishment for grave robbery anyway?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well the average penalty for stealing is a person spends three years in prison and has to pay a fine equivalent to what they stole, with the punishment getting more severe the greater the amount stolen; given the amount of bodies and objects stolen from this entire graveyard I'd say that the punishment would involve the person getting boiled alive in hot oil with turpentine mixed in; so in short: death by being boiled alive" Seryu explained.

"Man the Capital has some extreme laws" Tatsumi remarked.

"Please I've dealt with worse criminals then whoever pulled this off; granted I've never seen theft on such a grand scale of someone managing to steal an entire 10-acre Graveyard's worth of corpses and valuables" Seryu commented.

"Well there isn't anything here as evidence as to who did this: we need a new plan: Seryu, you, I and Naomi will undertake night patrols; we'll look around the Capital graveyards and districts at Night" Tatsumi explained.

"What about me?" Mez asked.

"You, me and Seryu will handle day patrols, I'm going to spend nights looking into things" Tatsumi asked.

"What about Night Raid?" Mez asked.

"For now this takes priority, a necromancer raising an army from every corpse in the city is a much bigger threat then assassins targeting Imperial nobles and officials: especially since an army of undead doesn't have loyalty to anybody but the Necromancer himself or herself" Tatsumi replied, Mez didn't question this, his logic was quite sound, compared to a legion of undead a group of assassins killing nobles and government officials was a minor nuisance.

Later… Tatsumi returned to Grundewick Manor after an extensive patrol; Naomi and Seryu alongside him; Koro alongside the latter. "That was interesting nothing notable, we're going to have to search better tonight" Naomi remarked.

"Even more so: right now I have a wedding to attend; my own; I've also got to talk with Najenda about this whole thing; she'll want to know the state of affairs; also with this whole undead threat in the making we now have free reign to kill every baddy that is currently able to be targeted so I'll need to let Najenda know about that too; I'll be on a couple of those missions" Tatsumi explained, the door was opened by one of the many butlers in service to the Grundel's and came inside to find of course a gathering of servants.

"Welcome home Lord Tatsumi" the Servants greeted.

"Good to be home; I love this place; you know its like something out a dream, but in this case a good one; the people who live here are some of the nicest people in the world and a rare sight in these dark days" Tatsumi replied then turned to one of the servants and asked about where Aria was, the servant directed him out to the backyard and behind the Statue of the First Grundel, the servant then press a button which opened up a secret passage, Tatsumi descended down the familiar stairway into Angela's dungeon, it was decorated with some fine statuary but also the skulls of a number of Angela's past kills; as well as weapons and other trophies; he then aligned the seals for the door in the proper order of Warrior, Earth Dragon, Sword; then pressed the button, the door's seals aligned, opening to the inner door: Tatsumi aligned the pattern once more: Girl, Dagger, Horse, then pressed the button opening to the final door; which he aligned the seals one final time: Woman, Kris, Bear; which opened to the central hall where Angela and Aria Grundel were training the three newest additions to the Grundel family in the arts of Assassination.

"Hey it's Tatsumi-Nii!" Luna exclaimed on seeing him, which immediately caused her, Fal, and Air to drop their practice daggers and run to hug him and knocked him down onto the carpeted floor, tackling him in a hug.

"Hi Luna, Fal, Air: It's nice to see you three too" Tatsumi greeted struggling to get his words out.

"You forgot One" Fal teased.

"You're right I did!" Tatsumi replied and everyone laughed.

"Hey Aria my loving wife: Angela my mother-in-law, training them so soon?" Tatsumi greeted.

"Please Tatsumi they're twelve, I started training at 10, so they are a bit late as far the training is concerned" Aria replied.

"Yes, indeed, and they are proving to be fast studies all of them; and they are enthusiastic and in Air's case bloodthirsty" Angela added.

"Hey mommy why are there three doors to this room?" Luna asked.

"And why do you have to align pictures to open them?" Fal added.

"An interesting question, as to why they are there; security reasons; can't risk unwanted guests getting in and my captives getting out; as to the pictures well they correspond to a member of your family; the first door corresponds to your father Constantine; he was a cavalry man and a skilled commander and warrior who wielded a sword, his favorite animal is an Earth Dragon for their skill in ambush and their formidable armor; the second corresponds to Aria; I gave her her first weapon a Dagger at age ten and she loves horses, the last door represents myself: the woman assassin who protects her family, who loves the Kris swords, who loves them more then a mother bear loves her cubs and will fight ten times as hard to protect them" Angela explained, Tatsumi had this explained the first time that Aria showed him the dungeon, during which she taught him how to torture evil people, which the practice case was a condemned outlaw who was robber who had lead a dangerous gang of brigands that preyed on ordinary people, who raped women and children and who cut off the hands and feet of his victims and nailed them to trees to die; Tatsumi had no remorse for the man; and took enjoyment in Aria's demonstration on the man and in her lessons.

Angela had a secret arrangement in that condemned death row prisoners were brought to her estate after being fed a dose of hemclover to knock them out by some prison guards who along with the warden of one the Capital's many prisons were loyal to the Grundels and thus this provided no shortage of practice victims, Angela had made a number of advancements in the field of torture on these horrible people as well serious medical advances as she would inject them with numerous poisons and a few non-contagious but deadly diseases and would in turn inject antidotes and possible antidotes to find potential cures; if evil people died in her crusade to protect and help the good people of the world who were in need it was perfectly fine with her; as a whole the Capital was being done a favor.

Aria herself made even more advances in the field of torture; and proved a good teacher for Tatsumi; he found the whole thing enjoyable to give evil people a taste of their own medicine and to warm them up for the Devil; Tatsumi however did not use poisons; not out of chivalry or honor no; it was that he preferred if he was going to kill someone it was going to be done with his own weapons as he believed that if you are going to kill someone or something you should look into that person's eyes as they die; to him to look the enemy in the eye after you defeated them utterly in battle allowed you to let the enemy know who killed them; to let the last face they see be the one who ended them. Granted he had nothing against people who used poisons on their weapons in battle; Akame, Taeko, and Aria employed the tactic frequently; in face Akame's sword was literally designed to kill with a poison from the slightest cut; Tatsumi believed that if someone survived getting stabbed by Muramase it was pure luck.

Tatsumi could only wonder what the three girls would learn, he only hoped they'd learn skills that would keep them safe. "Time for your weapons test girls" Angela stated to the cheer of all three; Angela laid out a cloth which various weapons were stored in. "Now for some interesting choices; first will start with the weapon that anyone can learn how to use and can be used to bring down anyone: the gun; starting with pistols: each of you will be receiving a Lugger pistol; it is one of the finer guns produced by the family weapons company and is light to carry, packs a decent number of rounds in the magazine and is easy to reload" Angela explained and handed a pistol to each of her three adopted daughters; she then stepped out and came back with a set of fresh dummies which were filled with pig blood. "Each of you will fire every shot in the gun's magazine into the dummy in front of you; when the magazine is empty we will reload and work on aim and hitting moving targets" Angela explained then stepped aside: Tatsumi backed off; he knew how to use a gun, granted his first use of one had been dumb luck that he managed to shoot the hand off of a dangerous mob boss who was holding Seryu hostage but he had practiced since then and had taken to keeping a concealed pistol in case of such circumstances when a gun would prove more useful then his swords.

Air, Fal and Luna readied their pistols and aimed, then with steady hands unloaded the rounds into the target dummies which were quickly covered in blood, eventually they exhausted the ammunition. Angela stepped up with a set of gloves: "Let's see how you three did" Angela stated and with a doctor's eye for injuries examined each dummy. "Well this guy died from the shoot to the heart, this one from a hit to neck and this guy well his head has a hole clean thru it" Angela explained. "Now comes the lesson of aim, also an important lesson and that is you can usually drop most threats with a single well placed round to the head, heart or throat, a gut shot or a shot to a liver will result in a mortal wound that will cause a slow death for the enemy but will still give them a chance to shoot back" Angela explained.

"If Guns are so effective why do you and Aria not use them" Tatsumi asked.

"Because they are rather loud, thus they make terrible weapons for quietly killing a target, the best assassins never get caught or identified" Angela explained.

"Well I'm off; I think I've had enough of this: I was going to ask you about my wedding when and where is it being held, and did you get Lillianna a dress?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes I did get her a lovely gown; the ceremony will be held this evening at 6, I want you to get ready for it Tatsumi we'll take you both there when it is time" Angela replied.

Tatsumi left the Grundel Matriarch's training grounds to go deal with getting himself as presentable as possible at short notice, three hours until the ceremony and he wanted to look as presentable as possible and not like some farm boy or soldier; so he took a bath using the best soaps and shampoos the Grundel's had, then shaved, combed his hair as fine as he could fighting his cowlick to get to behave and then dressed in his finest clothes; he had time to spare but was not sure how to spend it; so as he was thinking about how to spend time Seryu and Koro showed up.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun, looking sharp; sharper then your swords by the way" Seryu greeted.

"Hello Seryu" Tatsumi greeted and kissed her. "I was wondering if there was something I could do in the meantime: I've got three hours to burn" Tatsumi replied.

"Well you and I could spend some time together in my room" Seryu flirted.

"Not now I just got cleaned up and ready; I don't want to take two baths back to back" Tatsumi replied.

"Fine suit yourself killjoy; there is something though: I've not introduced you to my brother so let's do that" Seryu suggested, Tatsumi agreed and the two went upstairs to a specific room, Koro woofed, and Seryu knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a teenage male voice replied.

"Your sister who has someone for you to meet" Seryu replied.

"Alright come in Seryu" the voice replied and Tatsumi entered the room.

Inside was a number of bookshelves crowded with books of all manner of reading, a lamp offered lighting, a large table was in the center of the room, to the side was a decent sized bed and next to it a nightstand on which another lamp sat, also there was a closet, but the clear object of Tatsumi's attention was a burgundy recliner in which sat a boy of 12 years of age. The boy had short fine combed copper hair and brown eyes over which he wore round lensed glasses, his attire consisted of a white cotton shirt over which he wore a dark purple pants, he wore black pants and brown dress shoes; in his hands was a novel titled "Tales of Labyrinna" he placed a bookmark in the novel and sat it on a nearby stand.

"Hello Seryu; good to see you and who is this?" the boy asked.

"Hi Damian, this is my fiancé Tatsumi, we will be getting married today" Seryu explained, shocking both Damian and Tatsumi.

"That's news to me Seryu" Tatsumi stated.

"Oh I've been planning to marry you for a while now, even had my own dress made for it; I just thought that while you're marrying Lillianna you can marry me too" Seryu replied, Tatsumi agreed with her logic. "So here is my brother he doesn't get out much" Seryu refocused.

"Yes, nice to meet you Tatsumi; I'm surprised we haven't met sooner but as my sister said I am a bet of a recluse which means I rarely go out; so where are you from?" Damian introduced and asked.

"Well from a village about a week from the Capital, I came here looking for my fortune with my friends, things since then have been far from what I expected, the Capital sure isn't what I thought it would be, there are a lot of evil people in this city, but there are many more good people, the city is rotten, but I swear I'm going to do my best to change it" Tatsumi replied.

"I see, so have you made your fortune yet?" Damian asked.

"Well I've married the daughters of two nobles and the Empire's finest, also I'm the Emperor's minister for fun, I'm part of Night Raid with Seryu, and well I've got myself quite a harem, so yes I can safely say I've made my fortune but I'm still going to do my best to help the people of the city and change the Empire for the better" Tatsumi replied.

"Seryu you joined Night Raid?!" Damian asked shocked.

"Aria invited me to join, I had good reason; Captain Ogre betrayed my trust and destroyed my faith in the government, he turned out to be one the most evil people in this city, now he's dead thanks to Tatsumi and Night Raid, so I joined up with a hope to deliver True Justice to the true Evildoers of the Capital; though I still am part of the Capital Police; in fact I became Captain after Ogre's death so yes I've been busy late which is why I haven't had the time to talk to you as often as I normally do" Seryu explained.

"So why are you here and not on patrol?" Damian asked.

"Oh yes, well I work nights now, granted being an assassin who kills the true evildoers means I'm not exactly the best at my day job; but I like to think I'm good at it, after all I joined the Captial Police to bring evildoers to Justice and that is exactly what I'm doing" Seryu explained.

"So how did you and Tatsumi hook up?" Damian asked.

"That well is an interesting story, well lets just say that Tatsumi cares for Justice as much as I do, and well I owe him my life, he's willing to lay down his own to save one of his friends or me, he's caring, kind, funny, and really a good all around guy plus he's handsome" Seryu explained.

"Well I'm happy for you, you said the wedding is today?" Damian asked.

"Yes in fact; also remember the two noble girls I've married, well I'm marrying a third, also the two I've married are Spear Chuori, the daughter of the former Prime minister and this one will shock you: Aria Grundel" Tatsumi explained, the Aria reveal shocked him even more then the fact he and Seryu were getting married.

"Well you certainly get around, now as much fun as it has been having this discussion I'm going to ask you both to leave; I must get myself ready for this wedding and look my best" Damian replied, both Tatsumi and Seryu left.

"So you've got one interesting brother Seryu" Tatsumi remarked as they stepped out.

"Yes I do, anyway I better get myself ready, Aria and I went overboard when it came to designing my dress and I'm looking forward to wearing it" Seryu responded. "Also Tatsumi I really mean it when I say you are the best man in the world, also I'm surprised Damian didn't leap out of his chair when you mentioned you married Esdeath" Seryu replied, she then left Tatsumi to his own devices taking Koro with her.

Later that day…. Tatsumi had arrived at the local temple the ceremony was ready and he was happy to keep it this small humble affair; the only guests were his friends and new family; everyone was here except for his future father in law, that fact was a good thing; now came the issue of breaking that news to Honest: he was going to find out, the manner of doing so however would be Tatsumi's idea. "Tatsumi my dear I'm impressed by this whole thing" Esdeath remarked, she wore a radiant blue gown that matched her hair which she had tied in two ponytails on either side of her head.

"Which the fact that I'm getting married to my sixth and seventh wives or that one of them is Honest's daughter and I'll be humiliating him and at the same time making him hate me far more then he already does" Tatsumi replied.

"Both; also speaking of; I have a wonderful idea of how to break the news to him; you know he's going to want to disown her and cheat her of her inheritance which you know you're not going to stand for, so I think we'll break the news to him tomorrow night at our masquerade ball; you'll bring all your wives, myself included, and dance; and when it comes time to dance with Lillianna you dance like you would with me and when that round of dancing ends you shock Honest and everyone present by the two of you revealing Lillianna's true identity to Makoto who you will then get to make your union official and force Honest to give Lillianna her dowry, which will embarrass Honest before the entire court and give the Capital something to talk about for the next month or two" Esdeath explained.

"That's genius Esdeath; you are a genius!" Tatsumi replied impressed by the plan.

"I'm not the Empire's finest because of my looks no I'm the finest because of intelligence and my sheer willpower to get things done" Esdeath replied.

"You ever thought about what will happen when this war is over?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh yes I have, I'm going to retire from the Military and live the rest of my days with you; I've had enough of war to last an entire lifetime; I've had to fight my entire life, but now that I've got you and will be having children of my own, I really can't justify continuing the warriors life as much as I enjoy it" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi wasn't surprised she really had changed since meeting and falling in love with him and he couldn't begrudge her wanting the same life as he did, to live in peace, to raise a family and to live to old age and leave life in peace.

"Well I'm looking forward to it: I hope we can have the peaceful we're dreaming of Esdeath; but given how cruel this world of ours is I'm not certain about it" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath hugged him

"Don't worry Tatsu-bunny we'll make it thru to the end, and we'll go down in history for centuries; and our love will never end; love conquers all and I conquer anything" Esdeath replied and kissed him full on the lips, Tatsumi intensified the kiss and they made out for a minute before breaking it.

"I love you Esdeath; when we first did this I wasn't certain about our relationship but now I know this is true love and I'm not going to let you go" Tatsumi explained, they kissed again, much more chastely, then Tatsumi moved on up to the alter where he waited for his two new brides to arrive; which they did, Seryu wore a lovely green gown and for the first time in his experience her hair down; she had flowers in her hair with a circlet of them holding the vail she wore in place; it was green like the rest of her dress though a lighter shade of green; overall she was the most radiant Tatsumi had ever seen her; Lillianna wore a white gown that was as white as snow, her face was completely obscured by her vail but that was a design choice and was men to keep anyone that may have recognized her from doing so; which was a benefit, the gown overall was similar in design to Seryu's only it was a bit more humble, her dark skin however contrasted with the gown as a whole. Both approached the alter and lifted up their veils, the priest recited the ceremonial vows and the three tied the knot, shortly they kissed and their relation to Tatsumi was now officially husband and wives.

The ceremony concluded, Damian was happy to hug his new brother in law, and they returned to Grundewick manor for a celebratory wedding feast; the figurine maker has managed to add Seryu to the cake last minute, Tatsumi made sure to grab the new figurine and add it to his wedding collection, then came a delicious feast that was once again elaborate as the Grundel's could make it; Tatsumi enjoyed the food, after the feast concluded Tatsumi was bundled into his room with Seryu and Lillianna where they made love as was expected of a newlyweds, something which all three enjoyed more than anything.

Later that day… The afternoon faded into evening Tatsumi had come up with a new plan, he decided that if the necromancer was after graveyards then he would find one and lie in wait to catch him in the act; of course Naomi volunteered for this mission, Tatsumi rejected any other help because Tatsumi wanted to make sure to keep a low profile, they would pose as couple that was morning a recent death in the family and that were paying a late-night visit.

Shortly… "Tatsumi are you sure that just the two of us can handle this?" Naomi asked, they had dressed in clothing that was not likely to draw attention, they did have their weapons but Tatsumi brought only his trusty sword just because he didn't want the necromancer to notice something was up with two Tiegus on his back. They were currently in a graveyard a few blocks from Grundewick manor, their attire offered little to no protection on the surface at least, under the clothing they wore chainmail shirts just to offer some protection, the clothing was also made out of dyed Kevlar which would render firearms pretty much useless.

"I'm sure we can; it's just one guy granted said guy can summon undead minions but we have the element of surprise" Tatsumi reassured, Naomi wasn't entirely convinced, she held her AK at the ready, her glasses glinted in the moonlight, she wore her hair in the usual ponytail but she had taken the extra step of hiding blades in the hair which in case an enemy tried to grab it would maul their hands.

The shadows concealed the approach of a necromantic cultist, he was a novice but he was given the challenge that would allow him to reach journeymen, granted for a novice he was extremely capable; his face was obscured by a black cowl; he immediately noted the problem, two mourners at the late hours of the night. "Nothing a few Bargheists won't handle" he thought and summoned the shadowy hounds, a packs worth of about 12 of them, their red eyes shined in the night. Tatsumi and Naomi were unaware of the threat as the hounds of shadow moved silently; Tatsumi had his back turned as the first of the hounds lunged at him aiming for his throat; Naomi saw it and yelled "LOOK OUT!" Tatsumi wasn't fast enough to react, but he didn't have to; suddenly a green spectral figure clad in the armor of a warrior general materialized and struck the hound down with a ghostly katana; Tatsumi was shocked; but readied his sword as he, Naomi and the spectral figure sliced down the attacking hounds, the necromancer was shocked and turned to run, when suddenly the spectral warrior appeared next to him and sliced his hamstrings taking his legs out from under him. Tatsumi and Naomi ran up to the specter.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked, the specter didn't reply, but Tatsumi felt some sort of connection with the spirit, almost as if he'd seen it before, some communion on a deep level; this spirit had materialized when his life was in serious danger of meeting a fatal end; but it felt as if the spirit was someone who he knew on some level buried inside him. The spirit didn't speak he only looked at him with a sorrowful expression a look of regret; but what was he regretting, was not known to Tatsumi; Naomi was baffled by the whole seen; the spirit touched Tatsumi; Tatsumi saw blood, the warrior fighting against a number of assailants until his shoulder was pierced by one round and another, he saw more blood and eyes; eyes from the killer eyes that felt familiar but clearly evil; then as suddenly as the vision and the spirit had appeared he vanished.

"Tatsumi that was- I don't know I've never heard of such a thing; I think you have a guardian angel" Naomi remarked.

"I think it's more than that; something I feel as if I know him, on a level I don't know, its buried inside me; hopefully I can see him again; I want to know who he is" Tatsumi replied then turned to the necromancer who was trying to escape; Tatsumi knocked him out by a hard whack from his sword pommel; then he carried him over his shoulder; Naomi followed behind. "I think we've got our problem; before we turn him over to the Jaegers I think we should introduce him to Aria; I think she'd be very interested in what this guy has to say" Tatsumi remarked then smirked.

Later… the necromancer woke he was shackled, he was studied his surroundings, it was clearly an underground room of some sort; he noted nearby a young woman with blonde hair in a blue night gown also another older woman in purple nightgown; he also noted the two people he had seen at the cemetery, the women were going over a set of tools, and a number of other things. "Where am I?" he asked to no one in particular.

"You are in a secret prison; here you will be questioned; and you will answer the questions otherwise the results will be quite: unpleasant" Aria stated with a smirk, and she flashed a sharp cruel looking blade which was stained with dried blood. He instinctively knew that he was in a torture dungeon and if he didn't talk he'd be on the receiving end of pain; the two women while beautiful were no doubt in his mind experts in torture which was something that he was not wanting to be on the receiving end of; he noted immediately he wore only a tattered loin cloth which made certain he was exposed to any sort of instrument of torture. The younger woman came to him; he noted the resemblance and guessed they were either sisters or mother and daughter, she had a set of tongs which he had a feeling were going to be used on him. "Alright we are going to be playing a game; this is called the punishment game I was be asking you questions answer them and you will be fine, don't and you will lose a tooth for each one you fail to answer" Aria explained with her demonic face on.

The face itself was all that was needed to cause him to crack, he was literally terrified of the young woman and her set of tools, but the thing that scared him the most was that demonic face it was something of nightmares. So he spilled the beans all of them; told them about the cult, their plans, the members, the overall size of the problem; everything from the players to moves made so far; he even told them who it was that raided the cemetery where Naomi's parents were buried, he cracked like an egg to the point where he broke down in tears. After he had given Aria all they had, Aria went over to the table and came back with a syringe. "Thank you for the information; don't worry this was all a dream; apart from your defeat, when you wake up it will be in a Jaeger controlled prison, and I pity you: Esdeath is a lot less merciful then me" Aria explained and injected him with a powerful sedative, in a matter of a few seconds he passed out.

Meanwhile… a young woman lay dead on the ground, naked she had been beautiful, her neck was broken, she had been raped by a patrol of drunken soldiers and left for dead; the Necromancer approached. "Such a pretty girl, pity your life was cut short; don't worry though, death is but a fixable thing; you will join my other queens" the Necromancer said to the corpse, then invoked a spell fusing necrotic energy into the corpse; bringing her back as a wight, he then striped his clothing off and proceeded to play with his newest acquisition; many pretty things had met foul ends and he really pitied them and such he gave them new life, granted he would use them for his own sexual needs but it was fair as far as he was concerned, his ex-girlfriends had joined the ranks in this manner, granted he never dirtied his hands with their deaths and had others do so for him; and this beauty was well worth his time; the moans the corpse made were as pleasurable as any undead could make; and he soon released, he then redressed but wrapped his cloak around the new puppet so as to keep her warm; granted she was as cold as ice but it kept her from being notable, apart from the newly ice eyes.

The following morning… Tatsumi had little sleep, he spent night of course with Aria but the whole encounter with the warrior kept him awake; he was trying mentally to understand the Spector and the vision that had been shown to him; but wasn't able to figure out something that was passible truth in his opinion, granted Aria noticed immediately his lack of sleep and asked about what kept him awake, he told her in depth about the mysterious ghost warrior who had saved his life and captured the cultist for him; Aria had nothing to answer his questions; so he figured he might as well ask Damian if he knew the answers; Damian proved no help apart from accounts of other such stories which he considered fiction he had nothing to offer, which while the boy may have been a genius he didn't have all the answers. So now he sat at the dining room table having finished his food and was now eating some of Angela's famous cookies; he genuinely loved his mother in law's cooking, he loved his mother in law; granted she was more or less his own real mother; he loved her dearly; he also loved Constantine as if he was own father; the man offered no shortage of advice; though in the case of the Spector he was no more help than Damian or Aria which was fine by him.

Tatsumi then left to go Jaeger HQ while he came up with a plan to lure out the Cult to its doom, he'd tell Esdeath about it; but first he'd need to come up with a plan, something that required a great deal of focus on his part, there was also the matter of the masquerade ball and the measures he needed to take; so in order to do that he'd take a long detour to get to HQ to allow him to think clearly; about 30 minutes later he found something that he clearly needed to interfere in; that being a group of drunken men hassling two young women about his age; they were quite attractive and they wore the attire of the acrobats from the Sabatini show; Tatsumi approached the men. "Hey, you guys, break it up, they are clearly not wanting this" Tatsumi remarked, clad in the uniform of Jaeger the drunken men took one look at him and decided that since there was only one young man in a uniform they would gang up and beat him up, then go back to hassling and leering at the two young women. "Of course you guys would do that" Tatsumi remarked to himself then proceeded to beat the living crap out of the group of drunks. Shortly he was done, and he looked down at the beaten men. "Alright lets make this clear; I'm going to let you guys off with a warning, next time this happens I'll haul you guys into the station: I'm a Jaeger which means I have martial law power so you guys should realize I'm not the city guard or the Capital police; I am more then capable of killing you all with my Teigus so leave now" Tatsumi explained and the drunks ran off.

"Thanks for saving us" one of the Young women said, she had short bob-cut black hair and skin like Sayo's she was well-endowed with a set of d-cups and a firm rump, her legs were long and she had all the grace of an acrobat which she was as her attire denoted and he had seen her preform before at the Sabatini show.

"Not that I couldn't have handled those guys" the other remarked she had light-brown hair which was worn in twin pony-tails, she wore a black dress and a set of black heeled shoes in addition to her diamond earrings, she had a sword at her side.

"Please Natalia just once can't you be grateful for someone helping us out" the black-haired girl replied. "My apologies we should introduce ourselves: I am Amuria and this Natalia, we are from the Sabitini show; I'm an acrobat and she's one two granted she's not dressed for the part at the moment" Amuria introduced.

"It's alright; I'm Tatsumi; honestly what with breaking up crime syndicates, hunting down serial killers, keeping tabs on Night Raid, being Esdeath's husband, and spending time trying to make the Capital a better place I'm glad to have had something easier to do like beating up some drunks" Tatsumi replied.

"You must work so hard you should come by our trailer later we'll thank you later" Amuria replied, then left Tatsumi with Natalia.

Shortly… "Seriously why did you do that?" Natalia replied annoyed.

"Simple he's a member of the Empire's elite forces and if we take him out it would save so many lives" Amuria replied.

"Seriously that's your plan?! Amuria that is a stupid idea; that guy is part of the Empire Elite forces, we are spies for the Revolution not assassins" Natalia replied.

"Well there is a first time for everything, and how many guys fall for the pretty girl trick; a lot of them" Amuria replied.

"I get it alright: but if this goes wrong I'm blaming you in the afterlife" Natalia replied.

Shortly… Tatsumi arrived at Jaeger HQ and spoke to Esdeath about the cult; Esdeath was glad to have the intel on the cult however that still required them to orchestrate a way to draw them into the open; something that would take a few days to do; he wasn't going to ask about the specific of this; that was Esdeath's forte and he wasn't going to trouble himself in asking about it; the ball was tomorrow night so he had some free time after he and Mez did their patrol, which proved easier then expected until they arrived in the slums, there it was that Tatsumi saw a familiar a face; she was running from group of 40 armed men. "Get back here you whore; you'll pay for not giving yourself to our boss!" the Gang leader shouted.

"HALT!" Mez yelled readying her Naginata, as the friend of Tatsumi's ducked behind him, as he drew Smaug.

"Give up the girl; we aren't afraid of killing some military grunts our boss has friends in high places who will cover up your deaths" the Gang leader replied.

"First off we aren't grunts, second we aren't giving someone up to slave traders and third you think you can kill us well you are idiots!" Mez replied.

"Yes so bring it!" Tatsumi replied. "Dragon Armor: Smaug!" Tatsumi shouted and the crimson dragon plates covered his body as the sword lit up on fire, Mez's Naginata did the same, and the two charged forwards, Tatsumi acting like a bulldozer as he ran thru the enemies while Mez jumped from shoulder to shoulder chaining naginata slices with high-powered kicks and sweeping attacks; the thugs were soon a mess of charred corpses bar one legless man. Tatsumi grabbed him by shoulders. "Alright who put you up to this so I can kill him!" Tatsumi interrogated with the most terrifying face he could muster, granted not Aria level demonic face but still terrifying.

"Malec Mandos he's a local crime boss who's taking over the Capital's underworld with Syndicate down and out!" the thug stated.

"Who are his friends in high places?!" Tatsumi interrogated.

"Only he knows who they are I'm just a grunt please mercy!" the Thug begged Tatsumi dropped him.

"I'll give you no chance of survival if I let you live with no legs; it would be far more merciful to put you out of your misery" Tatsumi replied drawing his second sword and drove Valruost into him draining the blood from the man and killing him. "I'm sorry; but I'm doing you a favor; better to die a quick death then live a shorter life as a cripple in the cruel capital, it's a mercy to keep people like him from falling into the hands of people far crueler" Tatsumi explained to Mez.

"I understand your logic, my father was like that too" Mez replied. "Now what about you miss?" Mez asked.

"Vatima; Tatsumi knows me; it has been a month since we last met; Tatsumi I'm glad to see you; my life has gone downhill, not too long after you saved my friend's life and killed the gang of thugs plaguing the brothel another group moved in; I still had a tidy amount of money but they took more of take; Pema protested this but she couldn't do anything; things became worse then that after I found out I was pregnant: with your child; and yes I know it was yours, no one else could afford my price after your freebie because I raised it; after that the thugs considered me of no value beyond being another mouth to feed, because I couldn't fuck other men or women because of my burden they kicked me out; I've been on the streets for a three days now after I ran out money at the Inn; I've got nothing left but the clothes on my back; those men wanted to sell me to their boss which I wanted no part in and now they are dead: thanks Tatsumi" Vatima replied, then Tatsumi, who had sheaved his weapons, came and hugged her.

"Vatima; I'm sorry about what's happened; if you don't have a place to stay you can stay with me at my wife's home; she is one of the kindest people on the face of Eden and I think you'll like it there; stay as long as you need to" Tatsumi replied, she kissed him.

"You'd do that for me? I've- no one has ever cared for me since my parents died and I was forced to become a whore to support myself; I- you are a good person Tatsumi" Vatima replied.

"Well Tatsumi I'll handle the report to Esdeath and the rest of the patrol; you head home and help that girl get better ok?" Mez explained with a confident look on her face.

"Alright well be careful Mez" Tatsumi replied as he left.

"I will, don't worry I'm one of the Four Rakshasa demons and I'm trained in the same tactics and techniques as the Elite Seven I can handle anything" Mez replied.

Shortly… Tatsumi escorted Vatima to Grundewick manor; she wore a fine orange dress, black sweats and warm boots; she held clung to him the whole way, fortunately they encountered no threats on the path he took to the manor and they arrived without incident or fanfare. "Lord Tatsumi welcome home; who's this" Bob, one of the guards at the gate, asked.

"This is Vatima; she's well a friend in need of a place to stay" Tatsumi replied, Bob opened the gate and let them in, Vatima was awestruck by the grand scale of the manor; she hadn't expect Tatsumi's place to be a mansion, it was noon and sun shined off of water fountain; Tatsumi lead her up the path to the manor where the he opened the door to be greeted by some servants; he then led Vatima to one of the guest rooms. "So is this all you have?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes all I have are these clothes it was all I could grab apart from some money to afford a few days at the inn, which I've spent" Vatima explained.

"Well here I can see about getting you some better clothing; I'll show you around; personally I will take care of you, to the point where you will never have to resort to prostituting yourself again; trust me, our child is my responsibility and I'm not going to shirk it" Tatsumi replied, Vatima kissed him; he wrapped his arms around her.

"You know I need to reward you for saving my life" Vatima flirted with a wink. "Besides you are the best guy I've ever banged, granted it was for free but so worth it; to be honest I wouldn't have charged you again; compared to anyone else no one would be able to rival your skills in bed" Vatima added; she then slapped his bum and pushed him onto the guest bed; she relieved herself and him of all clothing the kissed him; they made out like mad for a few minutes then Vatima presented her rear to him. "You are the best at giving it from behind I love getting it from behind" Vatima teased, Tatsumi entered her running his hand thru her soft dark purple hair, then massaged her breasts as he thrusted back and forth inside her ass; the tightness was impressive; he kept going , she turned to face him and kissed him, they kissed as he kept riding her like a dog. This enjoyment and tightness caused him to climax, Vatima did as well. Tatsumi pulled out, Vatima pushed him back and took his cock and preformed fellatio on it; Tatsumi remembered his first blowjob given by her and Leone he also remembered his first time as a whole; he was sure that if he had gotten Vatima pregnant he must have done the same with Leone; at least he thought he did, he had her plant herself on him so they could engage in a 69, he enjoyed exploring her loins, she also took the time to give him a massage with her breasts it was soft experience; her brown skin against his it was enjoyable.

As it was they continued for a good two hours and twenty rounds before they were satisfied, Tatsumi then redressed and went to Aria's room which was without its owner because of a shopping trip, he then went thru her dresses until he found one he liked, then fetched other clothing and brought them to Vatima who dressed in the new clothing. "I'd like to know more about you Vatima" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that is an interesting story, you see I lived in the southlands for a good portition of my childhood, then when I was 15 the war happened, the tribes of my people were savage towards the Empire and raided their borders frequently, the Empire responded with force, it was a grueling war with nightmarish fighting on all sides; I lived Reka-Dou-Ei the capital if you could call it that of the Southern lands; when the city fell the men of the city were rounded up and slaughtered; including my father; the women and children like myself were taken as slaves for the soldiers; I never saw my family again; one of the soldiers, a captain, raped me and took me as his bed-slave; he made me the camp whore and I tended to the needs of his men and some of the women; one day I killed my master and escaped into the Empire; I didn't have a copper to my name so I did the only thing I could do and knew how to do; I whored myself out to any men or women that would have me; I made myself a small fortune and mothered a number of bastards; I tried my best to care for them, I used the money to care for them and came to the Capital, I ran out of my money and gave my children to an orphanage that I could trust for safe keeping; I visit them daily; I have seven children; four daughters and three sons; it's a hassle keeping them in line; their fathers never carried for them but I do; and tried my best; heavens Tatsumi I think I better retrieve them; and bring them here for safety, I mean the place I gave them to was guarded by people wearing the same armor and crest as the guards here; so I know they are in good hands" Vatima explained.

"Don't worry; we'll get them and bring them here; my wives and I are buying a manor of our own, for now your kids can stay here with me: I'll keep them safe and love them like my own" Tatsumi replied.

"That is so sweet of you; I- you aren't just a normal man who was into me for my looks; but you truly are a caring kind soul who will help people in need I- I love you: marry me" Vatima replied, then kissed him wrapping her arms around him, he kissed back and held her tight.

"I'll never leave you; I'll be there for you whenever you need me; I'll gladly marry you; no matter your past; no matter what people think of me for marrying a harlot; I don't care I want you to be happy Vatima" Tatsumi replied. "Let's get your kids" Tatsumi replied.

Later that day… Tatsumi found getting Vatima's kids an easy task, the hard task was getting them back; once again assassins sent by Honest tried to kill him and again they were killed with ease by him; overall though it wasn't as hard as he expected. Tatsumi was introduced to all seven kids; two sets of triplets and one other; the boys were named Lucian, Ikhim, and Jon, while the girls were named Linsey, Kaisha, Lucy, and Aaron; each had different skin complexions and hair; overall though they all shared their mother's eyes which were brown, getting them rooms proved easier then getting one for Vatima, he had no idea however how Vatima managed to keep track of them all and keep them safe for the three years; her secret was she had a lot more money then she used to which allowed her to afford a some means of child care and that to his surprise the Grundels owned a number of daycare centers; the amount of businesses and the extent of their reach and involvement throughout the Empire amazed him.

Angela returned home with Ieyasu after some shopping, Aria returned not too long after, afternoon gave way to evening and soon everyone was home: Tatsumi after having dinner made the excuse of going out on a solo patrol to do some scouting work of his own; granted that was an excuse for his rendezvous with the two girls from the Sabatini show: he took Valroust with him as a gut instinct and the sword itself told him he'd need it: Tatsumi went off; took a number of side paths looking for any kind of trouble, even though this was an excuse to go see two girls he still intended to keep the streets clear of problems also he had the chance to probably nail the another necromancer so that was another plus; he couldn't exactly give Esdeath the necromancer he captured because he wasn't in the mood to drag the man with sliced hamstrings to Jaeger HQ plus he got the information out of him anyway so there was no point in delivering him to Esdeath for further interrogation which he had an instinct given it was Esdeath that said interrogation would be beyond Aria's ability to innovate in terms of torture techniques.

Tatsumi soon arrived at the Sabatini show's trailers and looked for the right one and knocked, the door opened and Amuria invited him; she locked the door behind him and he noted Natalia waiting for him on the bed in seductive attire inviting him over; Valruost was not talking as Tatsumi's lust was taking over his mind. So he disrobed and walked over to the bed and climbed on it; Natalia got off the bed and he noted her grin and the fact she pulled out a dagger from her garterbelt; he noted Amuria having done the same thing. Tatsumi reacted quickly, he may have be unarmored but that didn't mean he was unarmed he still had his fist and he quickly overpowered Natalia kicked her blade aside then flung her at Amuria who was caught off guard wasn't able to dodge and her knife flew and embedded itself in a wall, he then summoned Valruost at the ready. "Alright don't move! I've got a teigu and I'm not afraid to use it; now who put you two up to this if it's Honest I'm not shocked but twice in the same day or was it the syndicate; who hired you!?" Tatsumi replied angry.

"None of the above: We're Revolutionary Army; kill us you imperial bastard our lives don't matter" Natalia replied.

"Wait Revolutionary Army; wait we are on the same side!" Tatsumi replied.

"Really last I checked you wore an Imperial uniform?" Natalia replied snarkilly, Amuria tried elbowing her.

"I'm undercover: look I'm part of Night Raid; ever heard of it?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, and I doubt you are; this is just an Imperial trick to get us to talk well we won't no matter how hard you torture us" Natilia taunted.

"I know the exact strength of the group; I've got a kill tally of about 127; I don't want you two to be 128 and 129; especially since we are on the same side: my commanding officer is General Najanda; who is my wife!" Tatsumi explained.

"Right and I'm the Empress of the Empire" Natalia replied, then got slapped.

"Natalia knock it off; look at him, if he wanted to kill us we'd be dead already!" Amuria rebuked, she then turned to Tatsumi. "Look if you're really revolutionary army then I'll ask you a question that no Imperial would know; who is your commander?" Amuria replied getting up.

"I already told you: General Najenda! She's the best general in the Revolutionary army; I haven't met any of the other higher ups but I can say without a doubt Najenda is the best: she's a genius, kind, really cares for her troops, her favorite color is dark green, she loves hot springs, and we are truly in love; also she recently had her arm and eye restored using an experimental formula that I acquired for her; she's my wife and she's pregnant, if my world doesn't mean squat to you then kill me; at least I'll die knowing I love Najenda, Aria, Spear, Mine and everyone else: speaking off the Grundel family are the biggest supporters of the Revolutionary army, so is former Prime Minister Chouri, heck I've even managed to convince Esdeath to get on board!" Tatsumi replied, insisting in his truest tone of voice; Amuria knew he wasn't lying; only a truly high ranked member would have know about who led Night Raid, also who was truly in league with the Revolutionary army; heck only someone who had met both Chouri and the Grundels would know they were part of the Revolutionary Army, then to her surprise Tatsumi dropped his sword and brought Amuria her dagger. "I've you're going to kill me do it quick" Tatsumi replied and braced himself.

Amuria dropped the blade. "I believe you; even if Natalia doesn't; look if you were our enemy you would have not hesitated to kill us instead you held back; not wanting to do it on top of that you were willing to let me kill you" Amuria replied, then she kissed him. "I'm not going to kill you; in fact truce; look the Sabatini show is both a circus and a spy ring for the Revolutionary army; we gather intel and send it via contacts to leadership; as such we know the identity of other cells; I've heard of Night Raid; but we haven't managed to contact you until now" Amuria explained.

"Why's that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because the Capital has been dangerous of late; what with Champ being secretly a pedophile serial killer we had to go thru and check our other members for similar threats; I'm amazed that man managed to put up a mask for so long; we should have noticed if we did we could have saved lives: but your team killed him; I want to know how did you manage to pull that off, if anything that will prove to Natalia you're the real deal" Amuria replied, Natalia had gotten back up and was still pouting, granted she was also looking at Tatsumi's loins which him not wearing any clothes was something he hadn't had to deal with.

"Champ: we found out about his identity when Mine, Sheele and Chelsea searched his trailer while the rest of us watched the show, we then came up with a plan, Aria and myself would take her adopted sisters Fal, Air and Luna camping and we would lure Champ into a trap, once that happened Lubbock, Seryu, and Yami ambushed him and Lubbock caught him in his strings: Lubbock had a serious score to settle with him; Champ was the Butcher of Joyou and murdered the the students at the school; Lubbock's entire class was killed by him; so Lubbock turned him over to Aria and her sisters who tortured him for his crimes; I won't go over them in detail other then I enjoyed every moment of it; then when she was done Lubbock killed him; we left his body for the crows and I reported to the Esdeath to let her know that we took care of him; Esdeath knows and she's planning on switching sides; she loves me more then anything and is willing to betray the Empire for me; but she wants to get the rest of the team on board, think about it the Empire's most powerful Teigu users and best general change sides: I'm not lying neither is she; hell I even married Esdeath and Najenda in the same ceremony: I'm not just part of the Jaegers because of Esdeath: the Empire's corruption stems from Honest not the Emperor; whatever you been told about the Emperor is wrong; he's a twelve year old boy who is just a puppet for Honest and he is one of the sweetest children I've ever met; I'm trying to take down the Empire from within; take down Honest and the revolution has won" Tatsumi explained.

"I see your logic; you do realize though if the higher ups get wind of your scheme they won't exactly see it in same way though" Amuria replied.

"Please let him try, besides Amuria since he's on our side and we don't have to kill him; well let's live up to your promise" Natalia replied.

"I thought you were against that Natalia" Amuria exclaimed.

"That was before I saw what he was packing and if I'm honest we aren't ever going to find someone better for that need; besides I've been a virgin for too long and so have you, lets not look a gift horse in the mouth, I mean if you're alright with the idea" Natalia replied.

"I'm behind it all the way; besides you two did offer and I'm not turning it down" Tatsumi replied siting down on the bed, both of them stripped down to the stockings and jumped on the bed with him; Natalia wasted no time in embedding herself on Tatsumi's length while Tatsumi gave a nervous Amuria a chaste kiss which she returned, Tatsumi then suckled from her breast as Natalia rose up and down; how Tatsumi managed to go from two ladies wanting to kill him to banging both of them was a mystery to him; something which meant he had a way with words; he placed his hands on butt cheeks of both girls; as they engaged in a three way kiss which Tatsumi soon broke and had Amuria sit on his face so he could demonstrate his skill with tongue; Tatsumi of course went inside her folds and searched for the usual spots; barrier was intact, and he found the right places which caused Amuria to produce a different type of moan each time.

"So good: I've never experienced something like this in my life" Natalia exclaimed, then had an idea and kissed Amuria who opened her mouth in shock which Natalia's tongue invaded, Amuria simply tried her best to return the kiss, as Natalia massaged Amuria's e-cup breasts which she had a bit envy for as she only had D-cups; Tatsumi simply kept going. Amuria came first and Tatsumi licked out her fluids, Natilia then came and soon so did he; overall this was something he was enjoying and was not going to leave anytime soon.

Meanwhile… At a nearby warehouse guards moved back and forth checking to make sure the cargo was secure; it was noisy but secure. "The Boss wants this shipment to the Garno by next week, so we're haling it out to boats" One of the guards ordered to a group of workmen who got to work immediately. "Just those crates; the other set over there is going to some estate out in the countryside near the Capital" the Guard explained.

"So who's that load of cattle going to?" a fellow guard asked.

"Some General in the country side; he is fond of hunting wants them for sport" the Guard explained.

"What a waste of money; seriously who's idea was it to sell to these nutcases?" The other Guard remarked.

"The boss's idea; personally new management worse than our old boss but the new boss still had Mr. Bach's views, sell to anyone no questions asked" the Guard replied.

Meanwhile above on the roof of a warehouse… "What noisy idiots they make this so easy" Mine remarked to Seryu.

"I know, evildoers aren't the brightest of people; anyway which do you think will get more kills my Long Hand of Justice or your Pumpkin" Seryu replied back.

"Please Seryu we both know who'll win; the Goddess Sniper" Mine replied, then aligned the scope perfectly, she noted Leone and Sheele readying for a surprise attack then waited for the signal; Aria gave it as she readied her team B for its diversion. "Nice and Easy that fucker is soo dead!" Mine commented.

On the ground bellow…. "Excuse me mister I got myself lost do you know the way to Founder's street from here?" Fal asked one of the guards, she was dressed in her yellow sweater, grey sweats and running shoes.

"It's right here; get her in a cage!" the Guard shouted readying his spear and a number of dock toughs converged on them.

"My sister was right you are a bad guy; you need to be taught a lesson" Fal replied and to the shock of the guard pulled a luger and shot him in the face; that shocked the other dock toughs; suddenly another round flew by and a head exploded followed by blast of pink energy which blasted a man to mulch, one of the workers charged towards Fal who simply smiled as the man's legs were sliced out from under him by swift blade as Aria materialized from her invisibility.

"Now check this out Fal, Noctis Wave: Wave of Confusion!" Aria shouted and a multiple Aria's materialized, causing the other toughs to freeze in awe; two guards attempted to charge them but a purple blur ran by the two were bisected by swift blade strike; followed by the words "I'm sorry" as they fell dead to the ground; then the Arias attacked the toughs causing them to either die or run away.

One guy thought it would be a good idea to down one of the pathways hoping to escape the river dock into the city he was stopped by the blue haired girl. "Hi there how are you doing?" Luna asked.

"I'm trying to escape; Night Raid is attacking you should head home little girl- little girl?!" the guy stated shocked.

"Oh and what do you think of me?" Luna stated.

"Personally I think you are a sweet little girl who's in a dangerous place and putting yourself in the reach of dangerous people" the guy replied and attempted to tackle her only to receive a hard kick in the gut which knocked him down and as he recovered he saw the girl with her kind face being replaced by a visage worthy of nightmare fuel pointing a luger at his face.

"Bad Guys don't get away; especially people who worked for Bach right?" Luna remarked to him. His last thoughts recalled he had seen this girl before at Bach's mansion; his brain thought no more as a bullet left a decent sized hole in his head. A guard saw the killing and charged towards Luna only be tripped and shivved by Air who sliced into him with reckless abandon gouging out his eyes as he screamed before stabbing him over and over again in the heart till he stopped. "Air you're over doing it" Luna remarked.

"No I'm not; Aria-nii told me to make sure he's dead" Air replied, a man came out the door behind her only to have his head blown off by pumpkin. "Thanks Mine!" Air yelled.

The last group of toughs readied themselves in a covered position; when a cute puppy walked up to them and started growling. "Shoo Dog shoo!" one of the toughs yelled.

"HE DOESN'T LISTEN TO EVIL DOERS! KORO! ULTIMATE JUSTICE! BESERKER!" Seryu yelled from the rooftops, Koro transformed into towering titan of dark brown muscle with crimson eyes and rows of razor sharp teeth; the works attempted to run but there was no escaping death; one guy jumped in the river and tried to swim away only to find a sniper's round blow open his skull and upper body leaving blood in the water; the others backed into the corner found themselves picked up in a large hand-like paws and droved into a maw of teeth as they were devoured, one load at the time.

Soon it was over all the dockworkers and guards were dead save on person currently being held by Leone aloft over the river. "Alright talk; who hired you; we could care less about the grunts like you we're after your employer and the people who he sold people to: first things first how long has this been going on?" Aria asked.

"About a week now we reopened after the new boss took over; before that we worked for a guy named Bach; but he died about a month ago so the operation was shut down until a new sponsor came in: his name is- why should I tell you; you guys are going to kill me" the Grunt asked.

"You aren't making this easy: Leone are the chains secure?" Aria asked.

"They are as tight as I can get them" Leone replied, then attached a hook to the chains.

"What are you doing?!" the Grunt asked.

"A little water will get you talking: Oh Air pull him up" Aria ordered then smirked, Air smiled as she used the controls to pick the man up and lowered him into the water; smiling all the way; dunking him under the water then picking him up and dunking him under again repeatedly for about ten times before hauling him up. "That is what happens if you don't talk; the more you'll get dunked" Aria explained.

"Mavrik; Mavrik Mondel!" the grunt squealed.

"Thank you; you will get the easy death; I didn't have to even resort to Koro to get the information out of you; Air dunk him under and make sure he stays there" Aria ordered, the man yelled in fear but was dunked under the water to drown. "Start breaking those crates open; every single crate!" Aria ordered and everyone went out and opened the crates which were filled with women and children.

"Well that was an easy mission; Mine I counted out 25 kills how many on your end" Seryu commented.

"15, also Seryu Koro kills don't count!" Mine replied.

"Yes they do" Seryu replied.

"No that don't" Mine replied.

"Yes they do right Koro" Seryu asked, Koro woofed. "What do you mean that those are your kills and I only got 12 kills?" Seryu remarked, Koro woofed and laughed. "Right you're no help Sheele?" Seryu asked.

"Because Koro is an independent entity he counts separately" Sheele remarked in as smart a tone possible.

"So I win!" Mine gloated.

"Yes, and the prize is you are in charge of dumping the corpses into the river" Sheele replied, Mine steamed.

"FUCK!" Mine screamed.

"5 more coins Mine" Sheele replied.

"I hate that fucking jar!" Mine yelled.

"Hey Mine I advise you to stop making yourself poorer" Aria remarked.

"Wow Sheele is better at getting Mine's money then I am" Leone commented.

"Shut bitch!" Mine replied, 3 more coins.

Back with Tatsumi… Natalia was passed out as Amuria was busy giving Tatsumi a titjob, her soft mounds massaging his length; Tatsumi was impressed by the acrobat's stamina; he had by this point he had tried 66 different positions and Amuria was still going. "Man Amuria you are the most energetic virgin I've ever been with; heck even Esdeath didn't go this long" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'm glad you think highly of me: you know we could always visit you where do you live?" Amuria asked.

"Grundewick Manor; here there is a bookstore; a friend of mine and fellow member of Night Raid owns it: he'll get you in just let him know I sent you and you're with the Revolutionary Army: question though are you two the only spies here?" Tatsumi asked Amuria.

"Nope; there are dozens of us, including Ringmaster Sabatini; but only the inner circle are spies; those of us who were there at the beginning a few years ago when the troupe was founded; since you are operating in the area we could gather intel for you and give it to you to bring to your fellow Night Raid members" Amuria explained as she methodically alternated her breast movements, Tatsumi began to move and she stopped.

"I'd love to spend all night with you two but I've got to get home; I'm a busy man; like I said if you want to get in touch head to the Bookstore called Lubbock's Literature and speak to Lubbock, he's part of the group, give him whatever thing you're supposed to give to show you're Revolutionary army; he'll take you to either Grundewick Manor or Chouri Villia; I'll be at either of them" Tatsumi explained, he then redressed kissed Amuria on the lips gave her a hug and left.

Shortly… Tatsumi carried out the patrol he had planned, he found no signs of trouble; Aria had told him that she had another operation she was carrying out tonight but because Aria had taken command of the mission and team of five he wasn't worried about that, he then after taking a good look around decided to head home. He arrived at Grundewick manor without running into any trouble or really seeing anything suspicious when he walked in the door he was greated by Naomi of all people. "Hey Tatsumi so how did your patrol go? See any Corpse thieves?" Naomi questioned.

"Nope; nothing really out of the usual, I did however meet up with another Revolutionary Army group; you know that circus in town, well it turns out the leadership is secretly a spy ring and a pretty good one at that; only about a dozen or more are actually spies the rest are just well performers; a pretty good cover I must say so" Tatsumi replied.

"You have lipstick on your face Tatsumi; I'm guessing one of the performers told you that intel; did you really go on patrol?" Naomi remarked, Tatsumi hadn't noticed the lipstick from Amuria's goodbye kiss.

"Yes: also I might add I found out they were Revolutionary army spies after they tried to kill me because they thought I was an Imperial soldier; granted I may have been in my Jaeger uniform but that is my day job" Tatsumi replied.

"A day job you aren't really good at" Naomi replied.

"Please Esdeath's other assignments apart from hunting Night Raid are successful and I've had a 100% success rate so far" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm just teasing you Tatsumi; by the way I had a chat with the girl you brought home earlier; she is such an interesting person once you get to know her" Naomi replied.

"You're talking about Vatima right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; she is a sweet person who's really had a tough life; honestly she needs someone like you to help her support her family; there is only so much a single parent can do: I know that from experience" Naomi replied.

"I'm going to help her; seriously though the amount of Guestrooms Aria's parents have here is astounding; the sooner the realtors get back to us on Gamul's mansion the better: I'm not looking forward to cleaning out his unpleasant stuff but at least the place from what Aria and I have seen hasn't been broken into; probably because of the part of town it's in" Tatsumi replied, he yawned and went upstairs kicked off his shoes, changed into PJ's and parked himself in Aria's bed taking one good look at the empty chest where she kept her gear and thought to himself she's fine. Shortly before he could pass out the door opened and the Capital Angel walked in and shut the door, she then stored her blades in their box and stripped off her black outfit and put it in a dumbwaiter nearby to get the blood stains cleaned out; before changing into her night gown.

"Tatsumi you look worn out" Aria commented.

"I am exhausted, good night my Capital Angel" Tatsumi groggily said before falling asleep, Aria smiled, yawned and climbed in bed next to her husband before falling asleep next to him.

The next day proved to be no different from the previous one; Tatsumi went out and undertook a patrol; Seryu, Mez and him busted a group of thugs trying to rob a merchant and broke their legs and arms as punishment; the rest of the patrol proved uneventful. While the day was uneventful for Tatsumi the same could not be said of Naomi who actively searched for clues with Yami and Lubbock to try and find any leads as to whereabouts of the undead forces and specifically her parents; during this time they searched other graveyards that had been robbed and found little left behind; the most interesting thing however that happened was that while checking an underground crypt she found something unusual in fact that something drew her to it; the object in question was a pair of bracelets of intricate design far too complex to be anything that had been missed by happenstance and which spoke of ancient design; perhaps back to the earlier days of the Golden Empire as a whole; in fact possibly as old the Capital Melitine itself; which was saying something as that meant it was most likely crafted in the days of the First Emperor, The Golden Emperor, himself.

"Hey Yami, Lubbock get over here I found something" Naomi shouted and the two came over.

"What did you find?" Lubbock asked.

"Bracelets, and this is weird on new levels of weird because while the rest of this tomb has been emptied these things are untouched almost as if those who tried to take them couldn't" Naomi explained.

"Naomi those are old: ancient even" Yami stated after taking a look at them.

"What do think caused them not to be stolen?" Lubbock asked..

"I don't know; the only way to find out is to touch them" Naomi replied and before her brother-in-law and sister could protest she touched the bracelets which to the shock of all three of them came to life as spidery constructs which wrapped themselves around Naomi's arm causing her to yell and get drawn into a mental plane of existence.

"Come forth: you have been chosen" Two golden figures that were alike as twins commanded, Naomi stepped forward as if by raw instinct beyond her control. "We are Remnant: Spinning blades, we were made long ago by the Dwarves as a gift to a mighty general of the Golden Emperor; after his death these bracelets were passed down his line until they were left here in this crypt of hallowed blood; long have we waited for one of his bloodline and one who was worthy to wield our might; now you have come; thru your father's line you are related to the great general Belisarius the Wise; mightiest and smartest of the the generals of the Golden Emperor: he whose name is lost to even our memory" the Figures explained.

"Wait you are a Teigu aren't you?" Naomi asked.

"Yes we are; we are an elder Teigu one forged before the birth of the Golden Emperor while mankind was still hunting and foraging" Remnant explained.

"So you two are the same Teigu? What kind of abilities do you have" Naomi asked.

"We are capable of summoning blades of primal energy; in many shapes and sizes" Remnant explained.

"I don't know about this, this is grave robbery the very thing I'm trying to stop" Naomi replied.

"You are no thief; it is not theft for none can steal us; we choose our master or mistress and we have chosen you; use us in battle and destroy those who have defiled the tombs of your ancestors" Remnant replied, and Naomi materialized back in the real world where Lubbock and Yami were staring at her.

"Let's go; there's nothing else here; I'm a Teigu user now and I have much to learn" Naomi stated.

The next day was the day of the ball; Lillianna was worried as possible as Tatsumi had invited her to the ball and being her husband she wasn't going to say no; she loved dancing anyway; so she and Aria went shopping for a suitable dress and mask; she chose as a mask that of the pearl queen, a white mask with intricate silver threading and pearls wrapped around it; granted it was pricy but worth the price; Aria chose for her mask what she called the Capital Angel's mask; a white and blue mask with a rather simple design.

Later that day the evening arrived and Tatsumi gathered his brides; including Najenda for the occasion, Tatsumi wore the formal uniform of the Jaeger's which was fine for him and the mask of the Black Fox which of the masks on offer suited his personality; he was a fox it a city of monsters and had to use the wits of a fox to stay alive and out maneuver political enemies and the monsters in human skin, the gowns of each of his brides in his opinion suited them perfectly; each girl wore their favorite color and was wearing a mask that suited their personality; he loved every single one of them, Esdeath looked the most esteemed though of them all because her gown was the best she had and the mask was worn by her often, in addition to them were Aria's three sisters Fal Air and Luna in pretty dresses and masks he had a guess they were here to dance with Makoto. They arrived at the Imperial Palace and the guards at the front rose to attention at Tatsumi's arrival; as part of some maneuvering he had recently received as a reward for his constant victories in the Jaegers and thru Esdeath's recommendation and Makoto's personal decree the rank of Major General which caused every soldier he met to salute him; which really was enjoyable.

Navigating the palace halls they followed the stem of other guests to a grand ballroom; Emperor Makoto was waiting there to greet them; Tatsumi shook Makoto's hand and proceeded inside with Lillianna clinging to his arms; Tatsumi noted the number of people there, they wore flamboyant and pompous clothing and extravagant masks; Tatsumi moved in to mingle: Makoto walked in with Fal and Air holding his hands the Emperor wore a purple mask representing a rabbit; which was a surprise to Tatsumi as all three of his sisters-in-law also wore rabbit masks. "Man Makoto you are a lucky kid; when those three grow up they'll be as angelic as Aria is for me; hopefully they get married they make such a cute harem" Tatsumi thought. He turned to Esdeath who smiled at him. "Remember the plan Tatsumi" Esdeath whispered to him.

"I will" Tatsumi replied, then as the music commenced for the first dance he and Lillianna strode forth into the center of the dance floor; Tatsumi noted that the only person not dancing apart from the musicians was Honest but he guessed that was because he was probably forced to attend by Makoto; granted Tatsumi wondered why he didn't dance given that he was despite every evil flaw he had an amazing dancer; possibly something that was in his mind; he looked rather sullen, which Tatsumi having seen Honest only produce his masks for his evil made him somewhat pitiable granted not that much as he was of course the most evil man on the face of Eden and source of the rot in the Empire. As he and Lillianna danced Tatsumi couldn't help but steal looks at Honest; who he could tell was looking at him in envy; to see him so happy and full of youth and with the affection of women that loved him dearly, looks that were handsome and being a person who rose from humble beginnings to grandeur. Honest was never going to like him something Tatsumi was fine with as Honest himself was evil incarnate.

"Tatsumi you should relax, it's not like my father knows I'm here" Lillianna reassured.

"Personally I wish he did and was happy for us as a couple and wasn't absurdly evil, then I think he'd be a better person" Tatsumi replied.

"I know, my father has always been sullen and sad at gatherings like these; he rarely goes to them; they remind him too much of my mother" Lillianna explained.

"Your mother?" Tatsumi asked.

"I never knew her, she died giving birth to me and my brother Syura; he loved her more then anyone else; which is why he's probably depressed I ran away, I'm one the two people he has left to remind him of her since Syura died; the other is my older brother Valdis, but he's well more like the second son then his prodical child, he was always singing his praise of Syura over my other two brothers" Lillianna explained.

"Wait you said you were only one of two, you and your brother Valdis, what happened to your other brother not Syura" Tatsumi asked.

"Eugene; well according to father he is in a better place now, he was apparently eaten by a Danger Beast" Lillianna replied.

"Do you buy that story: I don't something fishy is going on; has your father been acting any weirder then well usual before you ran away?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well he's taken to wearing one of the Gauntlets from his old Paladin armor; apparently he burned his hand recently and he is badly scarred, so he wears the gauntlet now" Lillianna replied.

"Paladin armor huh? How did he manage to burn his hand?" Tatsumi asked.

"He told me one of the coals in the fire in his office popped out while he was tending the fire and he caught it in his hand the keep the carpet from catching fire and flung it back in" Lillianna explained, Honest got up out of his chair; almost as if he was hearing everything they said as he was coming their direction.

"He's coming over here" Tatsumi whispered.

"Crap try and act natural" Lillianna ordered, and they continued to dance with a number of florishs; Esdeath came over to them.

"Tatsumi can I have the next dance?" Esdeath asked, carrying herself with a smooth posture as Honest arrived.

"Ah Tatsumi I didn't notice; congratulations on your promotion General Tatsumi" Honest greeted readying his politician look. "So who is this lovely lady you are dancing with?" Honest asked.

"Lily" Tatsumi replied, using Lillianna's nickname.

"Well nice to meet you Lily" Honest greeted.

"What do you want of my Tatsumi; if it's trouble you'll have to go thru me" Esdeath asked giving her stern face.

"I was wanting to talk with him; Tatsumi, my daughter recently ran off and I've posted a large reward for her return; I was wondering if you and General Esdeath could search for her?" Honest stated knowingly, Tatsumi realized that Honest either realized the he was dancing with his daughter who had eloped with him or suspected him.

"I'll have a team look into the matter but tomorrow Minister" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd like to speak to the lovely lady you are dancing with" Honest requested which caused Lillianna to cling to Tatsumi tighter in fear.

"Really and does she have to?" Esdeath remarked, Honest had to remember said General was married to Tatsumi and if he so much as laid a finger on Tatsumi he'd receive in ice shard in the face.

"I think so, so could you speak to me?" Honest stated cutting in between the two of them.

"Please you are interrupting our dance" Tatsumi remarked.

"Indeed I am silly boy; by the way you new wife has such lovely white hair and fine skin; she almost looks like me" Honest remarked, Lillianna shivered. "In fact she looks so much like me I could have sworn she was one of my offspring" Honest added and smiled evilly. "Remove your mask Lillianna I know its you; your mother's eyes are so easy to see up close" Honest ordered, Lillianna did so, stopping everyone from dancing. "So daughter why? Why did you run away? And how is it I find you with one of my rivals!?" Honest interrogated.

"Because- Because I refused to marry some old nobleman who's twice my age; I'm my own person Father; I disagreed with you on a number of things but this decision shows you view me as nothing more the trophy to be given out as you please to your 'friends' for them to do with as they please: I wanted none of that so I ran away; I ran as far from the Palace as I could until I was waylaid by criminals who wished to defile me and make me their slave; Tatsumi saved me; so I repayed him with only thing I had to give; my love and virginity!" Lillianna exclaimed shocking the entire room. "The morning after we married and are so in the sight of the gods; I married for love like you and mother did and like you promised me on my 8th birthday, you broke your promise; if you have no care for the word you give to your family your word means nothing!" Lillianna concluded, Honest smacked her upside the face.

"How dare you! How Dare you defy my wishs, my command: you were to be wed to Lord Masterson and what did you do you ran away! Your mother would be disappointed in you: You may keep your husband, but you are disinherited; you'll receive no dowry, nothing of your mother's nothing of the things I've given you over the years: You are an Unfaithful HARLOT!" Honest yelled to the shock of the crowd and causing Lillianna to break down in tears.

"HONEST-SAN!" Makoto yelled, diverting attention to the young Emperor "You are a big meanie; apologize to her right now and give her all the stuff you promised her; I recognize the marriage of Tatsumi and Lillianna as binding under the Empire's law: so give her the dowry; everything you promised you'd give her, or I will have Esdeath-nii cut off your head!" Makoto ordered in the most stern words possible from the 12-year-old emperor; as if to prove his point Esdeath drew her rapier held the tip towards his throat.

"Choose your next words carefully Honest; they may save your life" Esdeath remarked smirking. "Please say no so I can finally slice that throat of yours" Esdeath thought with enjoyment.

"Alright, I- as much as it pains me to do so because you betrayed my trust, you are still my daughter and under Imperial law I am required to offer up your dowry and all your things will be provided to you as your mother would have wanted; I feared the day would come that I'd have to marry you off, I wanted it to happen on my terms, but for you to betray my trust and my love as a parent; your mother and Syura would be disappointed in you, and myself as a parent; just take your inheritance; the only thing I want to do is never see you again for you've done but I can't even do that because you're all I have left of your mother; Tatsumi I must speak to you personally" Honest replied, Esdeath stood alongside Tatsumi.

"I go with him; don't try anything" Esdeath threatened, Honest led the two of them off out of earshot of Makoto.

"Boy; you have not a clue what you have done; before now I considered you a minor nuiscense; but now you have gone to too far; you are now a rival; you've made this personal!" Honest raged his false smile devolving into a hateful face.

"Believe me the feeling is mutual; I knew from the beginning that this would lead one of us dead: I guarantee it will be you at the end of it all: it will be you; the world will be a better place before I die and I'll die an old man having made the world better" Tatsumi replied firmly, Esdeath smiled at her husband's courage.

"Do you think you can change this world? Silly boy, no one needs to hear your words, let it go, get out while your still ahead: this is the only chance I'll give you, otherwise this is war; war on the scale you've never had to fight before: a war that will end with me feasting on your Flesh and that of everyone you love and care for!" Honest replied.

"I'm not afraid of you; I've faced monsters just as bad as you Honest; they are all dead: I chose WAR!" Tatsumi replied giving his most demonic face possible; Honest stood firm and grinned.

"Then consider this the last night of your peaceful existence from now on nothing you love will be safe and I will go all the way to destroy you, and at the end no one will even remember you silly boy; not even that unfaithful whore of a daughter of mine; even she isn't safe; I may granted her the gifts of a bride but that was to keep my puppet controlled: consider her nothing more then 'food' now!" Honest replied with a smirk his teeth were actually filed into the shape of fangs.

"Honest you don't know what you are in for" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes because I'm with my Tatsu-bunny and you'll have to fight me to get to him!" Esdeath replied, Honest replied by running off. "He meant it Tatsumi; keep your guard up: fortunately I'm scarier then he is" Esdeath added, then pulled Tatsumi into a kiss. "Now you promised me the next dance" Esdeath flirted, Tatsumi looked at her mask that of large blue butterfly; strode back inside and took the center of the room, Ieyasu gave him a thumb's up as he danced with Angela.

The dance concluded a few hours later and Tatsumi and Esdeath retired to Esdeath's quarters; Tatsumi gave instructions to Seryu to scout for any signs of the Cult and figure out their gathering place for their army which no doubt was massive as over a dozen graveyards were opened up.

As sleep took them Tatsumi dreamt a dream that was completely off; it started out pleasant; him and every woman he loved dancing in a meadow to the beat of a tune which was cheery; but the music became more somber; deep wind and string music that spoke of sorrow; suddenly shadows materialized as each woman he loved was dragged off, each dying horrible fates; Aria being bisected by a shadow, Sayo crucified, Chelsea her left arm and left leg cut out from under her before she was behead, Cosmina turned into a horrifying monster that his reflexes forced him to kill, Dorotha ripped to shreads by Leone before in turn being ripped apart by Honest and eaten; Sheele devoured by Koro as Seryu cackled madle before being bisected by Mine but before she died Seryu fired a round from her mouth gun into Mine's heart; before yelling out "Why?!" as a bomb consumed her in flame; Esdeath cut down by Akame; the ground burning around him but the worst was what happened to Najenda as she was rapped by dozens of men as Tatsumi found himself strapped to a cross to be crucified. "Silly boy! No one needs to hear your words!" Honest's voice echoed from his towering demonic figure, then something happened; instinct clicked and Tatsumi saw in the mind's eye the specter who had saved him in the grave yard from the Barghiests. "Tatsumi" the spector said, "the eye of truth" the Spirit added. Tatsumi then realized the truth.

"Get the fuck out of my head Honest! None of this is real; you think nightmares will torment me; no not anymore; Nobody needs to hear my words eh, no! Everyone NEEDS to hear my words! Everyone NEEDS me to remove your tyranny and corruption from this world! I can and WILL change this World I won't let this madness come true: you will never torment my mind again!" Tatsumi declared, his body glew with a golden light. "ASDA MOCKA!" Tatsumi on a primal level yelled and a blast raw energy hit the figure of Honest. Tatsumi's dream returned to a peaceful one with all the women he loved safe and sound, in addition to his friends and family; everyone he cared for was there safe and unmared by any injuries.

Meanwhile as Tatsumi had restored his mindscape Honest was flung back against his wall from the backlash of energy that returned out of his Teigu Ring. "Incredible he managed to resist the power of my Teigu Ephiatles: Shadow-weaver. He was at my mercy with it before; but now such power: I've never seen this before, that light its raw willpower" Honest thought to himself. "That just means I will have to find other ways to break you Tatsumi; I won't just be satisfied with you dying now, I want to break you, take all that you love and crush it; not just crush it ravage and despoil it; take those you love and watch them die; and at the end of it when you are broken I will kill you and devour you raw" Honest stated to himself and laughed. "And I know who I am going after first; get your rest Tatsumi, you'll need it!" Honest said to himself and continued cackling.

The following day… Tatsumi woke to the warmth of Esdeath pressed against his back as was normal of her, she needed no other pillow but him and he liked it that way. "Good morning my Ice Queen" Tatsumi greeted, waking up Esdeath.

"Good morning my Tatsu-bunny; how did you sleep?" Esdeath replied.

"I sleept pretty well apart from the insanity that was a nightmare; a failed one, Honest is manipulating people's minds in their sleep; that I know first hand" Tatsumi explained.

"That is an interesting development; Honest never seemed strong enough in my own opinion to subdue a Teigu; to manipulate a persons fears and let that person fight themselves, it is both brilliant and cowardly; I'm sure he hasn't tried to use it on me; most likely because he is terrified of me which is fitting; you better tell your friends about this; he'll no doubt attempt the same thing for them; in fact it's possible he's used it before, have you had any other nightmares like this one?" Esdeath explained and asked.

"I have; a pretty gruesome one; people I love dearly: dead and not just dead but in gruesome and savage ways, some by other people I loved; the worst one though was what happened to Aria; Aria she- I don't want to think about it again; I- I killed her in the Nightmare; the shock from that woke me up" Tatsumi replied. "Also I'm not the only one who's had similar nightmares: Ieyasu, Lubbock and Yami have had them too; which Honest is going after them too" Tatsumi added.

"There isn't much that can be done except that which can be done by sheer willpower to control your dreams and by use of a counter-Teigu; though I'd bet the latter option is unlikely: personally Tatsumi I'd warn everyone about this, also focus on the now; Honest is the long-term objective, our current objective is finding and stomping out this Necromancer Cult before it can overwhelm the City's defenses with enough Undead; that means we need a means of luring the Cult out into the open for a pitched battle; the best way would be to create a trap that is so enticing they won't be able resist going into it" Esdeath explained.

"Right; we should focus on that; Esdeath you're the best general in the Empire I'm sure you know how to set a trap" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed; well I find the best way to draw the enemy out is to use false intelligence and bait them into a trap; Tatsumi, the enemy is searching out graveyards; well the largest and oldest of cemetaries hosting the most extensive crypts are always heavily guarded because they have treasures from ancient nobles of generations past; the largest of these in the Crypt of Sacred Blood, which is a labyrinth of crypts and tombs running underneath the Old City district, it was created during the time of the First Emperor, entombed within are those who served him the most in life; his soldiers and generals; the Emperor himself considered the blood of his soldiers sacred because without them his realm would not be; hundreds of thousands are buried from his time and each Emperor added the bodies of their own warriors to the crypts and over time Nobles also buried their dead there, with each generation the crypts expanded deeper and deeper under the Grand Cemetery until it became too hot to dig down further, so they dug side to side but eventually about 200 years ago the crypts stopped further additions after the labyrinths became so vast and extensive that it created the danger that a good portation of the entire city could collapse if further excavations were made; the Crypt on the surface has large entrance with a number of smaller above ground tombs near it and rows upon rows of buried soldiers are intured in the graveyard as a whole; the graveyard is about 20 city blocks in size and has some of the strongest security in the Capital, no tomb robber with a brain would attempt to rob the Grand Cemetery let alone the Crypt of Sacred Blood" Esdeath explained.

"So the plan is simple, we relax the security, come up with some false threat to divert the soldiers guarding there to somewhere else" Tatsumi replied.

"Exactly, now I need you to have Night Raid create such a diversion; there are several corrupt noble estates in the countryside; have those attacked and slaughter them; I will then divert the troops guarding the Grand Cemetery into the countryside, while replacing them with the Jaegers" Esdeath added.

"One more thing: Esdeath I want Naomi to come with us: her parents were among those raised by the Necromancers she wants payback" Tatsumi requested.

"Very well she may do so but inform her of the danger in this mission, I will be bringing the entire Jaeger force; including Dorothea and her team, it's serious enough that I'm taking no chances, bring both of your Teigus you'll need them and I want you to bring your best; also keep your guard up, I've faced Necromancers before against the Southern tribes their Witch-Docters raised the dead of both sides to fight alongside them; this is extremely dangerous and I don't want you to get yourself killed" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi redressed and left his wife after kissing her.

Later that week… The plan was simple, Tatsumi told Najenda to create a diversion by eliminating the Targets Esdeath gave him with simultaneous attacks; the teams did their jobs and each target was neutralized along with any security, Tatsumi instructed them however to leave some people alive, namely women and children, to talk about of the attacks but made sure to have each member of the strike teams who didn't have a bounty on them wear masks so that nobody could identified bar those who already had wanted posters; the damage was enough; Esdeath used these attacks as an excuse to divert the Cemetery guard to secure he area against future attacks that where not coming.

The news of the troop movements were made common knowledge at court and Esdeath then planned out the trap; the graveyard was large enough for a pitched battle but Esdeath decided it would be best to chokepoint the enemy inside the Crypt. for the mission she brought every member of the Jaegers with her along with a couple of elite special forces soldiers for back up, they then used the day to set up traps and fortifications as well as to plan the defense; Tatsumi with Esdeath herself, Naomi, Seryu, Bols, Run, Kurome, Wave and Dorothea with Team Dorothea would hold the best chokepoint possible, while a squad of City Guard acted as bait; Esdeath made sure to select the most neglectful squad possible both to make sure the enemy fell for the trap and to get rid of incompetent fools by having them die as fodder; these would be reinforced by the most corrupt and brutal guards in the city. Esdeath wanted to use this as means to fooling the enemy into thinking they could have an easy victory, to ensure the Jaegers themselves took no losses and to purge the city guard of its more unsavory elements at the same time which as far as Tatsumi was concerned he liked the plan bar Esdeath's willingness to throw away the lives of other human beings so callously but given these were people who the city and world as a whole would be better off with out he didn't think long on that part of the plan and found himself agreeing with Esdeath on this. Granted it was doing Night Raid a favor as these were people that would be on the Kill List in the future so Esdeath was essentially doing the work for him.

The Crypt's insides proved to massive, with ceilings higher then the city walls and doors of brass and ebony which were decorated with images, in addition to that gargoyles and statues of the dead in their prime decorated the hallways with towering white marble pillers; the area which Tatsumi and Esdeath were going to hold was as narrow as the crypt got, which in this case was about wide-enough to accommodate a carriage or in real world terms a station wagon. "Is this as narrow as it gets?" Seryu asked.

"As narrow as it can for Flamethrowers; Bols is the most important person in the group right now: he is instrumental in crowd control; we will use each of the tombs on either side as fox-holes; each of our team members will have a partner Seryu you and Koro are with Tatsumi; Bols you are with me between fire and ice the Undead will break; Cosmina you are with Dorothea and her team; you are in charge of crowd control, Naomi you are with Run his job is to help you find your parents in all that mess Kurome I need you and Wave as captians; Kurome bring out as many puppets as you can; we'll need all the manpower possible" Esdeath explained she was interrupted by the screams echoing from the surface and the vibrations of the undead army marching above. "They are here; Tatsumi you Seryu and Koro will attack as one of the ambush teams, Run you and Naomi are the other; wait for the fighting to commence and for the initial flames to die down before attacking, once the enemy commits hit them hard and where it hurts; Teigu users you have your orders, if this position breaks we fall further back, Guards you are act as a pinning force and should we have to fall back a rearguard; hopefully we won't have to retreat" Esdeath instructed.

Shortly… the sounds of the dead echoed as they entered the hall, a Necromancer at the front of the formation saw them and grinned "Hey some of the dregs ran inside!" the necromancer shouted, only to have his head guiotinned by a flying blade of ice flung by Esdeath; the dead at the front collapsed which alerted the Necromancers to stay among their troops; the first wave of zombies charged in with Skeletons mixed into their ranks and no doubt a necromancer.

"Light it up Bols!" Esdeath ordered, Bols smirked behind his mask and with a click of his fingers flame burst forth from Rubincaite which consumed the first ranks of enemies in Salamander Fire; the next wave came forward as a Esdeath unleashed a barrage of ice at the ranks of the dead; more corpses fell down and this repeated with both alternating between ice and fire to crisp the enemy, Tatsumi readied Valruost and Smaug, the dragon armor covered his body, while Seryu grinned. Soon the tide grew too great to contained by flame; the necromancers pushed forth their army without regard for losses; they knew that if they could kill the Jaegers blocking them they could raise more troops then the entire army they brought. Tatsumi knew the exact amount of Necromancers in the cult and there were about 20 of them, with a master necromancer commanding the force; the two main leaders were Lord John Masterson and his son Henry Masterson; two members of a powerful noble house allied to Honest and one that Honest had intended to strengthen ties with by marrying a daughter to the Lord. (Song: Pompeii: Bastille)

The fight raged on until the ranks of the dead began to outnumber the defenders as the city guard warriors were torn down into the swarm; it was then that the ambush was sprung. "KORO: BERSERKER!" Seryu commanded, the little dog charged into the group and became a massive giant that towered over the dead and began to devour them in blender like teeth: as this commenced Tatsumi ignited both blades and began slicing thru the enemies at rapid speed, his speed intensifying the more enemies slain as Valruost heightened his aglity and strength, Seryu followed in behind and sliced down ranks of enemies; from the opposite side Run flew into air with angelic wings and began to unload machine gun fire from he pair of Uzis that in addition to a number of other guns he had brought along for this mission; while Naomi unleashed her Teigu for the first time. "Remnant Spining blades of death!" Naomi yelled and up from her bracelets blue blades of umbral energy flew into the ranks of the enemy; on of which decapitated a necromancer causing the tide to disperse significantly; however it was now that the real muscle came forth; armored Wights marched in armor; fine armor that had been bought by the Mastersons and that was Grundel craftwork in make; which caused Tatsumi great anger that his in-laws' products were being used by his enemy; at the head of the parade protrected by a phalanx of wights was a tall lanky man with dark blueish-black hair in an emo haircut; the man wielded a scythe and couldn't have been much older then Tatsumi himself. "Oh looky here; General Esdeath herself: I'm so looking forward to banging your corpse when this is over oh and those hotties too" the Man stated. "That is if my father lets me" he added and then cackled.

The shield wall blocked the flames from Rubincate essentially negating Bols all together; Cosmina attempted to use sonic attacks from Heavy Pressure to do damage, the most it did was crush down the armor a bit and shatter a few worn skulls; Esdeath had more success using barrages of ice javilians to render the shields protecting the Wights near useless; however by this point they had closed the effective distance which mean the time came for Bols and Esdeath to fall back and the grunts to do the dying, any mortalily wounded soldiers on their side were mercy killed by Kurome who raised them to fight on their side; the wights were far fiercer then the zombies and skeletons that they had faced so far and Henry Masterson was commanding their stecato attacks with the grace of a conducter in a grand orchestra on steroids; thus the ranks of defenders fell; then Tatsumi used the Dragon armor to fly above the confusion "Hey Bols now as a good time for a field test of that combo!" Tatsumi yelled above the battle to the surprise of Koro and Seryu who stepped back for this: Bols said nothing but let a spray from Rubincate onto to Tatsumi's dragon armor lighting a human fireball of napalm which divebombed into the ranks of the Wights cutting them down and causing confusion in the enemy ranks.

As this happened a group of Wights came into the room where Naomi and Run had readied themselves; among them were two wights more heavily armored and armed then the rest: Naomi looked into the cold flame eyes of the two captains of the group and noticed something; the faces while decayed were recognizable somewhat; they had been mummified before buried in a manner practiced by those of descent from the Southern tribes; and she recognized the faces of her parents. "Run wait!" Naomi yelled as Run finished reloading his Uzis.

"Yes?" Run asked.

"Those two Wights; they are my parents don't hurt them" Naomi replied.

"I'll try to make sure their bodies are undamaged as possible but I can't promise you anything; I know they are your parents but those aren't them any more those are empty shells filled with foul energy; they aren't them anymore" Run replied, Naomi frowned but readied her bladed staff and charged by passing the shields of the wight soldiers and cutting thru the armor down to the bones; she spun the blade parrying the attacks of the dead warriors in a rapid matter that even under the Necromancer's danse macabe wasn't able to keep up with her speed with her chosen weapon; and soon with each blow she was slicing down each wight down till there were two left which were about to take an advantage of an opening in her guard as two precise bullets were fired dead center into the chests of the dead; silver bullets fired from two pistols Run held in his hands. "Told you I would keep them as undamaged as possible: silver bullets; heard we were fighting undead, so I took the liberty of taking as many rounds of them possible" Run commented, Naomi looked down at the dead bodies which were just that bodies.

Naomi then went berserk and charged into the ranks of the dead with reckless abandon. "Remnant! Blade barrage!" Naomi yelled and a number of sharpened blades crashed into the dead; and one caught Henry in the shoulder; Naomi charged in to deal a finishing blow before having to turn to slice up two wights, Henry got up and wrapped his arms around her attempting to strangle her; "AAGH! AHG!" Naomi choked out, his grip was tight; her vision was starting to fade but before it faded entirely the grip suddenly went limp and Naomi turned to face Henry who was now fighting Tatsumi with his scythe: Tatsumi had saved her and now it was her turn to do the same; but she didn't get the opportunity to as Tatsumi sliced off both hands of Henry who ran off but had a strange green ball stick to him and he was quickly picked up by the large brown paw and dropped into a maw full of rows of razor sharp teeth and blended into mulch in a earbursting shriek, Naomi noticed on the shoulder of the large monstrousity Seryu sat calmly with a bag of balls, the dead around them collosped with the necromancer that bound them now being melted inside Heketonchires.

The tide of the dead receded, as to the surprise of everyone those not collapsed with Henry's death retreated. "Reform: Jaegers!" Esdeath ordered and the Jaegers in their entirety came forward; the city guards that had accompanied them were all dead; those that had survived the initial onslaught were killed by the forest of blades wielded by the wights; the ones that remained standing were puppets under Kurome's control. "Everyone we will proceed to the surface to finish off the enemies remaining forces" Esdeath ordered as they ascended to the surface and found a large army of dead gathered around a large spire that had been made of bones and now glowed an eerie green with circle of necromancers gathered around it raising more dead. "Now that the numbers are culled its time for my trump card: Demon's Blood: Ice Centaurs!" Esdeath yelled her eyes glew red for a moment as an army of ice construct centaurs materialized for a grand cavalry charge. "Charge!" Esdeath yelled and the force rushed down the undead ranks as ice met bone and flesh.

"Bols, Run, I need you guys!" Tatsumi shouted and both men came to attention; Tatsumi grabbed one side of Rubincate and Run the other and they lifted Bols up allowing them to fly for the central bone spire; Bols unleashed a torrent of Salamander flame and the Necromancers screamed in agony as they were burned alive and roasted, the dead collapsed all around the battle field and the piller collapsed too; all but a small group of dead surrounding a bulky man in his late forties; Tatsumi, Naomi and Seryu charged this group Koro gnawing down the dead and Naomi jumped off the tiegu's shoulder to dice the Master Necromancer clean in half; everything else shattered. (Song End)

Later… The battle's aftermath was astonishing, an army of the restless dead defeated by an elite team of little more then a dozen members lead by General Esdeath; the clean up proved less of a hassle as the Jaegers simply had the City Guard clean up the rest of the mess bar two corpses.

Two corpses that were now being reinterred by the daughters of them; Yami and Naomi buried their mother and father once more in the ground; Tatsumi and Lubbock helped as did a few Jaegers specifically Run: Naomi then knelt at their graves. "Rest this time in peace; let any who rob these graves again die a swift agonizing death" Naomi declared.

After the service everyone went their sepperate ways at the Noon sun rose above the Capital city: the City of Meletine.

Later at Grundewick Manor… Naomi was speaking with Tatsumi in the privacy of her room. "Tatsumi: I'm grateful for what you've done, from the beginning you did your best in trying to find out what happened to my parents, even to a point of risking you life for the matter; not only that you've proven yourself a true friend, and- you saved my life from a monster; a man who wanted to kill me and defile my corpse; you saved my life; that truly means something to me; hell you even went to the effort of carrying my parents' bodies back to the Cemetery where they belong and helped rebury them; I- like you, really like you- the point being Tatsumi- I-" Naomi tried, then kissed him on the lips, Tatsumi kissed back.

"I'm glad you feel that way about me Naomi; the question is do you really want me of all people as your boyfriend and eventually husband?" Tatsumi asked, Naomi only replied by turning to the door, locking it and taking off her orange shirt and jeans stripping to her underwear which consisted of a simple red bra and panties.

"No one else will do" Naomi replied and grabbed Tatsumi's shirt, she pulled it off without any resistance and then his undershirt where she took a look at his muscled chest, then kissed him; he put his hands on her back, she lowered both to her bum as she undid his pants leaving him in his boxers. The both leapt onto the bed kissing exploring the entirety of mouths of the other with their tongues; passionately kissing.

"No turning back now" Naomi thought then broke the kiss and unstrapped her bra allowing her DD-cup breasts freedom, then removing Tatsumi's boxers to find his length at full mast, have no experience with blowjobs beyond what Yami had told her she decided to use her breasts to do something that Yami loved doing to Lubbock and which he loved receiving, mammary intercourse or in lawman's terms: a Titjob. Naomi licked the tip of Tatsumi's cock as she moved her breasts up and down, alternating the movements even moving one breast in the opposite direction of the other; she then went from licking the tip to sucking it, taking in only the top at first but more as she sucked. As she did this Naomi found herself enjoying it but not just it the face Tatsumi was making; and his cherry red dimples which Naomi thought was something she wanted to see on his face often; so she began to surpress her gag-reflex and take him deeper inside as she began to deepthroat him, pulling it out to lick his testicles and up the length from different angles before deepthroating him again.

"Hey Naomi, you think you could turn around: I'll let you experience what you're doing to me" Tatsumi suggested, Naomi stopped blushed and parked herself on his face and resumed sucking; she immediately felt pleasure as Tatsumi's tongue went inside her loins; something she's never experienced in her life. Tatsumi of course was an expert at this and it was something he loved doing with Spear as she loved it more then any other form they did; granted in it was nearly always in the exact position that he and Naomi were currently in but still he was enjoying this; finding and probing Naomi's loins for the sensitive spots finding her barrier intact which was something that was both good and bad, good because he was her first and bad because it would hurt her. They continued until Tatsumi found himself unable to hold back and Naomi was doing so likewise only she had only been pleasured by him for a minute before she reached her limit, so they both came, creaming eachother's faces which they licked off; Tatsumi thought she looked cute covered in a bukkake, her glasses had to be wiped off real quick before she continued which she did and climbed back on the bed and raised herself above Tatsumi. "Are you ready?" Tatsumi asked.

"Ready: it's going to hurt but I don't care Tatsumi I want you, need you, so I'm going to do the honors and then once it's gone you fuck me like there is no tomorrow!" Naomi replied then speared herself, mentally wincing Tatsumi looked at her cute face, the large oversized glasses she wore enhanced her beauty; her caramel skin, her silky black hair, her grey nipples, all beautiful she was a beauty he wasn't going to let go of, not until they were done, the afternoon sun shined in on their union, the light obscuring Naomi's eyes for a moment before she pressed herself against Tatsumi and kissed him, Tatsumi placed his right hand on her bum as he thrusted into her, then after breaking the kiss they changed positions spooning as Tatsumi suckled Naomi's breasts this produced her loudest and cutest moans; he had found her sensitive spot and he was going to enjoy it and drink her milk which tasted like fine ambrosia to his thirst, he kept going and she kept moaning, she wrapped her legs around him as they kept going turning into the missionary position wife Tatsumi nursing from her left breast and he was so lost in his thirst that when he came again he didn't bother pulling out, not that Naomi wanted to; she had decided she wanted to be mother and as good as one as her own; Yami had softened her attitude towards family and she had found the one person who'd be the perfect father.

Tatsumi came filling her with his seed and striking a home run, he then pulled out and flipped Naomi over and she looked back at him. "Yeah you go at that ass of mine, I've teased you long enough with it" Naomi remarked, Tatsumi looked at said ass which was rivaled only by those of Esdeath and the goddess of anal herself Seryu Ubiquitous, as well as Aria; but Naomi's was one he dreamt of tapping after he saw it for the first time, so he entered it, another dream of his realized and a rode her like a stallion riding a mare and putting both to shame with their passion.

The love making lasted into the evening and Tatsumi left to go get a ring for their engagement and came back and gave it to Naomi after dinner where the two went to Seryu's room to find Seryu dressed in as seductive an outfit as possible. "Come on Tatsumi, Naomi don't think I'm getting left out of this after all I was with you both the whole time" Seryu remarked and winked, Tatsumi and Naomi stripped, Seryu did likewise and invited Tatsumi with her rear which he gladly claimed while drinking from Naomi's breasts, this threesome lasted 20 rounds before the three of them passed out under the moonlit sky.

Meanwhile… "Now I can actually get some sleep, I'm glad my sister is happy, but she really is loud, I chose this room as a study for a reason Koro" Damain explained, Koro woofed and laid on his back, Damian rubbed his belly. "For a powerful Teigu you are so loveable" Damian remarked Koro woofed. "Yes you can sleep in here, Seryu obviously wants some space and I'll gladly give her it" Damian stated, turned out the light and both went to bed.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Exposing the Truth

Considering the amount of women Tatsumi was in relationship with he was not surprised the following morning when he woke up with his face in Naomi's breasts; he was thirsty and needed a drink so he took one of Naomi's grey nipples in his mouth and drank, causing Naomi to moan his name in her sleep, Tatsumi took a good long drink was amazed Naomi wasn't awakened when he got out of bed and redressed; he kissed her on her forehead and left the room.

Shortly he found himself at the breakfast table; Naomi arrived about a few minutes after he had started eating his first of about three courses for his filling breakfast, it was going to be a day of patrols and kicking ass; and the night of course had the next mission, to take out the leadership of a group known as the Path of Peace; they were a religious group of fanatic zealots who were talking advantage of the civil war and committing mass burnings and rapes; the leadership of the movement was recently identified using intelligence from the Sabatini show; and said leaders were in the Capital, at least one Teigu user was conformed among their membership which bumped up the size of the team, in addition they were protected by a fortress monastery outside the capital with a number of dedicated fanatics willing to die; thus it required three Night Raid teams: 12 members and the mission was so important that Najenda herself was leading it with Tatsumi being important for the plan.

This however was far from his mind; the intelligence provided a through layout of the fortress, the exact garrison strength, patrol routes, also the exact routines of the leaders: each being a considerable threat in their own right and having a length rap sheet of crimes that made them a priority target, the goal of this mission was to kill the targets and thus cut out the heart of the movement which would scatter them enough for military forces to mop them up. Speaking off the Revolutionary Army's military forces, they were growing daily as Eastern mercenaries and Southern Volunteers flocked to their banner in addition a number of provincial governers and military leaders who were disillusioned by the Empire were now defecting, as a whole the army itself was winning major battles and now had strong footholds; thus it became important for Night Raid to keep rising threats like the Path of Peace from stopping those gains or reversing them; also news of Esdeath's absence and focus in the Capital itself was a boon to the broader forces as a whole because the Empire's best general was focused on a minor problem but one that she had a vested interest in; also there was the intel that she was planning to defect but Najenda wasn't telling anyone about that beyond Night Raid because any idiot would figure out some way to ruin these plans; also reinforcements in the form of new Teigus and additional troops were on the way to join Night Raid and would arrive today. Tatsumi's life as a whole was going to get more hectic; as to the new members it wasn't known to him who they were beyond hints Najenda gave him, the most interesting thing was that she would be getting a new Teigu soon; an organic Teigu; something she also mentioned was extremely powerful; the purpose of these reinforcements was the high command's fears of Esdeath and thus they were wanting to throw out all the stocks in keeping her from the front.

Tatsumi finished breakfast then he and Seryu readied themselves to report to Jaeger HQ for duty; Tatsumi was hoping on some new information from Esdeath; so far she had managed to influence a few trusted commanders to join her defection and was spreading the information about Honest; Esdeath had a plan that as soon as all the Jaegers and those she trusted were on Tatsumi's side they would stage a mission to infiltrate the palace and get Makoto and his sisters out of it along with other loyalists and then stage a military coup to overthrow Honest and declare the city under the control of the Revolutionary army with Najenda assuming the role of regent: Honest and his political allies both civilian and military would be captured and tried for their crimes publically and executed.

Tatsumi had a few issues with the plan: the first being that it required the Revolutionary Army to pardon Esdeath, the second being that Makoto could refuse to go with them, the third being that if Makoto did find out about the corruption in the Empire he would abdicate leaving the position requiring someone to fill it, the fourth and final issue was that it could easily result in death on all sides; Tatsumi explained those to her and she congratulated him for his perception and decided to rethink the whole thing.

"Seryu I'm still trying to wrap my head around something" Tatsumi remarked to his copper-haired wife.

"What is my Tatsumi-kun? You can tell me anything and I'll try and help you thru the powers of Justice also the Power of Koro" Seryu replied excited and picked up and held Koro aloft Lion King style at the last part.

"A couple days ago Seryu, Naomi and I encountered a necromancer in a graveyard as a trap we set, during this time we were ambushed and attacked by shadow hounds, one nearly got me; but it was cut down by this ethereal green figure in armor with a sword, this Green Specter was extremely good with a sword and helped us defeat the hounds and capture the necromancer; this wasn't the end of my encounters with him, the night of the ball Honest attacked me with his Teigu by sending Nightmares to plague me, I nearly despaired but the same specter appeared it said my name and gave me strength, I let out a force of golden energy that broke Honest's control of my mind, before the specter left he tapped my forehead with his sword and I saw a vision of the last moments of his life" Tatsumi explained.

"I believe you Tatsumi; you know this is a Guardian Spirit usually they are some relative of the person who they aid; who do you think he is?" Seryu replied.

"I think- I think he is my father: think about it what is stronger then a parent's love for their child; look what Angela did when Fal, Air and Luna were in danger at the Harwick's she fought like a Lioness according to Sheele and Chelsea; then on top of it brutally tortured a man who tried to rape Fal to death, there is nothing stronger then love to bind a spirit to this world; the spirit of my father must have lingered because he never had the chance to love me, to raise me as his own, in fact never to tell me who he was, also that he failed to protect me and my mother; he's lingered here for my sake" Tatsumi replied.

"I believe that's the case, I'm sure my dad would have stayed behind if his death hadn't been avenged and he wasn't able to know me; or protect me" Seryu replied. "So let's think about this, you said he was a warrior; what did he look like?" Seryu asked.

"He was a mighty Warrior clad in one of the finest sets of armor I've ever seen and a blade of equal quality, also he fought in a similar style to me, my father must have been someone important to have a suit of armor and weapon that finely crafted, I think he must have been a great General and Warrior, someone who was unequaled in battle and could win almost any battle; as for the way he died he must have been betrayed by someone to his death" Tatsumi replied.

"Well let's investigate this: I've done my share of murder investigations over the years and so far I've never failed in my searches; granted this case is so old and happened in a place that is outside my area of knowledge so this is going to be hard, this case is colder than Esdeath's Teigu" Seryu comforted.

"Thanks Seryu, I'm glad to know I can depend on you" Tatsumi replied, Koro woofed. "And you too Koro" Tatsumi replied and knelt down to pet him. "You're the cutest dog in that world" Tatsumi complimented.

"Anyway we need to figure more things out: Tatsumi do you have any idea as to how we could contact the spirit?" Seryu replied.

"Hmm, well the the only time outside my dreams I encountered him was when I was in true danger; perhaps if I get myself into real trouble he'd show up?" Tatsumi suggested.

"That sounds like a terrible plan; you know what, what you need is an expert on the occult and on spirits; problem in doing so is that most tend to be either quacks, monsters in human skin, or the real deal which the last is absurdly rare, even then you would need someway to communicate with him as I'm guessing ghosts don't talk" Seryu replied.

"That is true; wait I think I'll ask Sheele she's seen some interesting things over the years; she should know something" Tatsumi replied.

"Sheele eh, well I better ask her about those things; I love stories" Seryu replied.

"Well lets keep going; I think our patrol will be a easy, the sooner we can get it done, the sooner we can meet the new teammates for Night Raid and in addition to that we have an excuse to goof off and have sex" Tatsumi commented.

"We don't need an excuse to have sex Tatsumi; just say the word and we'll get down and dirty right here" Seryu flirted.

"As much as I'd love to take you here in public I don't think that is legal; also wouldn't that be awkward, a Captain in the Capital Police having sex in public with a Major General who's second in command to Esdeath; try explaining that to any officer; besides we don't want to be late also Esdeath's most likely horny and needs me" Tatsumi remarked.

"Alright but as soon as we get to HQ you me and Esdeath and doing exactly that" Seryu commented and they both laughed and held hands, Tatsumi now wore seven wedding rings; which meant he had three finger's left before he had to put multiple rings on each finger.

They arrived at Jaeger HQ and stepped in, Tatsumi of course went to see Esdeath with Seryu. The next thing of course lead to Esdeath's room and Esdeath's daily sex with Tatsumi; she needed it for her mood of course and if she didn't get it she'd be moody and dangerous. The idea of the threesome was something Esdeath enjoyed as she hadn't had one since that one time with Aria, so Seryu was more then happy to join in; Tatsumi took about an hour to satisfy both of his wives, after they were done Esdeath gave him his patrol route for the day which would take him thru the upper districts which he guessed was that with whole undead crisis that had just ended she wanted to give him some easy work; usually he'd take the hardest route but given how much he'd been thru lately he could use some easy work, however he did ask if there was anything Esdeath had extra for him to do. That extra work came in the form of a file filled with names and pictures of people who had gone missing over the past month and photo of place of interest; the place of interest happened to be the one link on the people which were divided by class, race, age and gender however the one thing that they had in common was that they stopped at that building and didn't come out, however the building was owned by a group of merchant lords who had the local police of the district in their pocket, they didn't have the Jaegers in their pocket and Esdeath figured that Tatsumi, Seryu and Mez could handle it as all three were experienced Teigu users and powerful ones at that.

Shortly… "Hey Tatsumi, What's up!" Mez greeted, looking as radiant as possible.

"We got the easiest patrol, but because I thought that was too simple Eseath's given us a mission to look into a place where people have gone inside over the past month and not come out from" Tatsumi explained.

"Good so it won't be a total milk run; I love it; let's get going!" Mez stated enthusiastically; Tatsumi could only grin at her enthusiasm which he shared, hopefully it wouldn't be a crazy mission. So Tatsumi got geared up in the groups armor as a precaution; Tatsumi wasn't concerned about the patrol itself but the side mission that he had accepted was the kind that made him not leave anything to chance, having taken down his share of douchebags and deceivers this kind of mission shared more in common with a mission he'd do with Night Raid vs on with the Jaegers; granted he was hoping to take prisoners but the probability of that was low.

Prepared and well armed they bid farewell to the other Jaegars Tatsumi giving kisses to Cosmina and Suzuka as good luck, those two were going on patrol also those two loved to have sex with the each other when he wasn't around, he'd lost count of how many times he'd walked in on the two of them then been dragged in a threesome with them something which he enjoyed and Suzuka was becoming extremely experienced with Cosmina's training, also there was the fact that both of them were pregnant now, which meant Esdeath usually kept them either in reserve or doing the safest of jobs, mainly out of not wanting them to endanger themselves in a pregnancy.

Two Hours later… the Noon suns hang high in the air and above the city of Melitine; the Capital had a history of being mostly temperate so it meant winters were actually warmer then usual which meant it rarely snowed and rarely dropped bellow 50 degrees with highs in the 80s during winter; also sun was enjoyed both suns in fact as Eden was in a binary star system, Tatsumi knew little about astronomy beyond what he read about in terms of known stars and planets, he could recite the names of all 30 planets in the solar system but not in order; nor could he name any moons beyond the three moons of Eden; Adam, Eve and Able. The market square was abuzz with people, a large caravan of merchants from the southern provinces had arrived with exotic goods: pearls, spices, sugar cane, tea, lapis lazuli, tin a lot of tin, the famous black bronze of the south, and a number of goods from the Lizardmen, in fact Tatsumi noted some Lizardmen merchants were among the merchants which resulted in looks of interest from people who had never seen a Lizardman before their scales of various colors though fortunately they spoke the common trading language, the traded in gold as well as exotic weapons and scale armor made from Malachite, Ebony and the scales of the massive danger beasts of the South lands as well as fine leather jerkins, salt, and exotic birds and beasts including tamed Jaguars. There were also miniature lizardmen with large crests on their head, though they weren't children they were another breed of Lizardmen called Skinks, also in addition there were large lizards that carried additional goods and baggage. In addition to the southern goods Northern merchants had arrived for the first time, the Yetis of the North brought fine furs, mammoth tusks, steel weaponry, as well as rubies and sapphires mined in the north and you guessed it: more tin. Tin was the most valued good in the Capital as it was used to make a number of goods that were prized by nobles.

Among the merchants Tatsumi noted Aria and Sayo with Fal, Air and Luna as well as few of Aria's bodyguards, as usual Aria was on a shopping binge in this case new furniture and other goods for the new manor that they had finally managed to buy; so Aria was getting things ready to move in. However Tatsumi had his eyes out for trouble and noted some people who looked clearly out of place tall men of a sour disposition and a way of walking which indicated either painful testicular tumors or multiple concealed weapons; one of the men a lanky slim man with a mustache had a knife out and was making a bee line for Aria. "ARIA LOOK OUT!" Tatsumi yelled drawing his sword, Aria turned and screamed at the man who threw his dagger but one of Aria's guards stepped in front of the blade which unfortunately hit him in eye causing him to drop to the ground with a thud. Tatsumi Mez and Seryu jumped immediately into action, there were about 50 assassins who thru off their overcoats to reveal fine armor and weapons which they had readied, said armor was marked with a demonic symbol.

"We've been seen boys, you know the orders kill the Girls we die for Valtor!" The leader shouted, a tall bearded man with a broadsword. "For Valtor!" the Other assassins yelled.

This threat changed things entirely, they weren't normal assassins but trained professionals who were religious fanatics in search of death. The name Valtor struck a cord however with the Lizardmen, the mere mention of the name caused them to roar in their languages and draw their exotic weapons: Macuahuitls, sword clubs of exotic design, spears too as well as halberds and normal swords, the Skinks too came to attention reading short swords and bows; there were about 12 of them and 6 full sized lizardmen, the Yetis too joined in as did the city guard and merchant guards to protect their paymasters; over all the assassins were outnumbered, but they were still armed and dangerous. Aria drew her rapier and Sayo her bow notching an arrow with all three of the girls readying their lugers.

Then came the fight, a fight which Tatsumi kept track of pretty well, the slashing of steel and sounds of arrows howling and guns firing shook things up, also Koro roaring in his lesser form as Seryu kept shouting "Ultimate Justice" every time she got a kill: Mez's Naginata ignited and cut the legs out from under two assassins and then as they fell decapitated them, Mez was absurdly agile, Tatsumi himself struggled at speed, however Mez was taking to it naturally. He noted the first assassin get his throat skewered and face cut open by Aria's rapier, then another assassin who tried to sneak up on her take a bullet to a head, Tatsumi killed two swordsmen then saw two things he hadn't seen before, one was a Yeti tear a man clean in half and the other was Lizardmen using their claws and teeth in battle and he saw one crimson scaled lizardman bite the head off of one of the assassins and a two handed Macqutial to sweep thru three more; an assassin tried to blindside him but that assassin received an arrow in his shoulder from Sayo before being skewered and mauled to death by three skinks. Tatsumi then pulled Air out of the way of a man with a battle axe who she charged at with knife and followed up with a blow from Valruost that cut the man horizontally in half with the front half with his face falling flat and the other going splat, still though the cultists fought on, they were truly fanatical fighting to the last: one got crushed by an armored Yeti's Warhammer which hammered him into the ground like a nail before said yeti knocked one man flying a hundred feet into the air before he crashed down into mulch from impact, Tatsumi then saw Seryu throwing Chew-Chew balls at confused assassins who Koro then carved in them in half like a cartoon beaver thru a tree. Tatsumi then cleaved down the leader of the group, the remaining Assassins fought to the death but were ripped apart by everyone surrounding them and slicing them down to mulch.

The fight concluded, two City guard lay dead as did one of Aria's own, the man who had taken the dagger to his eye, other then that the only other bodies that were dead were the assassins, there were number of wounded people. "Medic!" One of the wounded guards yelled. Aria ran over to the man. "Fal get my medical bag from carriage: Luna get me some bandages, Sayo you and the other wounded and bring them here, everyone else help her; I'm a doctor I can help!" Aria ordered, the people moved to do as ordered, except Air who was searching the bodies of the dead assassins.

"Air you need to help too!" Aria yelled.

"I'm checking for anything that can show who sent these baddies!" Air yelled back.

"Help the wounded first, investigate later!" Aria ordered, Air then moved to help the others, Fal returned to Aria with her medical bag and Aria began looking over the injuries, each one varied and Aria to the steps need for each one, first by cleaning out the wounds, in a case of one person she resewed an arm which was half on back on all the way, the wound was the worst though, each wound was tended to Aria making sure clear it, one of the wounded however turned out to be an assassin in plain cloths but Aria stabbed him with dagger and ended him, then moved onto to help the other wounded, Aria did everything she could, bandaging wounds, cleaning them out, removing embedded weapons, stitching up some of the more severe wounds, overall Aria did her work and Tatsumi did his best to help as a number of other people.

After tending to the wounded she turned to her dead bodyguard. "I'm glad my parents have my guards wear these visored helmets that way I don't have to see their faces when they die; but it makes it a pain to tell them apart" Aria remarked to Tatsumi and Mez, Aria knelt at the body of her dead guard, pulled off the helmet and immediately broke down in tears. "NO!" Aria yelled in grief, Tatsumi took a look at the dead man and noted he was in his late thirties or early forties. "Corneilius, old Corny, he's been my body guard since I was born: why!?" Aria cried and made a face of pure agony. Tatsumi knew the man, he had been the one who told him about the Capitial when he first arrived, he was always with Aria wherever she went, he was at her wedding, every trip; now he was dead, he died in the line of duty protecting the person he was sworn to protect. Aria kept crying Tatsumi got down on his knees to comfort her; Fal, Air and Luna were also crying next to Aria, Seryu looked forlorn her tears flowing but she cried internally, Mez was sorrowful too, even the Lizardmen were weeping as were a number of other people: a Good man had died, died doing his duty sure, but that didn't make his death any easier to bear. Aria recovered her composure and turned to the body of the first assassin, she then proceeded to beat the lifeless corpse with a Macuahuitl she grabbed from one of the Lizardman, crying harder and harder.

It pained Tatsumi to see the woman he loved the most in this state. "Aria" Tatsumi tried, but it wasn't of use, words weren't going to bring her out of this grieving state; honestly he'd never seen Aria so upset in his whole life; nor had he ever seen her beat a corpse who was already dead. Aria recovered her composure and turned to the Lizardman merchant who looked at her with both concern and confusion. "I'm keeping this how much for it?" Aria asked.

"Keep it, for you who have done much kindness you deserve it, you deserve much praise; besides you did your part in the battle; you are more than worthy to wield an Saur-Club" The Lizardman merchant stated in exotic accent with clicks in between words and hissed Ss.

"Tatsumi I'm sorry; thanks for warning me; you've saved my life my dear husband; Corneilius was my bodyguard since I was a baby; when he was a young man, he was always there growing up and was very much like the stay at home version of my father; now he's gone, he saved my life at the cost of his own: I'm heading home; I have to tell my parents what happened; I don't know who is responsible for this: but I know this if it was Honest: Hell will have nothing on what I will do to him!" Aria explained and vowed, she then put the bloodied Macuahuitl on the cart then Corneilius with the help of her other guards, she then took a look at the other two guards, the city guards, and noted the cause of death: one with pierced skull, the other with broken neck. "No one I know, but still they were two people who their families will have to move on without" Aria commented, then helped the other guards move them.

Shortly… Tatsumi escorted Aria, Sayo and the girls to the carriage and bid farewell to them for now, kissing both Sayo and Aria on the lips, and three sisters on their foreheads. Tatsumi then turned to Mez and Seryu. "Well this is a fine mess; people died here and who is this Valtor those assassins were talking about?" Mez commented.

"I have no idea; personally I've seen enough death for the day but I know I'll see more of it before its done: I bet Honest was behind this; if he was he's made this personal" Tatsumi replied. "Also everyone should keep their guards up, Honest said that anyone I cared about has a target on them and he won't be satisfied with just killing me; he's all about breaking me then killing me" Tatsumi remarked.

"We'll bring the Evildoers behind this cult to Justice or my name isn't Seryu Ubquitous: Soldier for Justice!" Seryu remarked.

"Glad to see you are positive about this; anyway let's finish the patrol then we'll look into the building where people have been disappearing to" Tatsumi replied.

"Still going to look into that after all this?" Mez questioned.

"Trust me Mez, if there are people who are a disease on society and who pray on innocent people I'll find them and make them pay; no mercy given, besides keeping people safe takes priority over mourning" Tatsumi explained.

"Then lets do it!" Mez said determined. "Man Tatsumi is committed to his word and helping people, even when he doesn't have to, he also is a beast in a fight; plus he's kind, caring, happy to help anyone in need; there are no shortage of reasons to love this guy; and look at that ass- Mez focus, you are on a mission talk to him about when we get back to base; pull out your best flirts and though you're a virgin he'll be falling into your hands like puddy; I've known him long enough to know I want his D" Mez thought internally. "I wonder if Suzuka was boasting about how good he is; I'll have to see it for myself" Mez continued thinking.

Tatsumi was thinking about Mez; not so much in a romantic sense but in hope of swaying her to his side; during the time they had spent as partners he had grown close to her and she was clearly one of the few good people in the Empire; she was kind but she was eager and always gave her best; in a way she was like him in that regard; he really did love her though she was sweet, caring and kickass, plus she was beautiful and busty; he really wanted her to join Night Raid, and he thought to himself. "Maybe if I expose the rot in the Empire to her she'd join with me; I really hope so" Tatsumi thought to himself.

Their travel to their destination proved to be without incident; the news of what happened in the Market district had traveled quickly and as a result the local criminal population retreated into their dens out of fear of the Jaegers as once again their skills had become the thing public regard and the regular people greated and waved at Tatsumi, Mez and Seryu due to their uniforms.

They soon arrived at building which proved to be good sized guildhouse, they knocked on the door and a doorman in a black suit let them in without questions, he had a grin on his face; Valruost alerted Tatsumi that the man and others had bad intentions; Tatsumi replied by telling him he'd think up a plan. They arrived at a large table where a group of merchants were eating lunch of pork chops, bacon, and fine mashed potatoes. "Ah come in: Jaegers eh, to what do we owe your visit" one of the merchants greeted.

"We are here investigating something; a number of people have gone missing over the past month and we are here investigating" Tatsumi explained.

"Ah that is interesting; Servant get our guests something to eat and we'll discuss the matter in depth" the Merchant commented and smiled.

"Don't eat the food Tatsumi; it is foul, and they intend to knock you out with hemclover" Valruost warned.

"Thanks for the heads up" Tatsumi replied. "Hey, I need to use the bathroom you know where that is?" Tatsumi commented, nudging Mez.

"Down the hall from this room to the right" one of the other Merchants commented.

"Thanks" Tatsumi replied.

"I need to use it too, I'll go with you Tatsumi" Mez commented and the two left, they then headed to the bathroom and locked the door. "Alright Tatsumi what's up? We both went about 3 minutes ago so there is no way you have to go again" Mez commented.

"I know that: Mez these people are evil: my Teigu Valruost allows me to sense people's intentions; they intend to knock us unconscious with hemclover: what ever you do don't eat the food" Tatsumi warned.

"Alright, my stomach may disagree with you on this but I believe you Tatsumi, besides that sword of your's has saved our lives before" Mez commented. "You know they'll be suspicious if we come back so quickly; so we better kill five minutes" Mez replied.

"So we just sit in here for five minutes?" Tatsumi asked.

"We can do something to pass the time; you know Tatsumi it's good we got somewhere quiet and away from any prying eyes and ears" Mez remarked. "Now for it" Mez thought, then kissed Tatsumi on the lips, surprising him but not too much and he kissed back. "I love you Tatsumi; you are the best guy I've ever met and one of the kindest and determined souls I've ever met; there is nobody better then you" Mez replied. "Now to kill five minutes and show you how much I love you" Mez added, she then undid her top exposing her E-cup breasts, she then got on her knees and undid Tatsumi's pants. "Wow! Suzuka and Cosmina weren't kidding; you are more hung then a horse; your cock is so huge!" Mez complimented, then wrapped her breasts around the length and slowly massaged it then took the upper part into her mouth and began sucking.

Tatsumi moaned, he could hardly believe his partner was doing this; so soon after confessing her love, she was also pretty good at this; as she was alternating from sucking to licking also she knew exactly where to go to get the most moans from him, the answer to that was clear: Cosmina and Suzuka told her exactly where to go. She kept blowing him and it was too much; and when she deepthroated him he came, she swallowed the whole load, not just because she wanted to but also to avoid making a mess. They then redressed. "That was epic: you know after we get back to HQ we are going to do the whole thing" Mez commented.

"Mez we need to talk" Tatsumi remarked.

"It can wait till after we're done here" Mez replied, Tatsumi wanted to tell her about himself; about Night Raid, he had told Cosmina and Suzuka and both of them accepted it as they loved him too much, he also told Dorothea who didn't really care because as long as it didn't affect her research she didn't care who was in charge of the government, Esdeath had him figured from the get go, so he needed to tell Mez; perhaps if he exposed her to the rot of the Empire she'd be on his side all the way.

They returned to the dinning room and discussed in depth the dissapperances, the food was brought out and Seryu chowed down: Tatsumi and Mez gave some to Koro; Tatsumi knew the Teigu was immune to poison so it was alright to give him some; the reason being that it would both clear part of his plate and would give a hungry Koro something to eat, when Seryu passed out Tatsumi and Mez immediately threw the plates to the ground and number of armed guards who had been standing in the room charged to attack them. "Get them: Our new meal must not escape!" the most fat of the Merchants yelled, Tatsumi drew Valruost and Smaug, dawned the dragon armor and attacked, Mez grabbed Impa's fury and used her agility to slice down the first many guards, decapitating the man then with a follow up swing slicing the legs out from under the man then slicing him in half from the groin up, Tatsumi killed a man who was going to strike Mez from behind; Mez then stabbed backwards to kill one was about to sneak attack Tatsumi. "VALRUOST! BLOOD FORGE!" Tatsumi yelled and immediately the blade glowed with red light and began to drain blood from two guards out of every pore, then Tatsumi followed up with a chain of furious strikes which killed the remaining guards, the Merchants got up to run but because of their fat they moved slowly Tatsumi flung Valroust at one of them then drew his berretta and shot two more then dropped a chandelier with another shot which dropped on three merchants killing them, Tatsumi then shot the legs out of the last two; Mez killed the guards who came in while Koro increased in size and sat infront of the door inside after Mez was pushed back and assumed a wall of teeth that no one wanted to try and run thru; a few did try and those few fed the Koro.

Tatsumi marched to one of the fat Merchants and removed his helmet then lifted the man up like it was nothing and gave him a face of terror. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU GUYS UP TO: SHOW ME YOUR VICTIMS!" Tatsumi ordered.

"There aren't any boy; we ate them; all that's left are bones!" the Merchant commented Mez was horrified and outraged, she then charged and slaughtered the remaining merchants who were trying to crawl away.

"SHOW ME THEM!" Tatsumi ordered, the Merchant led him and Mez, Tatsumi picked up Seryu and carried her over his shoulder; she slept peacefully, he then ordered Koro to wipe out any remaining guards. The merchant led them to the kitchen where Mez killed the chefs and any guards present; the man lead them to cabinet which moved aside and led them down a stair; where an eerie torch light shined over skeletons, but also over fresh corpses one of which Mez recognized.

"Jarvis!? Sergeant!" Mez exclaimed and ran over to the body, the man had been one of the trainees she had instructed in the guard, his body was marred by torture and by cuts but his face was clear as day and petrified in terror and pain. Mez was angry.

"Welcome to the Empire Mez, the true Empire" Tatsumi remarked, Mez cried. The Merchant tried to inch away but Koro growled at him. "Hey where do you think you're going? I have questions for you that you are going to answer!" Tatsumi remarked and picked the merchant up and dragged him over to one of his instruments of torture, a rack. "Now you are going to tell me and Mez everything you know!" Tatsumi ordered, the Merchant quelled and unloaded all the info, told him that one of the guard Captains a man name Commonnus had lured the man to dinner in exchange for a large sum of money: Mez recognized the name as one of her own subordinates a man she trusted, but clearly had betrayed one of her own.

"WAS HE THE ONLY ONE!?" Mez yelled, then smacked the man.

"No! Captain Commonnus had been sending troops to us for weeks now; they've made good eating though! Look I have Money spare me!" the Merchant yelled.

"No!" Mez replied, she then tortured him, he gave everything he knew, and when she was done he was a shell of his former self as every layer of fat had been cut off, Mez then dragged the man over to a blood-stained block with an equally as stained axe leaned, Mez pinned the man down with her legs and raised the ax it fell with a thud and the merchant's ugly red head rolled around on the floor. "So much rot and corruption: I'm going to find Commonnus and run him thru!" Mez declared.

"I can arrange that; Mez you see now the rot at the heart of the Capital and the Empire as a whole; the Empire is sick and it needs the cure; I am the cure as are the members of my group: People like this Fear the Night: do you Fear the Night?" Tatsumi replied, Mez stopped and looked at Tatsumi, the words were known to her; they were the words of Night Raid; plastered all over the city over places like this; she realized now that the people there were actually monsters; Tatsumi was Night Raid, that was obvious, but he was such a kind and good person, she also loved him dearly; he had risked his life for her on a number of occasions and she had done the same for him. "Mez I love my nation, but it is sick, there are a lot of bad people; I want it to be better and rid of the evil that is making it sick, I believe Makoto is a good person and will be a good ruler, I wouldn't hurt him; he's like what I wanted to be when I was his age; a person who didn't have to worry about the hard parts of life; I care for him and his sweet little sisters; I don't agree with my superiors in the Revolutionary army who believe he's to blame and want him dead; in fact, I'll gladly hunt them down and kill them: there are villains on both sides, and both sides really have one enemy that if he were to go peace would return and the rot would be cleaned; Honest if he dies the Empire will be restored to its former glory; Mez are with me: if not I won't stop you from killing me" Tatsumi explained.

Mez thought long and hard on this, she had to rethink everything, this was a man she loved and trusted deeply, he never lied to her; he genuinely dreamed of changing the Empire, he was right about Honest and his corruption; the Empire needed better and she wanted to make it better; if that meant being part of Night Raid and Jaegers she'd do it. "I'm with you Tatsu-kun: I love you dearly I couldn't bare hurting you, you are right; there are monsters; not just danger beasts but our fellow human beings; they need to be cleansed and the Empire needs to be restored, also I'm glad you aren't blind to the fact there are villains on both sides of this war; and Night Raid isn't one of them; they've only killed people who truly deserved it, in a way they aren't different from the Jaegers, so yes I'll join Night Raid, and we'll show monsters like these why they should Fear the Night, and why they should Fear the Day! We'll make the Empire better; starting with killing the basterd who sent Jarvis and other good people to their deaths" Mez declared, Seryu yawned and woke up.

"What did I miss?" Seryu commented then looked around. "Evildoers! They knocked me out! Where are they?!" Seryu raged.

"Dead: Ultimate Justice has been delivered Seryu; also Mez has decided to join Night Raid" Tatsumi explained.

"Good work my fellow Soldiers for Justice, and welcome abourd Mez to the force of Ultimate Justice!" Seryu replied.

"Let's leave and report in; Esdeath will send people to clean this up" Tatsumi stated.

"Farewell Jarvis" Mez stated to the body of her friend, then they left; nobody was left alive in the place: they also double checked and killed any stragglers; as far they were concerned everyone here was guilty by association; then they returned to HQ and delivered the report to Esdeath.

"Cannibals: How vile, I'm glad you killed every single one of those mongrels; they deserved no better; Cannibals are the lowest form of scum and cowards: good job on the mission" Esdeath congratulated, Mez led Tatsumi off to her room where she locked the door behind them.

The two locked lips kissing each other in a romantic kiss; which after a couple minutes they broke, then relieved each other of their clothes; both studied each other in all their glory for a moment. "Tatsumi; no beating about the bush, besides I already gave you a blowjob so I think moving on to the main show will be best right?" Mez teased.

"Yeah" Tatsumi replied and picked her up, then entered her; blood came out by Mez didn't mind having gone thru worse pain in the Guard's training program and her father's own training program on top of that. Tatsumi thrusted into her and took a look at her ample breasts which were now his, he leaned his head on the right breast and took a drink from the grey nipple, he was thirsty after all the patrol and all the efforts so he took a long drink from her, then switched and took a long drink from the other all the while thrusting into Mez, he laid back on the bed and continued both actions while Mez moaned cute sweet moans and kissed him showering his forehead with kisses and holding his head to have him keep drinking, she enjoyed this, then being a virgin she came, Tatsumi still had a good amount of time before he released and she would like cum three more times before he was done; both of them were eager and full of stamina so they were in for a great number of rounds before they would both be satisfied. Tatsumi's thrusts alternated, Mez came again, and again, her cream showing his length; soon Tatsumi was reaching his limit.

"Cum inside me Tatsu-kun Tatsumi I want your children give it to me! Give me your seed!" Mez declared, Tatsumi kissed her and they locked tongues as he unloaded in her; she then dismounted and shaked her ample rear at him. "Oh Tatsumi" Mez teased "I know you always look at my ass when I'm not looking, but now it's yours come on let me have it: I can take it!" Mez added, Tatsumi charged into it; Mez was in bliss at this. "OH YEAH!" Mez exclaimed, Tatsumi began thrusting back and forth into her as he played with her breasts. "Yes, this is the best; I think I've found my go to position, ride this anytime and every time, in the beginning the middle and the end of our sessions; I love it!" Mez added, it was clear as day to Tatsumi she loved anal; so he'd give it to her any day of the week and whenever she wanted it, besides it was his go to position; Mez just happened to be right up his alley with this.

He kept going, they both kept moaning, Mez turned her head and body to kiss him, they made out like mad as he pounded her rear like there was no tomorrow; it was perfect, nobody interrupted them and he gave a good pounding for the next two hours, before they both were satisfied. "That was amazing: the best thing I've ever done: marry me Tatsumi" Mez commented.

"Gladly" Tatsumi replied.

"So now I think is good time to meet your team" Mez replied.

"I hope you mean it and this isn't a mistake" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi, Tatsu-kun, I wouldn't betray the man I love; especially after seeing the rot in the Capital's heart; that needs cleaning up and treatment, in this case the cure is perfect and the only way to remove the disease" Mez replied.

Later… Tatsumi and Seryu blindfolded Mez and led her to HQ after they had left the city; Mez did so without protest she understood the security precaution, and soon they arrived; Tatsumi walked in the door then both he and Seryu removed the blind fold and told Merraid she was a new recruit. Tatsumi soon arrived at the center room where he ran into Najenda in her usual attire and looking as radiant as ever since the restoration of her lost arm and eye; Tatsumi though Najenda was beautiful before the regen but seeing her now with her hair in a braided ponytail she was a goddess. "Ah Good you're here Tatsumi: who's this?" Najenda asked.

"This is Mez, one of my partners in the Jaegers and a new recruit for Night Raid" Tatsumi explained.

"Nice to meet you General Najenda, I was one of your bridesmaids at your wedding if you remember me" Mez introduced.

"Yes I do, you're one of the Four Rakshasa Demons that is a high honor; good to have you on board; what's the reason you've decided to join though I have a pretty good guess that my Husband is it" Najanda responded with a knowing look.

"Pretty much; also I've seen the rot in the heart of the Capital, one of my subordinates a man I trained to be a great fighter after my father died I found him his body butchered and stripped of the parts that his killers considered edible, I interrogated one of the Merchants who was still living after their failed attempt to kill us; he revealed that one of Royal Guard captains was sending troops under his command to the merchants for large payments of money: I'm determined to make things better, originally I was of the mind that Night Raid were no better than criminals, but I know now that isn't the case; you only kill evil people and rid the Capital of the worst scum imaginable, thus I will join you my only condition is that you do NOT try to kill the Emperor" Mez explained.

"I can promise that; welcome Mez, trust me I'd defy a direct order to kill him; I reserve my consciousness, but I run a group of assassins that targets adults, we aren't even remotely in the business of killing children; much less ones who have no idea about right or wrong or who have been sheltered like Makoto" Najenda assured. "Anyway you three arrived just in time our reinforcements are on their way; Chelsea just reported in; you just managed to beat them here" Najenda explained. "So anyway get yourselves and get out of the Jaeger uniforms don't want to make a bad impression on our new teammates" Najenda ordered.

Tatsumi did as asked, Mez was led by Seryu to the Disguise room so that she could get Mez some clothes that fit her; she introduced Mez to Martha and the Twins the dedicated fashionistas who ran the disguise department; Seryu left her to them while she went to get changed and when she came back Mez was clad in revealing attire similar to that of Leone but orange with black tiger stripes; she also had replaced the horseshoes she wore with more practical and lightweight brass rings and she also wore a set of matching brass bracelets with carved horseheads engraved on them. "How do I look Seryu?" Mez asked.

"Like a whole new woman but still you: just with a more interesting flare" Seryu replied, the two then met up with Tatsumi who for the first time in a while wore the clothes he arrived in Melitine with as well as the addition of brown trenchcoat, he also wore a brown porkpie hat. "Tatsumi ditch the hat it makes you look like a ditz" Seryu commented.

"Really? I thought it went good with the rest of my get up" Tatsumi replied.

"It really doesn't, honestly no hat that I know of would go well with that getup" Mez remarked.

"Fine I'll take it off, one of these days I'll find the right hat for this get up" Tatsumi responded.

"Its fine Tatsumi: your get up is pretty convincing; nobody would think you are married to a noble family, a major general, and the Emperor's minister for fun, dress like that you look like guy form the countryside" Mez replied.

"Yeah; from the countryside; you know Mez minus the coat these clothes were all I had when I got to Capital and this sword; granted I've had it reforged since it broken in my fight with Dr. Stylish but yeah this is pretty much what I arrived with well not counting the sizeable amount of money I had for Danger Beast and Bandit bounties on the way to the city that Leone conned me out of when I got here" Tatsumi remarked.

"Wait you killed Doctor Stylish?" Mez asked shocked.

"Yes granted he broke my sword, but I got my Teigus from inside an alter in the Grand Temple and cut him down with ease" Tatsumi replied.

"And saved my life and earned my undying love at the same time" Aria remarked coming up.

"Lady Grundel? What are you doing here?" Mez asked surprised and shocked even more.

"New member, alright I'm one of the Founding Members of Night Raid, My parents fund the group and provide targets; they also arm us with whatever equipment we need thru effect back channels; I happen to be group's Medic and expert in poisons and master of stealth" Aria explained.

"Master of Stealth? In that dress?" Mez replied at the last part.

"Observe: Noctic Wave: Shroud of Night" Aria demonstrated and turned invisible, Mez was surprised then overpowered by an unseen attacker and found a kukri at her neck, she turned to see Aria appearing there grinning. "Dead, or you would have been if you were a target; most people I've killed die because of this little trick of mine" Aria stated letting Mez go.

"Wow! Where did you learn how to fight like that and where is your Teigu?" Mez asked.

"As to how I learned how to fight; My mother taught me how, in addition to training me as a doctor, in poisons and Torture: consider it a Grundel family tradition; for the ladies anyway: I hope to make it a family tradition" Aria explained. "As for my Teigu; I'll give you a hint, its in plain sight and an ordinary object people would ignore out of hand" Aria explained.

"It's your hairband, wow where did you get it?" Mez asked.

"From my father; it's a Grundel family heirloom, invisibility isn't the only thing it does: it has a number of other tricks that you'll just have to see for yourself" Aria explained. "But I'm getting distracted you three need to get to the main hall our new arrivals are here" Aria explained and led them off.

In the center hall walked in seven people they also brought with them a large chest; each of these people was complete interesting; three men and four women: the clear leader was one that Chelsea ran up to hug; a four-armed woman with purple eyes and dark purple hair which she kept in ponytails, she wore eastern style armor and had the rank of General engraved on it; she was busty but brawny as well. "Cassandra!" Chelsea shouted and hugged her.

"Chelsea! It's great to see you again; its General Cassandra Oarbough of the Revolutionary army now: these are my subordinates; well 5 of them; the sixth is well: I'll let him introduce himself" Cassandra stated and indicated the tallest of the men and the group.

The man was towering giant among the rest; the biggest man Tatsumi had seen outside of Ogre and Zank the Beheader: he was a young man in his twenties if you could call him human he had wavy blue hair with bull-like horns coming out of the sides of his head; he wore white robes and carried a massive pole mace. "I am Speed of Lightning: Susanoo: I am one of the oldest Teigus in existence a biological Teigu from elder days: I am over 4000 years old, but I have forgotten much of what I know originally however I do recognize one of you: one of my number" Susanoo introduced and stepped over to Koro. "Greetings Old friend: Hekatonchires; it has been along time has it now" Susanoo greeted, Koro woofed repeatedly. "I'm glad to see you too: you're going by Koro now, that is a good choice: you there young woman: I see you have bonded with him; hopefully you and my old friend get along: I have yet to find new master" Susanoo replied, he then turned to the other members of Night Raid and his eyes stopped on Najenda: in his minds eye he saw his original master in the era of the Golden Emperor: she was nearly the spitting image of him: he approached Najenda: and held her hand, a surge of energy flowed between them. "You: Najenda are my new mistress, you are a descendant of my original master from the age of the Golden Emperor: I will fight for you till the day of your death" Susanoo pledged.

"I am humbled by your gift: I'll try not misuse your power" Najenda replied. "And who are the others?" Najenda asked, the next person was a Golden haired young woman she was busty and wore brass plated armor which covered her body, the armor was decorated with scales from her enemies' armor; she also wore a necklace of skeletal fingers and a long black cloak; her feet were protected by plated boots and metal Greeves: her hair was bob cut and she had lovely orange eyes and face of true beauty, she had four roundel daggers at her side as well as sword, but her most signature weapon was an ornate flail decorated with runes it was clearly a Teigu.

" I am Clemantine: consider me a deadly threat, I've killed countless imperial forces, I requested this transfer: I'm here to crack skulls with my Teigu Skullcrusher: Shatterer of worlds; and cause pain for an Imp left alive" Clementine greeted.

"Welcome to our ranks" Najenda greeted, Clementine ignored her and looked at Tatsumi.

"Tatsumi?" Clementine greeted then refreshed her memory.

"Clementine?!" Tatsumi exclaimed and the two hugged and kissed.

"Sayo and Ieyasu too: I'm surprised you ended up here: then again you three were always adventurous sorts" Clementine remarked. "It's been a while though 2 years my love: what have you been up to" Clementine asked.

"I could ask the same?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I wanted my shot at adventure; I offered you the chance to go with me but you stayed behind to help with the village: it's wonderful to see you again though, and you no doubt have quite a success record" Clementine replied.

"Indeed I have two Teigus: I'll tell you all the details later" Tatsumi explained. "So who are the others?" Tatsumi asked, a silver haired woman with Bob-cut hair and golden amber eyes stepped up, she wore a black uniform mixed with a dress; her beauty was exquisite with sapphire blue eyes she was built in the same way as Leone, she had a halberd with ornate decorations and a blue blade with the engraved symbol of a Lightning bolt.

"I am Mashiro, I am pretty experienced, I joined the Revolutionary army when the man I loved was killed by an imperial soldier who was drunk and killed him with a vase he threw at him; I killed the drunk and ran off: I wield Tempestria: Halbard of the Winds: I've probably killed the most imps of everyone in this group bare Susanoo and Cassandra; you won't be sorry to have me on your team" Mashiro greeted, then the next person stepped up, a young woman about the same age Tatsumi, her figure was slender and like that of Sayo; her hair was shoulder length and brown and she had brown eyes, at her side she had an engraved Warhammer which was bright pink in color and decorated with rose and tulip engravings, she wore a pink blouse and black sweats with sneakers.

"I am Pais; the best scout and spy in the Revolutionary army; I've managed to influence and cause the fall of about two dozen Imperial armies with my skills of planting false intel and eliminating officers with my wits; in addition to killing countless patrols with my Warhammer Deceptive Beauty: Deceiver of Men; consider me your go to girl for spying and for wrecking a place: my Teigu also allows me to summon the Glade Guard Armor and can become a two-handed Warhammer that will crack anything short of Teigu armor; Walls and doors are no match and ordinary armor is an afterthought as far is it is concerned: I'll be your Gatecrasher and skullsmasher" Pais introduced, she then allowed another man to step forward, he had short black hair, a muscular build and wore a grey shirt and black slacks with sneakers; at his side was long broadsword which was bejeweled.

"I'm Ritone: consider me disappointed by the lack of guys here; I am a fighter and like strong men, I wield the sword Ithilcar: Slayer of Kings a Teigu wielded by the Jade Emperor son of the Golden Emperor and his successor: I've been thru hell; my home was razed by Imperial forces under General Duvaul, I killed the General when he presented himself to me; I was his slave for 2 months and was abused and raped by him; I killed him in his sleep with a shiv and stole his Teigu; I've since killed hundreds of Imps; and am a warrior thru and thru; no tricks, point me at the enemy and they're dead to rights" Ritone greeted.

"Hear Hear! A man after my own heart: we have claimed many spines together!" the final man remarked in deep British accent, he was tall man who wore a red uniform, a battered hat and black boots; he had attached to his arms Gatling guns, he was tall and had thick dirty beard and had an axe at his side. "I am Jervis; Tadakuni Jervis, slayer of many foes: I fight for the Revolutionary Army because I love a good challenge and it mean more Spines: my Goddess Pandora demands more and many Spines! Point me at the Enemy and they will get their spines torn out! I need no fancy weapons of your world I have already attached to my arms done by my own hands the finest weapons ever made point me at the enemy so I may have their spines!" Jervis exclaimed.

"Don't mind him he's a bit crazy: I found him one day killing Imps and ripping out their spines: consider him my secret weapon; my break in case of big groups of enemies: don't worry about him; when he's not killing imps he's killing Danger Beasts: I have no idea where he comes from and the most he's told is his name and his desire for me to point him at the enemy and let him collect their spines" Cassandra explained.

"So these are our Reinforcements?" Sayo responded.

"Yes, also we brought Teigus to outfit the remaining members of your group who do not have one" Cassandra explained. "You're first to get one" Cassandra added.

Sayo stepped forward to the chest which Susanoo opened: inside it was a menagerie of at least fifty different objects: among those objects two immediately called to her on a primal level. The first was a bow of intricate and near godlike design it was gold and blue in color; it was a recurve bow which in the midsection of the bow which was rather broad were two pultrusions that resembled sword hilts: the other was a diadem of Angelic Silver: Sayo picked both up, the first being the diadem which as soon as she put it on and grasped the bow she found herself in a white plain where two figures stood, both angelic in appearance one feminine and the other childlike however while angelic they had bestial features. "Greetings Sayo: I am Gabriel: Divine Armor" the female greeted.

"And I am Icarus: Bow of Light: we are Teigu's gifted to the first Empress: who's name is lost to history save us who remember it and in time you will learn it" The boy greeted. "We were once Jeern; angelic like creatures that prayed on the dreams and desires of the other races; what your kind would call a S-Rank Danger Beast: our kind is rare now as our lures would bring those to us in which we would give them what we thought they deserved; pain and misery; torture, rape and eventual death: but during the time they would enjoy visions of bliss and joy that they enjoyed their torment; eventually however we fell from glory: the Dwarves, the Sky Titan Giants, and Lizardmen saw thru our guises and saw our true form; both of their kind hunted us to preserve the younger races like that of men: Eventually a powerful Dwarven warrior slew both me and Gabriel and bound our essence and souls into these powerful artifacts made by their kind: what humans would later call Dwarven Arms and as the Dwarves closed themselves off from the affairs of your people receding into their mountain strongholds: Imperial Arms or Teigus: we serve you now: Sayo, I am your weapon my arrows of light will fell the mightiest of creatures and you will have no need of quiver for my arrows are as numerous as the sun's rays and should your foes close the gap I can split my horns into blades sharper then any steel sword" Icarus explained.

"I will be your bulwark against any harm; my armored plates will protect you and I will grant you wings with which to fly above the carnage of battle and rain death from above on your enemies" Gabriel explained.

"Thanks I hope to get to know you two more" Sayo replied and returned to reality.

"Two Teigu? Impressive" Cassandra remarked.

"You act like you've seen in before" Sayo replied.

"I have: in fact I too am a Duel Teigu user; my Swords Toulata: Blades of the Dervish are one of my Teigus the other is this lovely necklace I'm wearing: Kali: Blood Goddess, it allows me to have non-stop adrenaline and fatigue: the swords are faster than any blade" Cassandra explained. "Next is anyone else that doesn't have a Teigu: go thru and pick out one suited for you" Cassandra ordered: every member of Night Raid that didn't have a Teigu went and got one: each members Teigu was distinct and I will go over them as is relevant suffice to say discussing all of them in this chapter would make this way longer than it needs to be.

Shortly… "Alright troops we have a mission: General Cassandra and myself will be leading it: this will be our largest operation yet and will require our most experienced and strong members for it: General Cassandra will explain in depth the operation's important; this mission is needed because it will be needed free up the halted advance of the main body of Revolutionary Army forces on the eastern front" Najenda explained, Cassandra stepped up and hung up a detailed layout of a large fortress monastery; she then also hang up the pictures of a number of men: each having important attire but all of it religious attire.

"What you see here are our targets: the Leadership and main stronghold of the Path of Peace: a religious cult and extremist group that until now has been largely peaceful; until recently they lived up to their names keeping themselves neutral in the conflict; however recently the leader of the cult died under suspicious circumstances and as such a new leader was chosen: their new leader known the Lord is a young man assumed the position of power; the man in the center with the circlet is him; he is not a target he must remain alive: the main target is this man: Bolic; he is a spy that infiltrated the order; a deep plant put into the organization by Honest who intended insight the movement to revolt so that he could destroy them: he is likely the cause of the death of the previous leader, he and the other individuals are our targets: the biggest focus however is on Bolic and his bodyguard Holimoca: his bodyguard wields a Teigu so be ready: Bolic's influence has caused the peaceful Path of Peace to become a deadly threat to both the Imperials and the Revolutionary Army: recapping everyone except this man is a target: keeping him alive is our priority because if we can do that and expose the corruption of the leadership we would be able to convince the Path of Peace to join our uprising and turn the tide on the eastern front: the monastery in question is about 4 hours from The Capital; it is a fortress guarded by warriors loyal to Bolic; consider the Lord a prisoner we are trying to rescue from Imperial captives; any Questions" Cassandra explained.

"Yes why is the group hostile to us and the Empire?" Tatsumi asked.

"The reason is because they are largely religious fanatics attacking anyone with a uniform, our frontline troops do have some uniformity, or a weapon: they don't realize we which side is their enemy so we are going to direct them towards the true enemy and temper their zeal a bit: as it stands you have your orders: eliminate all targets save the Lord: he is of paramount importance to keep alive: doing so has the potential to save a lot of lives on our side" Cassandra explained. " any more questions? Cassandra asked, no one asked.

"Now that everything is clear you are to all to take some time to prepare yourself, get to know the new members, come nightfall we will set out and prepare the attack; the forces will be split; into teams of seven with myself and General Cassandra each leading a group: this mission is paramount to our success in the war, General Cassandra and I will select the best Night Raid has to offer for this one" Najenda explained. "Everyone you are dismissed save you Tatsumi" Najenda explained, the room emptied leaving Tatsumi with Cassandra, Najenda and Susanoo. "General Cassandra this is my best soldier and my husband and one true love Tatsumi: he will be on my team and he is to be treated with respect; he is as much the minds behind our operation as I am" Najenda introduced.

"Greetings Tatsumi" Cassandra greeted and shook his hand with one of her four arms, Tatsumi kissed the palm. "Ah a Gentlemen: I look forward to knowing more about you and to working with you on the missions ahead" Cassandra explained.

"So you're Chelsea's friend: the one that didn't join with Night Raid why join us now aren't you needed on the Eastern Front?" Tatsumi asked.

"Things have changed: I have given command of my force to one of my sub-ordinates: I have come here to take out the more serious threats: like this one: if we can sway the Path of Peace the Eastern front will be completely freed up and my services there will not be required; my other reason is I've missed my sisters: its time the Oarbough Clan returns to full strength and I return to my roots: Killing the monsters of the world; and changing the world for the better: however do not mistake me for a person who doesn't take rank seriously, remember Tatsumi I am a General if I give you an order and you disobey it better be for a good reason: a Damn good one too: any questions?" Cassandra replied.

"No I'll leave it to Najenda to explain things are going on; just so you know I'm a general too: I've infiltrated Imperial High Command and can go into the palace without issue" Tatsumi responded.

"Interesting Najenda explain everything: I want full details: Tatsumi; I want you to speak with the new comers get to know them especially Clementine; I'm sure they'll be interested in getting to know you: also I'll be doing the same soon; remember my rank though: I am a general and expect a degree of respect: Najenda may be a bit easy on you because you're married but you won't get that luxury with me: treat as if I was General Esdeath: the one person you treat with respect because that person has the authority to kill you if you speak out of turn or threaten me" Cassandra replied, Tatsumi saluted and ran off to find Clementine.

Shortly… Tatsumi found Clementine putting her stuff away in her new room. "Ah Tatsumi; I figured you'd show up" Clementine stated then kissed him. "I missed you dearly; two years Tatsumi; two years without you my dearest one: how much I've missed you" Clementine added.

"So how have things gone sense you left our village?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh you will have to tell me the same: but first I want to do something I've sworn to myself I'd do if I got the chance: I intended to do it before I left but you know you told you weren't coming with me so I thought to myself; if you're not coming with me you'll have to wait until I see you again; but now I've seen you again; Tatsumi lock the door" Clementine replied, Tatsumi did as she asked, then the two kissed tenderly. "Good lips; too long: I remember that whole thing you had with Sayo but now I think you and I need to do something that we need to do" Clementine explained, then began to remove her armor; Tatsumi did the same with his clothes; his conscience telling him to go for it; he then stopped. "Tatsumi if it's about Najenda don't worry I don't mind sharing you know I intended to do so with Sayo" Clementine reassured, she had stripped down to her underwear, then she helped remove the rest of Tatsumi's clothes and noted his raised erection. "Wow your cock puts a horse to shame!" Clementine remarked as she pushed him onto the bed.

"You're not the first person to say that today" Tatsumi replied, Clementine ignored that climbing on the bed; she removed her bra and wrapped her ample E-cups around his length and began blowing him; it was clear to him she was inexperienced but it didn't matter she had saved herself for him and that was what mattered most and honestly he had been wanting her to be his first; in fact he was ashamed that he had given Leone his first time now, but that didn't matter he figured it was better for her that he knew what he was doing. Her breasts stroked up and down his length as she alternated between licking, sucking and blowing him, he moaned in bliss, noted sweat that was getting near his eyes and wiped off his brow. "Hey Clementine, could you well sit on my head" Tatsumi suggested, Clementine figured what he had in mind stopped blowing him and removed her thong and sat on him then continued to preforming fellatio on him he then inserted his tongue finding indeed she had been saving herself for him; he probed finding her sensitive and began eating her out as Clemantine used her breasts to stimulate him again. Eventually they both reached their limits and came creaming each others' faces in a creamy bukkake which both licked off as Clemantine climbed off.

"Oh Tatsumi; I know how much you love looking at my ass; well it's yours now come and get it" Clemantine teased, Tatsumi gladly took her in her anus, Clemantine didn't even flinch as he took her there; thus he began riding her like a dog in the heat; he was in the heat and Clemantine was gladly helping him.

As Tatsumi and Clemantine got reacquainted, Merraid was current locked in a kiss with the woman she loved dearly; well one of the two; her lovely breasts pressed against hers as they grinded against each other; her lovely red eyes shined. "Akame I love you" Merraid moaned breaking the kiss.

"So do I" Akame replied smiling, Merraid frowned. "What's wrong? What's on your mind" Akame asked.

"Akame have you given thought to having children, I want kids" Merraid replied.

"I have, just haven't found the right guy, in the meantime though I have you to give me love and tend to my needs and yours too" Akame replied.

"Akame if I fell in love with a man you would do the same with the same man just to make me happy right?" Merraid asked.

"He'd have to earn my respect but yes; who do you have in mind?" Akame asked.

"Tatsumi" Merraid replied honestly.

"Well then he's already got my respect, you just need to show how much you love him: try and date him; I can do the same: and so can Gil" Akame replied.

"Thank you, I'm glad you understand" Merraid replied then began to drink from Akame's breast, Akame moaned and closed her eyes; both of them orgasmed but continued to make love.

Likewise Tatsumi continued with Clemantine but he soon released into her. Clemantine readied herself laying against a pillow. "Tatsumi I'm ready for you: I've been waiting for this for two years: take me make me your's" Clemantine stated.

"Gladly" Tatsumi said and kissed her and entered her, snapping her barrier with ease, blood flowing forth, but no exclaimations of pain just a tender romantic kiss as he thrusted into her alternating them, she flipped him over putting herself on top, Tatsumi pushed her up, Clemantine moaned as Tatsumi massaged her breasts as she went up and down on his length; nothing worried them not their mission that was coming, nothing. Tatsumi then pulled her against him and drank from her ample breasts.

"Oh Tatsumi, you're drinking like a suckling babe, have your milk it will make you strong" Clemantine replied.

This love making lasted for about two hours as the sun began setting in the sky, during this time they talked about what had happened to them while making love, when they were done they redressed and Tatsumi met the other members of the team, Pais was obviously thinking he was cute: he found Ritone interacted with Bulat and the two where hitting it off pretty well, he then found Jervis readying his room and constructing some sort of alter, the man explained it was for the spines: Tatsumi was concerned that somebody who was clearly nuts was on his team and why the man was obsessed with spines, crazy religious nut as far as he was concerned, but as long as he was ripping out the spines of evil people he didn't care though he wondered how the man managed that with the guns attached to his arms. Cassandra proved to be an interesting case as she had no shortage of questions for him and was clearly displeased with his scheme to get Esdeath on side even though he had managed to do so but she was skeptical as all hell about that reassurance; granted he countered with the fact that if she wasn't serious he would be dead as would the rest of Night Raid; so that did reassure her a bit as she couldn't really come with a counter-argument for that detail as she knew how efficient Esdeath was at her job.

Later… "The time has come to leave, night has nearly fallen and thus we will be leaving for this mission Najenda and I have debated the team for this mission and decided the teams: Najenda will be with Tatsumi, Aria, Merraid, Akame, Leone, Seryu and Sayo, with Susanoo as support, my team will consist of Pais, Jervis, Bulat, Mine, Sheele, Mez, Tsukushi, and Cornelia; we will discuss the plan of attack when we arrive; Lubbock and everyone else will maintain the base and keep watch for any retaliatory strikes carried out by Honest's forces: if any such happen intervene and neutralize those enemies discreetly any forces of Honest we can eliminate are lives saved in the future" Cassandra briefed, everyone formed up into the groups outlined and left; Gilberda assumed the position of doorguard while other members of Night Raid returned to business as usual.

The track across the countryside proved ardous as they had to avoid the roads, fortunately they didn't encounter any Danger Beasts, so they managed to track to their destination without any delay and arrived outside the stronghold; Cornelia looked over the stronghold with a pair of binoculers; and noted the patrols of the guards. "Their patrols are normal, they don't look like they are expecting an attack, most of them are just wearing robes and carrying a mishmash of weapons: overall it looks like security is lax" Cornelia observed.

"Then they aren't prepared for an attack; groups we will divide and attack on multiple sides: my group will focus on the grunts, Najenda your group will take out the targets: remember that it is important that The Lord must survive unharmed; eliminate the others and bring Bolic's journels and letters to The Lord exposing his corruption, there is only one gate so we are going to have to attack as one group until we've cleared the outer courtyard" Cassandra explained.

"Wait: I think we better clear out the front guard quietly, if they hear gun fire they'll raise the alarm" Najenda replied.

"Alright we'll do that first; any people who can kill targets silently?" Cassandra asked, Sheele, Aria, Cornelia and Akame stepped forward and approached the monastery stopping 100 yards away.

"I'll take out the guys at the front gate they won't see us coming, once they're down you three run in, clean and quick don't let them scream, also I'll break the alarm so that anyone who does see us can't retaliate" Aria explained, the other three noded, Aria got close. "Noctis Wave: Shadow shroud" Aria whispered, the ball on her hairband glowed and she ran up to gate with her Kukris drawn, she then silently cut the throats of the five gate guards before any of them could react; then she broke her shroad concealment and gave a thumbs up. Akame and the others charged, then the four of them dashed thru the courtyard, Akame silently cutting down the guards she encountered before they could so much as yell, while Aria killed the three guarding the alarm bell and broke the alarm by cutting the ropes holding each bell and put each quietly on the ground, while Sheele silently killed other guards apologizing as she did so while Cornelia quickly snapped the necks of her opponents with her augmented strength. Quickly the guards were silenced and they gave the all clear; the teams regrouped and divided to attack their targets.

However as they did so they ran into a large courtyard with a number of guards that had just happened to wander their way. "Enough creeping about like spiders: Bring me their Spines!" Jervis yelled and unleashed a roar of bullets from his mini-guns, the guards were on full alert now, Bulat dawned Incursio as Pais dawned the full armor of her Teigu which was pink in color and similar in design to Incursio, nearby Sayo dawned the Angelic armor for the first time a set of white and silver plates covered her body bar her head and she now sported Angelic wings not to different from Run's then she unloaded a barrage of light arrows. Guards came charging into the Courtyards as bullets flew, Najenda dropping the first of many while Mine transformed Pumpkin into Assault mode and unloaded pink plasma rounds into her targets, Tatsumi clad in the Dragon armor charged into a large group of enemies, but the real terror for the fanatics was Susanoo who's pole mace revealed a nasty surprise as the blades that adorned it spun around like a buzzsaw and soon enemies shrieked.

Tatsumi charged forward to the quarters of the main target with Najenda and Susanoo, outside Holimaca readied his Teigu scythe. "You aren't getting past" Holimaca stated readying his scythe and spiting out a cigar he had in his mouth as well as a bit of tobacco, he then charged at Susanoo who parried his attacks with perfected grace and counters, Holimaca then readied his Trump card but before he could speak his head exploded as he was flung back against a nearby wall.

Najenda stood smirking as smoke hissed from one of her desert eagles. "We are getting past you, Tatsumi my love you get to do the honors of fishing out our main target" Najenda remarked, Tatsumi smashed down the door and found Bolic cowering under a bed, he yanked him out and dragged him outside.

"Any last words?" Tatsumi asked.

"Please I'm just a man of faith" Bolic replied.

"You're a spy for Prime Minister Honest: and don't try to weasel your way out of this one: you're going to explain to the Lord how you deceived him!" Najenda replied.

"Never, the Minister will have your heads for this Night Raid: after all I expected you to show up as did the minister so he sent reinforcements that have been lying in wait!" Bolic responded. "And they don't need a signal!" Bolic replied and Susanoo noticed a battlion of Imperial troops, veteran ones at that marching towards them.

"Who are they commanded by!?" Najenda asked.

"Commander Max Steiner: 82nd infantry, fresh from the Western front; they will smash Night Raid once and for all! Then they will kill The Lord and the Path of Peace will be destroyed as well!" Bolic braged.

"Thank you for the information: Tatsumi despose of him" Najenda ordered, Tatsumi then halled Bolic over to the sheer drop from the overlook his quarters sat on and dropped him 100 feet down to his death. "Tatsumi we need to warn the others: this mission just got far too dangerous!" Najenda replied.

"Mistress I can deal with the enemy forces" Susanoo replied.

"No that's a full battalion at least!" Najenda remarked.

"I've far more power then you know; trust me I can handle it" Susanoo responded and ran off.

"Great Tatsumi: We'll need to find the others and warn them then neutralize the our other targets fast!" Najenda explained.

"I'm worried about Susanoo: who does he think he is? Esdeath? Taking on full battalion by himself is nuts!" Tatsumi remarked.

"Who's taking on a battalion by themselves?" Seryu asked running up.

"Susanoo" Tatsumi replied, Koro woofed.

"Koro says not to worry and that Susanoo can handle them" Seryu remarked.

"Great now Koro's going nuts" Tatsumi replied the teigu growled at him.

"Apologize to Koro right now Tatsumi, unless you're a fan of dog pee on your shoes" Seryu replied.

"Sorry Koro, but I have my doubts about Susanoo's abilities" Tatsumi replied.

"Come on no time to argue!" Najenda stated and they quickly regrouped with the others who had neutralized the remaining targets and guards; the Lord himself was passed out in Leone's arms thanks to a sedative Aria gave him.

"He'll be out of it for the rest of the night; I'll return him to our when we're done here we'll explain we rescued him from the Imperial's who attacked this place, though we'll need some Imperial bodies" Aria explained.

"We'll be getting some, there is an entire Battalion heading our way, tell the others we are going to have to fight it" Najenda ordered and they found the others, clearing out the last pockets of resistance Jervis's mini-guns cutting down the ranks of enemies with Mine taking out any survivors, after the remainder of the enemy was down for the count Jervis went and yanked out the spines of any enemy that had one intact and piled them up.

"More Spines for Lady Pandora: praise the Goddess of Time! Destory her foes!" Jervis proclaimed as he finished his shrine.

"No more time for that: more enemies are coming: an entire Battlion of Imperial troops!" Najenda warned.

"Great that changes things; have the other targets been eliminated?" Cassandra asked.

"Yes and the Lord is knocked out: We need to leave" Najenda explained.

"That won't happen boss not without a fight" Sayo explained landing. "This place is surrounded, I've never seen this many Imperial soldiers before" Sayo added.

"Damnit we're trapped like rats in a sinking ship; well we'll have to kill them all or die trying" Cassandra remarked, they then regrouped setting up a defense, Mine took a high perch for snipping with Najenda while Jervis lined himself up with the armored Teigu users taking up a defense next to him to act as cover and charge; the more squishy fighters took up positions to flank; they all however stood astonished at the fact that Susanoo was standing in front of the gate which had been closed by the guards to prevent them escaping but now was keeping the Imperials out; the door crashed aside and Susanoo grinned at the large group of Imperial troops coming at him.

"You have ten seconds to leave" Susanoo replied non-plused.

"Kill him!" one of the soldiers shouted.

"I warned you: Susanoo: Mirror of Yata!" Susanoo declared and massive mirror appeared in front of him. "Susanoo: Light of Amaterasu!" Susanoo declared and massive beam of plasma fired from the mirror disintegrating all the soldiers in front of him; the soldiers behind panicked and began to run, Susanoo teleported in front of them. "Susanoo: Wolf Fang Mace rampage!" Susanoo declared and charged into the ranks at lightning speed crushing and shredding the foot soldiers like they were paper, as he did this the other members of Night Raid charged out behind him and caught the panicked enemies in the flanks. Caught between a hammer and anvil there was no escape and the imperials were slaughter to a man, Tatsumi was extremely empowered by the amount of kills Valruost gained in the massacure. Soon it was over then they began the process of distributing Imperial Corpses to make it look like a proper battle had taken place; that took about an hour to manage but Susanoo made light of the heavy burdens carrying imperial soliders like they were paper and moving with tremendous speed leaving a battlefield in their wake.

The following morning the Lord awakened, and Night Raid explained their version of events and he bought the story Cassandra explained that she would escort him to the nearest outpost a day from the Capital and return to base. The Capital was abuzz the following morning and protests had broken out as a result of the actions of the attack of a peaceful monastic order by the Imperial Army which would have led to a crackdown if not for the fact that Esdeath ordered the Melitine city guard to ignore the protest for risk of adding more fuel to the fire. Tatsumi however was quite pleased and returned to Chouri Villa refreshed and ready to spend a week with his beloved Spear as planned.


	24. Harem list and AN (Please Read)

**Alright here's something I should have posted earlier on in this story and that is a harem list for Tatsumi so here for those interested is a list of the harem members so far: It is and will be subject to change; none of these characters will die: in fact Night Raid in it's entirety survives; if you have any problems with this seeming too ideal for Akame Ga Kill Fanfic; well if you are interested in seeing the members of the cast killed off go watch the canon (We SHALL NOT mention it here) anime, read the (Equally poorly written) Manga or any of the other fanfics AGK on the site; I make sole calls on who lives and who dies as I am the one writing this story; got it, now without further ado I will list the girls in Tatsumi's harem so far.**

 **Aria (The Alpha and Main female lead)**

 **Esdeath (The secondary Alpha)**

 **Najenda**

 **Leone**

 **Chelsea**

 **Sayo**

 **Spear**

 **Mine**

 **Seryu Ubquitous (To hell with everyone who hates her)**

 **Akame**

 **Sheele**

 **Kurome (Sorry Wave x Kurome fans)**

 **Tsukushi**

 **Gin**

 **Poney**

 **Cornelia**

 **Merraid**

 **Taeko**

 **Gilberda**

 **Cassandra**

 **Natalia**

 **Meela**

 **Loris**

 **Naomi (OC)**

 **Vatima (OC)**

 **Saraya Oarburgh (OC)**

 **Dorothea**

 **Cosmina**

 **Lillianna (OC and Honest's daughter)**

 **Clair (OC)**

 **Linsie (OC)**

 **Lila (Syoi's widow)**

 **Henrietta Lucia Williams (OC and Aria's BFF)**

 **Nea**

 **Amuria**

 **Riji (Palace Maid who helped Night Raid infiltrate the palace)**

 **Mashiro**

 **Martha**

 **Balluck**

 **Mez**

 **Suzuka**

 **Doya**

 **Pais**

 **Umber**

 **Mimi**

 **Womyn**

 **Remus**

 **Clementine (from Overlord)**

 **A number of Palace girls who will be named in future**

 **Anyone else I decide to add**

 **Secondary Pairings: Ieyasu/Angela, Lubbock/Yami, Makoto/Fal, Air and Luna, Wave/ Sheera, Bols/Kije (his wife) Bulat/Ritone (Implied)**

 **This is the list so far: any additions will be made in the story as I see fit and if I missed any yell at me in the comments so that's all for now; the next chapter will be out whenever I get to working on it**


	25. Omake 2

Omake 2: Seryu's ramblings

"Hello readers: it's me Seryu Ubiquitous and I will be hosting future omakes from now on with Nathan's permission!" Seryu greeted the assembled crowd

"BOO!" from a collective mob of Akame Ga Kill fans.

"Yes I know everyone still hates me because of Sheele dying and Koro biting her in half but that is NOT canon where we are coming from!" Seryu explains

"You still stink!" one guy yelled from the mob.

"Excuse me Seryu let me handle this: greetings readers I'm Nathan, the author" I state coming up. "Alright I know the vast majority of fans of this show hate Seryu: well first of the show and the Manga as far as I am concerned is NOT FUCKING CANON! And like the End Times of Warhammer Fantasy we will NOT discuss it: Seryu will be hosting every Omake from now on and that is that: besides a lot of you may hate Seryu but there is one thing you cannot resist right Seryu?" I stated

"Yes nobody can resist the power of the KORO: Look at the Cuteness and bow" Seryu proclaimed and picked up Koro with a little turban on his head. "You cannot resist the cuteness of the Koro: admit it" Seryu remarked, Koro put up his most cute look and hypnotic rings spun from Koro's eyes, soon the collective mob silenced their complaining and declared "All Hail Koro All Hail Koro! You cannot resist the cuteness" "Now when I snap my fingers you will forget about the canon: Empire's End is the truest of Canon and Seryu Ubiquitous did nothing wrong" Seryu commanded then snapped her fingers.

"Excellent now Seryu you can handle today's omake: starting with our Questions from the Reviewers: I will open them at random and Seryu will answer them" I explained then spun pulled one out of a hat and handed it to Seryu.

"Today's first question comes from Springtrap in: When will the Akame x Tatsumi lemon happen?" Seryu explained. "An interesting question the lemon involving the two of them will happen in Akame's focus chapter, but her first lemon with Tatsumi will occur in the Chapter after the next one: Merraid's focus chapter the Butterfly Queen" Seryu replied. "Next question please" Seryu replied and I once again handed her a question at random.

"The Next question is from an anonymous guest who asks: Hey why did you change the colors of some of the characters? Like Spear's blonde hair to brown and Mashiro's silver hair and amber eyes to green hair and blue eyes?" Seryu read

"I personally will answer that one: Guest who ever you are, the reason for the color change is my eyes need checked as they haven't been checked in four years, I rechecked the Wikia and numerous pictures of Spear to verify that she does indeed have blonde hair and I found you were right: as to Mashiro her image is in black and white so I had no idea about the right hair and eye color; but as to Spear my apologies, both of these errors have now been corrected and you can see them for yourself" I explained.

"Next Question please?" Seryu requested and again a new paper was handed. " this one is from Mire who asks if time travel shenanigans are involved with the story: to which I can say no, beyond the Universal resets done by Erasiel Darkar and Asha to make sure that this specific timeline exists, no other time travel shenanigans" Seryu explained.

"Now for the final question" I explained and hand the review to Seryu

"This one is from Leader who asks when will there be an Akame x Tatsumi lemon and Seryu x Tatsumi lemon?" Seryu read. "Well I've answered the first one already Leader as for the one involving yours truly if you haven't noticed I've had probably the most lemons with Tatsumi at the moment: only one of which was in my focus chapter which you left the review on" Seryu explained.

"That's all the questions for now people: but before I have a special thanks for Neo-Byzantium for his constant reviews and help with this story: keep up the help good friend: without you this story wouldn't have ever been written" I explain and then walk back stage.

"Alright he's gone people lets Walk like an Egyptian!" (Song: Walk Like an Egyptian: the Bangles) Enter Tatsumi stage right and open curtains to reveal Cosmina, Tsukushi and Chelsea with a band. Everyone begins dancing!

One hour of dancing later… "Thank you fans come again!" Seryu explains.

"Since when do you have fans Seryu?" Mine asked bluntly.

"Yes I thought people were still hating you for killing me in canon and wanted you to die in as horrible a way possible in most of their fanfics" Sheele remarked.

"Since I found their weakness. Nobody can resist the power of the Koro: the Cuteness is too much for them to bare!" Seryu explained. "Now Tatsumi I'm needy and lets dance: que the music girls!"

"Hey what's going on here; you can't use my basement for a rock concert! MOM!" Aria exclaimed.

"What is it Aria?" Angela asked coming up with Ieyasu leaning on her shoulder.

"My friends are having a rock concert without me in our basement!" Aria complained.

"How dare you: everyone knows that if you are going to host a concert in my basement you shouldn't without inviting me and Aria: for that you'll be punished: all of you have to clean Fal, Air and Luna's room for the rest of the month" Angela decreed. "Come on everyone out!" Angela explained.

"That's all for today people remember to Favorite, Review and Pm suggestions and remember: You cannot resist the Koro!" Seryu explained and winked.

"Indeed you cannot resist the Koro!" Koro stated and went full on cute.

"Yes you can't because you're the sweetest cutest and cuddliest Teigu ever" Seryu babytalked. "Bye for now! AND THAT'S A WRAP!"


	26. Omake 3

Omake 3: Erasiel's response to the Blood Clan

Seryu: "Hi Everybody it's your favorite soldier for Justice Seryu Ubiquitous here with two special guests, recently we here at Empire's End review departments have received an avalanche of reviews that has been unprecedented in the story's history so far. Thank you everybody for waying in on this story and for the over 9000 readers it has so far."

Seryu: "But that is not the subject of today's Omake is to respond to the number of comments from Leader in the review sections about the Blood Clan, whatever that is, today our first guest the Leader of the Blood Clan will be interviewed as he recently the leader of the group asked to speak with our second guest Erasiel Darkar, so here I will moderate the debate between these two on our Panel!" (Applause from the Audience)

(The leader of the Blood Clan and Erasiel Darkar walk in from opposite ends of the stage and sit in chairs next to Seryu)

Seryu: "Welcome gentlemen to our panel and to the Omake: so Erasiel tell the leader of the Blood Clan more about yourself"

Erasiel: "More about me alright: I am Erasiel Nathan Darkar, son of Argalus Darkar and Avarra 'Brightstone' Darkar, brother to Zephyr, Irietta, Eris, and Arantir Darkar, Second Greater Pheonix of Order, Prophet and Consort of Asha the Pheonix Queen; Greater Phoenix of Order and Eternity Queen, and Eternity King of the Phoenix Race, as well as an assortment of other noble titles and the author of Empire's End a best seller on Magix my home Planet and the broader Magic Dimension and Multiverse"

Seryu: "And you Leader of the Blood Clan?"

Leader: "I am the Leader of the Blood Clan, we are a multiversal army spanning a number of different multiverses, our goal is preserve the universes of our creator, destroy threats to them and kill demons: ANY DEMONS!"

Erasiel: "Right and I can see you're wondering what I was doing in Tatsumi's home universe well I'm a wanderer, I like to collect stories and be where they are happening, consider me a bit of a universal explorer, I am more then capable of traveling across dimensions to other universes and am capable of creating my own dimensions and universes, planets you name it; in short I'm a god: literally; you could kill me but I won't stay dead as I am a Phoenix and Phoenixes like our Elder Dragon and Faceless cousins rise from the ashes anew. As it stands at the time of this interview which is being held in present time in my universe and about 30,000 years after the story happened I had for a long time found the universe of Akame to be an interesting one but one that had serious flaws, so to fix them I decided to simply reset the universe making slight alterations until I got the desired result, in a way I am the god of the Universe of Empire's End"

Seryu: "That's very interesting; a reminder for our audience is that the Omakes are short stories that are mainly for satire and for breaking the fourth wall; and as such have varying degrees of canonicity: so before moving on to the Blood Clan Leader I have to ask Mr. Darkar if the part about you resetting the universe I'm from originally is canon?"

Erasiel: "It is very much canon. Just as canon as the fact that the Seryu performing this interview is the Seryu from my universe who is the reincarnation of the Seryu from the story of Empire's End; so final line: Canon"

Seryu: "Thank you for clarifying that Mr. Darkar; now to the Leader of the Blood Clan how do respond to Mr. Darkar's assertions and before you answer that what is your name"

Leader: "Well for the sake of things call me Kyle, not my actual name but for public speaking it is my name: We are not to interfere in universes that are not within our purgative to protect however we will destroy universes that our creator dislikes: however in this case this universe is a splinter created as an alternate timeline from its original universe, one that has been reset, purged with the history reset and the souls of the inhabitents reborn for the purposes of making alterations that would change the universe; as a result numerous universes were created and destroyed for trial and error until the expect results occurred, in short not within our range to interfere in directly"

Seryu: "So where does the problem come in, I heard demonic activity was a problem"

Leader: "Demons must be purged wherever they appear; the Demon's home realm of Hell borders every multiverse and the demons attack all realms we deployed the Doom Slayer our ultimate warrior to stem the tide, he was unable to make a dent and such we deployed reinforcements a long drawn out war has since continued and we find ourselves locked in conflict; we will find the Arch-Demon Valtor and destroy him"

Erasiel: "Well to be honest you are looking in the wrong place and have been for about 2 years now: he broke from the Devil's control along with his minions and became a Greater Daemon Prince of Tzeentch; you will probably want to invade the Warp now, but I wouldn't recommend that the Warp tends not to be good for the health of people and in addition to that there is fact that the realm of Tzeentch causes insanity for prolongued exposure, plus there are legions of demons, and the armies of the other Three gods to contend with if you want to reach him: also even if you do time passes at a strange rate in the Warp so you have no idea how long it has been since you entered it"

Leader: "Darkar poses no threat: New Target the Realm of Tzeentch: deploy our vanguard forces into the Realm of Chaos!" (Leader then rockets out of the studio on a jetpack thru the roof)

Seryu: "Well I guess that concludes our interview: THAT'S A WRAP!


	27. Chapter 23 (Finally)

Chapter 23: Red Snow and the Night Hunter

Tatsumi walked into Spear's home with a jump in his step; he had so much to talk to Spear about and his lovely wife no doubt had the same for him, also he managed to get inside just to avoid the massive downpour that the clouds in the sky had brought. "Welcome home Lord Tatsumi" One of the servants a tall stout man with a red beard greeted.

"Good to see you too Archibald, hey where is Spear?" Tatsumi asked.

"Lady Spear is upstairs in her dojo for her morning exercises" Archibald explained.

"Thanks I'll go see her; also can you see to getting some breakfast ready; I haven't eaten yet today: something filling just not too much that there will be leftovers and make some food for her too while you're at it" Tatsumi replied, Archibald nodded and went off in the direction of the kitchen, Tatsumi ascended the grand stairway up to the third floor where Spear's dojo was and knocked on the door to the room.

"Is that you Archibald?" Spear asked.

"It's me your loving husband" Tatsumi replied coyly

"Come in then" Spear invited, Tatsumi placed his sword on the rack next to Spear's glaive along with his Teigus and entered the room. He hardly had gone three steps from the door when Spear lunged at him; Tatsumi attempted to counter but found himself quickly wrestled down to the padded floor with his arm pinned behind his back.

"Ouch, ok you win" Tatsumi groaned. "What was that for?" Tatsumi asked.

"For being late: the week you spend with me started last night, also to test your reaction speed; you did good but suppose a speed assassin blindsides you and you aren't fast enough to overpower them before they get a serious and likely poisoned wound on you? Well then I wouldn't have a husband" Spear explained releasing him from the headlock.

"Great a surprise attack; are you going to start doing that when I wake up in the morning?" Tatsumi asked.

"No; why would I do a thing like that; besides I'll be in the bed with you silly: anyway what kept you from coming home last night?" Spear asked.

"A Night Raid Op, and having to outmaneuver an entire Imperial army division sent in as a trap" Tatsumi replied.

"A trap? Honest hasn't found out your true identity, has he?" Spear asked alarmed.

"Nope, just he leaked the intel for the attack on the monastery his spies had full control of the army of Path of Peace Zealots inside the fortress, Honest intended to use us to eliminate the Path of Peace's leadership which was a threat and critic to his regime. He intended to lure us in with the information and when we attacked the ambush was sprung, fortunately and miraculously we took no losses, only some minor wounds, and Susanoo, Najenda's new Teigu, devastated an entire elite division and I think put it out of action for a few months at least" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh alright; so it was trap that he set without knowing you'd show up and you happened to show up and spring it, then fight your way out of it; I would think you were making up the bit about no losses but knowing your success rate and the fact I've pulled off similar missions when I was in the Imperial Army I'll buy that; so what is this Susanoo that Najenda has?" Spear replied.

"More like a who is Susanoo rather than a what: Susanoo is a biological Teigu who looks damn near human apart from the horns on his head and the fact he has no regard for his own safety: he's a 4000 year old Teigu that was made by the Dwarves and was gifted to one of the First Emperor's generals, he was lost over the centuries until he was reawakened by General Cassandra in the east; he's extremely powerful, he leveled a near entire Imperial division with his powers he summoned this giant mirror a blast of light was unleashed that turned most of that army into ash: I've never seen that level of destruction in my life much less from one person" Tatsumi explained with an incredulous tone of voice.

"That's mind boggling: I wouldn't believe you if not for the riots outside and the fact they my father was called to an emergency council session about the loss of a division" Spear replied.

"I know: that means Esdeath is going to want to chew my ear off on that one; anyway, that will come way later: but for once I'm going to spend a day with my lovely wife: who I've hardly gotten a chance to be with what with all the hectic stuff going on in my life" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"Well then Tatsumi let's talk more over breakfast once we've had that we'll come here and train: I think I should train you in the fighting style of the Imperial Fist: All nine rings of it" Spear replied, she then changed out of her training garb and lead Tatsumi downstairs to the breakfast table.

"So, Spear I've not really had the chance to learn more about you; could you tell me more about yourself my loving wife" Tatsumi inquired as they sat down next each other.

"You want to know more about me: well since you're my husband you are entitled to know about my past well let's start things out simple. I'm the same age as you though a few months younger, my mother died giving birth to me and I was an only child for about a month until my father adopted my step brother; well I say step brother he was about much of a brother as possible; rest his soul" Spear explained.

"Tell me more about your brother" Tatsumi asked.

"Well my brother's name was Lucian, Lucian Chouri, he was older than me by about two years and was a prodigy. He learned a great deal of things to a point where he was a walking library at six, he was also very courageous in the threat of any danger he'd get in the way of it; no snakes in our yard dared to go near him." Spear explained. "It was only a matter of time though until he joined the military but before he did, he joined the Order of the Imperial Fist, I did the same along with him when I was 14 and he was 16; the training was hard; but he managed to finish it all in six months where it took me two years to achieve mastery" Spear continued.

"He did all that in six months?!" Tatsumi asked shocked.

"To be fair he had learned the initial six rings from an instructor, he only joined the Order to learn the remaining three." Spear Explained. "Anyway, I took about two years to complete the training which let me tell you Tatsumi the full training is monumental to overcome; if you can overcome it you are truly a great warrior" Spear continued. "The day I finished I immediately joined the military academy; my father managed to get me in Command School which was another year of my life; I did fairly well and graduated at the rank of Commander: a position that is directly below the first rank of general" Spear continued, then looked forlorn. "My graduation was a sad day for me; yes, I graduated but I received sad news; my brother General Lucian Chouri died in action saving General Esdeath's life during the Battle of Shaksa Jungle; his life was cut short by a venomous dart. A few days later he was buried; he died a war hero and a good person" Spear explained.

"I'm sorry for your loss Spear; I- well what happened next?" Tatsumi asked.

"That Tatsumi is where my military career truly began" Spear explained.

Three Years prior… Spear looked over her brother's grave. "Lucien I should have been with you; I would have been there I- I'll live up to your legacy and do what you did, fight for the best and fight for the Emperor" Spear thought to herself.

"Daughter I understand your pain, he may not of have been my blood son but I loved him like a child; he wouldn't want you to lose yourself in grief; he would want you to move on and do better" Minister Chouri reassured.

"You're right; you know what I'm going to do is live up to his legacy I'm going to be the best soldier in the Emperor's Army: and I'm going to serve under the Empire's finest: Dad you know my credentials and General Esdeath see if you can get me under her command: I'll gladly do it" Spear replied.

"I can do that daughter, but one thing; do not risk your life needlessly and honor our family traditions don't do anything that is beneath our family's standerds, you are a strong woman Spear; I want you to do your best" Minister Chouri agreed.

"It took about a few weeks to get the paperwork in order and to fine a regiment of Imperial Fist warriors who I'd worked with in the past and who wanted to serve under Esdeath; but after that happened I and those under my command reported to General Esdeath's encampment" Spear narrated.

Two Weeks later at Esdeath's encampment near Kal-Creesa… "Welcome new troops to the army of General Esdeath: you are under her command now and each new platoon will be allocated accordingly" Esdeath's spokesman explained.

"Then came the brass Tatsumi: Major General Velcath, Field Marshal Arngath, General Liver, General Esdeath and Major General Hermann Mengele" Spear narrated.

"Soldiers welcome: you have been given the opportunity that is the envy of any true soldier in the Emperor's army, a chance to serve under the Empire's Finest: each of you will have the chance to rise thru the ranks, will be allowed your shares of the spoils of war and all the benefits of being a soldier. However, I expect nothing but the best from you, anything less, any weakness, will be punished in accordance to the guidelines I have outlined for you; my disciplinary officers will explain the consequences of and what is considered an offense to each of you" Esdeath greeted. "But first I will be speaking to the new commanders of your regiments and explain to them who they will be assigned to: starting with the youngest first" Esdeath explained.

Spear stepped forward to Esdeath and saluted. "Commander Spear Chouri of the Order of the Imperial Fists, daughter of the Prime Minister Ma'am" Spear introduced.

"Welcome Commander Spear; I'm not surprised to see you here; what with the death of your brother; he was a good man; a strong man, a man who didn't deserve to die the way he did even though he saved my life. I hope you prove to be as good a soldier and leader as he was; but I must warn you while your noble status will afford you some leniency I expect the same discipline from you as I do the other leaders and soldiers in my army; you are to follow orders to the letter, no questions asked apart from those related to operation specifics and resource allocation." Esdeath explained.

"As for your command I am hesitant to put you under my direct command until you prove yourself, you will serve under General Mengele, treat his orders as if they are mine" Esdeath explained then turned to General Mengele. "General Mengele I expect Commander Chouri to be treated with the respect due to her station and to not intercede in her personal affairs, failure to comply with my orders will result in my wrath and those of her father"

"Yes herr General" Mengele replied, he was a tall man in his forties his face had a scar across his right eye and brow; his head was shaven as was his face; he wore wire frame glasses and a black uniform which was decorated with the medals and badges of rank typical to a Major General, on his head was a black cap with a death's head insignia in the center, on his right hand he wore an intricate ring.

Mengele turned to Spear: "Commander Chouri, you are to be assigned my seventh battalion, the troops in the unit are lacking proper discipline as they are mostly conscripts and new volunteer recruits, I have heard tales of the Imperial Fists skills at getting new troops trained and up to shape; I expect them to be ready by the time we arrive at the site of our next battle understood?" General Mengele explained.

"Yes sir; I will get those grunts in shape by then" Spear replied.

"Good I expect my orders to be followed to the letter; any disobedience is to be punished, you are to keep them in line, any mistakes or unauthorized actions are to be punished to the extent military regulations allow and require" Mengele replied.

"So it was I took command of one of the rowdiest bunches of soldiers I've ever had the duty to command, my subordinates Captain Taron, Captain Beleg, and Captain Dart were put in command of one Century of the 500 troops in the Battalion each; I took the remaining two" Spear Narrated. "A week passed before we received the new orders: we were instructed to march to the City Westgart and retake it from a Mercenary army commanded by the famed General Darren Vailne. The day before we left I received word that my father had been ousted from his position of Prime Minister under orders from the Regent Honest who took the position for himself; we left Melitine and marched west: it took two months to reach the city of Westgart which was occupied by a sizeable force of Mercenaries that had defeated a number of previous armies that had tried to defeat them; which caused them to get bold." Spear explained.

Two months later… "We began a siege of the city General Esdeath used a small force to draw the enemy out of the city; the enemy fell for it and virtually the entire garrison came out to battle" Spear narrated. "I led my troops from the front and killed dozens of enemies, by the end of the battle victory was ours; however my troops had exposed the weak links, an entire unit of 200 soldiers under command of two of my sub-commanders and thus I was required to make the first hard call of military career.

A day after the Battle for Westgart… "Are these the soldiers who ran in the face of a battle we were winning?" Spear asked her captains.

"Yes, Commander both Centuries are here" Captain Taron replied.

"Good: Soldiers this was our first battle and I'm well aware of the fact most of you are fresh recruits but for two Centuries of soldiers to rout in the face of an enemy that weaker then you is unacceptable and must be punished accordingly" Spear explained to the gathered crowd. "The punishment for fleeing in battle as an entire unit; is decimation: you are all aware of the procedure: Form up in a single line: NOW!" Spear explained and ordered, the group did so, she then stepped up to the troops alongside her guards, and marched down the line. Every tenth man was dragged out, and twenty men in total were gathered up and guarded by men with shotguns. "Sergeant Bax; go to the quartermaster and requisition wooden staves with iron ball heads and have them brought here" Spear ordered and the Sergeant ran off and came back with a donkey hauling a cart of staves.

"Usually the punishment would be consistence of normal wooden staves but for this case I want a serious message set so this does not happen again. Each of the nine men in each group will take up one of these staves: the man from your squad will be beaten to death with your staves; I want you to break every single bone in that soldier's body; failure to comply with my orders will result in that soldier being shot!" Spear explained and to show she was serious about this drew her side arm a large 1898 Massuer pistol. "NOW!" Spear ordered.

The men who were taken out begged for mercy a few of them hadn't even fled in battle; that however did not matter, decimation was a punishment that was meant to shame the person being killed regardless of whether then ran or not as well as the people doing the shaming; each man suffered an agonizing death as each solider beat them to death with the staves, every bone was broken and when it came time to finish the person off the skull was crushed; this execution lasted an hour and when it was concluded the 20 men lay dead in broken hunks.

"String the bodies up, leave them for the crows I want this example to be set to the camp and all troops under my command; cowardice is punishable by death" Spear ordered, then a messenger came to her.

"Commander Spear: General Esdeath has issued a debriefing for the generals and commanders; 20 minutes from now" the Messenger explained.

"So after my first hard decision I was called to a general's meeting, Esdeath had finished off the mercenaries, there were no survivors and their leader had committed suicide to avoid capture. Esdeath gave out the new orders: General Mengele was to take his troops and launch a reprisal attack on the City of Varkaava in the Western Kingdoms, which had hired the mercs to attack Westgart to cripple an economic rival, he ordered was to sack it. My battalion and myself were temporarily assigned to General Liver for a specific mission of going to the surrounding villages and requisitioning supplies to assist in the rebuilding, if the villages didn't have food to spare they were to lend their manpower to assist in reconstruction" Spear Narrated.

"That proved easy as the villages had been largely ignored by the Mercenaries and those who hadn't been ignored had driven off or killed the raiding parties sent to them; this was much less stressful work, in accordance to Esdeath's orders the villages that couldn't spare food sent their spare laborers. After we returned to the city we were then tasked with reconstruction of the city; I learned firsthand the ravages of war; saw the dead, encountered the wounded, it was those streets that I resolved that I would fight to keep this from happening to other cities in the Empire, if I couldn't stop the attack I at least could avenge the fallen" Spear narrated. "Then came my second hard call.

Two days after the battle of Westgart…. "Commander Spear; some men have come to see you" Taron explained.

"Alright let me see them" Spear replied and stepped outside to note about six men, two of which were restraining a woman who was shackled. "Alright what is it?" Spear asked.

"Commander Spear, we caught this thief stealing bread from the reserves last night: we bring her to you for punishment" One of the soldiers explained.

Spear looked at the woman who was badly bruised but still had some beauty in her visage. "Alright the punishment for stealing usually is the removal of one of thief's hands however that law is specific to soldiers: for civilians the punishment is 20 lashes and the person must work for the robbed party to pay off the exact debt of what was stolen" Spear explained. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Spear asked.

"I do: I admit it, I stole a few loaves of bread, but that was nothing compared to what these soldiers did to me; your soldiers raped me; they beat me as well look at my bruises these men are monsters!" the Woman replied.

"That's not true" One of the soldiers stated.

"Great now comes a he said she said: alright I'm not able to prove this either way, but by the looks of things you did at least beat her; because I don't know who's telling the truth all six of you men will be punished, fifty lashes with cat'o'nine tails for all of you, as for you thief the punishment I gave stands: you will work for my battalion to pay off the debt" Spear explained.

"But I took nine loaves of bread, that's 30-silver worth; I'm not cut out for soldier work what would you have me do?!" The Woman replied incensed.

"You'll join the camp followers as a camp whore: also you will be whipped but with a normal whip: Captain take these men away and her too: Also soldiers if I here any more accusations of rape directed at you I will have all of you castrated publicly as an example to anyone else who would commit crimes against our own people!" Spear yelled, the groups left and Spear soon heard the yells of pain as the offenders for both were whipped, the woman screams lasted the shortest and, the men however those were agonized, they received more lashes and far more painful ones because of the type of whip. Spear didn't care; she just continued her reading; checking the quartermaster's report.

"I did go outside to check on them: the woman hated me for what I had done to her, but Imperial Law is what it was, the only job for women in the camp apart from soldiering was as a prostitute, which my unit had a number of; she however later admitted that she had lied about the rape, as a number of other soldiers verified the story of the six men; however my lesson had made a point; no man or woman in my battalion committed any crimes that weren't sanctioned. You see Tatsumi that Esdeath had a policy of an Eye for Eye, anytime enemies committed war crimes against our people we would retaliate in crime; I didn't take part in these affairs beyond killing soldiers that defied orders and taking my share of the money; but all the loot I took during our campaigns was donated to the people we were fighting for: to the widows of my soldiers, to the orphans made by our enemies, to victims of rape and those of torture: I followed my orders to the letter." Spear Narrated.

"Three months passed before reconstruction was done; in the broader Empire civil unrest began as the economy faltered into recession, and shortly after word depression. However, those weren't the only problems; the Empire soon found itself at war with the Eastern kingdoms; which lead to some campaigns however those weren't our concern, the real issue was that of the Bandit Kingdom of the Isaaqaath Mountains. You see Tatsumi as the Eastern wars began and the economy crumbled crime rose, corruption which had been cowed under the reign of the previous Emperor began to resurge and become more blatant; and as crime rose the number of bandits roaming the highland provinces surged to massive numbers. These weren't ordinary bandits either, the noble lords of several towns and mountain strongholds turned into robber barons; who had professional soldiers under their employ and very good equipment, these nobles were known for their cruelty." Spear explained.

"The real trouble began when rumors began to circulate of a Bandit King: Zhong Chou the Golden: he was giant of a man with a bulk to match, he wore armor and used weapons that were covered into gold as well as the bones of his victims; he was a cannibal devouring any who dared challenge him, he was also a compulsive rapist who took the prettiest of woman and girls for his private harem, any woman who spoke against him had their tongue torn out and force fed to them; his rapes weren't just tied to the people they prayed on, women under his command were raped or gave sexual favors to advance their ranks; that wasn't to say that the women under his command were victims. No, some of the women under his command were monsters, one which Tokari Shardna raped young boys for her enjoyment in addition to women and men; she was Zhong's queen" Spear explained.

"So, these bandits were that bad?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi I've not even touched the surface; the most despicable thing Zhong Chou was the creation of human meatballs; he would take dozens of captives and tar them in a ball so they stuck together then he had them roasted alive over a fire for the main course at his banquets; all the while he and his guests watched: this man was evil incarnate, possibly even worse than Honest" Spear replied.

"What happened to these bandits" Tatsumi asked.

"Esdeath happened: After the Bandits rose to prominence three Imperial armies under different generals over a series of five months were sent to destroy the Bandit Kingdom; three armies went to fight them, three armies were massacred and eaten by Zhong Chou and the cannibals of his army; all the generals sent to fight them were critics of Honest who didn't take the bandit threat seriously apart from the fact he most likely thought it would be a good way to dispose of threats to his regime: eventually though he got sick of the bandit threat and sent Esdeath and her army in: Tatsumi this was the most brutal war and conflict Esdeath had fought since the conquest of the Southern Tribes, it lasted six months a brutal war of attrition that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of men and woman on both sides combatant and civilian alike: the mountain strongholds of Robber barons were extremely hard to siege as they had once been dwarven holdfasts that had been abandoned after the war between the Dwarves and Mad Emperor, in addition to this the bandits scorched the earth in advance and salted the fields it proved hell and I will say I've never had a more hellish campaign" Spear narrated.

One and half years earlier… Spear stood at the front of her battalion looking at the bandit host gathered in the valley bellow she was standing next to General Esdeath. "You sent for my battalion General?" Spear asked rhetorically.

"Yes indeed I did, of the battalions in this army yours has never given ground at all, your forces held the line in many battles we have fought this campaign, keeping cohesion whenever pressured by the enemy: as such I have need of your battalion to fight at my side; I want the best in my army under my direct command: Commander you have distinguished yourself highly over the time you have been under my command and are overdue for a promotion; survive this battle and acquit yourself valiantly in it and you will be promoted: understood?" Esdeath explained looking into Spear's eyes with her own cold blue eyes.

"Yes General!" Spear replied with a salute.

"Good, also you are to take as many of the bandit leaders alive as possible; I want to make an example that will cull crime in the Empire as a whole and show what happens to those who become this corrupt!" Esdeath ordered.

"And so the battle commenced, it began with a barrage from the artillery which set a light the woods the Bandits were using for cover; forcing them to commit; the riflemen were out front with archers behind them and would fire at the enemy until they had exhausted their ammunition and fell back; if the enemy was still willing to fight that's where the melee would commence, when the lines clashed two disciplined enemy formations collided and soon gave way to a battlefield of chaos and confusion, in addition to the main army Esdeath summoned Ice warriors to back up the force but still the bandits numbered in the tens of thousands" Spear narrated.

"In the chaos of battle I lost myself in fighting, ignored cries for mercy from the enemy who had fallen ending them with my glaive, but amidst the battle came my chance to distinguish myself: the Bandit King Zhang Chou cleaving down soldiers and we caught sight of each other" Spear narrated. "So I charged, and clash of steel commenced, he was stronger then me but I had the reach, as our bought went on he nearly overpowered me, but it was a feint, he left an opening in his defense that allowed me to drive my glaive thru his throat: he died choking on his own blood, he did however wound me giving me that large scar on my back, but I didn't have much time recover my strength, even though his death did cause sizeable portion of the army to rout there were still some that fought on, Esdeath killed one of Zhang's sons in the midst of the fight and a Robber Baron came to attack her she killed him with a sword strike but I saw another coming at her with a battleaxe without hesitation I flung my glaive into the man's chest; overpowering him, with the man's death the rest of the enemy army broke and ran: the grunts and average bandits were shown no mercy and slaughtered to that last: the leadership however where encountered was capture Esdeath wanted to make a public example of them" Spear explained.

"What happened to them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that depended on who they were: Esdeath had devised a punishment for each of the leaders based on their crimes; each was effective: the some of the worst died agonizing deaths; crucifixions, spinning wheels, burnings, quarterings it all depended on the crime, but the worst offenders: the foremost among these the Bandit Queen Takari Shardna suffered fates worse then death, a number of them left alive broken men and woman: Shardna's punishment for her mass rape was to be raped by an entire battalion of men then the three beasts then broken by Esdeath; she was still alive at the end so Esdeath made her a personal slave and she's most likely one of the girls she gave you to as a pleasure slave: I find it a fitting punishment actually; sometimes its best for the worst monsters to live with their crimes and be submitted to the full brunt of what they had done; personally though if Takari is in your harem let her live with what she's done: it wasn't just her, a number of other men and woman who were punished by Esdeath live still, mainly as her servants and loyal fighters Esdeath found that they were strong enough to warrant living but they had to as her thralls they owe her their lives, they may have been broken but now they have been reshaped into new people" Spear explained.

"Ouch: you know you're right Spear; once someone has received their punishment for their crimes no matter how terrible they were they should be forgiven; especially if their punishment was meant to kill them and they somehow survived; I don't know Takari though but she likely she's changed her name" Tatsumi replied.

"That is for the best: she's already been punished for her crimes by Esdeath, she deserves to live the rest of her life as someone else; honestly as far as the rest of the world is concerned Takari Shardna is as dead as Zhang Chou or Dal Vark or any of the other Robber Barons." Spear replied.

"After the battle Esdeath kept her word, not only had I acquitted myself well in the final battle of that war, I had killed the enemy leader and saved Esdeath's life also my unit had taken the least losses and killed the most enemies: because of deeds both in that battle and in all other conflicts fought before I was promoted with full honors to the rank of Brigadier general and given the command of another army under Esdeath's own" Spear explained.

1 year ago… "General Chouri you may rise: I am giving you command of a new army: recently I've had to raise up new troops, this new force is mostly conscripted and raw volunteer recruits, hardly better then a miltia however all great armies and leaders must start somewhere; your battalion will be going with you to your new command, I want you to turn this rabble of people who've likely never killed a man into professional soldiers: much how your squad of Imperial fists turned your original battalion into one: use the same methods: also you are not under General Mengele's direct command anymore: you are under me directly; you are to follow my orders to the letter; understood?" Esdeath explained after placing the flat of her blade on each shoulder as a king would a knight.

"Yes, General Esdeath! I will prove your trust was not wrong" Spear replied.

"Try not to. Also, General Chouri you have my respect just like your brother; he was a good man, a strong man, and strong enough to sacrifice himself so that I had the chance to live and be stronger: live up to his legacy with pride, also you are definitely the type of woman I want under my command: Strong, loyal, stern, and making the hard calls when they come; also abiding by my commands whenever they are given." Esdeath complimented. "General Spear however you have a special guest who wants to see you" Esdeath explained and into the tent came former Prime Minister Ikamaru Chouri; Spear's father.

"Spear my child, I am so proud of you, to see you rise so far so quickly it reminds me so much of your brother; remember the reason you fight: I know that a soldier's life may be tough; but you are a Chouri, we are as strong as the rock of the mountains, you will prevail" Minister Chouri complimented. "General Esdeath, I wish to speak with my daughter in private" Chouri added.

"Yes Minister, I will grant your request, after all I'm sure you two have much to discuss I must see to other matters and preparations for my next campaign" Esdeath replied and left them to speak in private.

"Thanks father: I have a question though how are things going on in my absence" Spear asked.

"Well the Capital has become a shadow of its former glory, corruption is abundant, the Eastern provinces are in open rebellion under the banner of the Revolutionary army, the assassins of which strike out at nobles and commanders of the Empire; but the rebels aren't without cause; the corruption has gotten far worse since you left, personally I've seen some of the worst violations firsthand, Honest is the worst of the lot however: he is exerting more power at court, a number of military officers have joined the Revolutionary army but many more had been murdered for criticizing Honest or have gone into hiding" Minister Chouri explained.

"So what is to be done about this?" Spear asked.

"Spear I have been working with members of the nobility and army who are like minded as me to find a way to remove Honest from power: in short Spear, you are to be cautious, I have gone over the various potential allies and many of them are very influential people; I have also looked among the noble sons of the Empire and alas have found no one worthy of your hand; they would've had you be little more than a serving maid. But I won't worry you anymore with that, in the meantime things are getting more dangerous and you should be wary; there are people that want you and I dead: keep up your guard and beware who you trust" Minister Chouri explained, Spear nodded and he left.

"I kept my father's warning in mind; but it wasn't at the forefront of my concerns, I was now a general with all that position entailed, Esdeath was right about my new soldiers they were mostly conscripts and raw recruits, they required discipline and I gave them it, they were put thru the same program as the others: each time there was a crime or mistake it was corrected with the punishment matching it, the army was made tough, I turned a mob of country folk and slum dwellers into a professional army over the course of two months, with reconstruction done to rebuild the towns and villages that had been razed or sacked by the Bandits, then came our next campaign, the Western Kingdoms had launched a massive attack that had carved deep into the Empire; as far as Trader Town which was under siege." Spear Narrated. "There were four Western armies each under command of a formidable general and each armed to the teeth with professional warriors and exceptional weapons and armor, to make things even more dangerous the Dwarves had sold a number of their lesser automatons to the Western Kingdom as well as armor and weapons crafted by them: these armies were the most dangerous threat I think that I've ever faced in open war: the bandits were one thing, professional warriors under brilliant commanders equipped with the best equipment their nation can offer and backed up by Dwarven Automatons is a force that I don't think can be rivaled short of the entire Empires might" Spear explained.

"So Spear how did this go, it sounds like this was a hard war" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi it proved a lot easier then you think, you see the westerners had powerful armies, commanders, and Dwarven innovations on there side but they didn't have two things that we had; Teigu Users and resolve to defend our homeland" Spear replied. "The war lasted three months but it proved to be swift, decided in open field battles and retaking cities from our enemies: the westerners proved to be more honorable as they didn't do as much damage to cities or commit as many atrocities as the Mercenaries who sacked Westgart, but they did cause the deaths of many people, soldier and civilian alike, I got more scars in the battles most from Dwarven Automatons which I tell you I've never seen an enemy who can punch thru bulletproof triple-reinforced titanium armor like it was cloth and they left deep scars; luckily for me I turned them into scrap metal" Spear explained.

"The western conflict finished with the remain forces of the western armies retreating across the Gambi river into their grasslands: Esdeath ordered our forces to raze the closest villages towns to the Empire to the ground as a buffer against future invasions; I was tasked with guarding the river and helping to rebuild Westgart which had been razed by an army from the City of Varkaava, which itself was razed by General Mengele: he was a monster there was a reason that whenever Esdeath gave him a task she transferred my unit to do something else; the man was literally a monster; his ring allowed him to turn himself into a monster, entire villages were eaten by him, I was glad to be left across the river" Spear explained.

"So Esdeath ordered those razzings?" Tatsumi asked getting angry.

"Yes Tatsumi, War is cruelty, the crueler it is the quicker it will be over and you have to remember those were payback for what they did to us, she never ordered me to do attack those towns; Esdeath herself actually stayed across the river too: Esdeath believes that those under her command are suited for different roles, the reason she delegated me to rebuilding is because of my position as a woman of the people, someone who can deal with war's aftermath and become stronger for it. Mengele was and is a monster, the Three Beasts were just that, apart from Liver who was a soldier thru and thru but how could be a monster when he wanted to be: of the three I only had respect for him which I can at least be grateful that it was me who gave him a warrior's death and a merciful one too; but compared to Mengele: Liver and the other beasts were saints, with Esdeath and myself being angels" Spear replied.

"You're right; war is hell, both sides have their monsters; and you're right Esdeath is an angel compared to monsters like Mengele, I don't think though she's like that anymore" Tatsumi replied.

"You think you're having an effect on her?" Spear asked.

"Yes, she's never done anything unjust with me present, she's even more forgiving around me: I'm- changing her for the better; she cares for Makoto and wants him to live in peace: but in order to do that we have to wage war: I will be glad the day Honest is dead" Tatsumi replied. "What happened next?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi the war in the north happened: King Numa Seika declared war by sending raiders southwards that ran rampant over the border towns and villages, this conflict had begun during the Bandit War and at the same time East attacked, the conflict had dragged on in stalemate for long enough that Honest having run out of things to throw Esdeath at decided to throw Esdeath at the North, Esdeath took only 40,000 men, my army was among the ten she took north; the North sent forth a mighty army of 400,000 virtully the entire military they had and we met at Kalva Valley; Esdeath gave their commanders only one chance to surrender, they laughed and sent our messengers' heads back to use, Esdeath turned their envoys into ice sculptures then stepped out onto a cliff overlooking the Northern army; I went with her as I assumed she was merely looking at the enemy force: then I saw what happened next. The wind howled while Esdeath's eyes glowed red and she outstretched her hands, the wind laughed and the valley shook with the mountains on either side shacking. Suddenly massive glaciers atop the mountains lifted up into the air, the Northern army was shocked as they hovered over them, at the same time the snow from cliffs and valley rose up too and with that glaciers fell on top of them with avalanches colliding into the ranks of the enemy: in a manner of a few seconds 400,000 Northern soldiers have been buried alive, all of them died the entire army was wiped out" Spear explained.

"Wow!" Tatsumi said awestruck. "I mean I heard Esdeath tell about how true that was but that story is even more impressive the more times I hear it" Tatsumi explained then closed his eyes and blushed smiling.

"That battle broke the Northern military; Esdeath along the way attacked and captured any cities breaking the chains of the enslaved Yetis who were put in charge of the captured cities, because the Yetis now outnumbered the able-bodied Northerners 3 to 1 thanks to Esdeath's victory they kept control of the captured territory. Esdeath gave rather strict orders, the commanders of each unit were to exercise restraint, even though she herself despised the northerners for what they had done to her family and to the Empire as a whole she was saving that pent up rage for one specific place: the Northern Capital of Kalsliv." Spear explained.

"But not everyone was keen on following her orders: so came another hard call and one that I know I made the right decision in doing" Spear narrated.

Three months earlier, Kalkanoth… A village was ravaged, burnt, the inhabitants were lifeless their faces contorted in agony with some being just severed heads but others were strong up on crosses. Spear walked in with a group of her best soldiers; she had just reached the rank of Major General for victories in the sieges of Kadava and Tokaris, inside she noticed a group of soldiers flying the colors of General Mengele. "What happened here?!" Spear interrogated the soldiers.

"We put these northies to death; Field Marshel Mengele's orders, you missed quite a party, the women and children here were fun to play with and the faces on their menfolk as they watched from those crosses was funny to watch" the captain of the soldiers addressed.

"WHAT?! General Esdeath is in command of these forces; policy number one is not to harm children under any circumstances! Also General Esdeath issued a moratorium on any such punitive actions: you've gone against her orders and this is nothing more then mutiny!" Spear replied.

"Don't get your hair in a knot, your just jealous you didn't get to play with the guys here" the Captain replied, wrong move as Spear decapitated him.

"Troops these men are traitors to the Empire, Crucify them!" Spear ordered, the soldiers attempted to resist, but they weren't able to rival the sheer power of the soldiers of Spear's direct bodyguards all of which were Imperial Fists who quickly overpowered the enemy taking them down, Spear then ordered the crosses cleared of the victims and nailed all the traitors to their own crosses before gelding them all.

"Let this be an example to all those who defy General Esdeath's orders; also let this be an example of those who commit crimes against the innocents!" Spear proclaimed. "Let them rot; Commander Taron; write up a report of this incident I will report this to General Esdeath" Spear ordered.

Two hours later…. "That disobedient wretch! I will not stand for those who disobey my orders; I am glad you punished the perpetrators of this crime in such an effect fashion, I'll deal with General Mengele, he will receive a hundred lashes and I will force him out of the Imperial Army: also I am ordering mass decimation of his ranks Spear: you are to kill 5 out of 10 of every soldier in every squad under his command, I won't stand for this defiance of the chain of command: I won't stand for anyone who defies my orders!" Esdeath raged, Spear saluted.

"Yes Grand Marshel it will be done" Spear replied.

One day later…. The killing fields were arranged and over 5,000 soldiers from General Mengale's force were brought up and beaten to death; Spear watched every death with a smirk. "No more defiance: Good soldiers follow orders! Especially if those orders come from General Esdeath! Now you rabble are under the command of General Esdeath herself; Field Marshal Mengele is being retired from Army service effective immediately!" Spear explained to the remaining 5000 soldiers. "I don't want to see any repeats of disobedience; you are all expandable at this point; expect to be put at the front of the battle: no more tolerance you are all expandable dregs!" Spear proclaimed. "AM I CLEAR!?" Spear asked.

"Ma'am yes Ma'am!" the Soldiers yelled out.

"Good I don't want anymore trouble, do so again and the punishment will be way worse!" Spear replied.

"I did what I should have done, I have no regrets for what I did, I followed General Esdeath's orders to the letter and made sure that those who committed treason were punished for their crimes and I made a clear example. I watched Mengele's whipping and laughed at his screams, he was then sent back to the Capital stripped of his commission and discharged; his troops were commandeered by General Esdeath who used them at the forefront of the siege of Kasiliv; King Numa Seika defied General Esdeath and mocked her before the gates of the city he considered her an unworthy opponent because she was a woman and said that after he defeated her she would be his bed slave; he was a fool, he may have been handsome but he was as dumb as a rock when it came to approaching General Esdeath; when the city fell she ordered it ransacked. I let my soldiers run loose; none were spared General Esdeath's wrath; the Northerners had taken so much from the Empire over the years and had taken everything she knew as a child from her including her tribe and family; so she took everything from them; at the end Numa Seika was broken by Esdeath's torture resulting in him being little more then a gibbering idiot who licked the ground at Esdeath's feet his pride was his downfall and Esdeath quickly tired of his presence and caved his skull in with her boot; I saw the whole thing happen and was glad when she killed him and ordered his body be hung in a gibbet to feed the crows" Spear explained.

"At the end of the battle though I was changed, I had enough; my father arrived to help the new Yeti Lords establish themselves, General Esdeath gave me prolonged leave; she had enough of this. So she was called back to the Capital, my father did the same and I went with him. I left my soldiers under General Taron behind to help rebuild the North and clean up anymore of Seika's forces that remained Esdeath arrived ahead of us and well you know the rest Tatsumi: the Three beasts stoped us on the road you killed Nyau, Mine killed Daidara and I killed General Liver a man I respected and thought was above Honest's games but I thought wrong: Tatsumi I've done all I could and hope to do my best as your wife" Spear concluded.

"I'm glad you told me your story Spear: as my wife I hope you and I can see an end to this madness in the Empire's heart and make things better for the future" Tatsumi replied.

"We will Tatsumi we will, now onto your training; breakfast was good and you're going to need the full training of the art of Imperial Fist to face Honest: I know for a fact that he is a master of the Imperial Fist from my father; you'll need every advantage you can get" Spear explained.

Thus, began Tatsumi's training, Spear was an even more focused teacher then Kurome but not as demanding nor did she attempt to kill him, but she did push him to his limits. Spear explained that there were nine rings of the Imperial Fist each corresponding to a different technique but to his surprise also corresponded to weapons training; which required him to learn how to use other weapons: not that he hadn't been learning how to do so as part of his training with Night Raid and with the Jaegers.

The training was interrupted by a servant that told him they had a guest on the doorstep. "Alright I'll greet them" Spear replied, she then left the room with Tatsumi following behind. To their surprise the guest happened to be Esdeath.

"Ah Spear it is good to see you again" Esdeath greeted.

"General Esdeath this is unexpected" Spear greeted.

"Please you can just call me Esdeath, we are friends, not just that sisters by marriage to our beloved Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath replied.

"Tatsu-bunny?" Spear replied suppressing a giggle.

"Don't tell Ieyasu" Both Tatsumi and Esdeath replied at the same time.

"I came to visit because it has been a while; I think we need to get reacquainted" Esdeath replied. "You killed General Liver and you have his Teigu, I'm not angry at you for his death; you were always stronger then him and I'm glad that he at least died by the hands of someone he respected, anyway I've missed your presence and would like you to join the Jaegers; I've missed having you by my side in battle" Esdeath explained.

"I see Esdeath, I'm kind of part of Night Raid though" Spear replied knowing it was safe to discuss that with Esdeath.

"I'm aware of that; besides Tatsumi and Seryu are part of the group as is Mez now so I have no problems having you on board, besides you have proven yourself worthy of the position to a point where I'm not even going to bother testing you: I know what you are capable of and I don't need to prove it further" Esdeath replied.

"Alright, but I still haven't exactly figured out how to best use Liver's Teigu yet so any advice you could give on that would appreciated" Spear replied.

"Of course I'll help you with that: in the meantime how are you feeling of late?" Esdeath asked.

"That, well I have made a mistake I should have told Tatsumi this when he got here but I was too overjoyed and told him more about myself that I didn't tell him the most important news I have for him: I'm pregnant" Spear replied to Tatsumi's wide-eyes and jaw drop.

"That is pleasant Spear, I'm glad you and I now share another thing in common soon we will both be mothers of our Tatsumi's children; he's our husband and I am glad that you have him as a husband; I'm not jealous of the fact you got first crack at him though" Esdeath explained.

"Speaking of Night Raid, I have a new target for them: Spear you are going on this mission as this concerns you: General Hermann Mengele is the target, I've noted the disappearance of people in the area around his estate and identified a number of slave traders making shipments to him. I sent spies to investigate and they reported he has acquired a Teigu rather recently, a Ring named Hircine: Werwolfen. He owns a large estate and game reserve which is walled of, one of my spies learned that he has been using the reserve as a hunting ground to hunt people, slaves he imported, but he also attacks the countryside and hunts ordinary people: I recommend a team of 8, his Estate is heavily guarded and his Teigu is very potent: he is now full on beast and must be put down" Esdeath explained to Spear's shock and then smirk.

"Glady Esdeath, I've been wanting to do that for a long time" Spear replied.

"Good, also those at his estate are just as guilty by supporting him, kill them all and leave no survivors: everyone there is marked for death" Esdeath replied.

"That will gladly be done" Tatsumi replied.

Later at Night Raid HQ… "This seems like an extremely hazardous mission, Esdeath is correct that we should have a team of 8 for this mission: Tatsumi thank you for this information I'll think about the team for this and get back to you when we're ready" Najenda explained, Tatsumi left her office and he and Spear had time to spare.

"Hey Spear, we have time anything you'd like to do while we're waiting for nightfall and the mission?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi I have a few ideas; starting with something well-" Spear stated then kissed him on the lips.

The kiss intensified and soon they broke it. "What do you have in mind?" Tatsumi asked, knowing sex was implied but he wanted to know if Spear had something in mind for it.

"Well I think we may want to bring in another girl or three" Spear suggested, Tatsumi smirked.

Shortly in Tatsumi's room… Tatsumi was currently getting blowed by Leone and Seryu as he ate Spear out, all the while Chelsea and Sheele licked his nipples. "Oh Tatsumi: this is wonderful, your tongue so- ough- that's the spot, deeper" Spear moaned, as Chelsea and Sheele stopped licking his chest and wraped their breasts around Tatsumi's cock, Leone and Seryu did the same and Tatsumi was experiencing an ultimate paizuri.

Quickly he came creaming the breasts of all four women and at the same time Spear orgasmed creaming his face. Tatsumi then took Chelsea in her rear while Chelsea ate out Leone who was eating out Sheele who along with Seryu and Spear kissed Tatsumi who fondled the breasts of both women. The scene was warm and rampant Tatsumi was enjoying this Sheele's cute moans as Leone licked her insides were satisfying to hear all the while he drank from the breast of Sheele, then stopped to drink from Seryu's and then Spear's the milk flowed into his throat, his face was becoming covered with a rainbow of lipstick as he was enjoying himself.

This continued for hours, Tatsumi kept going, plenty of different positions as each of his lovers moaned in pleasure Tatsumi gave every girl their go to position: Spear oral with cunnilgius before anal, Seryu vaginal with missionary, Sheele anal reverse cowgirl, Chelsea oral, and Leone anal and rough. The enjoyment was so much it went into the afternoon and eventually resulted in all of them passed out huddled around him.

Tatsumi hadn't locked the door which was quite apparent when Cornelia walked into the room and eeped at seeing all six of them naked. "My apologies Tatsumi, everyone I should have knocked, I'm sorry" Cornelia apologized as Tatsumi and the others got up out of bed.

"Don't worry Cornelia; it happens" Tatsumi remarked, seeing Cornelia blushing like a tomato, Tatsumi knew the reason why because she was staring at his crotch; which was not at rest because of the circumstances, Tatsumi covered up embarrassed.

"Najenda wanted to speak to you she's figured out the team I'm on it and so are all of you; Aria and Sayo are the other two on this team" Cornelia explained as they dressed. "He's so hot, heck even Natula and Tajasho weren't that hung; Tatsumi is a stud, someone perfect for a virgin like me" Cornelia thought. "What are you thinking; focus the mission comes first, business first pleasure later, besides he's easy to get with" Cornelia thought.

"Alright: girls lets get ready, get your Teigus and fall out for formation" Tatsumi ordered, the ladies left him to get ready. "Damn I only brought Valruost with me" Tatsumi thought to himself as he equipped his armor and weapons.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing Tatsumi; besides old flame breath needs a break from all this after that insane mission against those religious fanatics" Valruost remarked.

"Still though I'll be fighting at half my capability against an enemy with a dangerous Teigu and who's got years of military experience; I'm not liking this; at least I have my back up armor; this is serious and there are a lot of professional guards protecting the guy and goodness knows what else" Tatsumi replied.

"I see you're worried you might lose one of your mates because you aren't at your best; Tatsumi they are strong women, they are more then capable of defending themselves" Valruost countered.

"It's not just that I'm worried about my children, Spear is pregnant as is Aria and I'm 95% sure so is Leone; she's been sober for a week now; and I'm sure what with the amount of times Sheele and Seryu have had sex with me they are pregnant too: hell even Sayo may be pregnant; the only person in this group I know isn't is Cornelia because she's still a virgin" Tatsumi rebuked.

"Cornelia won't be one for much longer, she saw your cock and wants it as soon as this mission is over" Valruost replied.

"Great that means I need to focus on keeping her alive too, you have any idea how stressful this is; I love all the women I'm with but I'm so worried about their safety what with our chosen line of work and the fact that Honest is now going after the people I care about the most: I'm under a lot of pressure" Tatsumi replied.

"So what do you intend to do?" Valruost replied.

"I'm going to do damndest to keep everyone I love alive and kill the scum of the world who would love to see them and countless innocent people dead: I'm going to fight with your wrath and my courage" Tatsumi replied, then Aria arrived in her gear to fetch him.

Shortly in Najenda's Office… "I've called you all here for a special mission, it is a dangerous one, a high value target with a Teigu and heavy security, not some corrupt official or slaver that we can send a normal sized team after. Because of this our team will consist of 8 members: Aria has scouted the target's location along with Chelsea and will part of the team: Aria will explain the target" Najenda explained, at her side was Susanoo who had assumed the role of her bodyguard.

Aria stepped up and hung a diagram of the target's estate on a nearby wall. "This is the estate of Field Marshal Hermann Mengele, he is a serious menace to society. The estate itself is heavily guarded with professional soldiers from Mengele's own division standing guard, also every servant is armed to the teeth, Mengele is not to be messed with either as he is a Teigu user with the ring Hircine; its abilities are as yet unknown to us so expect anything." Aria briefed.

"The target has been responsible for the brutal killings of people in the surrounding countryside, also he brings in slaves and kidnapped people and releases them in his nearby private game reserve to hunt them, the reserve itself is 40 arces big and surrounded by a high palisade; we are to be ready to free any captives; Mengele is a bachelor with no legitimate children or wife so he has no family to worry about escaping; no restrictions on the rules of engagement, kill Mengele and everyone he commands and free any captives that are still alive; also make sure that he doesn't escape" Najenda added.

"Yes Najenda; wait what if we run into non-combatants?" Tatsumi asked.

"No witnesses Tatsumi; if you take any prisoners you better have a damned good reason to do so: clear?" Najenda replied.

"Yes honey: I'll follow your orders even if I don't like them: I don't kill people without evidence of their crimes; it's a standard I have, if we can't verify they are criminals we shouldn't kill them" Tatsumi replied.

"We are at war Tatsumi; I know don't kill anyone without evidence of wrongdoing, we aren't the Empire and we are trying to keep those kinds of people safe: Dismissed, everyone make preparations, nightfall will soon be upon us and I want you all out in the field once it does" Najenda ordered, the team left her office and went to the main room.

Now that the team was set the time came to decided team partners; each person would a partner. "Alright first things first let's deal with the elephant in the room: who gets to be Tatsumi's partner apart from Spear who will be going with him for obvious reasons" Aria explained, then grabbed straws. "Longest straw get's Tatsumi as their partner for the mission alright?" Aria explained, she then handed the straws to Tatsumi to show she was being honest with draw and wouldn't take longest straw in advance.

After a drawing of lots it left Tatsumi and Spear with Cornelia which caused a bemoaning in the group: the remaining partners were Aria with Chelsea, Leone with Sayo, and Sheele with Seryu. With the team established the time came to leave, they took back paths into several clutches of forests to make their approach via the longest route possible to make sure the enemy was off guard.

When they arrived at the manor they were surprised to note that the lights were still on; which meant that it wouldn't be a simple matter of killing their target in his sleep. "Alright looks like security's normal; Chelsea you and I will go ahead and kill the guards at the gate; Seryu you, Koro and Sheele will go around the back, Sayo you and Leone will clear out the barracks, Tatsumi you, Spear and Cornelia will be taking the front entrance; Spear: keep your helmet down I don't want any recognition from any possible survivors" Aria ordered.

The groups split up, at the gate two guards bantered. "Hey John my back is out of place and my head is killing me" one guard stated.

"Don't worry about Zack our shift is almost done and then you can go get a massage from one of the maids; and a blowjob if you want one too" John remarked.

"Yeah my neck will need the most work, it need adjusting" Zack replied back.

"Get the shiatsu treatment you'll enjoy it" John replied.

"Thanks that will be great" Zack stated and his head was amputated by a pair of kukris.

"Holy sh-" John began to say as he readied his sword only to have a thrust of a rapier impale him; he was then replaced by Chelsea in his get up who went to find the other guards on patrol while Aria split off to take down patrols in the opposite direction, Tatsumi and the others flowed them in while Seryu and Sheele split off to the rear of the estate.

With Sheele and Seryu… "This is a problem" Sheele stated looking at the massive wall which was topped with razor wire and covered with spikes.

"No way we are getting past that; the whole game reserve is walled off as his backyard: no back entrance whatsoever" Seryu replied then smiled knowing what to do next. "Well lets make one. Hekatonichires: Berserker!" Seryu ordered and Koro turned into his colossal berserk form. "Demolish this wall please Koro!" Seryu ordered and Koro smashed a massive chunk out of the wall, large enough to allow Sheele and Seryu passage.

Meanwhile…. Tatsumi kicked down the front door as Spear and Cornelia went to either side of him; a butler who heard the crash came in saw well armed assassins and yelled "NIGHT RAID! NIGHT RAID!" At the top of his lungs before chucking a barstool at Tatsumi who dodged the stool and pulled out his Barretta and shot the man before he could escape; a number of servants men with various weapons charged them being joined by a few guards who had broadswords Spear jumped to the side and spun 360 degrees with her glaive and each of the assailants fell dead, Cornelia dived off to kill two maids who had grabbed pistols punching her Teigu gauntlet clean thru one of the woman and snagging her pistol only to dive use, the corpse as a shield and shoot the other woman in the top of her head with the stolen luger; a third maid tried to run from her but was grabbed by Cornelia.

Cornelia smashed the woman against the wall. "Where is you employer!?" Cornelia interrogated.

"Upstairs, 3rd floor study, if he's not in his room he's out in his hunting grounds!" the woman replied.

"Thanks" Cornelia replied, Tatsumi knocked her out and stopped Cornelia from finishing her off.

"No! Tie her up!" Tatsumi ordered.

"With what?" Cornelia asked.

"This" Tatsumi replied and grabbed the maid's apron and tied her up with it.

"Tatsumi we are supposed to be killing these people" Spear replied.

"Not all of them: we have to make sure we are only killing legitimately evil people; we can't do that without evidence!" Tatsumi replied. "And before you tell me that I'm being an idiot, just because someone works for an evil person does not mean they themselves are an evil person, for all we know this woman is a slave forced to work here" Tatsumi replied and to prove his point he pulled up her sleeve to her shoulder and revealed the brand of a bed slave.

"You're right Tatsumi; you saved me from making what could have been a terrible mistake" Cornelia replied glad Tatsumi had saved her from killing someone who was likely innocent.

"No time for this Tatsumi we have to clear the rooms" Spear stated; just as she said this Leone and Sayo entered.

"What the hell? You guys haven't cleared the entry hall yet?" Leone remarked.

"Tatsumi's delayed us: he's decided to take this woman captive" Spear replied.

"What?! Prisoners Tatsumi we-"Leone stated.

"I outrank you, she's my prisoner and I'm taking her captive" Tatsumi replied then slung the woman over his shoulder.

"Fine: go lets clear the rooms" Leone replied.

"Tatsumi you really know how to make things hard for us as the team" Sayo remarked.

"I can't help it Sayo; I'm a person who wants to make the world better and to do that we need to be better people then the people we're fighting against: I'm not a stone-blooded killer like Sheele or Akame: I'm a good person who's trying to do the right thing even if it isn't the best thing I could do in the situation" Tatsumi replied, as they ascended the staircases.

As Tatsumi and his group ascended the stairs, Aria and Chelsea darted off to find search for a holding prison for the slaves. Which led to them to a frightened servant who was trying to escape out the back door as she had just seen the massacre going on in the front room. "WAIT!" The woman yelled. "Please Mercy!" the woman begged as Aria pinned her to the door with a some well thrown knives.

"Give me a reason: I know what's going on in this place: the General is a person who takes joy in hunting the average person for sport; whether their innocent people he's taken as slaves or bought as slaves, or just the average person out and about, and people like you are enabling this behavior!" Aria remarked from behind her oni mask.

"I'm just one of those people he's taken as a slave; I'm one of the lucky ones he's just kept around as fuck-toy for his guards and himself; there are dozens of others like me around the place; I know where he's keeping the newest batch captive, those he hasn't turned loose into his reserve; don't waste time with me there are ordinary people who need their lives saved now!" the maid replied, Chelsea walked up.

"Chelsea watch her: I'm going to get the others we're wasting out time inside half of us need to go outside and that means Tatsumi has to get out there" Aria replied. "Also let her down, she'll lead you to where the captives are held; if she tries anything kill her" Aria ordered.

Meanwhile…. Tatsumi kicked down a door to the screams of three maids who were hiding inside the room; one of whom was obviously pregnant with a second-trimester tummy barely kept under a dress. "Mercy NO!" the Girls yelled.

"Tatsumi don't hold back!" Spear yelled then moved to shove him aside and he blocked her.

"They aren't enemies Tatsumi: they are slaves held here against their will all three of them are pregnant; they don't have any evil in their heart" Valruost stated as Spear tried to go to kill them but Tatsumi intercepted her glaive and disarmed her.

"SPEAR! Don't hurt them they are innocent girls enslaved as pleasure slaves" Tatsumi replied.

"How do you know that?" Spear asked.

"Valruost: it can sense the thoughts and emotions of a person thru their blood; Spear they're pregnant women and innocent women enslaved to a mad man" Tatsumi replied Cornelia came into the room behind them.

"Yes it's true! Look" One of the women said lifting up her sleeve to reveal the same brand as the one on the unconscious woman, the others did the same.

"What are you doing in here?" Spear asked.

"This is where our master sends the woman he's knocked up, he's waiting for us to deliver the children then he takes them away; we never see them again" One of the women explained.

"Look what is your name?" Tatsumi asked.

"Amy look I don't want you to kill us, you're Night Raid but please don't let those stories about you killing everyone you encounter not be true" the Maid replied.

"Alright here's my orders; Cornelia stand guard with these women, take my captive too: don't let anyone hurt them" Tatsumi ordered

"Great now you're making the force weaker" Spear replied

"Please Spear you're in the army you've no doubt had to have troops guard captives" Tatsumi replied.

"I never took any" Spear replied.

"Remember we're fighting for a better Empire, we're better then the corruption at the Capital's heart" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright; speaking of that sword did you gage the thoughts of that woman you took captive at the beginning of the fight" Spear asked, Tatsumi blushed and held the unconscious woman's hand: he sensed her thoughts; and noted that she had done some things; some bad things: but nothing that would in his mind warrant death: a few years in jail yes but not death; she was a woman doing what she had to survive in a house of horrors.

"Yes; and she's fine" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi! Leone!" Aria yelled.

"Come on Spear let's leave: Cornelia keep an eye on them" Tatsumi ordered as he set down the unconscious woman on a nearby bed, Cornelia nodded and stood watch as the two left her with them.

Shortly… "Tatsumi there you are" Aria replied, Leone was with her. "The target isn't inside; he's out in his reserve: I need you three to go find Sheele and Seryu, meet up with them and find our target and take him down!" Aria explained. Tatsumi nodded and left with Leone and Spear following him from behind.

They didn't have to go far to find Sheele and Seryu who had kicked in the back door and had arrived with blood stained weapons. Sheele held Extase out in front of her on alert. "HEY! HEY! Wait Sheele you don't have to be on a hair-trigger at all times one of these days you'll kill me on accident" Tatsumi remarked.

"You're right Tatsumi: I'm sorry: we have neutralized all guards outside what is the status on our target?" Sheele asked.

"Outside on a game hunt: human game mind you! Human game! We don't have time to lose: Seryu can Koro track him?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'd need something of his to do that" Seryu replied.

"We'll have to hurry then: no time for that lets go!" Spear shouted and charged out, Tatsumi rushed out following her with Valruost in hand; Leone assumed the form of Lionelle and speeded ahead of all four of them who ran to keep up.

Meanwhile… Mengele stepped over the near immobile body of his latest would be victim. "What a fine specimen of human endurance to be expected of one who was once of the Group of Terror, took me an hour to hunt you down mein frauline and won't you be fun to rut before you pass out, well time for you to get it" Hermann remarked to himself and began to disrobe but paused he sniffed the air. "New game as arrived; you'll live for now: try and recover your strength frauline Balluck you'll need it for the next round of my hunt; as for the others, well they'll have to think hard to escape but for now I'll deal with the new contenders" Hermann remarked then redressed putting on a human skin coat.

Shortly…. Tatsumi had gotten the rest of the group to form a square and follow him: he looked for signs of human movement and looked for tracks; nothing outside of footprints belonging to slaves that had been barefoot and had no skill of hiding their tracks. Suddenly their came upon a clearing with one lone dead tree looming about the clearing beneath the full moon and they saw a man who clapped at their arrive; Tatsumi looked him over.

The man had a black fur trimmed jacket that was dyed back, the coat went down to his back, under the jacket he wore a black uniform which was decorated with medals which shined in the moonlight. He wore a black military hat with symbol of a death's head in the center of it. He was in his late forties while his face had a broad scar across it, his eyes were blue, and his face was cleanshaven along with his head and he simply applauded not bothering to reach for either the dagger or pistol at his side, Tatsumi noted his hands and saw the glint of a jeweled ring.

"Gutten Tag Night Raid; finally a true test of my skill at the hunt: and what is this I thought I recognized a familiar scent: General Chouri so you are a traitor nien" Mengele greeted.

"Not your business the only traitor here is you: you defied General Esdeath's orders and now she's marked you for death" Spear replied, causing the man to laugh.

Hermann stopped laughing and said "So Esdeath sent Night Raid to kill me; that is the funniest thing I've ever heard; you mean to say that the Empire's finest has sent the group she's tasked to hunt to kill one of her former commanders; this too rich to believe; but I'll assume you're telling the truth Chouri after all you've never lied to me before; and that means Prime Minister Honest will be glad to here this information after I kill you and that means her job will be mine nien?" Mengele replied.

"Not a chance of that happening; General Esdeath is more loyal to the Empire then you've ever been, the true Empire not Honest's controlled puppet state; you are a traitor and we'll show you why you should: Fear The Night!" Spear stated and readied her glaive as the group surrounded him.

"I don't think you understand who's hunting whom nien; for you see frauline Spear I am hunting you not the other way around" Mengele replied dropping his coat to the ground and. "Hircine: Wolffen Krieg!" Mengele replied and his body changed his uniform split open tattered parts covering a beastial creature part man part wolf, black fured and with a maw of razor-sharp teeth; bright red eyes. "Let the hunt commence! You'll prove good eating!" Mengele yelled.

(Song: Monster by Starset) Mengele charged forward: Tatsumi slicing him across the arm with Valruost amputating the limb, to his shook as soon as the limb was severed it reattached itself. Leone flanked and charged clawing him, werecat attacking werewolf each took swings at each other as Seryu unloaded several rounds into his flank which blew off chunks of flesh which rapidly regrew.

"Hircine: Wolfan-Rutal!" Mengele yelled and several shadowy wolves materialized causing Sheele and Seryu to break off to fight them along with Koro who went berserk and uprooted the nearest tree and swung it at the nearby shadow wolves. Mengele flung Leone into a nearby boulder and lunged at Tatsumi.

"Valruost: Speed of Khaine!" Tatsumi yelled and surge of energy went into his system and he dodged blows which would killed him if they had landed only receive torn holes in his armor which had been fine titanium plate: Tatsumi again sliced and stabed at Mengele with Valruost the blood flowed onto the blade but the wounds healed rapidly: Tatsumi was only just warming up as Valruost absorbed the beastial blood, but as he dodged he dodged into a low hanging tree branch which stunned him long enough to receive a firm claw across his abdomen causing him to scream in agony as the claws ripped deep.

"NO!" Spear yelled, then mustered raw fury; not just fury of anger at the beast who had murdered children for sport no fury at a man that as far as her eyes could see had just killed her husband, so she readied her glaive. "Black Marlin: Murky Lance!" Spear yelled and gush of water blasted Mengele into a nearby tree then she sliced with her glaive. Slicing of arms and claws, going for his ring.

"Black Marlin: Blade of Blood!" Spear yelled and the blood flung. "This! This is Black Marlin's power: you see I can control water with it, and inside every living being there is water, liquid inside; it flows thru your body, you sweat it, you drool it: but most importantly it is in the very blood running through your veins!" Spear explained, her face full on demonic to a point that it made Aria's demon face look like a pleasant expression: Mengele was for the first time in many years afraid.

"Afraid: you should be; in the name of Grand Marshal Esdeath and Emperor Makoto the First I sentence you to death: you'll die but not a normal death: you will die in pain" Spear declared and flung Mengele around crushing his wolf-form back into human form his body becoming a mix of human and wolf anatomy; until it was pressed back, then pulled outward entirely blood flowing from every pore and eyes wrenching back inside their sockets. Screams of the kind no human should be able to produce were produced and the body rippled around then pressed in and out like a beating heart: all for a matter of minutes as Spear cackled laughing.

"SEE! SEE! SEE HOW IT FEELS TO BE REDUCED TO NOTHING BUT PAIN AND SUFFERING! JUST LIKE EVERYONE YOU TORTURED! I'M MAKING YOU FEEL THE PAIN OF EVERY CRIME, EVERY ATROCITY! EVERY AFRONT TO IMPERIAL PRIDE AND HONOR! ALL AT ONCE: YOU ARE UNDERGOING EVERY TORTURE IMAGINABLE! ALL CARRIED OUT BY YOUR OWN FLESH!" Spear ranted and cackled, then peeled the man's skin off and on stretching his regeneration to his limit, because as she did these things to him Mengele's Teigu was trying to heal him; it was to no avail and Spear inflated the finger the ring was one and blew up causing the ring to fall to ground. "NOW BURST!" Spear yelled and Mengele's entire body blobbed out in different angles until it exploded in a blast of blood and bones which stained ground bellow it.

(Song End) Spear stopped and looked at the other members of Night Raid who had recovered from the attacks against them: she looked at them and turned to Tatsumi to find him standing awestruck by what just happened, his armor wrent open but his flesh unharmed where she had seen claw tear deep into before. "Tatsumi?" Spear questioned dropping her glaive. "TATSUMI!" Spear yelled and rushed up and hugged him kissing him. "You're alright?" Spear stated.

"Yes I'm fine: ouch that really hurt" Tatsumi remarked.

"But how?" Spear questioned, Leone laughed.

"Regeneration Spear: apparently when I stabbed him in the heart with Valruost and Valruost absorbed his blood it gave me his regeneration: I blacked out it takes time to patch up" Tatsumi explained.

"You are so lucky! Beyond Lucky!" Spear replied. "You are also the most reckless, ballsy, and brave man I've ever had the luxury to meet" Spear replied.

"Lets go our mission is done here" Tatsumi replied.

"Wait Tatsumi we have to preform clean up, check for any survivors once we've done that; well usual Night Raid post mission procedure" Sheele replied.

The next day… Tatsumi woke up in the medical room at Night Raid HQ, in spite of his newly gained regeneration Aria still had him in med bay for his injuries anyway just to check that the regeneration had no side-effects; she did an examination of him and had him rest. "Good Morning Tatsumi how did you sleep last night?" Aria asked.

"Like a rock; ugh; you know if you want a more thorough examination, I'll see Dorothea and get back to you in a few days with her analysis" Tatsumi replied.

"Do that but later you'll be here for a couple days: also, Tatsumi Spear wants you home with her; also, Najenda wants to have a stern talk about the women you saved at the Estate" Aria explained.

"Was I not convincing enough last night?" Tatsumi replied.

"Please Tatsumi you know you had me handle the discussion: but it can wait right now you've got a couple of guests that want to speak to you in private: I'm not going to interfere" Aria replied and left the room.

Into the room walked Spear and Cornelia who were wearing overcoats. "Hey Tatsumi; I didn't get the time to talk to you last night" Cornelia replied.

"And I didn't get to show you how much you mean to me my husband" Spear added, both removed the coats revealing the most exotic underwear that Tatsumi had ever seen from geniuses at the disguise department.

"Tatsumi; you really are caring; concerned for the lives of the ordinary people even if they may be your enemies; I've spent my life in a state of being programed to kill that you managed to stay my hand; not just that you kept Spear from killing innocents without her thinking; that Tatsumi is worthy of respect and love: I love you Tatsumi" Cornelia explained then removed her undergarments revealing her ample DD-cup breasts to him.

"I'll let you go first; then I'll have my turn" Spear stated striping and both blondes jumped onto the bed and removed Tatsumi's hospital gown under which was nothing; Cornelia was shocked by how big Tatsumi was; she then wrapped her breasts around the length and took the tip into her mouth. Tatsumi smiled as Cornelia in her inexperience blowed him; while Spear let him drink from her breasts; he drank his morning milk and had Spear hop on his face so he could put his tongue to work. Spear then joined Cornelia in giving Tatsumi oral pleasure using her breasts to caress his length and she licked the side which wasn't in Cornelia's mouth and the two traded off.

Tatsumi soon came all over the faces of both girls as Spear creamed him. "Wow this tastes great" Cornelia remarked licking her face off.

"Now that you mention it Cornelia it does taste a bit different from before" Spear replied. "Cornelia are you ready?" Spear asked the other blonde who sat up.

"Yes: Tatsumi good that you are still hard: I'm ready for you" Cornelia replied and climbed onto Tatsumi's length which went inside popping her cherry, Cornelia moaned in pleasure and kissed Tatsumi and the two banged like foxes in the heat; keeping up the thrusts as Tatsumi drank from Cornelia's breasts enjoying the sweet milk as he pulled her forward Spear massaged his back.

Soon he came once again Cornelia pinned him down with her strength keeping him inside her when he tried to pull out as once again sowed his seed. Pulling out of Cornelia; Spear presented her ass to Tatsumi who mounted it without question. "Yes Tatsumi! Go right where I love it! Keep going! Ride me like I'm your mare! I'm your wife!" Spear stated and they kept going.

"Yeah Tatsumi's the best" Spear thought to herself. "He's also changed me for the better.


	28. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Butterfly Queen

Tatsumi was annoyed: one serious life-threatening injury he had taken, which thanks to the power of Valruost had healed, was all it took for Aria to confine him to med bay for two days; something he hated.

"I want to be doing something: not just coped up in a bed all day for two days" Tatsumi thought to himself; granted he did just wake up from exhausting himself with Spear and Cornelia to find both gone. His armor had been taken away to get repaired by a smith; Valruost was sitting on a nearby table Aria not wanting to let that out of her side just in case it caused potential problems.

"Sheesh; one injury and I'm out; Aria I know she loves me and is concerned for my health but really if I recovered completely I should be fine; besides if anyone is going to perform scientific tests on me it should be Dorothea" Tatsumi thought to himself, then realized that would be another headache entirely because Dorothea may want to confine him to her lab for more than two days possibly a week.

He hated not being able to do anything to help the people of the Empire, to try and make the world better, to improve his own skills, to find any leads about his family and who they may be; heck even Makoto's play sessions counted because he was building a strong relationship with the young Emperor.

Tatsumi's thoughts were interrupted be a door opening and he noted the arrival of Chelsea carrying a gift basket and Naomi with a number of books from Lubbock's store. "Hey Tatsumi I brought you a gift basket" Chelsea greeted and set the basket on the nightstand nearby; inside the basket were some sweets, cherry pops mainly but some chocolates, as well as some fruits mainly grapes and plums and large card with the words "Get well soon" in bright red on the cover.

"Thanks Chelsea" Tatsumi replied.

"And I brought you some books: Yami and Lubbock's get well soon gift, I told them what books you liked to read and they got you some" Naomi explained and put her gift next to Chelsea's.

"Thanks Naomi" Tatsumi replied and half-smiled.

"Are you feeling bad?" Naomi asked.

"I feel as healthy as a bull aurochs Naomi; I really am ready to get back and out in the world try and make it better, I hate being cooped up in here" Tatsumi replied.

"I see: Tatsumi you need rest from all the work you've been doing a vacation of sorts" Naomi replied.

"Please as long as Honest is alive I can't see myself going on vacation with him and a number of other people trying to kill me with hired assassins daily" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi: you need a break; it's a weekend get some rest and when Aria's done with her medical work you can get back out in the field" Chelsea replied, Tatsumi frowned causing Chelsea to have to think. "I know what will cheer you up; how about a nice refreshing swim in your favorite hot springs: I'm sure Aria won't mind: Naomi go ask her if that would be ok" Chelsea explained after a long thought.

"Sure anything to cheer our beloved Tatsumi up and bring him out of this funk" Naomi replied "By the way I'm going out there with you; I love hot baths" Naomi added, and left making sure to give Tatsumi something to look at with the way she walked.

"Alright Tatsumi I know you're annoyed with Aria for holding you in medical reserve but Aria's your doctor and she's also your first wife she knows what is best for your health; especially when you are now capable of regenerating the most brutal wounds possible" Chelsea said seriously with her face showing extreme concern.

"I know that she knows what's best for my health but I really hate not being able to do anything to make things better in the Empire even if it's just small things like playing with Makoto and giving him stuff to do, or cleaning up the streets of criminals or helping people in need of help or spending time with Fal Air and Luna" Tatsumi responded.

"I know you have a strong heart, you really are dedicated to making things better, was that your intention when you first came here?" Chelsea replied.

"Well originally I was coming to the Capital to make my fortune and somehow manage to work my way up to a position of power where I could lift the high taxes on my village: but after Leone conned me out of my money and Aria took me in I've wanted to make things better; I really think Aria's given me a new look on things in a way I want to repay her for all she's done for me by doing my absolute hardest to make thing better" Tatsumi replied, Chelsea kissed him.

"And that's why I love your Tatsumi, you're not only just strong and handsome but you have a big heart; you put other people's need over your own and you are eager to help, not just that you are determined as well as above the corruption of the world and most importantly you are just with a care for doing the right thing no matter what even if it isn't the best thing to do in a situation even in a matter of life or death to a point you will to endanger yourself to save anyone even an enemy; hell you are both the bravest man and most foolish man I've ever met" Chelsea replied breaking the kiss Tatsumi then pulled her onto the bed to kiss her more.

The kisses broke and Tatsumi was about to start removing Chelsea's clothes when she stopped him. "Hey Tatsumi save that for springs; it's a way better venue for this sort of thing" Chelsea remarked, then climbed off the bed only to note the door open and into the room came Merraid in her basic black holding a box of chocolates.

"Hello Chelsea; Tatsumi: I uh- came to see how you were doing Tatsumi and I brought you a get well soon gift" Merraid explained blushing, she then walked over and placed the box next Chelsea's gift basket; then leaned next to Tatsumi and gave him a kiss on he forehead. "Get well soon Tatsumi; the last thing I need is to lose one of the few men who've treated me with kindness and respect" Merraid explained then left the room.

Shortly... "Damn it; why did Chelsea have to be there if she wasn't there we could have talked together" Merraid remarked to Gilberda.

"Dang that hurts: you know when I've approached Tatsumi it's mainly been to just look at him from a distance: I've never actually tried to talk to him; so, if you want advice on how to approach him I think you should ask Sheele or Leone, heck even the Boss would know how to approach him" Gil replied.

"I've got to take a different approach; I'm going to talk to Akame I think if anybody knows how to approach him its her" Merraid stated and left.

"Well at least she's optimistic" Gil remarked to herself.

Back with Tatsumi and Chelsea… "So Chelsea that was unusual; I've never seen Merraid act like that before" Tatsumi remarked.

"Tatsumi you have no idea what you've done; by getting into bed with and marrying Esdeath you really gave Merraid a rethink of her views; she's conflicted about how she feels about you. She really cares about you and I'm sure she loves you; she has been asking me for advice on how to approach you but she hasn't ever been in this kind of situation before she's great at seducing and romancing women she has 27 lovers with that regard; but you you're an enigma to her Tatsumi" Chelsea explained.

"Well that's comforting, should I approach her?" Tatsumi asked.

"No, that may do more harm than good; you see her feelings towards men are complicated; in order for you to understand that you need to know more about our clan and its history also about Merraid herself; and her relationships which by the way if you and her hook up every girl she's with will end up with you by extension; they've made a promise as a group to marry the man who'd win her heart" Chelsea explained.

"Alright then tell me about your family and the history of it" Tatsumi replied.

"Well Tatsumi you are in for one interesting story: my family has one of the oldest histories in the Empire, going back even before the Empire was born, and I happen to be the caretaker of our history which has been preserved thru oral traditions and collection of calligraphy scrolls." Chelsea explained then began the history lesson.

"The Eastern provinces have a history with my family, back before the first Emperor, the Shadow Queens of the Oarburgh ruled the eastern lands between the heartlands of the Empire and the Eastern Kingdom, long did they maintain their dominance, not just thru marshal might but thru intrigue on a master scale: you see the Oarburgh Clan was the greatest of the clans that dwelled in the Matahai Mountains that lie at the core of the Eastern provinces and we are a clan of assassins. We don't know who the first Oarburgh to create our techniques, our training, our poisons, and weapons worthy of the trade but we do know our ancestors who have done great deeds Tatsumi." Chelsea explained. "The Shadow Queendom ruled the eastern borderlands for a long time before the Empire always managing to withstand external threats from whatever direction they came; and when the Empire rose our realm was not conquered by force but by diplomacy; you see the First Emperor took the Shadow Queen and three of her daughters to wife however there was an agreement that the children born of their line would bare their family name and rule their ancestral lands; in exchange for this the fairest of woman and greatest of assassins served the First Emperor; who's reign lasted a century" Cheslea elaborated. "The assassins of our order are only women; men are not permitted to join our ranks and instead serve as the footsoldiers and merchants of our house; or did; because you see in our family women hold all the power. After the death of the First Emperor the Empire went thru four generations of successful Emperors over 200 years; during that time our clan amassed great power at the Imperial court and with that influence above the royal family and succession and the First Oarburgh Empress Merraid the Shadowqueen took the throne at the age of 18 and during this period moved the Capital from Melitine to our ancestral seat of Tokarra." Chelsea explained.

"But all this power did not come without it's share of enemies; our clan operated as assassins for hire among the noble families of the Empire; our price was quite expensive and to hire our services was to hire the best assassins in the Empire, our services to this day are not cheap, not even remotely. With death of Empress Merraid the Shadowqueen the realm was thrown into a succession crisis, as Merraid's oldest Daughter Merraid II was heir apparent however the Council of Nobles disagreed and held a council for succession, during this the children of various bloodlines claiming descent from the Golden Emperor, The First Emperor himself, argued that they had a better claim as did the two younger brothers of Merraid" Chelsea explained.

"That sounds like a civil war in the making" Tatsumi remarked, when Naomi came into the room.

"We'll talk more about my family history later: Naomi what did Aria say about the springs?" Chelsea asked.

"Well Aria said it was ok but that we have to be with him at all times and if he tries leaving for the city we are to detain him" Naomi explained.

"Ouch, detain me: Aria is way too concerned about me, though honestly she is probably right: I know nothing about medicine beyond basic first aid and the cures for some minor ailments a number of which Aria has told me aren't the best cure" Tatsumi replied.

They went outside to the springs, disrobed and climbed in. "Ah so refreshing I've missed this so much" Tatsumi remarked easing himself into water.

"You're not the only one Tatsumi" Chelsea replied kissing him.

"Hey I get first dibs, I've never done him in the hot springs before Chelsea" Naomi remarked, Chelsea moved over and let Naomi go to kiss Tatsumi.

"You look a lot like your sister without your glasses" Tatsumi remarked, Naomi blushed and kissed him on the lips; their kiss was tender; not chaste but not lustful either; it was loving, Chelsea kissed Tatsumi on the cheek and massaged his back with her breasts wrapping her arms around him.

As the three engaged in this behavior Merraid watched from above taking mental notes in the positions. "So interesting it looks like Chelsea took my lessons on sex to heart in the way she's handling him; caressing him from the rear while Naomi scissors him from the front; or rather he penetrates her from the front; eck this going to take some getting used to" Merraid thought to herself; Akame told her it would be a good idea to stalk Tatsumi and try and figure out what made him tick.

"Yes Tatsumi do your thing what is it that makes them fall for you so much; I don't understand remotely, I've never seen a man get this much love and affection from woman, he's- as good as cajoling them as me: Riyuki the watermelon merchant slash Imperial spy she is a good case of seduction done, I got to know her; probed her knowledge by trying to see if she was genuine which she wasn't about her general work then I persuaded her to see the light about why the Empire is wrong, then I convinced her my way is a way to enjoy life and to be a true master of subterfuge; then once I earned her trust and learned what she was interested in show her my true feelings; now she is one of my dearest lovers and one of the best members of our clan. Cassandra needed her and the others I brought under my sway as her protectors: nobody knows assassins like an Oarburgh; and nobody knows how to recruit new members like I do" Merraid thought to herself then smiled at the moans; she had to restrain herself, the whole thing was making her exceedingly horny; if she didn't show restrant she'd throw off all her clothes and jump into the water with him and others and lose herself in lust and passion. "That would be a way to earn his love and affection but I can't just throw myself at him like a harlot and expect results: in fact the idea of that is repulsive; I can't just give up my maidenhood to him even if I do have feelings for him even if I do love him; if I want to give it to him he'll have to prove himself to me: I spread my legs for no man save the one who can show me I'm wrong" Merraid thought to herself, Gil poked her.

"By those three are at it like rabbits" Gilberda commented, they were both in a tree that was a safe distance from the springs, close enough they could watch but also far enough that they wouldn't be heard.

"I know it is both beautiful and repulsive at the same time; for a woman to give herself to man like that its- repugnant, unless he's absolutely earned it; even then he must prove his affection to her by doing his best to keep her love" Merraid replied, then the clouds darkened and rain began to fall; Merraid put up her umbrella to cover them in the trees: Tatsumi and his lovers didn't mind the rain, the water from the springs was keeping them warm and they themselves were keeping each other warm.

"That is one impressive position; you've tried that one before I wonder what it feels like when a man is doing a girl from behind" Gil commented as Tatsumi backdoored Chelsea.

"Extremly different: Gil I think we should leave; I'm getting way too horny and if I watch him for much longer I'm going to jump into the water with him" Merraid replied.

"Well you go ahead and leave Mera I'm going right ahead see for myself what it feels like: you want specifics?" Gilberda responded.

"What? You'd go over to him that easily; Gil I thought you were stronger then this?" Merraid replied.

"I've been wanting to do him since our first mission with each other: you haven't seen him in action, he is an impressive fighter, braver then any other guy I've met and willing to take a bullet for someone else: besides I'm learning from you; when you see someone you like you don't shadow them from a distance you go right for them and try to get inside their pants: I'm a bit more direct or I think I am" Gil replied then jumped from the tree, Merraid winced and retreated to HQ and decided to chat with someone who knew how to approach Tatsumi and who wouldn't mind giving her advice: Sheele.

Meanwhile… As Tatsumi came in Chelsea he heard a twig snap; they stopped and reached for their weapons; however, they were surprised by Gilberda who had striped off clothes and dived into the water. "I can't resist anymore: Damn what Merraid thinks of me after this: Tatsumi! I love you; you are the hottest guy I've ever met and the nicest one; you treat woman with respect more than that you honer your commitments; if you get a girl pregnant you care for your shared child, if a woman is pregnant on a mission you spare her life; in fact you are so nice towards woman I can't see any true fault in you other than one isn't enough for you but who cares about that who am I to judge I've done plenty of girls in my time but never a guy because none have met my exacting standerds: I'm yours' ravish me!" Gilberda yelled as she emerged from the water her hair soaked and eyes full of lust, she then kiss Tatsumi on the lips holding onto him despite Chelsea's attempts to pull her off him.

"What the Hell Gil!? Have you gone nuts and what were you doing out here you pervert?" Chelsea interrogated, Gil ignored her and kissed Tatsumi who wasn't resisting he was blushing and returning her kiss.

"I'm not getting involved in this" Naomi remarked from the sidelines. "If she wants him let her; its not like she's doing any harm to him and he's enjoying himself" Naomi added, Chelsea looked at Naomi with annoyance then looked at Tatsumi and Gil and blushed the two as they continued kissing.

"Great that makes everything more complicated" Chelsea thought. "I wonder though" she continued thinking then got out of the water; dried off with her nearby towel, redressed and left the springs.

"Great now I'm watching these two" Naomi remarked to herself.

Tatsumi broke the kiss unaware that Chelsea had ran off; he entered Gil; taking her virginity and continued kissing her as he thrusted in and out: Naomi moved over massaged Tatsumi's backside while he gave Gil his best.

Shortly… Chelsea dashed inside Night Raid HQ not finding Merraid at her post which was not a surprise finding Bulat sitting their snoozing. "Wake up!" Chelsea yelled as she ran past him awakening Bulat from his slumber causing him to refocus his attention; Chelsea then proceeded to Merraid's room and knocked.

"Who is it?" Merraid teased.

"You know its me: What the Hell were you doing, I don't appreciate being spied on when Tatsumi and I are in the springs ever: so come out here right now you pervert!" Chelsea replied, Merraid opened the door.

"So, what: not like you haven't done it before" Merraid replied.

"And you let Gil just run off and throw herself at Tatsumi?!" Chelsea replied.

"Yes, and why shouldn't I have, Gilberda is allowed to make her own choices and if she determines she wants to throw herself at Tatsumi-ku-sun its who am I to stop her" Merraid replied with a smirk.

"You really have no clue how to approach him do you: look at yourself Mera: you're not a voyeur, you aren't a stalker either; you need to go about this with Tatsumi the same way you would another girl you're interested in" Chelsea replied.

"I'm sorry: I won't spy on you and Tatsumi doing that again; you're lucky and Gil is lucky; she- she's braver then me; speaking of how is she doing" Merraid apologized and asked.

"At the moment she's busy fucking my husband to be; why aren't you thinking clearly" Chelsea replied.

"Because I've never felt like this for man before!" Merraid replied then slammed the door shut and cried leaving Chelsea to return to the springs.

Back the Springs. "Tatsumi-kun; this is- way better then anything I've ever experienced before: I can't compare this to anything else: nobody I've been with before was like this" Gil moaned out as Tatsumi thrusted into her.

"It's great isn't it; Gil you are tight: you were a virgin before this?" Tatsumi remarked.

"Define a virgin, if you mean virgin in the sense, I've never had my maidenhood snaped yes; but if you mean I've never had sex: Tatsumi you know I've been with Merraid and a few other girls besides. Granted I will admit you are doing something none of them ever could. You're in and have found spots I didn't know existed until now: OH! This is the most pleasurable thing I've ever felt!" Gil exclaimed.

"Good then you should know I'm cumming!' Tatsumi warned.

"Then do so inside me: I want to feel what that feels like to have my loins filled!" Gilberda responded, Tatsumi came.

"You know there are other things you can do with him you can't do with girls Gil" Naomi replied. "Tatsumi could you sit on the edge for a bit" Naomi requested, Tatsumi oblidged and parked himself on a ridge where warm water flowed against his back: keeping him warm despite the rain fall.

Gilberda came over and saw Tatsumi's length and was amazed. "That was what was inside of me? Damn that thing is huge; it puts a horse's to shame" Gil remarked. "So what do I do with it?" Gil asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate" Naomi replied and wrapped her breasts along the length to Gil's surprised.

"Wow!" Gil exclaimed impressed.

"I haven't even gotten to the best part; watch what happens when I moved them up and down" Naomi replied and demonstrated this to Gil, it caused Tatsumi to moan, but it was a different kind then he did when he was inside Gil, it was a moan of a guy who was in bliss. "Now you try" Naomi replied and stopped, allowing Gil to move over and press wrap her breasts around his length too, her d-cups were perfect for this though she wondered that if she had bigger boobs would he moan louder. Gil then began to rub it up and down all the while she grabbed Naomi and kissed her.

"Gil?" Naomi questioned breaking the kiss.

"Not your type?" Gil replied.

"No; but go ahead continue, you can teach me some things too that way we can make threesomes or moresomes more enjoyable in the future" Naomi replied as they continued to rub Tatsumi up and down. They resumed kissing and Tatsumi blushed.

"How many more girls are going to fall for me: I'm one guy and I have all this luck?" Tatsumi thought to himself. "Ieyasu you are so lucky this whole get rich scheme of yours by having us go to Capital has been so fruitful because if it wasn't I'd wring your neck; if you were still alive" Tatsumi thought; he then thought what the hell Merraid's reaction would be that he was banging her lover: that didn't sound like a good thing to have to go thru.

But that didn't matter at the moment at moment Gilberda was doing her best to try and pleasure him with Naomi's help, Gil and Naomi proceed to blow him their tongues licking on either side before alternating taking it into the mouth; Gil was extremely eager and did this with mastery, apparently eating out other women gave experience with sucking dick. "Gil" Tatsumi moaned, then he couldn't take it anymore and came all over both of them.

Gil licked up the creampie on her face and boobs. "Yum, Mera doesn't know what she's missing this is delicious" Gil commented. "Alright Tatsumi I want you to take me in the ass I want to know what it feels like to get it from behind by a man" Gil explained, Tatsumi climbed into the water as Gil moved to the edge and presented her rear to him invitingly; Tatsumi entered her snapping her black cherry. "OH! That is sooo good! I've- pound me Tatsumi do it!" Gil moaned.

Tatsumi obliged and thrust in aggressively and fast; Naomi came over and made out with him as rode Gil doggy style; he also sucked her breasts drinking from her grey nipples; as he kept going riding her like a he would a horse.

Chelsea returned and disrobed and jumped into the water and kissed Tatsumi. "Where did you go?" Tatsumi asked.

"I had a gut intuition and I followed it; Tatsumi you should know we were being watched" Chelsea remarked while massaging his back with her breasts.

"I know we were I'm currently banging our voyeur who is enjoying this" Tatsumi replied.

"Gil wasn't the only- never mind I'll talk about this later" Chelsea replied.

Two hours later… Tatsumi laid back on the bed Aria was examining him. "Alright Tatsumi you are perfectly fine still though I'm keeping an eye on you: one more day of bed rest and you can get back in the field" Aria explained.

"I really think I'm fine as is Aria-chan" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm the doctor here Tatsumi-kun; you still need another day here before I'll feel comfortable letting you loose" Aria replied then left him.

About 10 minutes later the door opened and Chelsea walked in. "So Tatsumi, let's get back to our little history lesson" Chelsea greeted then climbed onto the bed and laid next to him.

"Alright then lets continue you left off on the brink of a civil war right?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes; the succession crisis escalated rather quickly into a full scale war after Merraid II had one of the lead challengers to her position as queen assassinated by Oarburgh assassins; the war was a rather brutal affair, the real reason among these rival factions that weren't loyal to our clan was to try and unseat our clan from our position of control over the Imperial throne; however they fought amongst themselves as well; five Emperors were crowned between the opposition factions and thus the conflict was called the war of the Five Emperors. the conflict lasted 30 years until someone rose to power: The Dragon Emperor. he was of the blood of the First Emperor and defeated the other factions with ease after he discovered his heritage; he was a general of Empress Merraid II who was actually the bastard son of her mother; the conflict ended and our clan lost influence in the Imperial court; not completely but we were a shadow of our former glory; however the blood of the Oarburgh clan still flows strong in the Imperial bloodline; however that blood is no relation to mine at the moment there are only three true blooded Oarburghs left in the world, how far our clan has fallen from grace" Chelsea explained.

"So how about your family how did you get to where it is now; it sounded like your family was rich by your account" Tatsumi asked.

"We fell on hard times: once we were the most prestigious assassins in the Empire; any target would be eliminated for the right price and that price was exorbidant and only the few could afford it; the only code we operated by was to not harm children or those who could bare them; our targets were eliminated swiftly and when they least expected it: over all we were successful" Chelsea explained "Our family itself was complicated; our mother died in childbirth giving birth to me and Taeko; Mera was the only one who apart from our father could care for us; Mera was kind and caring for our family she was also adventurous and bold." Chelsea explained.

"So why is it that Merraid hates men; she's lesbian I get that but hating men the way she does I don't understand that" Tatsumi interrupted.

"Well I can answer both of those things; first off it isn't uncommon to be lesbian in our clan in fact it a tradition to love women for unit cohesion to go beyond just being a sister but a lover; we operate in groups and to love and understand the people in your group is to have a reason to fight that is stronger then any other" Chelsea explained. "I personally though am as straight as an arrow. I can love my sisters without engaging in sex with them or other girls that have joined our group over the years: consider me and Taeko the odd balls of our group we are exception not the rule." she added. "Anyway Merraid; her hatred of men comes of trauma when I was four and she was seven; during a day at the market Merraid being adventurous as she is wandered off from Dad and the rest off us. She was lured off by men offering her candy; who took her captive; they fondled her and touched her in ways that were down right despicable; before they could rape her our father found them and saved Mera from her fate; along with a few other assassins from our clan; the fight was intense as the men were sellswords who had experience with fighting with assassins; during the fighting our father was mortalily wounded. As he lay there dying, he told Mera how proud he was of her and to not let something like this happen again to anyone especially herself or her sisters. Ever since then Merraid has hated men and thinks most of them are scum with no respect for woman: I've tried to explain to her that not all men are evil and that the vast majority of men are good people and that monsters like that aren't as rampant as she thinks" Chelsea explained frowning.

"By the looks of things it hasn't worked: she really does take pleasure in killing men; so how did she meet Esdeath?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that one happened when she was 12 and hormones were in her mind; you see after my father's death Grandma Barbara took us in and raised us however while we were decently well off our family fortune was no where near what it was and Grandma in her old age had taken up the role as teacher for those who wished to learn the art of the assassin; however she was a firm believer in independent thinking and that one should train from a young age, Mera is the best of us and was her finest student." Chelsea explained. "You see Mera in her adventurous state decided to fight in the arena as a gladiator to prove herself; in the arena boughts were fought to entertain and not to kill as that was against the rules: granted it sometimes happened Mera managed to do this and killed her first man in her first fight he was twice her age but she used a solor-plexus kick to knock him down and gouged out his eyes before beating in his skull to the delight of the crowd; the officials didn't mind as sometimes death matches occurred. Mera fought in the arena whenever she wasn't training and during one of her bouts, she fought the only woman who ever managed to beat her: Esdeath" Chelsea explained.

"So how did Esdeath nearly kill her?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh that: well after their first bought Mera found Esdeath on the edge of town living by herself in a small camp she had made; they were both twelve and Mera talked with Esdeath and found a few shared interests and Esdeath respected her strength when Merraid confessed her feelings Esdeath rejected her; Mera insisted and attempted to kiss her but Esdeath drew a knife and tried to stab her and scared Mera off. Ever since then Merraid has lost herself in the embraces of other women and though she loves every one of her lovers she hoped one day to prove herself worthy of Esdeath's affections: Tatsumi you have no idea what you have done to her: you have taken from her the thing she wanted most in life and she could've hated you for it; instead she not only respects you for it and even loves you" Chelsea explained

"So how many lovers does Merraid have?" Tatsumi asked.

"27, a number of them were Imperial spies she managed to turn over to our side; but there is one lover she has that stands above the others and that is- "Chelsea was about to explain when the door opened and Akame walked in with gift basket.

"Chelsea: I didn't expect you to be here; but Najenda needed you to spy out a potential target: a zookeeper who's according to our leads kidnapping people and feeding them to his carnivorous animals" Akame explained, Chelsea left the room leaving Tatsumi with Akame.

"Here Tatsumi; I brought a gift basket, some candy I managed to get from a village shop along with a few muffins I know you like poppyseed muffins" Akame replied and put it next to the other gift baskets he had been receiving. "Tatsumi we need to talk" Akame explained.

"About what Akame? I'd like to know? Also were you serious about Chelsea needing to run spy work or was that just an excuse to get her out of the room?" Tatsumi asked.

"I was serious about Najenda wanting Chelsea to run some spy work; as for what I want to talk to you about its about me and my lover and her feelings for you" Akame explained.

"Wait you have a lover and it's a she: Akame you never struck me as being lesbian" Tatsumi commented.

"I'm bi-sexual: look Tatsumi my lover is Merraid; I'm sure Chelsea already told you she has feelings for you, well its very serious I didn't expect her to actively stalk you but now I think you and her need to spend some time together" Akame explained.

"So its Merraid; how did you two become a couple?" Tatsumi asked.

"When I and the other members of the Elite Seven left the Empire we went rogue and assassinated many prominent leaders of the Empire but also a few potential defectors and a couple of Revolutionary army commanders: we were loose cannons and really didn't follow a command structure; there were five of us, myself Cornelia, Gin, Poney and Tsukushi and we killed whom ever our intel led us to, we used the techniques we learned as members of the Elite Seven to kill our targets methodically and with no regard for mercy; Muramase belonged to our mentor Gozuki who died in the Southern Campaign and I used it alongside my other blade Korrichimonjii which was another Teigu that allow itself to cut thru anything. Before you ask what happened to my other blade I hid after a mission that killed a few people who had sought vengeance for those I killed as a member of The Elite Seven; I know where it is and when I decide to take it up again I will." Akame explained.

"As to how I met Merraid, well we got conflicted when a person we genuinely respected within Imperial High command was selected as our Target; we didn't understand why as the man in question was always an upstanding citizen who had no faults, he was loyal to his family, didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't do drugs of any kind, didn't even gamble, overall he was the model of an upstanding citizen and good person. Because of our conflicts with this we were assigned under a group of senior operatives; the Oarburgh Clan" Akame explained.

"You might think me more conflicted then I've ever been because I was asked to kill a person that I thought had been good by people who were half a mind to kill us for war crimes; so I really didn't know what to do. For the mission we were each assigned a partner and Merraid choose me out of respect because while my group was somewhat secret it wasn't from the Oarburghs whose training was at the heart of the Elite Seven's techniques; Mera redirected my focus by showing me the truth about our target and reminding me why we fought and what wrong with the Empire that needed changing" Akame explained.

"What was the truth about your target?" Tatsumi asked.

"The man was the most rotten person in the Empire next to Honest; he had a private estate that only he and few people knew about, his family knew nothing of it because he needed them to present his cover; the Estate was a roach motel, it was designed that anyone he invited in never came out; he had a murder room dedicated to whomever he wanted to kill; and before killing them he would torture and rape them; men and woman, children to heck even animals were safe from his abuse; he once carved open a old woman's dog right in front of her to show her what it looked like before raping and torturing her to death" Akame explained. "His guards took their share as well; eventually however he slipped up and one of his victims managed to escape and told the Revolutionary army about him and his house of horrors. They sent spies to verify it and of that team few came back and those that did testified fully of his crimes" Akame explained.

"Before the mission Mera showed me the reason we fought; on our way we came to a village that had been razed by Imperial soldiers who had done it for sport, we killed them shortly after catching up to them; when we arrived at the town I was reminded of the squalor the average citizen of the Empire lived in under Honest's rule; people reduced to eating little amounts of rice mixed with water survive and how woman would sell their bodies to any man who would pay them money to get a baguette of bread to feed their families; widows striped, children sold as slaves and being whipped for sport; daily beheadings for the entertainment of sick nobles and the fact that when thieves robbed local troops sat around and laughed at it" Akame explained.

"The clincher came when I saw the house of horrors myself: I would have killed our target then and there had Merraid not beaten me to the punch; she summoned her insects which laid eggs in his skin and gnawed his insides out and flesh from outside leaving him a hollowed-out husk in place of a living person." Akame explained.

"After we had cleared the place, we burned it to the ground; it was so vile the things done that I became depressed after seeing the victims in all my years I hadn't seen anything so vile; so sick and depraved that it broke me for a time, months actually. Mera managed to bring me out of that slump with concern, carring and love; she didn't just seduce me, she romanced me; gave me something I never had before: love, Tatsumi, love I hadn't received it beyond the feelings I had for Kurome and that's a matter of family and concern, but never did anyone ever treat me with romantic love; I gave her my first kiss and first time with joy; she and I made passionate love; her breasts pressed against mine and our tongues locked in passion, our womenhoods pressed against eachother grinding and rubbing in passion tell we came; then she carressed my breasts from behind as she rubbed her loins against my ass and massaged my back with her breasts: it is and was love: we've always kept our feelings though a secret from the others in our group apart from her sisters they know but no one else does; not even Najenda" Akame explained.

"So, what is her feelings towards me" Tatsumi asked.

"Her feelings for you are well a lot like hers for me; she and I made a promise Tatsumi that if ever I found a man worthy of love we would both marry him and have his children; that's something I've always wanted Tatsumi; my own family one that I can raise myself and not have to take the abuse my parents gave me growing up or have to serve in an Empire from a young age; I want to be a mother of my own children and have them live in a time of peace, under an Empire that is just and caring, one that treats the rot and removes it whereever it emerges; one that cares for the common person and is invested in the well-being of them. I just want love and Mera wants it too; dreams of it" Akame replied then to Tatsumi's surprise kissed him.

Akame broke the kiss, then said. "Tatsumi you are the man for Merraid; you are kind caring, willing to put yourself at risk for the innocents, doing the right thing when it isn't the best thing; you haven't become numb to killing like I have and don't enjoy it which I have to admit I'm guilty of it; killing is second nature to me and a reflex. You treat those you love with respect and are willing to sacrifice yourself for others; you don't run from your responsibilities you do them and you ask if there is more for you to do, and importantly you are strong willed and handsome; your only flaw is that sometimes you do the right thing regardless of whether it is the best thing and you aren't willing to kill when it may be the best thing to do" Akame explained.

"Akame: you should tell Mera to come and see me; I'm sure we can do something we need some time alone and well just need to talk" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'll do that I will warn you though Tatsumi; break Mera's heart and she won't be the only person that will strive to kill you, Muramase's poison is worse then the Oarburgh Clan's family poison and like their poison it can't be cured" Akame warned, then left the room.

Akame soon walked into Merraid's room where Merraid was in the process of painting her nails; the room was decorated in a rather insect style theme with butterfly and bettle decorated sheets and wall paper and a fine bed with curtains decorated with spider webs. "Mera" Akame greated.

"Akame: glad to see you my love; any day on which I can gaze upon your beauty is a great day for me" Merraid replied. "I must see to your nails you are overdue for a manquiere.

"Look Mera we need to talk" Akame explained.

"About what?" Merraid replied.

"Tatsumi: I know how you feel for him and he feels the same he wants you to see him: I know you might think that's a demand its not Mera it is a request; come on you know how I feel for him; he's perfect for us: I know you want children and so do I and well he's the best way for it" Akame replied.

"I- you know I was about to say he's a womanizer but that isn't really the case woman love him; for his kindness, his looks, everything about him its complete relatable in a way he's like us; someone who has lost much to this cruel world we live in and to the corruption that lurks in the Empire's heart; I-" Merraid stammered and kissed Akame on the lips and Akame kissed her back.

"Love him?" Akame asked.

"Yes I do! I love Tatsumi, Akame he is perfect the only man who's ever proven himself worthy of me, not just of me but of every good woman out there without someone to love as there own and those like me who have woman to love but want children" Merraid admitted.

"Good now are you going to tell him?" Akame countered.

"Yes; but first I need to give myself some courage" Merraid replied and kissed Akame holding her hands Akame kissed back and broke her grip to grab her ass.

"Now let's see to getting you out of that dress" Akame teased.

"Already done" Merraid replied loosing two strings that held her dresss allowing it to far to the floor. "Now for yours" Merraid teased and relieved Akame of her clothes, she in turn relieved Merraid of her underwear save her silk stockings, they looked at each other their lovely D-cup breasts expose for their eyes only. Merraid picked her up and carried her to their bed and they pressed their breasts against eachother and kissed passionately as they rubbed their vaginas against the other. Merraid broke the kiss and kissed down to Akame's left breast, licking it and teasing it before she began drinking.

"OH!" Akame moaned as Merraid drank, of the girls whose milk Merraid drank from she always considered Akame to be at the top. "Oh that's so good" Akame moaned, Merraid stopped and went lower to Akame's loins and spread the folds open with her fingers allowing her to insert her tongue inside. Merraid licked Akame's insides; she knew where Akame liked it the most and teased her going to her other liked parts before going to where she liked it most. "Oh Mera: Oh!" Akame moaned, not there yet. "warmer yes! Oh! Even warmer! UGH!" Akame moaned as Merraid teased her all while Akame looked into her lovely violet eyes that teased her just as much and Merraid looked into her crimson eyes and saw the love in them.

"Yes I know you too well Akame" Merraid thought. "Hello there you are" Merraid thought and inserted her tongue to that spot sucked.

"AHOH! There keep going lick it, lick my pussy Mera" Akame moaned as Merraid has just struck her g-spot, Merraid stoped licking and put her fingers in the place of her tongue and turned to Akame's right breast to tend to it, she also looked at Akame's face: she was smiling and full of joy and happiness.

"I love it when you're happy Akame; its so rare to get you to show emotion, and I love being able to get you to loosen up" Merraid stated as she stopped drinking, Akame came her orgasm covered Merraid's fingers, she brought them up and licked. "Oh that's the stuff; I've made a mess I've got to clean it up" Merraid joked and got to Akame's pussy and drank up and licked up all the juices. "Alright Akame, bend over: I'm going for that ass of your's and going to do it the way you like it" Merraid ordered Akame flipped over and shook her rear at Merraid.

Merraid climbed on, spooning Akame and rubbed her breasts against her back as she pulled Akame against her and thrusted, her vagina rubbing against Akame's rear. "This is so good Mera" Akame moaned out. "I wonder what it feels like when a guy goes there?" Akame questioned as Merraid thrusted into her sponning against her ample back side: Merraid used one hand to stroke Akame's breast and the other to finger her loins as she kept pounded Akame's rear as much as she could without a dick. "You know that is a thought I hope Tatsumi accepts my feelings for him so we can find out together: well I'll already know because I call first dibs" Merraid replied.

"Leave it to you: you always go right for what you want if you want it and when you want it: me I'm just on the receiving end" Akame replied.

"Oh yes; speaking off I think it's your turn to give me pleasure" Merraid state stopping, Akame turned around and pushed Merraid back, she was on top now and she began drinking from Merraid's breasts. "AH! Akame you're great: my tits their yours milk them like you always do: yes rub your pussy against mine give me all that love: fuck me! Fuck Me!" Merraid moaned out and Akame kept grinding her as she drank Merraid. This would last for about another hour as far was Merraid wanted, but she was cut off after Akame gave her two rounds.

"Mera you are going to go Tatsumi your feelings now: I've already told him mine" Akame explained.

"Shit! Akame why didn't you tell me that before: I wouldn't have wasted precious time: granted time spent with my lovely Akame is not time wasted, but still I could have been doing these things to him" Merraid replied climbing off the bed, getting dressed and putting on fine perfume.

Later… Tatsumi sat and read his new books, they were about the history of Empire something that of late he found himself more interested in what with his being descended from the Dragon Emperor. Overall he was extremely interested in anything about this famous ancestor of his but as far as books that were brought to him and pretty much anything on this ancestor of his was as Dorothea had said to him before was mostly legend; with the most accurate historical records of the Dragon Emperor lost during the civil wars that resulted following his death along side the knowledge of how to create new Tiegus.

This wasn't to say he didn't learn anything new from these books, he learned a great deal about Imperial politics and the rulers of the Empire both the good and bad ones, the latter being common, as well as numerous principles about how the Empire was run. Overall his interest in this was serious and the way that Imperial taxes were collected reminded him of the reason he came to the Capital city of Melitine in the first place: the high taxes on his village.

"Next time Aria comes in here I want to see her father; he's Minister of the Treasury I'm sure he'll manage to lower the taxes on my home" Tatsumi thought to himself; the door opened and in came Aria with his lunch and Merraid following behind her.

"Here's your lunch Tatsumi; I brought some of my mother's cookies with it too; her hopes you get better" Aria explained.

"Thanks Aria; you know I'm as fit as a bull right now and I'm not having any side-effects- you know what I'm not going to be able to convince you to let me get back in action anytime soon; so I need you to do something for me" Tatsumi replied.

"And that is?" Aria asked.

"Look your dad is now minister of the Treasury thanks to me: I want him to lower the taxes on my home village; its named Karsawa and I want a significant tax break: Honest's taxes have near crippled the place and next season they won't have the means to pay in money and will probably have to start paying in the people of my home; he owes this to me for getting him the position anyway" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; well I'm sure I can get my father to do that: it's not like Honest will notice if one remote village gets a tax break; besides that, was the reason you came here in the first place so you can mark one of your original goals off the list" Aria replied.

"Thanks Aria; remind me to thank your father later when you'll let me leave HQ" Tatsumi replied.

"Gladly I'll tell him that personally" Aria replied then kissed him on the cheek and left. "See you later Tatsumi-kun" Aria added as she left.

Merraid pulled up a chair and sat down next to Tatsumi. "Good I'm glad we are alone now; Tatsumi we need to talk" Merraid explained.

"Sure Merraid; Cookie?" Tatsumi replied and offered, Merraid took the offered peanut butter cookie and took a bite.

"Yum; Mrs. Grundel's cookies are amazing; Aria should bring some here more often, that or I should go into town more often" Merraid replied.

"Any reason why you don't head into town often, it's not like you have a wanted poster" Tatsumi asked.

"Two reasons actually, the first being that everyone I care deeply for apart from Chelsea and Taeko does have a wanted poster, the other is that whenever I go into town it usually results in me beating the crap out of every guy who tries to flirt with me; I hate men who act like pigs which a lot do, they think with the little head more often then the big head which has the brain in it; good men are extremely rare and even among Night Raid the only truly decent guy I'd give chance to is Bulat and that's because he isn't remotely attracted to me and he is very polite" Merraid explained. "Well until recently: Tatsumi you have got to be the luckiest man in the world, women throw themselves at you yet you treat them with love and respect; you would gladly throw your life away over a pretty face; and importantly you haven't tried to get fresh with me ever" Merraid explained getting closer to him.

"I understand which is why I sent Akame to get you: look Merraid if you can get Akame to open up and feel happy then you can do that for anyone; you are a wonderful strong independent and brave woman; hell you even tried to flirt with Esdeath when you first met her something I wouldn't have dreamt of doing when I first met her" Tatsumi replied.

"Thanks for your kind words Tatsumi; that is another thing that makes you likeable; you know exactly what to say to a person to get on their good side" Merraid replied. "Now Tatsumi comes that obvious elephant in the room your relationship with Esdeath: you've done what I couldn't ever do; I see what it is though she sees in you; you're young, handsome, kind, caring, brave, dashing, you think with your brain and not your dick, you are a gentlemen and person who is absurdly lucky, and strong as well in both mind and might: you are literally everything a woman would want in a husband, not to mention you take responsibility for your actions you never run from your obligations" Merraid explained.

"I understand" Tatsumi stated, Merraid frowned and turned away.

"Tatsumi what I'm trying to say is- something I'd never thought I'd ever say to any man; I- I- "Merraid stammered and turned around smiling but with tears in her eyes.

"Brace yourself Tatsumi" Valruost warned, Tatsumi did so placing his tray out of the way as Merraid pulled off her dress and jumped on him; wearing what had to be the most seductive underwear ever and kissed him her tongue dominated his mouth and he offered no resistance he let Merraid do her thing.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi's fun would have to come later as something out of his control happened to awaken. In ancient millennia thousands of years before the Empire great Danger Beasts ruled the Empire. Among this were the mighty Cyclops; One eyed giants the size of a small mountain that were smart and cunning, however they were also lazy, they would awaken: devour anything in the area and hibernate for millennia blissfully ignorant of the world around them.

One such giant was Zogothal; a massive ancient among his own kind and one of the largest of his kind as well. He had taken to sleeping in a flat plain after devouring a massive primitive kingdom of humans, over time dirt and rock piled up over him turning him into was looked like a small range of hills; atop on where the only part of him that was visible was a solitary horn atop his brow and that had for centuries mystified people. During his sleep kingdoms rose and fell, the Empire emerged and went thru many conflicts over 5,000 years of history completely ignored by this ancient in his slumber.

This sleep was about to end as some idiot walked up the horn and after some minor pick work declared it to be marble and went to open a new small quarry to mine for it. One such miner delved too deep and struck a pain nerve.

The first thing they felt was shaking of ground beneath them which scared a few to run off into the countryside; the others stood their ground foolishly thinking it an Earthquake only to find themselves proven wrong a giant patch of earth and grass tore open revealing a massive singular eye which was golden in cover but red with rage. Then they heard a loud agonized roar and ran; but not all were fast enough; the pack animals they had brought carried some away fast but others were lifted up as the ground rose; they saw down the range of hills that the ground was being ripped open as hands the size of houses emerged to push a massive bulk up out of the ground, people that had been fortunate to escape the awakening saw the massive Cyclops rise high above the ground, making the palace in Melitine itself look like a dollhouse and humans look like ants; the Cyclops stood 600 feet tall.

"HUMANS!" the Cyclops roared its voice heard from miles away, even thru the stone caverns of Night Raid's base or in the great palace of the Capital itself.

"YOU DARE AWAKEN ME FROM MY SLUMBER: I ZOGOTHAL, THE LORD OF ROGOL PLAINS WILL DESTORY YOU ALL I WILL DEVOUR YOU!" the Cyclops roared. "THE WRATH OF AN ANCIENT COMES YOUR WAY!" Zogothal added and began his march towards the capital clothed in rock and nearly obscuring the noon sun.

Meanwhile in the Imperial Palace… "Esdeath-Nii I'm scared what is that thing!?" Makoto stammed out jumping off the throne and hugging Esdeath something which he was joined in by Fal, Air and Luna.

"I have no idea; but whatever it is the Jaegers and I will deal with it: General Budo! Get his majesty, his sisters and his friends to the royal bunker; also put the Royal Guard and City Guard on full alert; Other ministers and advisors get to the bunkers as well! No protests! Whatever this Zogothal is he is clearly a threat to city" Esdeath explained, Makoto cried into her shirt. "It's okay Makoto everything will alright, I've got this" Esdeath comforted getting on her knees and hugging him and holding him to a shoulder like a mother would their own child.

"Not just that Esdeath-nii please be safe ok?" Makoto replied.

"Don't worry I'm strong I will survive and whatever this ancient is it will die before it will threaten Melitine" Esdeath replied. "General treat his majesty with the respect do his station and keep him safe; along with his friends and sisters, understood?" Esdeath asked.

"Yes, Grand Marshal; I'll lay down my life to keep our Emperor safe" Budo replied.

"Good I'll be getting the Jaegers: we will deal with this: Minister Honest don't do anything stupid: I command military forces here and I won't have you throw lives away needlessly: remember in a military crisis the Grand Marshel takes full command when the Emperor is not able to do so" Esdeath explained.

"Yes, I will do that: if anything, whatever this Zogothal is he is a threat that can back up his word" Honest replied, then bolted with his coat tails behind him in his best Road runner impression without a Willy E Coyotte to chase him an Acme rocket propelled jet pack.

Esdeath ran to the nearest balcony and looked eastward and saw the towering Cyclops and noted how massive it was. "Well looks like a Class-S Danger Beast. A challenge worthy of my strength: wouldn't my father love to see this" Esdeath remarked to herself then made her way to Jaeger HQ as fast as possible using her tiegu to create ice platforms that made getting to HQ a breeze.

She found the other Jaegers standing ready for action minus Tatsumi. "Jaegers: this is a serious crisis I trust you all have seen what we are up against; we have two problems; the Cyclops Zogothal himself and the panic and hysteria he inspires in the people: as such I will be splitting our force in half one team will deal with the Cyclops the other will help the people of the Capital and try to restore order as well as organize an orderaly evacuation if it comes to that: Kurome you'll be in charge of the team that well handle the Capital crisis. Mez, you the other three demons along with Wave, Seryu, Cosmina and Dorothea are with me: we'll deal with Zogothal the rest of you are with Kurome and will handle the city" Esdeath ordered.

"Wait why are you only taking a small team?" Kurome asked.

"Two reasons; I can do most of the heavy lifting and I need you and the others to keep order: Bols you have my permission to help your family first" Esdeath explained.

"You're also expecting Tatsumi to show up wherever he is" Kurome added.

"Yes, wherever my beloved Tatsumi has gotten to I know for a fact I'll find him where the danger is" Esdeath explained, Esdeath took her team and left while Kurome took her team and went into the city.

Meanwhile at Night Raid HQ… "Shit!" Najenda exclaimed taking a look at the Cyclops; who roared.

"You are right boss this isn't going to be easy" Mine remarked

"Yes: this requires our best: Aria I'm counter mending your orders we need Tatsumi for this" Najenda explained to Aria who was staring at the Cyclops.

"No need to do that I'm here and ready for action" Tatsumi stated arriving with Valruost and Smaug at the ready, accompanied by Merraid who had redressed.

"Right this is serious: very serious: I'm going to lead this personally Susanoo I'm going to need you for this; Tatsumi you are given, Merraid I'm going need your abilities for this, Akame I'll need you as well, along with Bulat, Pais, Jervis, Cassandra, Sayo, Aria, and Leone: heavy hitters for this one" Najenda explained.

"Great I'm getting left out of this" Mine commented.

"No Mine I want you and the others to help evacuate the countryside; I want to minimize the loss of life here as much as we can also neutralize any Danger Beasts you can for the same reason: once you've gotten the local area evacuated get the rest of the team in as reinforcements understood?" Najenda ordered.

"Yes Boss" Mine replied.

"Everyone else move out!" Najenda ordered, everyone armed up and got ready for action.

The teams moved out heading towards their objectives; the local danger beast population was running in terror not bothering to go after anybody and simply running for their life. A lot of people they passed were shocked to see them running towards the danger but they paid them no head and kept running.

"Wrigglers ready yourselves!" Merraid ordered and a number of insects materialized, Merraid then used her abilities to alter herself growing a set of butterfly style wings which allowed her flight then drew two yatagan swords and flew ahead of the main group.

"Tatsumi you have the ability to fly as well simply say Smaug: Dragon Flight" Smaug informed Tatsumi.

"Smaug: Dragon Flight!" Tatsumi yelled dawning the dragon armor which grew a set of dragon wings allowing him to fly he was joined by Sayo in his flight.

The group soon arrived at the Cyclops with Tatsumi and Sayo flying up to the eye of the beast. "Hey Ugly! You think you can just march and destroy things unopposed!" Tatsumi taunted.

"Human: you think you can oppose me!?" Zogothal replied looking at the two armor clad warriors, one an angelic beauty the other a man whose face was behind a bestial mask.

"I'm sure you're not Tiegu proof!" Tatsumi replied. "Smaug: Inferno blast!" Tatsumi yelled and a blast of flame struck the Cyclops in the eye causing it to roar in agony.

"And here's to make sure you stay blind: Icarus Arrows of Helios's wrath!" Sayo yelled and unleashed a barrage of light arrows blinding the Cyclops.

"Impressive Tatsu-bunny you too Sayo" Esdeath said arriving with ice wings and Wave in Grand Chariot.

"Esdeath? You can fly?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Yes, amongst other things: my Teigu allows for some interesting possibilities: Ice Giant!" Esdeath replied summoning a collosal ice construct around her to control it. "HEY UGLY! Pick on something your own size!" Esdeath challenged.

"I'll smash you to a pulp!" Zogothal roared.

"Think so try this on for size! Grand Chariot: Salvo!" Wave yelled and missile pods on his shoulders unloaded energy blasts into the Cyclops's chest.

"Four Demons Group attack!" Seryu ordered; the four Rakshasa Demons leapt into action with their teigus ready.

"Have a taste of this!" Mez yelled "Impa's Fury: Pyromania!" Mez yelled and the ground under the Cyclops's feet heated up pinning him in hardened rock.

"I hope you like pain I do" Suzuka remarked. "Sharkoth: Diamond Blade slice!" Suzuka yelled and the massive broadsword's blade turned diamond hard and sharp as she hewed at the towering pillers that were the cyclop's legs causing him to roar in agony.

"You think your hot stuff get a load of this" Ibari taunted "Bonecrusher: Shatter diamond!" Ibari yelled his mace increased in size and with a swing shattered the lower leg bones of the Cyclops causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Time for a beat down!" Sten yelled and swung his flail about running down the long legs and smashing them rending rock hard flesh and ripping it to shreds with glee.

"Here do you like music? Heavy Pressure: Sonet of battle!" Cosmina yelled and the song a battle tune that invigorated the attacker.

"Come on Koro: Go Berserk!" Seryu ordered and Koro assumed his beserk form. "Time for a pain: Chew-Chew Ball Launcher!" Seryu declared and pulled out her latest piece of hardware and fired Chew-Chew balls at spots of Zogothal's body causing the Teigu to gorge on it.

Najenda and her team minus Tatsumi arrived, with Merraid flying up to join Tatsumi in attacking the head of the problem while Esdeath delivered an icy beat down. "Alright GO! Susanoo: Unleash the full power of the Mirror!" Najenda ordered, Susanoo nodded.

"Mirror of Yata!" Susanoo yelled and a massive mirror materialized. "Light of Amaterasu!" Susanoo yelled and a massive beem of light cut throw legs of the Cyclops completely immobilizing the monster, to agonized shrieks.

"Next time for the Arm attacks: Bulat, Pais! Unleash your might alongside your teammates: bull horns formation Team!" Najenda ordered, the group divided into a bull horn attack formation one group led by Bulat attacked the right arm and Pais's group attacked the left bashing the flesh and bone to bits.

Meanwhile… "Hey Tatsumi: I don't you've ever seen my true powers unleashed before" Merraid stated flying up to him and Sayo.

"No I haven't could you show me them" Tatsumi replied.

"Gladly: Wrigglers mass infection: target the Cyclops!" Merraid commanded, and swarms of the insects attacked along the body of the Giant and entered it: boring holes into the flesh and laying eggs inside which burst and caused massed agonizing pain to Zogothal along his entire body.

Meanwhile in a tree near the Cyclops's heart… "Time to end this: Eliminate! Muramase!" Akame declared and leapt out of the tree and drove Muramase repeatedly into the Cyclops's heart. The poison was the last straw; Zogothal had received extreme internal damage from the mass of wrigglers which had wormed their way underneath his skin and inside his body, but the fatal poison of Muramase was just too much for the Cyclops to take.

"MANLINGS NO! I AM UNDONE! AGONY! RELEASE ME!" Zogothal shrieked out as he died; his body a limp.

Shortly afterword… "What a mighty Spine for Pandora: she will be please to have a titan's spine offered to her!" Jervis declared.

"You aren't going to hollow it out now are you?" Cassandra questioned.

"No General I'll do no such thing; the spine its natural state is offering enough to her" Jervis replied.

"Enough talk who are you guys!" Wave questioned, he had noticed the others helping them in the battle and wasn't going to question the help until afterwards.

"You're Night Raid aren't you?" Ibari asked.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out" Sten remarked. "They are Night Raid" He declared, to Esdeath's applause.

"Excellent deduction Sten however I'm going to have to require you to keep this encounter a secret" Esdeath explained.

"Wait you're letting them go? Our job is hunt them down" Sten remarked.

"After they have just helped us kill this monster, I would consider that dishonorable; importantly you three don't know the gravity of your situation" Esdeath explained, and the rest of Night Raid arrived on the scene and to the shock of all three Esdeath, Cosmina, Seryu, Dorothea, her team, Mez, Suzuka and Tatsumi to stand amongst them.

"You're with them?!" Wave asked.

"In a way yes: our goals align in that we have a shared enemy Honest: and the first rule of warfare is that the enemy of your enemy is your friend; you see we aren't so different after all Wave; we have our loyalties but can we say where those lie: you see my loyalties are to Makoto, but also to Tatsumi." Esdeath explained and then continued "I owe no alliegence to Honest who constantly manipulates the court and uses his powers as regent to bring the Empire to ruin and lets corruption and violence run rampant, I'm tired of it: enough people have died fighting in this thrice damned war all the while our true enemies mock us. I've had enough of it: to you three I pose the same offer I give any who could be my friend or foe: join my cause or die: if you choose the latter I will ensure your names are remembered for falling in battle if you choose to fight for me like you did when you first offered to join the Jaegers you will be rewarded accordingly. Our war is with Honest not the Empire as a whole but the man who's corruption and lies turned a once prosperous empire into a shadow of itself reduced to scabling over past glory while the people are thrown into a meatgrinder of pointless wars and sold as slaves to evil nobles to do with as they please: we fight for the True Empire, one free from Honest and one which the nations rightful ruler reigns in peace: now join me in this cause and be remembered for centuries or die as heroes of an old order and be forgotten by history" Esdeath threatened.

Wave considered his options; he remembered that first and foremost Esdeath was his commanding officer and had been for a year now; he had followed her into near impossible situations and came out on top: it was clear to him that if Esdeath said it was the right thing to do, then following her was the right thing to do. "I'll join: I swore I'd follow you to hell and back General when I first joined your army; my word still stands" Wave replied.

"I'm with him too; as long as Night Raid doesn't try to kill the Emperor, I'm in" Ibari stated.

"I'd hate to be the odd man out, but I'll join just because the other demons have and because you guys were willing to put yourselves at risk by fighting a massive S-Rank danger beast that's enough for me to join" Sten added.

"Good we are all now on the same page; Jaegers we will return to the city I will inform the Emperor of our victory: don't worry I'll put in a good word for you too Tatsumi" Esdeath explained and Jaegers left.

Shortly at Night Raid HQ… Tatsumi had been led off Merraid to her room in which they were joined by Akame there after. "Akame lock both extra locks on the door that won't allow anyone to disturb us" Merraid ordered.

"Don't worry Mera nobody will disturb us: I locked the door: and on top of that I put a chair in front that way nobody can disturb us" Akame replied after dudbolting the door as well as engaging the security chain.

"Good now I can show you Tatsumi you my love and affection for you without any interruptions allowing you to enjoy: I'm on top; Akame will be on the other end alright" Merraid explained and removed her clothes and Tatsumi did the same, while Akame stripped as well to join them.

Shortly… "Tatsumi I'll show you what I can do with my tongue; Akame let Tatsumi now you what you can do with yours" Merraid stated removing his underwear. "WOW! I never thought I'd see something like this ever: woman don't have these, well this will be interesting" Merraid remarked and started licking his length, Akame licked his balls, they interrupted their licking to lock tongues with each other and while doing that gave Tatsumi a handjob.

Tatsumi couldn't help but smile as Merraid and Akame's soft warm manicured hands gently stroked his length while they made out: Tatsumi hadn't ever seen two women make out before and the sight was steamy. Akame broke the kiss. "Hey Mera; I've got an idea; why don't we take our breasts and wrap them around his- rod: that would be nice right" Akame suggested.

"I like that plan Akame; our breasts wrapped around his length but also importantly pressed against each other: Oh, that's an amazing idea. Let's do it!" Merraid replied and eagerly wrapped her d-cup's around Tatsumi's length; Akame did the same with her d-cups and they began to rub them up and down while alternating between licking the tip and kissing, their tongues dancing and Merraid at one point starting sucking it before allowing Akame to do the same; Tatsumi loved the way her hair flowed, that lovely black-violet hair long and flowing save the small bun and short braid on the left side of her hair.

Suddenly Tatsumi found his vision obscured. "Tatsumi show me how good you are with your tongue that is extremely important to me" Merraid teased, Tatsumi oblidged and probed for Merraid's favored spots to lick. "OOHH! You find a girl's favorite spots with that tongue like a fish takes to water: that's amazing nobody has been able to find my g-spot right away: Oh! Lick me out, explore my pussy" Merraid exclaimed. Tatsumi did probe deeper with his tongue find her barrier was intact; which meant that in none of her escapades had she ever used a strap-on or a dildo; she believed in the body is its own best sex-toy.

He licked Mera's insides and noted his length being sucked, he couldn't tell whether it was Merraid or Akame doing said sucking because Merraid's stomach obscured his view; but which ever one was doing it was doing it with the skill of Cosmina; which suggested a master in oral sex but he had no way of proving either way and wasn't going to ask as he was enjoying eating Merraid out though he guessed it was Merraid. "Come on Mera let me have it now" Akame complained.

"Sure Akame by all means" Merraid replied allowing Akame to suck Tatsumi's length which she was loving doing; stopping only to wrap her breasts around the length to allow her to massauge his length and preform Fellatio with skill, Merraid joined Akame in paizuri once again after sitting up to stretch.

"Definitely Merraid" Tatsumi thought and realized his limit was coming up, the same was happening with Merraid as his tongue was driving her to new levels of pleasure. Both released simulationiously Tatsumi's face covered in Merraid's juices while Merriad and Akame were covered in his spunk.

"Now what does this taste like" Merraid questioned and licked her lips. "salty yet sweet; very interesting: like nothing I've ever taste before: are all men like this no: Tatsumi's seed is unique to him like my juices are to me" Merraid remarked.

"I can agree on the taste; though to fair its more sweet then salty to me" Akame replied.

"Then I must lick your cheeks clean for another taste" Merraid commented all the while Tatsumi licked up her juices. "Yummy: Tatsumi how do I taste?" Merraid asked.

"Like almonds" Tatsumi commented.

"Good now I must have this fully I will take you first and Akame will receive that wonderful work you do with your tongue" Merraid stated and readied herself while Akame kneelt next to her to watch. "I never thought this day was come: Akame hold it steady for me" Merraid stated, Akame held his length steedy for her. "The time has come: no turning back no: Merraid Oarburgh you are now officially Bi-sexual" Merraid thought to herself, then lowered herself, the length went in, Merraid adjusted herself allowed Akame to move her hands and let go with her legs allowing the full length to pierce her hymen, taking her anatomical virginity. "YES! I LOVE THIS! Tatsumi I'm going to ride you like like there is no tomorrow" Merraid exclaimed.

Akame climbed on Tatsumi's face; he inserted his tongue inside which caused her to moan, momentarily before she silenced her moans by kissing Merraid pressing their breasts against each other as they had so many times before the only difference was they had a third partner; something that despite Gil's relationship and presence Akame had never had a threesome before, Merraid had of course but not her.

Tatsumi's expertise with his tongue was something Akame enjoyed quite well and it was nice to know that someone could be as good as Mera in that field, and though she would never admit it better then Merraid, Tatsumi as if by some sixth sense knew exactly where her pleasure spots were; spots that had taken Merraid months to find and know how to probe, but he found them on the first go, which meant he knew how to find those spots and would go for them before anything else.

Merraid likewise was flabbergasted as to how Tatsumi's length felt inside her; it was something that fit like it was made to do so, and not just in a designed way of human anatomy but as if her body was reserved for him: it went to her core which was something that no tongue or finger from any woman she loved had managed to do. "Where have you been all my life Tatsumi? If only you had grown up in the same place I did wouldn't that have made my life more enjoyable" Merraid thought, then broke her kiss and had Akame suck from her breasts like a nursing babe. "Oh yes that's it, this is divine: I've never experienced something so good before" Merraid replied, then loud banging was heard on her door.

"Merraid! Have you seen Tatsumi?!" Aria yelled from behind the door.

"No Aria and go away Akame and I are busy fucking: no disturbances my door is triple locked for a reason" Merraid replied back, as she fealt her G spot hit "OH AKAME!" Merraid exclaimed, Aria backed off and took her search elsewhere.

"What a snoop" Akame commented to Merraid.

"I know Tatsumi does not need to be confined to that room all day: hell, this is less awkward though: imagine what happened if she walked in on us doing him in medbay" Merraid replied.

"Oh Aria would probably faint" Akame replied. "Oh Tatsumi your tongue is amazing; Mera you were right: he knows where to go" Akame commented.

"Oh I take it he found your special places" Merraid replied.

"Found everyone of them almost immediately; he has to have sixth sense his tongue is as amazing as yours" Akame replied

"I'll show you how good my tongue is" Merraid teased and locked tongues once more with Akame. All three of them were reaching their limits and Tatsumi mumbled underneath Akame causing the two to break their kiss. "I sure he's wanting to warn me he's about to come, well he can and inside I want kids and I going to get them: give them to me Tatsumi!" Merraid moaned out, and all three of them came at the same time making a mess of jizz, Merraid's womb was filled and four eggs were pierced with his seed.

Both Akame and Merraid climbed of him and noted he was still hard. "Still hard, wow, you have stamina; I wonder which one of us will pass out first" Merraid remarked.

"Hopefully not me: only because Aria will be super peeved if I'm not in the bed by dinner time" Tatsumi stated then looked at his new wristwatch that Aria had gotten for him the other day.

"I think we have a couple more hours" Tatsumi explained then blushed.

"Good now let's experiment, Akame and I had a discussion earlier over what it feels like when a man takes a woman from behind: I don't know what it feels like and I want you to show me what it feels like" Merraid explained and presented her rear to him, Tatsumi oblidged inserting himself into her rectum, which caused momentary pain and then pleasure.

"OOUGOOH! I've never felt this before: it's a whole new level of pleasure: That clinches it for me; definitely Bi now, definitely Bi, and you are the best man and only worthy man in the world for me" Merraid exclaimed as Tatsumi ponded her; he put his right hand into her silken hair with his right hand as ran it thru the soft locks, while his left fondled her breasts. he spooned Merraid and she loved it as he plowed her ass nice and measured, not rough which was good she liked his show of restraint.

While Tatsumi rode Merraid, Akame moved in front to present her pussy to Merraid who eagerly ate it out: causing Akame to rise up and moan, she then looked into Tatsumi's green eyes and he looked into her blood red eyes, they shared their first kiss together: it was chaste not lustful, something which Akame's orginial first kiss from Merraid has been but she had immediately turned that kiss passionate; Tatsumi showed no hurry to do that, in fact the only change he made in his current actions was to take his right hand and rub her left breast while continueing to kiss her.

Eventually though after 10 minutes they reached the limit, all three came and Merraid licked Akame's juices and roled over from under them with a stupid grin on her face. "I'm going to let you two do each other and I'll watch: Tatsumi she wants kids too; so give them to her" Merraid remarked and roled to the side and began masturbating playing with herself as Akame and Tatsumi moved.

"Are you ready for this?" Tatsumi asked Akame.

"Yes: take it I can't wait anymore" Akame replied, then speared herself on his length tearing her hymen in one swift motion: blood flowed out and Merraid took a white cloth and collected the blood.

"I must have this and treasure it: your virgin blood Akame it will go perfect with mine" Merraid commented in the background, she took another cloth and rubbed the blood from her loins as well.

"Ignore her: she's nostalgic to a creepy extent" Akame remarked and kissed Tatsumi on the lips, this time it was more lustful and their tongues made out like mad: as Tatsumi thrusted into her.

His thrusts continued, Tatsumi drank from Akame's breasts and rated her milk, second only to Esdeath's in his earnest opinion, which reminded him to check Merraid's next round with her: but he drank from that sweet milk, then changed teats and did the same with the other. "Oh! Tatsumi drink: their yours and they will one day feed our children" Akame moaned.

"Oh as soon as your done with him him Akame I'm going to have another go, that thick rod of his is going back inside me" Merraid jested.

"Right and that will be after I get my ass fucked nice and fine: then you can have your next turn" Akame replied, Merraid sighed and flipped over onto her belly and moved her hands in the sheets.

Tatsumi came again of course after this exchange: Akame didn't say anything as he did so; they only kissed as he filled her womb to the brim fertilizing two more eggs before pulling out, Akame presented her ass, one that had eluded him since day one; one that when he first saw he longed in the back of his mind to tap: now was his chance.

Tatsumi mounted Akame and rode her doggy style in her tight ass which was the tightest one, apart from Seryu's, he'd ever entered; and she was enjoying this; something he dreamt of in his wettest of wet dreams. He kept going and going giving it to Akame for as long he could until he came once again and she passed out exhausted. "We need a day together" Tatsumi thought.

"Oh Tatsumi-kins my turn again" Merraid teased laying back on a pillow. "And this time you get to be the one on top" Merraid added.

"Yes, my Butterfly Queen" Tatsumi replied and began anew with Merraid.

"I like that name" Merraid thought looking at Tatsumi as he drank from her breast. "Someday our children will be drinking from those too" Merraid added to herself mentally then smiled.

 **AN: There you go Springtrap Tatsumi's first lemon with Akame, albiet in a threesome: they'll get a dedicated on next chapter**


	29. Author's note Please Read

**Author's note**

 **So guys you are probably wondering when the next chapter will be, well the next chapter is going to be Akame's focus chapter and I have extreme writer's block I need constant suggestions and advice, I want to know what you guys want to see; barring an Akame and Kurome fight for some obvious reasons namely not wanting a Jaeger vs Night Raid fight to break out and result in deaths on both sides.**

 **Also I have an annoncement that a new story will be in works in the near future this one is going to a be a crossover between my favorite anime Bleach and one of my favorite cartoons Totally Spies. In which Ichigo Kurosaki the protagonist of Bleach has just saved Rukia and now has been made an official Substitute Soul Reaper. But he now has new factors that are going to be making his life more hectic, starting with a foreign exchange student program sending him to Beverly Hills High at the same time as the Totally Spies Movie starts causing him to get roped into joining WOOHP alongside Sam, Alex, and Clover as well as two female Arrancar spies who were tasked with watching him by Aizen. Ichigo will have to balance life as a Soul Reaper, a Super Spy, and a massive harem of girls: also if you think Tatsumi's harem is big Ichigo shoots for the skies and is trying to rival Erasiel Darkar's. (Read my Winx Club story if you want to know more about him and also nobody can rival the size of his harem) The story will be following the canon timeline of both shows however not remotely the canon plot of either.**

 **So that's pretty much it for now, after Akame's focus Chapter the next two characters getting one will be Taeko and Cosmina in that order; after them well the other Elite Seven girls will be getting some love. Speaking of Cosmina expect her to be killing a despised character in her chapter, you will laugh at when it happens only because of the irony of the death.**

 **That's all I've got for now, any suggestions for the story are welcome (Bar anyone asking for Seryu to be killed off because this Seryu would never kill Sheele the two are BFFS, same goes for any other main characters, call me nuts but I want my story to be one with a happy ending and dream scenario that is pretty realistic compared to canon) Also keep your eyes peeled for future updates and my upcoming crossover which at this moment I've not got a name for but something like the Soul Reaper Spy sounds nice but if anyone has a better one shout it out in the reviews. Until then this has been Nathan and I'm off and may the Force be with you all.**


	30. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Swordmaster of the Shadows

"Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina yelled running up to Tatsumi. The weekend had ended and Aria was letting him move about again, Tatsumi was not surprised that the moment he walked out of the room to find Cosmina waiting for him, of the new members of Night Raid who also happened to be Jaegers she worried the most for him.

"Hey Cosmina-Chan" Tatsumi replied before getting glomped and showered with kisses as he was being hugged. "Alright I missed you too" Tatsumi stated but it was mumbled by the fact he was talking to her while pressed against her breasts.

"What's that Tatsu-Kitty?" Cosmina asked, letting him go.

"I missed you too, now has anything interesting happened while I've been out of action?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsu-kitty, a few interesting things have happened, mainly the fact that Esdeath has been so worried about you and wants you to report in, also she has a couple of targets to eliminate: I think you'll be interested in them" Cosmina replied. "So, anything interesting happen with you? Did any pretty girls give you love and attention while you were sick?" Cosmina questioned.

"Well for starters Cosmina, I wasn't sick, I took a serious injury in the mission which regenerated: Aria had me stay in med bay until she had confirmed that the regeneration wouldn't turn me into something crazy. As to your question about pretty girls, well Akame Merraid and Gilberda are now hooked up with me, plus any other lovers Merraid has by extension; other then that there was the whole bought with the Cyclops and a two missions that I missed due to being out of action." Tatsumi explained.

"One mission targeted a Zookeeper who was feeding people to his animals for kicks and the other was noble named Gaffi who had taken young girls as bed slaves and raped them consistently, in addition to using ordinary people as sport for torture to see how long they lasted before he killed them; he was also one of Honest's allies" Tatsumi continued.

"So how did those bad people die?" Cosmina asked holding his hand.

"The Zookeeper was thrown to his own animals by Leone and Cornelia, and Gaffi well Gin cut him clean in half" Tatsumi explained.

"That's good news: so Tatsumi want to spend some time with me?" Cosmina asked.

"Define spend time with you, spending time as in shopping, exploring or things people normally do as a couple or do you mean having me ride your ass non-stop" Tatsumi replied.

"Whichever you prefer, though personally I want to do the latter, its been too long Tatsu-kitty, too long" Cosmina replied, and pulled her dress to the side exposing one of her breasts.

"Too long eh; it's only been three days, but alright I get you; honestly I've been missing you: we need to spend some dedicated time together though, in fact I'll take you on your first mission next time Najenda gives me one alright with you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Works perfectly for me Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina replied and began undressing.

"Not here Cosmina, I've got a nice quiet place of natural beauty for some fun" Tatsumi replied.

"Oooh show me Tatsumi-Senpai!" Cosmina replied, so Tatsumi took her by the hand and led her to the springs.

In the mean time Akame was busy sparing with Taeko; Taeko was by no means a slouch as her dedicated sparing partner, but there was always the matter that Akame had refined her swordwork to complete mastery and she was also trained in a number of other weapons, however the real trick was keeping her killer instincts in check and to remember she was sparing, something that was even more important considering that she had to keep Muramase's poison inside unless she wanted to use it; that meant constent discipline and daily training with the weapon, granted not when she was sparing choosing instead to use training blades made out of wood and carved into wooden replicas of Muramase and other weapons avalible, granted Akame knew how to use this to kill but when sparing she had no intention to do so.

"You're eager today Akame, any big plans?" Taeko remarked.

"None at the moment, I am maintaining my discipline and control, I will be hunting Danger Beasts with Tatsumi-kun later though, if you want to join" Akame replied probing Taeko's defensive parries.

"I noticed you said Tatsumi-kun instead of Tatsumi-san, you've changed your feelings for him?" Taeko replied beginning a series of hard counters which staggered Akame requiring her to adapt in technique to counter the change in fighting style.

"Yes, what of it?" Akame replied keeping her usual emotionless demenor.

"How have you changed your feelings, be honest Akame, I'm your friend and you shouldn't keep secrets from friends especially when they are about other friends" Taeko replied adapting her style again to adapt to Akame's new onslaught of blows.

"He and I- well its complicated, he, I and Merraid have- I don't want to talk about it" Akame replied mounting an onslaught of blows that disarmed Taeko. "Dead; improve your defenses for the future" Akame replied then placed the wooden sword back on the rack and put Muramase back on her belt.

"Weird, well I'll just talk with my big sister about this: Mera will surely know what Akame is hiding" Taeko replied.

Meanwhile… "Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina yelled as she knelt in the water, she was currently being taken from behind by Tatsumi who enjoyed the tightness of her anus; Cosmina's go to position shifted based on her mood but usually 44% of the time it was Anal.

"You like that, I'll go deeper and see if you like it more" Tatsumi replied going balls deep, Cosmina moaned, he pulled her back and leaned against the wall as he took reverse-cowgirl in her rear. "Oh I missed the tightness Cosmina ooh! So good" Tatsumi moaned and he caressed her breasts.

"I love this water it's so warm, I can see why you love this place, how many pretty girls have you brought here?" Cosmina asked.

"How many guys have you done? the answer is small: 12" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, I'm not going to tell you about that; you'll stop if I told you so I'm keeping that a secret we can talk about when you aren't giving me loving pretty boy" Cosmina replied.

"Fine you can keep that secret for now, but at somepoint you'll have to tell me: better question though is how long have you been active?" Tatsumi replied.

"Since my village killed my family, about 3 and half years ago, nearly 4, I did it to cope; but wait- I'm cumming!" Cosmina exclaimed and Tatsumi noted he was about to do the same and released in her.

"Cosmina we should take it easy though, you are pregnant and I don't want our baby to well have something bad happen to it or to cause you to miscarry" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright Tatsu-kitty, I'll take it easy, from now on until our baby is born we'll avoid my vagina ok?" Cosmina replied.

"OK, but we're only going to have sex once a day; alright, two max if you're really needy but I don't want you to exhaust yourself or stress yourself out" Tatsumi replied pulling out, Cosmina turned around and kissed him.

"I'm glad you're so concerned about me" Cosmina replied.

"Cosmina I want to talk for a bit; give a moment to refresh my energy" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright Tatsu-kitty what do you want to talk about?" Cosmina asked, despite her giving him rest she still pressed her breasts against him.

"Cosmina I want to know if you truly love me, and not just because I'm the best pretty boy you've been with, do you love me or am I just another pretty boy?" Tatsumi replied.

"No you're not just another pretty boy: I love a lot of things about you" Cosmina replied her usually carefree face become serious.

"Like what; apart from my physical appearance and my dick?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well to start things off you are the first guy who doesn't see me as just a pretty face; you're actually quite serious about the whole thing, and when I told you I was pregnant you didn't run off: the other guys I've been with, they were mostly one-night stands, my first though was actually love; he- I don't want to talk about him, beyond the fact he was a lot like you, young handsome, caring, same age as me and you, smart, talented, and really a down to Eden type of guy" Cosmina replied.

"I'm glad to see that you don't just love me for my body; Cosmina I have an honest question, do you think everyone who loves me means what the feel about me; I'm not sure about the whole thing, in fact I have no idea what fate thought when it decided that women fall in love with me and to give me a harem" Tatsumi replied.

"Maybe there is some sort of divine being controlling it all we have no idea about, as to whether they mean it by their affection Tatsumi, they do because if they didn't you wouldn't have so many girls in love with you; you are a strong, caring, honest, loyal, brave, smart and handsome man; you do what needs to be done and you do the right thing regardless of whether it is practical to do so" Cosmina replied. "So you feeling refreshed now?" Cosmina teased rubbing her fingers across his chest.

"Yes; now lets get back to that ass of your's" Tatsumi replied and turned Cosmina around and entered her anally once more.

"Oh yes Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina exclaimed feeling his length in her once more. "No other pretty boys: I nobody can top him, he makes anybody else pale by comparison" Cosmina thought to herself then moaned nonstop.

Tatsumi and Cosmina continued for another hour and a half until both were satisfied. After they redressed Tatsumi was informed by Cosmina the reason she was sent here was that Esdeath needed him back at HQ something had come up and she had some info that would be needed by him and Night Raid about a threat that would compromise the alliance in the making.

Later at Jaeger HQ in Esdeath's office… Tatsumi walked into Esdeath's office. "Tatsu-bunny! I'm glad to see you are doing better" Esdeath greeted jumping out of chair and hugging him pulling him into her breasts, causing Tatsumi to smile and blush red.

"Good to be better, though in truth Aria was just over concerned, I was as fit as bull the whole time" Tatsumi replied as the two broke the hug. "So Cosmina said you needed to see me about something a threat to our alliance?" Tatsumi asked.

"Indeed, the current threat is rather a threat to my life; there are two targets one in the Capital and one Carthaak a few days from the Capital; they are both generals one for the Imperial army and the other Revolutionary army; the problem is this; they both have according to my spies a plot to assassinate me and Emperor Makoto; granted they also intend to assassinate Honest but unfortunately we are going to have to save that vile-monster's life in order to save mine and Makoto-nii's" Esdeath explained.

"So, who are my targets?" Tatsumi asked.

"On the Imperial side General Leon Malkath; an experienced commander who's an up and coming star and one of Honest's military allies, the man is a brilliant commander however he wins thru methods that expend far too many troops to gain a victory where fewer could be lost for the same result. As to his skills with intrigue, relatively mediocre in terms of targeting, he is suspected in the deaths of a few of the subordinate officers who were rising in his ranks; however, he underestimated my intelligence network and the foolishness of his men" Esdeath explained.

"Alright I think Night Raid can handle him, what about the Revolutionary Army General, this would be the first time I'm actually killing someone on my own side" Tatsumi asked.

"He will have to wait; I will give you the information I know and you should ask Najenda if she knows more; remember though he is not on your side; your side is your own faction, those loyal to you and your cause, while some on both sides share your ideals and views there are more who don't" Esdeath replied. "Now as to your target; his name is General Garan Lorndor; he was a subordinate of mine before he defected to the Revolutionary army. I take his betrayal very personally, not that he liked me anyway, he disagreed with my methods on waging war, he never understood the reasoning behind my decision, war is cruelty, the crueler it is the quicker it ends; you defeat your enemy decisively in battle then when they are defeated you make sure they can never threaten you again" Esdeath explained.

"How did you get the info on that?" Tatsumi replied.

"I have my means, lets just say there are people under his command who aren't as loyal as he thinks they are; just so you know Tatsumi in a couple of days I will lead an army to counter General Lorndor who has taken the city of Carthaak to the west of Melitine, that is way too close for comfort: this will be a perfect chance to test the Jaegers in open warfare; but also to test your skills as assasins; I want you to find General Lorndor and kill him" Esdeath explained.

"Alright, so about these plots have you taken the steps to prevent them?" Tatsumi asked.

"The assassins from Lorndor's command are currently either dead or locked in a prison near our HQ under maximum security; as to Malkath's assassins I haven't managed to deal with them yet but I have upped Makoto's security out of concerns and what with Mengele's recent assassination: any assassins who want to kill him will have to go thru an army. As for my own security: Tatsumi you know it will take more then a few assassins to kill me" Esdeath replied.

"Ok was there anything else you needed from me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Nothing important, the Cyclops incident yesterday has the populace scared stiff, also I've increased city guard and royal guard patrols: as far as the Jaegers are concerned you have time to do whatever you want for the next two days before our counter attack; in the meantime though Tatsumi you are free to go: also Run wanted to speak with you about something, he took leave for some family matters but got back in time for our mission against the cult" Esdeath explained.

Tatsumi nodded and left, he found Run not to far from the mess hall. "Hey Run" Tatsumi greated.

"Tatsumi, I was looking forward to talking with you: not just talking to you I have to thank you for something that I've been meaning to for some time" Run replied.

"Alright" Tatsumi replied. "So, what is it you want to talk about and thank me for" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi I have to thank you for doing something that should have been done long ago, I have to thank you for giving me closure" Run replied.

"Closure? What for?" Tatsumi questioned not understanding.

"Tatsumi about two weeks ago you hunted down and killed a deadly serial killer called the Butcher: I had an extreme score to settle with that man and you killed him, you've given me the closure of something that has been my drive for the last 5 years of my life" Run replied.

"Wait: The Butcher of Joyou, Champ? Ok what did he have to do with you?" Tatsumi asked.

"My apologies Tatsumi I haven't had the time to talk to you about myself, this is a discussion that I'd rather have in private; say my room" Run explained.

"Alright then we'll talk there" Tatsumi replied and they left to go to a nearby room which was modestly furnished but had a small study corner with a chair and by that a desk on which was a few things; Tatsumi also looked at the wall and noted a picture a colored photograph of Run with a woman about a 2 years younger then him and who had long blue hair in a pair of buns on either side of her head under ear, she held a baby, and in front of them were four kids, two boys and two girls.

"Who are they?" Tatsumi asked.

"That's a picture of my family: my wife Chantel who's the mayor of Joyou, and our five kids: my two sons Flavius and Louen, and my three daughters, Jane, Liya, and little baby Veronica" Run explained.

"I didn't know you had a family or that your wife was a mayor" Tatsumi replied.

"I do and they are still in Joyou, and I don't have to worry for their safety, Chantel's father is a regional Viceroy and our house is a small fortified estate" Run explained.

"So, you said you were from Joyou, I can understand your reasons for hating Champ even more then most but there is more to that I guess" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, have a seat and I'll tell you my story; you of all people have the right to know, my only regret is that I was away visiting my family when you killed Champ I would have gladly tagged along" Run replied.

Tatsumi sat down. "So, what did you visit your family for?" Tatsumi asked.

"Joyou is about a week's journey to and back on foot, 3 and back on horseback or in a carriage; my wife sent me a letter that she would be due with our fifth child about a week after I returned to the Capital with General Esdeath. So I took a leave of absence to visit her; during which time I did get there in time for her to give birth and she did so without complications and gave birth to our newest daughter: in fact I had the picture you see right there taken two days after we left the hospital" Run explained.

"But now to the serious affairs, not that I don't take my family matters seriously but they aren't what I wanted to talk about with you" Run returned. "My story is rather simple; I grew up in Joyou being born to a merchant family which was quite wealthy and gave me an education. I loved learning and reading, and eventually when I turned 20, I became a teacher at the school I learned from. I was a teacher for about 5 years Tatsumi and taught history." Run explained. "I taught a number of classes but the one I remember most was my last class. 50 students: each and everyone of them promising children each having different quirks and traits that made them distinct but all of which were here to learn the lessons I had to teach" Run explained.

"I'm not liking where this is going, I know how this ends and it isn't pretty remotely" Tatsumi replied.

"You would having read Champ's diaries: halfway thru the school year I took a sick break as I came down with a nasty case of the flu, I was out for a week and when I recovered, I returned to my classroom to find it empty. I was informed that a number of students had gone missing during a field trip to visit school sponsored fair the day before; as well as the parents that had volunteered as chaperones. Two days later we found the bodies; 353 of them, all apart from 13 were children, buried in mass grave." Run explained somberly his face frowning in sadness.

"We went thru the bodies and I did as well and found my entire class of students; strangled all of them boys and girls naked and violated in ways that children should **never** ever have to endure: we wondered what monster could do this" Run explained. "In the aftermath of this the local council dicussed the next move; the town lacked the money for an investigation and they feared that a killing on this scale couldn't have been carried out by a single person but by a group of people any of which could be tied to the Imperial government as a whole. The town mayor resigned in greif and commited suicide a day after." Run explained. "I gave up my job as a teacher; in fact the school was closed down due to whole tragedy and a new one was opened on the other side of town." Run explained.

"That's horrible, what happened afterwards you obviously did something" Tatsumi commented, Wave sighed.

"After the incident my colleagues went different ways and I made a realization: that who ever carried out the mass rape and murder had to have been tied to the government in some way. With that in mind I decided that the best option I had was to get into the Imperial military; however, I didn't want to waste years as a grunt where my knowledge of historical battle tactics and command would be wasted so I found a way in. Tatsumi one of the most important things about the Imperial Military is that rising in rank depends as much on who you know as what you are capable of, it requires connections." Run explained. "I was however in luck, the local Viceroy Lucius Grundel sent his daughter Chantel to step in as the new mayor; she was about three years younger then me however my parents had influence and they played match maker: I seduced her and fell in love with her; we married and had children; she then was able to use her influence with her father to get me the rank of Captain in the army" Run explained.

"So, wait; you seduced your way into the Imperial Military? How the hell did you manage to pull that off?!" Tatsumi interrupted.

"Thru perservence and the fact that Chantel was smitten with me and I in turn with her: I was a member of an influential family she was as well so it made sense from a political perspective and romantic perspective to marry, and I love Chantel and I do so dearly and I love our children; they I know are safe" Run replied.

"Wait you said her last name was Grundel any relation to my Wife's family?" Tatsumi asked.

"Your wife's last name is Grundel, a yes Aria I remember her now, she's a lucky woman to have you as a husband: she's daughter of Constantine Grundel am I correct, if so then you and I are cousin's by marriage, as Chantel's father is Constantine's brother" Run replied.

"That's crazy, a small world: any way what happened when you joined the army" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I rose thru the ranks due to my knowledge of military history it allowed me to pull of some tactical manevours that allowed the soldiers under my command to win their share of victories; eventually I was taken under General Esdeath's personal command; and during the border war with the Western Kingdoms I was given the rank of Field Marshel; the Empire's highest military rank and became Esdeath's chief of staff. I'm familier with your other wife Spear she was another General under Esdeath's direct command and on her staff; of Esdeath's subordinates she was the only one of two people I respected; the other being General Liver who despite all his faults was still a man I respected for his experience if nothing else, other then that the other generals on Esdeath's staff were either aristocratic fools who knew nothing of military strategy, crooks who were only in this for the spoils of war, political officers or were monsters like Mengele" Run replied

"Alright Run you've been honest with me so I'll do the same with you. I'm going to tell you what happened with regards to Champ's death the full story but I have to ask you one question before I start; what do think of this civil war the Empire is in?" Tatsumi replied.

"Personally this war is all Honest's fault, I personally think that this war is pointless when there are other things to be concerned about, Honest is an enemy to everybody with a conscience and with common sense: the sooner people stop fighting each other and realize that he not the Emperor or the Empire itself is responsible for the state of the Empire as it the sooner he can be removed and peace restored" Run replied.

"Alright then: First off I didn't kill Champ, I lead the team that killed him but didn't deal the killing blow: in fact it wasn't so simple as he died a quick death; I'll start things at the beginning" Tatsumi explained. "About two weeks ago a circus the Sabatini Show arrived in town, the people that run it and work for it are good people who are trying their best to make a living in this cruel wretched world we live in, but among them was a monster in human skin, a guy who could present a convincing profile that you'd think he was nice but he was secretly a monster. that monster was Champ and having talked to a few of his collegues I know for a fact they were as surprised to find he was a serial killer as I was; also I may add there were people among them who wouldn't have hesitated to kill him if they had found out the truth." Tatsumi explained.

"The first time I saw him was when I took Esdeath along with Aria and her sisters to see the circus along with a few friends of mine, my mother in law Angela was there too along with her best bodyguard my best friend Ieyasu" Tatsumi explained. "After the show I headed back home to Grundewick Manor along with Aria and her sisters Esdeath went back to the palace; when I returned home for dinner Ieyasu and Angela were late coming home and when they arrived they did so in blood stained clothes" Tatsumi explained.

"What happened to them?" Run asked.

"On their way home they had taken a different route because the bridge was out and on their way back they heard screams and went to investigate; my mother in law is a brave woman and a very caring woman; she is always willing to help people in need and isn't afraid of danger; she took Ieyasu and few of her guards and found the bodies of six children and three woman who had been raped and murdered by Champ as well as partially burned. After they stumbled on the scene they were attacked by looters who thought to scavenge anything left behind on the bodies and when they didn't have that option to rob anyone who investiaged the bodies: Angela, Ieyasu and her guards killed every single one of them, and found what would be an important clue later on" Tatsumi explained.

"The next day more people were killed overnight and a large pile of victims was found in the middle of market square; my wife Seryu who wasn't my wife at the time and who is a Captain in Capital Police looked into the matter with me; that investiagation didn't catch Champ but it did however allow us to dismantle the Syndicate in a series of over night raids. That same night a friend of mine who happened to have been from Joyou and was one of the teachers at the school found another body a 12 year old girl fished out of a river by a local fisherman" Tatsumi explained.

"Wait you said that he was from Joyou and a teacher at the school when the incident happened who is he?" Run asked.

"I was getting to that: my friend his name is Lubbock does that name ring a bell?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes it does, the youngest teacher in the school's history a genius who taught the language arts class: green haired man?" Run replied.

"Yep" Tatsumi explained. "Anyway the whole murder spree gave him serious nightmares and at this point I was beyond pissed at Champ; not that I knew who he was at the time: he was causing a friend of mine to be depressed he was killing people and I found this out later actively stalking Bols's daughter and wife in addition to my sisters-in-law" Tatsumi explaind. "So we did what we do best take matters into our own hands. We split into groups of two and searched for any clues: of our teams Lubbock and his girlfriend now wife Yami got lucky and found a person who survived Champ trying to kill him; a Capital Police officer who gave us a description: it was something but nothing to through on its own. Another friend of my mind had an gut feeling that since the killings started when the circus arrived that it was possible that one of their number was the killer. So the following day we went to see the show preform while a number of us watched the show, three of our number searched the trailers and found in Champ's trailer diaries written in human blood; each a graphic account of his crimes and the fact that he had been actively stalking me and Aria along with her sisters as well as stalking Bols and his family." Tatsumi explained.

"Among the information we found that Champ had expanded his killings and rapes out into the countryside outside Melitine's walls; which meant he was now fair game for an ambush. In order to do that we did something that was extremely risky and something that I'm still ashamed that we had to do this to kill this monster: my sisters in law volunteered to act as bait though they weren't alone Aria and myself were with them" Tatsumi explained. "So we decided to go on a camping trip outside the city wall and to all apperances unguarded: Champ of course followed us waiting for us to lose ourselves making merry and lose ourselves telling stories and eating s'mores: that was when he walked right into our trap; he jumped in with a gun drawn ordering us to strip: he was shocked to notice we weren't afraid and more so when Aria smirked at him and Fal, Air and Luna made faces at him: then we attacked, Koro and Seryu hit him from one side while Yami hooked his gun out of reach with her twin hooks: then Lubbock dragged him upwards and knocked him out in Crosstail's strings" Tatsumi explained.

"What happened next? And what is Crosstail?" Run asked.

"Well we showed that bastard why he should Fear The Night: Lubbock explained who he was and what Champ had done to earn his hatred, then he asked Champ why he did it: Champ's twisted reasoning stated he was protecting children from the horrors of adulthood by purifying them in his words and releasing them from he horrors of this world: he considered himself the good guy. Lubbock then told him how wrong he was calling him out for the monster he was and the crimes he had committed. After that came Champ's punishment: before he would die he was to experience the worst torture techniques imaginable to show him what it is like to be on the receiving end of his cruelty. Aria did so with delight and Fal, Air and Luna joined in. I watched and laughed at his fate, you might consider it sick of me to find a man being tortured amusing but the man in question was not a man but a monster deserving of his punishment. you see Aria and her mother have this personal duty they've taken upon themselves to protect those who can't protect themselves by hunting and killing the monsters that prey on them and giving those monsters a taste of hell before they are sent there: Champ suffered the worst she had to author in the end of it he was all muscle and bones, charred and burned he was nothing but a shell: then Lubbock killed him by drawing and quartering him with Crosstail" Tatsumi explained.

"Afterword we took the choice cuts from his body and I put it into pie for Honest: an ironic fate for a man dubbed the butcher to end up being butchered and served to a monster that he was worse then" Tatsumi explained.

"So that was what became of Champ: I have to say I'm shocked by the brutality you dealt him ordinary I'd find it appalling, but having seen what he did to my class in Joyou I'm glad that monster got a taste of his own medicine and experienced firsthand what Hell had on offer for him; though to be honest what happened to him is nothing compared to what the Devil is doing to him; there is special place in Hell reserved for monsters like Champ and he'll be burning there for eternity. Now you haven't explained Crosstail and how your team was so elite" Run replied.

"Look Run I'll lay it on you here and now: in three words you can tell who my group is that took him down: Fear the Night" Tatsumi explained.

"You're Night Raid; but how? How did you get into the Jaegers, much less the Imperial Palace?" Run replied.

"How did I get into the Jaegers; by bedding Esdeath: she knows full about our group and about my secret and is fully on board with us; why do you think she's focused the Jaegers on clearing out the scum of the city and not actively pursuing Night Raid or trying to protect targets like Honest's allies. The answer is clear Night Raid has far more power then people know, Honest thinks we are just common terrorists and assassins, we aren't we are special forces of the Revolutionary Army or rather my faction of it; we are Honest's sworn enemies and will target any off his allies and do our best to remove the corruption that plagues the Empire. Aria and her family are in on the whole thing; her parents armed our group and provide intelligence and targets as well as a place live; Aria herself is one of our group's top members and one of the founders; we do the right thing regardless of whether it is practical to do" Tatsumi explained. "Lubbock is the second in command to our leader my wife the beautiful and brilliant General Najenda, he's also her best friend; our mission is to take down Honest and remove the corruption plaguing the Empire, we have no quarrel with Makoto as far I am concerned, he should stay Emperor. The Empire is sick and you know it Run, we are the cure to sickness: I don't care what the Revolutionary Army leaders have to say; I'll kill them if they want to kill Makoto or his sisters, I want the right thing done regardless of whether it is practical" Tatsumi explained.

"I don't know what to say Tatsumi; you've basically just admitted to treason but you aren't wrong at all; the Empire is corrupt and sick, I went about change the legitimate way Esdeath is one of the few people above this rot and legitimately wants the Empire to be safe from its enemies and stable. You may have killed your share off people but they were wicked and corrupt people who were monsters that preyed on the ordinary people; you also killed Champ or rather Lubbock did and that I am thankful for and even more so that it was a fellow teacher from Joyou who killed him, I- I'm on your side; don't get me wrong I really despise Honest but and disagree with your methods in changing the Empire but my time in the Military has shown me that the most proactive solution is the solution that saves lives, far better that a few people should die that hundreds perhaps thousands may live" Run replied.

"I'm glad to see you joined, as for Crosstail, it's Lubbock's Tiegu, and what it does well I think you should ask him to explain he'll do a way better job at doing so then me: welcome Run to the most elite and secretive organization and welcome to my side: you aren't fighting for the Revolutionary Army you are fighting to make the Empire better" Tatsumi explained.

"I think I'll talk to Lubbock about things, It's been a long time since I saw him, my former collegue I wonder how he has come along" Run replied, Tatsumi left.

Meanwhile… As Tatsumi was carrying out his business Honest's cultists were making their next move as part of Honest's assassination plans. Their target: Angela Grundel.

"I really love being with you Angela" Ieyasu complemented laying on Angela as a pillow with his head on her breasts.

"And so do I: Luna what do you think of Ieyasu do you think he'll make a good father?" Angela commented.

"Mommy I think Ieyasu is funny; I'd like to have a daddy who's funny; but I have question mommy aren't you supposed to have only one husband and isn't daddy supposed well be it" Luna replied.

"Well your father Constantine, he has cancer, and has given me leave to persue a relationship for a new spouse so that when he dies I don't take his loss too hard and have someone to comfort me: anyway-" Angela explained but was interrupted as the carriage came to abrupt stop.

"Mrs. Grundel there are a bunch of people blocking the way" one of the guards shouted from outside.

"Ieyasu let's take a look; Luna you sit here and wait it shouldn't take us to long" Angela instructed.

"Alright mommy" Luna stated and hugged her stuffed bear.

Angela and Ieyasu stepped out, they had 6 guards with them seven if you counted the driver, they looked at the people blocking the road, they wore red cloaks with strange symbol on the front. "Valtor ingar amine, Valtor vakar dathvinai, Valtor amuk khadath" the men chanted, the tallest among them stood in the center.

"Valtor's chosen servent has called for your deaths; Valtor demands your souls, you will disarm and face a swift death if not your deaths will be drawn out and you shall be tortured and raped before being killed" The chief cultist proclaimed drawing a greatsword from his back, the cultists tossed aside their cloaks to reveal red painted plate armor worn underneath with the same demonic symbol in the center and they also drew a diverse number of weapons.

"How about we take the option where you guys die horribly and we survive" Ieyasu remarked readying Belvaac.

"That's a given!" Angela agreed throwing some flechettes from her conceled launcher at the nearest assassins killing them as they struck home in the chinks of their armor.

The assassins charged, the Grundel Guards formed a protective circle around the carriage, Luna inside readed her lugger. Angela drew her krises, Ieyasu charged. "Spector: Visions of the future!" Ieyasu proclaimed activating the Teigu's anticipation. He struck down first attacker with ease to the shock of the next one who was bifurcated by Belvaac, Ieyasu then kicked the next attacker to the side as he decapitated two more assassins, the attacker he kicked was decapitated by Angela's krises.

More Assassins leapt down from the roof tops charging in from all sides, the guards readied themselves, two with machine guns opened up on the attackers killing a mass of them, the assassins kept coming if impowered by some fell force. "Belvaac: Khorne's Fury!" Ieyasu proclaimed and his speed with Belvaac intensified he charged in a blood rage into a massed group of assassins and sliced down them like they were grain before the scythe in sweeps and chops, as he attacked he took an number of injuries blood flowed from gashes but Ieyasu didn't care the the power of Belvaac and Khorne's blood rage made him stronger swifter and more angry without a care slaughtering enemies.

An assassin was about to stab Angela in the back Angela countered but was too late however before the man could deal an fatal injury a gunshot was heard and the man collapsed dead, Angela then killed two more attackers as a couple more assassins attempted to flank gunshots dropped them dead. Angela turned to her rescuer. "Hey mommy! This is fun!" Luna shouted.

"I thought I told you to stay in the carriage, well doesn't matter we need all the help we can get" Angela stated, another Assassin attempted to attack her from behind with great axe only to take a bullet in the face and drop dead.

"Mommy you need to be careful" Luna commented as smoke came from her lugger.

Angela then turned towards Ieyasu and noted a couple of attackers coming from his rear, she leapt into action and stabbed both of them in the back of their necks. Ieyasu then cut down the leader of the attackers; causing the attackers to lose heart momentarily, the guards took advantage of this lose of momentum to cut down the remaining assassins.

Ieyasu let the blood rage subside he was covered in blood, a lot of it, he then went about with the other guards double-tapping the bodies of the assassins to make sure they were dead, Ieyasu then collapsed to his knees and passed out.

He awoke in his bed naked from the waist up and to Angela who had bandaged his wounds and cleaned them. "Ieyasu, you were extremely brave; you killed about 40 men in that fight, but you also pushed yourself way too hard, you were badly injured, I've spent past hour and a half making sure you were ok; promise me you won't be as reckless in the future" Angela stated.

"I'll try not to, I really didn't want to lose you, it was nasty, my question though is who were those guys?" Ieyasu replied and hugged her.

"I have no idea; Aria did tell me though she recognized the symbol on their cloaks and that these were from the same group that tried to kill her a few days ago: whoever sent these assassins is going after us" Angela explained.

"Well whoever they were I'm hoping we don't run into them again anytime soon" Ieyasu replied and grabbed her to him and kissed her, she removed her dress and jumped under the covers with him.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had been attacked by a twice on his way to Night Raid HQ and now it was getting redundant as a group of twelve well armed mercs were now blocking his path. "The minister sends his regards he'll pay well for your-" The leader began to explain.

"Head I know, you guys should know I've already killed two groups of people wanting to collect Honest's bounty; are you guys really wanting to become group number three?" Tatsumi replied drawing Smaug and Valruost and dawning the Dragon armor.

"Kill him!" the leader declared and charged him. As this group charged two more came from the alleyways.

"Bring it on then you mother fuckers! Valruost: Zhakur-Khazu-Khaine!" Tatsumi declared and three thugs bled from every pore and droped over.

"A Fight Blood for my blade!" the man yelled and charged in cutting down three assassins. "Blood for Kousetsu!"the man yelled and cut down three more, Tatsumi was surprised by the new arrival, Tatsumi joined this surprise defender and dispatched the remaining attackers with ruthless efficiency.

"Really after two groups get slaughtered you'd think they'd give up but they don't, I wonder when Honest will realize it is a waste of time to send assassins to kill me: but enough about me I'm Tatsumi and you are?" Tatsumi stated and turned towards his surprise helper, the man wore a black samurai Gi and had a bloodied Katana, his face was covered in stubble and dirt, his hair was a mess and standing up.

"I'm Izou, a warrior in constant search for battle to feed my blade Kousetsu; it is a Teigu that thirsts for blood, I am a Ronin a man without a master" The Ronin replied.

"Nice work killing those assassins, hey I know a group that could use someone like you" Tatsumi replied removing the Dragon armor.

"Good as long as I can kill enemies I don't care who I fight for: as long as there are enemies to kill, you are a good warrior and I respect that" Izou commented.

"Well then follow me: heads up though when we get closer to where we will be heading I'm going to have to blindfold you" Tatsumi commented.

"It is no issue; one most learn to fight without sight in the case he fights in the dark" Izou commented and followed Tatsumi after sheathing his sword, as the two left the rotting corpses in their wake.

As they approached the gates they encountered a new arrival to the city; granted new people arrived in the Capital Melitine everyday but this new arrival was stranger: he was a lean, muscular man with black hair styled in a triangular bob-like cut and small light blue-colored eyes. He wore a black outfit which revealed his chest and light-colored pants with a sash, he was also sticking his tongue out, at his side was a curved sword. "Hey you: you look like the mercenary type are you recruiting?" the Man asked coming up to Tatsumi and Izou, Tatsumi dressed in plate armor and in attire of of knight gave off a mercenary vibe.

"No I'm not, I'm a recruiter for a different organization" Tatsumi replied.

"How much does it pay? Because if the pays good I'm up for it and if it means I get to kill people even better" the man replied.

"Not as much as I think you're hoping, honestly if you want a mercenary job try the local taverns, there is no shortage of mercs around here; just a bit of advice, if you get offers from the Minister don't take them; odds are he'll send you to kill me and you'll end up like the last 50 guys who tried to kill me today, three different groups same motive" Tatsumi replied.

"Right got it don't take jobs from the Minister, I don't really care who I work for as long as I get money, to kill some people and to fuck some bitches" The man replied.

"Definitely not Night Raid material" Tatsumi thought.

"Anyway you know where I can find a brothel, I'm in dire need of some whores to fuck" The man stated.

" Nope. Not any that you'd be welcome in or could afford; seriously though who are you anyway" Tatsumi replied.

"The names Enshin, I used to be a pirate from the eastern sea region but the trade routes have dryed up due to wars being fought in the lands across the sea and the fact the Eastern Kingdoms have been cracking down on pirates so I jumped ship the moment I got the chance and have been looking for new line of work for a guy who plunders, rapes and kills. I haven't found anyone with enough money to afford my services so I've been wandering and came here I heard about the Empire and how it was in constant war so I figured I'd head for Melitine and look for a new trade" Enshin replied.

"Well you aren't going to find one from me; so take my advice, two things: first don't attempt to kill me for obvious reasons or the local civilian populace otherwise you'll have the Jaegers and Night Raid after you, the second thing watch yourself, the Capital isn't remotely safe for people new to it or anyone in general; there are people here that will kidnap, rape, torture and murder you just for kicks, most of them are nobles so watch your ass" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll be alright, I used to be a pirate remember I know how to recognize a cutthroat or a con man from a mile away; as for killing, I make no promises that some people aren't going to die; but I'll try not to piss of the locals, see you around Mr- you never gave your name" Enshin responed.

"Tatsumi, Grundel and Chouri by marriage, I have a lot of ties in the city cause trouble in my city and you'll regret it" Tatsumi replied and walked off with Izou out the city gates.

Shortly… "Izou did that guy give you the creeps?" Tatsumi replied.

"No, not more then someone usually does I don't understand why you didn't recruit him" Izou replied.

"I didn't like the way he acted, he's not the kind of person my organization recruits in fact he seems like somebody that we would kill at some point if he caused trouble" Tatsumi replied.

"I can see, the man smelled rotten anyway, I think he will cause trouble soon and he'll die soon" Izou replied.

"I give him two weeks at least before I get called in to kill him, pirates are troublemakers but hopefully he'll join a group of mercs and go somewhere else, preferably as far from Melitine as possible" Tatsumi commented.

They soon came to the boughs of the woods. "Alright Izou the time has come for me to blindfold you" Tatsumi replied.

"Very well" Izou replied and took a piece of cloth and tied it around his eyes.

"Good now hold this and follow me" Tatsumi replied throwing a rope from his side to guide Izou.

They made quick progress thru the woods, Tatsumi making sure to take numerous twists to make sure that even if Izou was paying attention to where they were going he would still not be able to find the base. Within a short amount of time they arrived at Night Raid HQ.

Tatsumi unblindfolded Izou. "Alright listen up, the people I work with are professional assassins, we kill the worst scumbags imaginable, we are also very secretive do not attempt to fight any member of our group they are trained professionals and WILL kill you if you attempt to either attack us or run away, clear?" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes I will do as you say Tatsumi-san" Izou replied.

"Good now follow me; our base is built into the caverns" Tatsumi explained and lead Izou to base entrence were a metel door blocked the entrance, Tatsumi knocked.

"What is the password?" Merraid asked thru a slot.

"It's me Mera, but alright: Our Foes Fear the Night and Praise the Day" Tatsumi responed, the door unlocked.

"Good to see you back Tatsu-kun" Merraid replied. "Who's this a new recruit?" Merraid added.

"Yes and dependant on what Najenda thinks: a new member of Night Raid" Tatsumi replied, Merraid turned to Izou who stood there impassively.

"Don't try anything, everyone here is a professional assassin, also if you cause trouble I won't hesistate to let my squishers go at you and trust me dying from insects eggs exploding inside of you is a fucked up way to go and not the kind of death anyone wants to have" Merraid explained.

"I won't fight you, point me towards your enemies and I will fight them" Izou replied.

"Great that means I won't have to kill you" Mera commented, Tatsumi lead Izou inside and to Najenda's office where the boss herself sat at her desk throwing away the cigars from her box.

"Tatsumi, who is this my dear husband another new recruit?" Najenda asked.

"A new recruit, do you think he'll make the cut?" Tatsumi replied.

"I don't know, your name and skills recruit" Najenda questioned.

"Izou, I am a ronin, my skills are killing enemies to feed my Teigu Kousetsu with their blood, I don't care for whom I fight only that I am allowed to kill" Izou replied.

"Very interesting, a Teigu user, a man who kills with a sense of honor; you will be tested of course, you will join in on our next mission to prove yourself, in the meantime find a room here to put your things in, then I want you to head to the proving grounds where Akame and Tatsumi will test your combat skills" Najenda explained.

"I understand; Tatsumi I look forward to facing you in the dojo" Izou replied and left.

"Tatsumi you bring the most interesting people here: this is the fourth person this day that will be tested, and us with a shortage of targets that are feasible to target" Najenda replied.

"Fourth, who are the others?" Tatsumi replied.

"Friends of Akame's, apperantly during your mission to kill Mengele a number of people were rescued from him, among those you freed were three women: Balluck, Remus and Womyn, all three happen to have been trained in the same program as Akame and were among those in selection for the Elite Seven, those who didn't make the cut joined another organization that was under the same jurisdiction as the Elite Seven. According to them they served under Mengele for some time until they suffered a crisis of consincious and attempted to stage a mutiny, Mengele put that mutiny down, but instead of killing the leaders of the movement he decided to take them back to his estate to hunt for sport: a major mistake on his part as the three of them hid in the cavern network that ran under his estate and which they found refuge. After your mission we went thru those you rescued from Mengele's estate and Akame recognized them. I've accepted them into our group, any friends of Akame's are friends of ours, much more so if they've seen the horrors of the Empire first hand" Najenda explained.

"That's interesting how are they shaping up" Tatsumi asked.

"At the moment they are in Grundewick Manor along with the other rescued captives to recover from any trauma, injuries and diseases they may have acquired in Mengele's captivity and also to get back into good health" Najenda replied.

"How bad where they I was out for most of the time on the way back" Tatsumi questioned.

"They were starved for about a week Tatsumi they had little in terms of food in the caverns fortunately there was a fresh water spring" Najenda explained. "They should be back up in action in a week or two; you should meet them some time I'm sure they'd be interested in you being one of their rescuers and a man who took a serious injury fighting Mengele" Najenda replied.

"Thanks, I'll do that sometime, in the meantime though I'm going to speak to Akame: I want to know more about her past and about her in general since we are now a couple" Tatsumi replied. "Also, I've got a target for us from Esdeath: an Imperial General who is a subordinate of hers is plotting a coup and assassination attempt on Esdeath, Makoto, his sisters and Honest, also he's got a share of other war crimes that make him a worthy target" Tatsumi explained.

"An Imperial General, Tatsumi we haven't done an op like that in while, this is a dangerous mission, I'll have to think hard on who to send and have Aria and Chelsea spy out; any ideas when the coup is timed for?" Najenda replied.

"No idea, which means we need to do this mission soon" Tatsumi replied.

"Noted, what is our targets name that may make things easier" Najenda replied.

"General Leon Malkath" Tatsumi replied.

"Malkath, the Devil of Da'quar, I should've guessed someone like him would try something like this, he's of the old guard and he has a history, mass rape and slaughter follow the man and his armies, he also is rather found of keeping slaves: I can't fathem why the trade of slaves is legal in the Empire, it's a barbaric practice unworthy of a civilized nation" Najenda replied getting out of her chair and walking towards Tatsumi. "That makes this even tougher because he is not stupid and is heavily guarded by elite troops, I'd love to give our new members a chance to prove themselves but this is too risky do without sending our best to do it. Which means because I'm the one responsible for these operations I'll take up the burden of command and lead from the front: don't try and convince me not to, I'll be right by your side the whole way" Najenda stated, then hugged Tatsumi and kissed him on the lips, he kissed back and held her tight.

Tatsumi broke the kiss and looked her in the eyes. "Najenda I'm not going to stop you, just one thing, if it comes to the risk of our child's safety I want you to hold back and keep him or her safe" Tatsumi replied holding her tightly.

"Right: Izou leave us, I need to speak with Tatsumi in private, this is a matter between husband and wife" Najenda ordered, Izou shrugged and left in search of room to call his.

After Izou left Najenda kissed Tatsumi passionately and he kissed her back more so. The door received a knock and they stopped. "Whatever it is it can wait!" Najenda remarked.

"As your co commander I am entitled to meet with you whenever I feel like it even if you don't want to!" Cassandra shouted back and opened the door to see the two. "I'm sorry; my bad I didn't realise that you two were- family comes first its not that urgent" Cassandra apologized.

"Just tell me what it is quick, I want to spend time with my husband I cherish every moment I spend with him" Najenda replied.

"Alright: a new order came in from command, new target I have the information right here in this folder; feel free to read it" Cassandra explained then put a folder on the desk with her second set of hands. "You are extremely lucky to have someone like him- I've not had a guy that has ever fealt that way for me, a few girls yes but a guy no" Cassandra complemented and left them.

"Now where were we?" Najenda teased, Tatsumi simply picked her up and carried her into their room and shut and locked the door.

Shortly… Tatsumi relieved Najenda of her bodysuit and then himself of his clothing before carrying her over to the bed. " I really pity Cassandra, she's a nice woman, stuck up and all that but lonely" Najenda commented.

"I know, give her time she'll come into her own with the group as a whole right?" Tatsumi replied removing Najenda's panties and her bra.

"Yeah you're right: who knows I wouldn't be surprised if she fell for you" Najenda commented. Tatsumi ignored that and climbed onto the bed with her before going to her loins and demonstrating his skill with tongue. "OOAH! There is a reason why she'd love to" Najenda commented, then wrapped her legs around his head, he placed his hands on her breasts and played with them. "Oooh there! Definitely" Najenda moaned.

Tatsumi's tongue explored her lower and familier lips alternating between licking the outer folds and then the inner before going inside; Najenda's loving spots with this were well known to him but that was fitting; he loved her dearly and was glad to have her and loved to make her moan, to make her have joy and bliss. How badly he wanted to live with her in quiet house on land he owned and in peace untroubled by the evils of the world and not with just her but all the women he loved and his friends and family: idealic dream it may be; but unfortunately as long as Honest lived and the Empire was plagued by civil war and corruption.

Tatsumi continued to lick and Najenda continued to moan: then Najenda stopped got up and ran to vomit in a nearby toilet bathroom: the cavern base had indoor plumbling a luxury provided by the Grundels, along with fine furnishings and good food. "Ouggh, this is getting more rough; I've been thru all sorts of things Tatsumi but of all the shit I've been put thru nothing will top pregnancy" Najenda commented and climbed back on the bed. "You want to have a listen?" Najenda commented, Tatsumi moved his head to her stomach listening for the sounds of a baby in womb might make; it had been three months since their first time and it shouldn't be to far off.

He listened and did so intensively until he heard the faint beat of a heart, a small heart. "I can hear a heartbeat" Tatsumi commented.

"That's amazing news, now Tatsumi could you tend to my rear" Najenda stated flipping over Tatsumi entered her rear and pulled her back against him reverse-cowgirl style, rubbing his hands on her belly as he thrusted slowly. "Yes Tatsumi there" Najenda moaned Tatsumi rubbed her belly.

"So what do you think boy or a girl?" Tatsumi commented putting his head on her shoulder.

"My guess is a boy, and if it is I'm naming him after you: Tatsumi Jr." Najenda replied.

"Are you sure, I'm not the best person to name someone after, who knows if we do have a son he may turn out to be a hothead who thinks he's great only to be humbled rather effectively by the world" Tatsumi remarked.

"You have a better name?" Najenda replied.

"How about Susanoo, after your Teigu?" Tatsumi replied.

"Wouldn't that be weird having two Susanoos?" Najenda remarked.

"Not as weird as having two of me; besides Susanoo is level headed and doesn't rush headlong into danger without a plan" Tatsumi replied.

"And you don't?" Najenda replied.

"Najenda, most if not 85% of the time anything I do is me making it up as I go along" Tatsumi replied intensifying his thrusts as he took his left hand and placed it on her breast while continuing to rub her belly.

"Fine then we'll go with your idea, however my bet is he'll take more after you then Susanoo" Najenda replied.

"And he could easily be a she and what would we name her: Najenda Jr?" Tatsumi replied.

"Ha! Alright you have a point, how about Amelia after my sister" Najenda commented.

"You have a sister?" Tatsumi replied.

"I do, and she last I checked was still living in Joyou enjoying a quite peaceful life, she has her own family, her kids, she commented on me joining the military I was most likely going to get myself killed and not have either: Glad I've proved her wrong, I'm still alive, out of the Imperial Military, married and by next year our baby will born safe and health and we'll show him or her off to my sister in an official visit" Najenda commented.

"Yeah but that's all depending on us surviving" Tatsumi replied.

"I've got a feeling we'll do that, you're too stubborn to die and I'm the same way" Najenda replied.

"Cumming!" Tatsumi exclaimed and released.

"Same!" Najenda replied and did the same.

Momentarily… "We should stop for now, I'm not going to stress my body too much for health reasons" Najenda said pulling off of him.

"Shame but I get it, hey what happened to that kind of thinking when it comes to fighting" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm not just going to stand back while I'm still able to fight, though I promise this; if our child is at risk I'll pull back, and when the baby gets older well I guess I'll just stay back: Tatsumi I really don't want to be unhelpful I'm trying to make-" Najenda stammered Tatsumi kissed her.

"Don't worry I'll kill Honest before we get to the third trimester: hopefully if not well I'm bad at by night job too" Tatsumi replied putting his clothes back on. "Hey I have a question: Najenda have you heard of anything that allows a person to see the past?" Tatsumi replied.

"If a Teigu like that exists the record would be either in a tomb somewhere or something else: I have heard a story or two about books made to keep an account of all known Imperial Arms but if they exist they'd either be locked up in the Royal Palace or in a ruin, or they just don't exist anymore" Najenda replied putting her clothes back on.

"I'm going to go find Akame it's time for our daily Danger Beast hunts" Tatsumi replied.

"Have fun then, in the meantime I'm going to go over the documents Cassandra brought me and come up with a plan to take out our newest target: Did Esdeath say anything else?" Najenda replied.

"Nothing that affects us, everything else we talked about relates entirely to the Jaegers" Tatsumi replied.

"Well that's comforting" Najenda stated.

Later… Tatsumi came to the training grounds were he found Akame but also Izou and the two were locked in sword combat using practice swords. "Heeyah!" Izou shouted and swung a powerblow at Akame who dodged the attack with acrobatic agility before retilating in a series of blows that disarmed Izou.

"Again: you are a worthy warrior you must teach me more mighty Akame-Sensai" Izou commented.

"Not anymore today, I've got other things to attend to, we will continue your training tomorrow" Akame ordered, Izou left with a bow, to Tatsumi's surprise, the man was taller then Akame and older then her but he treated her with respect that was usually given to a master.

"What was that about?" Tatsumi asked.

"Izou is a fine fighter but he has a LOT to learn; so I've taken him as my student: never had the option to teach someone who uses the same weapon as me and is willing to learn what I'd teach them and respects me enough to listen" Akame replied.

"So you are now his teacher?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not just that I'm his master so to speak, he's sworn himself to me: I'm flattered by the whole thing, I've never had the opportunity to teach someone before I've always been the servent or subordinate: its nice to have someone who takes orders from me for once" Akame replied.

"Anything you have planned for him" Tatsumi asked.

"To teach him how to fight with skill rather then with a frenzy; the way he fights is sloppy and unfitting of his weapon: but also I intend to have him do some of the more menieal tasks around the base for a time as part of a lesson in humility, also he will be in charge of providing me with meat" Akame replied.

"Akame we need to talk: about us" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh: I see, hey to be honest we did great for our first time" Akame replied.

"No not about that that; but I really think we should know each other, you were willing to have sex with me because Merraid loves me, my question is do you love me: because I'm not sure how I feel about you" Tatsumi replied.

"I see, well that can be best addressed by us getting to know each other more" Akame replied.

"Why don't we go on a date?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well there is a small matter of me having a massive bounty on my head, I'm wanted for desertion, treason, and murder" Akame stated.

"Yes but you could well wear a disguise" Tatsumi suggested.

"I'm not sure about that: I've got such a distinct appearance there are drawings of me on every wanted poster" Akame replied.

"And we have expert disguise makers: I think we can do this: besides Akame are you afraid?" Tatsumi replied and teased.

"I'm not afraid, I'm a realist and the realist in me says someone will recognize me" Akame replied and pouted.

"Let's try it at least, worst comes to worst I can pretend to arrest you and then you can 'escape' from me" Tatsumi replied.

"Fine but only if you do two things: first you are footing the bill for everything, and second if we do have to fake an arrest, I'm not going easy on you" Akame replied.

"Fine, but no toxins; last thing you want to do is kill me with Muramase on accident" Tatsumi replied.

"Good point: But first we are going Danger Beast hunting" Akame replied.

"I'm up for it" Tatsumi replied.

"Good lets go" Akame agreed.

Shortly… Tatsumi and Akame were walking thru a glen of trees with blades drawn on the alert for any danger beasts. "So Akame I have a question how did you come to join Night Raid?" Tatsumi asked.

"Via being assigned here, me and the other former members of the Elite Seven were so elite by the standards of the Revolutionary army and our skills as assassins were renowned enough that they transferred us to their elite assassination unit" Akame replied.

"So as to the Elite Seven: how did you come to be a member of that group and what caused you to change sides?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that is a long story but it's best I start at the beginning: when I was six years old and Kurome was five an Imperial Officer named Gozuki came to our town looking to acquire children to be trained in an elite assassination unit created by Empire as a form of secret police." Akame explained. "My parents were merchants extremely wealthy nobles who were obsessed with money and ways they could increase their fortune: we never knew the limits to their greed. So it was their greed proved our undoing they were offered by Gozuki an extremely large sum of gold by the Empire in exchange for children: they sold me and Kurome to him in a heartbeat." Akame explained.

"That was extremely heartless, I can't believe a parent would do something so vile, I'd never do that" Tatsumi remarked.

"There are people in this world of ours who value money and other things over their own family, my parents were heartless people, so Gozuki took us away, we weren't the only people he had acquired for this purpose and we joined up with the others. thus began the training program. Tatsumi it was hell on Eden it was extremely ardous, people died in the training, only the best survived, there were over 1,000 children at the beginning of the program, at the end of it only 200 remained; we received all matters of abuse we had to learn how to kill, to steal, the resist people stronger then us: failure was punishable by extremely cruel punishments, those who couldn't fight off attackers during training were raped by them. Gozuki was an exception to the other trainers he was a father and considered us his own children, he cared for us as such he wasn't as harsh on us as the other trainers he made sure we were those who survived no matter what, he trained us hard" Akame explained "At the end of training seven of us became the Elite Seven: myself, Poney, Tsukushi, Cornelia, Gin, Natula and Najasho, those who didn't make the cut joined what was called the Group of Terror, some were given performance enhancing drugs to compensate for their lack of skill: Kurome was one of them" Akame explained.

"After the training was completed we were given our final test: kill the parents who had abandoned us and sold us into slavery: Myself and Kurome were the ones who killed our parents, along with their guards after doing so we returned to command where Gozuki rewarded the most proficient members and those who had carried out the orders without question with Teigus; I was given a sword Kiriichimonji: it has the ability that any wound it inflicts will never heal, the blade has served me well on many occasions and I still have it and I keep it in my room in case I need it" Akame explained.

"Why not wield two swords Akame, an empty hand it wasted potential; why do you think I duel wield my Teigus" Tatsumi replied.

"You do make a good point on that; I'll try it in the future it may be useful and it would be potent" Akame replied. "Anyway afterwords we were sent on our first missions, our missions proved to be simple, the Empire was at war with North at the time and so we were given the task of assassinating the Northern leadership; it proved a simple task as we merely challenged them to honor duels, something the Northeners practiced and killed them during the duels. These missions earned us fear from the Northerners who belived we lacked honor: the Northerners had no honor and they preyed on innocent people also they enslaved the Yetis who are a race that is honorable and good; so we showed them their honor" Akame continued.

"We operated as a unit; each mission was similer to those we have in Night Raid, we were given a target and we were to eliminate them and anyone in the targets sphere; however unlike Night Raid the group was required to kill everyone it didn't distinguish between civilians or enemies; as far as the Empire was concerned they were all fair game. Each mission became progressively more dangerous, the Empire believed in a system of targeting specific people to break an enemy before they could get too powerful; this mainly meant peasent uprisings and noble revolts: which happened rather frequently. However where under Honest an entire villiage would be wiped out, only the leaders of the uprising and their families were to be killed to set an example and it worked quite well." Akame explained. "Now while we were called the Elite Seven it was more like the Elite Nine: because Gozuki and his daughter Mez would often join in on the missions" Akame added.

"Wait Mez is Gozuki's daughter and you two knew each other" Tatsumi asked shocked, a group of angry Dire Wargs came to attack them but they dispatched them with ease.

"Yes Tatsumi, that was years ago and Mez was trained in the same program, so was Suzuka; Gozuki was more though then the just our commander he was family our real father where our birth fathers abandoned us he cared for us like he did Mez, we were in a way siblings: in fact so much so we were adopted by him. Gozuki was a Teigu user and he was the original wielder of Muramase." Akame explained. "Our missions grew all the more intense, and on one mission to assassinate a local Viceroy of the Kantanu province near the eastern province we suffer our first loss. Najasho died when the daughter of the viceroy caused him to hesistate in killing her with her beauty, he always had a soft spot for the ladies and while he was distracted she blew his brains out with a pistol, she escaped and is the only person who's ever faced an Elite Seven member killed them and escaped as well as managed to survive an assassination attempt by the Elite Seven; I heard she fled into the Eastern provinces and is actually now a leader in the Revolutionary army." Akame continued. "I personally have forgiven her, Najasho wasn't the best member of our group and he was always the weak link so when he died Gozuki decided that she wasn't to blame for his death it was Najasho's own fault which to be honest it was. After that mission Najasho was replaced by Kurome: it was both good thing and a bad thing; good because Kurome was worthy of the position and I was glad to have her with me, but it was bad meant I had to be stronger then I was already to keep her safe. I always considered it my personal duty to protect her she is the only family I have left in terms of a blood relative; my other blood reletives are all dead killed as part of our loyalty test." Akame continued.

"Then as the years went on we went thru more missions, the more kills we acquired, I lost track a long time ago of how many people I've killed, I've killed men, woman, and children, without remorse or care, however as the years dragged on I began to have my doubts, during a mission Kurome was captured and we had to rescue her; which we succeeded in doing so but she had suffered extreme withdrawel symptoms from not having the drugs she was given; those drugs have done horrible things to my sister, to a point where I don't drink." Akame continued.

"That was the first thing that caused me to doubt my loyalties, the real challenge came in the Southern Campaign; the war against the Southern tribes was hardest thing I've ever been thru, it was a conflict that brought out the worst in humanity on both sides: we received even more intense missions had undergo training specifically combat the poisons used by the Southern tribes; taking minor dosiges to build up an immunity to them; the conflict was just the eight of us: Gozuki, myself and other Elite seven members." Akame explained. "Then came the hardest loss of the conflict the Battle of Umba Wonga; also known as the Battle of Unnumbered Tears: it was the decisive battle that won the war; in that battle the Southern tribes thru everything they could against the Armies of General Esdeath and Najenda. They tried their hardest: it was a nightmare even though we outnumbered the southerners they killed five of our number for every one warrior we killed, their warriors were fierce as the Danger beasts of the land, the only units that suffered no losses were the Lizardmen mercanaries Esdeath had hired, there were about 1000 of them and they were probably the only thing that allowed us to win that day. During the battle I killed personally five war-chiefs and a large number of their champions: but it was not enough; and we took the two hardest losses we ever took. First was Natula he was mortalily wounded by a poisoned spear wielded by a War-Chief the leader of the enemy army: then Gozuki our father." Akame explained.

"The fight between Gozuki and the leader of the army who's name was Wunga Bongo was a spectacle to behold, each strike was that of precision, speed and might; this battle lasted five minutes but it fealt like an hour, I wasn't able to help because I was busy killing the bodyguards of the chief along with the other members of our group; eventually however the younger warchief managed to break thru Gozuki's defenses and deal a mortal wound however he managed to get a single strike in on the warcheif and he died of Muramase's poison, my father died in my arms Kurome mercy killed Natula with Yatsufsa and brought him back as a puppet, she took his loss the hardest as she loved him" Akame explained.

"After the battle we were given orders to kill any wounded from the enemy side, Esdeath had given a no prisoners approache we didn't have the soldier or supplies required to support captives; the whole conflict had changed Esdeath's approach to warfare; we had lost nearly half of our army in that battle but the Southerners had lost everything." Akame explained. "Then came the incident that caused us to desert, the massacre and rape of the people of the Southern capital; it was the army let loose to ravage an innocent populace, Esdeath let loose the pent up rage and hatred of our entire army on people that had done no wrong to them; it was meant to break the Southern tribes and make sure they never rose up in revolt again; the entire city was massacred and any survivors were sold as slaves; then the city was razed; put to the torch after being looted" Akame replied "We deserted save Kurome; she had seen the horrors but she needed the drugs the Empire could only provide to survive: I hated having to choose between my heart and my family but we were done with killing after that." Akame noted

"When Honest rose to power though things changed, we had stopped killing but stuck together we were family the five of us: myself Tsukushi, Gin, Cornelia, and Penoy; we didn't ever leave each other. When the Revolutionary Army formed we were among the first to join, we were recruited by Merra and her sisters into the army and we became devote members of the cause; during the period however I slumped into depression; Kurome's decision to stay as part of the Empire that had taken everything from us really hurt me on top of the pain of losing both a man I cared for in Natula and my father: I don't care if Gozuki may have been guilty of his share of crimes he was still my father, my only real father." Akame stated somberly, they began to turn back to HQ.

"I was left without someone to love; so when Merra began to seduce and romance me I gave in hoping that she would be able to provide the love I had never gotten the chance to have; being an assassin leaves you little time for romance and there really weren't people that I considered my type everyone of my teammates were family; I had never gotten the chance to experience romance and love, so it only figured that the first person that genuinely loved me in spite of my flaws and who restored my faith and hope in the world would be the person I loved without protest" Akame explained.

"Tatsumi, you have no idea how much you matter to Merraid and by extension me; you are epitmy of the person we are fighting for, the common person who no one would take a second glance, a normal person of low birth who has no share of people that would look on with disdain, but a person who is courageous and persists even when the world looks grim" Akame commented. "You Tatsumi are the dream a person I'd love to emulate, the person who's life I would have loved to have been dealt, a normal life, normal childhood, normal family, and a share of luck and good fortune with people who care for you at every turn. Instead I was dealt a hard life, parents who didn't love me and viewed me as a commodity, had to sustain abuse and had to witness those who were less fortunate die gruesome deaths, and was turned into a soulless killing machine: I don't care about killing or who I killed I have no qualms about it, but I really never wanted to be that way; a person shouldn't be forced to kill other people and I- I hate it, I hate being a killer but that's what I am, I don't know what I'd do in a world at peace" Akame commented and stoped, Tatsumi hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.

"Akame you are a special person, it doesn't matter to me who you were in the past, you don't have to be a soulless killer with no regard for human life, you can be whatever you want to be: lets go somewhere soothing I know you are all tensed up and telling me all this was painful to you; I'm sorry if I've caused any pain for this; I love you Akame in spite of your flaws, you are a young beautiful and good woman" Tatsumi explained.

"Right Tatsumi I am better and in the end this Empire will be brought down and replaced with something special: the corruption and leadership of this old order will die and be replaced with something new and amazing" Akame replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi, you don't know about the reason we fight, the cause we fight for, the old order will fall and be replaced by a new government where the people rule, no longer will an absolute monarch and a few noble families rule instead we will choose our own leaders; in the end the leaders that make up the Empire will die and be replaced by those who lead this revolution" Akame replied. "Including the Emperor" Akame added, and regreted it because that angered Tatsumi.

"WHAT!? WHY!? Makoto is an innocent child, he and his sisters, he has no control over what happens in the Empire: and what about Chouri and Constantine, they are part of the old order they are good people, there is no reason to kill him" Tatsumi replied outraged.

"The Emperor is part of the corruption and according to our leader and his closest confidants needs to die" Akame explained non-plused.

"NO! That is madness, the Emperor is an innocent child, he has nothing to do with the rot in the Empire's heart, I've seen it for myself, and what's to stop them from wanting his sweet little sisters dead; nothing I won't allow it: this isn't going to happen, I'm forming my own faction: I'll change the Empire for the better: Honest will die, and I will destroy the rot in hearts of both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army: You are either with me Akame or against me" Tatsumi replied drawing his blade expecting to have to fight.

"What you are saying is mutiny Tatsumi; it is punishable by death: I- you are right: What am I saying, anyone who'd want an innocent child to die for their own agenda is evil! Much less three innocent children! You are right Tatsumi this revolution is lead by people who don't have good intensions, hell they may be even worse then Honest- I- I- you know I hate having to change sides again, I deserted the Empire because they did horrible things to innocent people and to my sister; I won't run from evil though not again, I'm going to fight, I'm with you and I will change the world" Akame replied.

"I'm glad you are with me: you do still love me even after my decision to betray the Revolutionary army right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi I love you for who you are, you aren't afraid to do the right thing even if it isn't the most practical thing, you spare lives of people I would have killed without hesistation, you don't stand by do nothing against evil: you are heroic, brave, handsome, smart, caring, optimistic, everything right about you is worth love and my undying love: I love you as much as I do Merraid, and I know you love me just as much and her the same! Nothing will change our feelings: now lets go and do what we were going to do" Akame explained.

On their way back they encountered a large cave and heard the snoring of a great danger beast. "One more for the road?" Tatsumi asked.

"One more" Akame replied then charged into the cave and drove Muramase into the sleeping behemoth which caused it to die near instantly; in the dark of the cavern though the faint glint of gold was seen and Tatsumi picked up a branch and lit up a match to see what was in there and noted a massive treasure horde amongst the cavern, the centerpiece being a black and red kabuto helmet with a black triangle in the center that Akame was drawn to: she picked it up and the helmet floated and attached itself to her haad. "AAGH!" Akame screamed as the helmet attached itself, her eyes glowed with flame. "I am Shingin: Fire Lord's Armor submit to me and tremble!" Akame yelled, "NEVER I AM IN CONTROL I AM NOBODY'S SLAVE!" Akame screamed as she asserted dominance over the new Teigu which had a surprisingly assertive personality.

"EYAGH!" Akame screamed and her eyes returned to normal. "Shingin: Fire Lord's armor: Protect!" Akame proclaimed and her body was covered in a full set of black and red samurai armor only it was conformed to her figure and wasn't a traditional set more of a mixture of Samurai armor and platemail. "This is new Tatsumi take your sword, normal one and strike it I want to test the strength of this Armor" Akame ordered.

"Alright Akame" Tatsumi stated and drew his reserve sword and took a slice at the armor, the blade glanced off and flew out of his hand; the armor was flawless. "Wow, you think it may be as strong as Incersio?" Tatsumi asked.

"It may be stronger, though I doubt as powerful as your dragon armor, it's flexable too, I will need to test this on a mission; I think now duel wielding just became an even more potent option" Akame replied.

"Yeah, I wonder how this got here?" Tatsumi asked.

"No idea, probably some would be hero died here and the Danger beast took it; this is a good horde, we should let the others know about it, this could be useful for a few things" Akame stated.

"Right but first let's get back to our plans, then we'll tell Najenda about this" Tatsumi replied.

"Let's leave this place and remember it" Akame stated and them left

Later at the Hot Springs…

"Ugh!" Akame moaned as she once more speared down on Tatsumi's length, it was big and fit perfectly inside her. Tatsumi drank from her right breast as she wraped her hand around his back and held his in the other. "Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi-kun! Deeper! Oh! This is amazing just us here and no one to interrupt us" Akame moaned.

"Just the way I like it" Tatsumi commented as he alternated breasts; he fondled her butt cheeks with his other hand then stopped drinking and kissed her and held hands as they plunged under the water they closed their eyes and held their hands as he thrusted inside her and kissed, before floating back to the surface and kissing more: their tongue danced with grace and skill which reflected their skill with eating out pussy, it kept going and they kept going until they came together.

"Tatsumi! That was amazing, now let me please you as you have me" Akame stated and pushed him against the rock slopes to the ledge, then took his length in her mouth and began blowing him, licking down the length with practiced ease licking into tip then down the length taking a testicle into her mouth and sucking it before licking back up and sucking the length, deep-throating him with passionate ease.

"Akame ugh! That's amazing you are giving Cosmina a run for her money with this! Aoh! That's the spot, oh your mouth is great as your pussy! Fuck me! Fuck me!" Tatsumi moaned as she sucked him, Akame blushed, then wrapped her breasts around his length and massaged it; while giving him head alternating between sucking and licking.

It was too much and Tatsumi came, Akame swallowed the whole load apart from small creampie on her cheeks and lips which she licked off. "Delicous, now Tatsumi what do you want to do next?" Akame replied.

"I'm going to take your ass and spread it and fuck it like no tomorrow" Tatsumi replied hoped into the water and pulled her to the other side of the pool pushing her up as he spread her legs and entered her tight ass spooning her anally as he went deep inside the tightness that was her asshole. "Oh yeah this is amazing" Tatsumi remarked.

"I love this Tatsumi: I'm so going on a date with you, fuck the risk of capture like you said we can just fake an arrest; now fuck me like you mean it" Akame replied and Tatsumi did so, he pounded that rear with animalistic instincts going of 10 minutes before he came inside, he then pulled her back into the water and fucked her tight pussy again and again, 20 rounds passed with all the matter of forms in the waters of the springs.

Later at Night Raid HQ… "I'm not sure Martha, I think the make up may be too much" Akame commented noting the blush and eyeshadow.

"You look great Akame; it's a whole new you" Martha commented.

"I know I love this gown; it is isn't cumbersome and it has such great colors, and flowers and ribbins are great addition to my hair, and I love this shoulder puffies they are so soft" Akame stated. "But this make up isn't my color, not enough red" Akame commented.

"Alright a bit more of the red eyeshadow and blush" Martha stated, then adjusted Akame's cosmetics accordingly until Akame was satisfied.

"That's way better Mera what do you think?" Akame asked.

"Like an absolute goddess" Merraid commented. "Tatsumi will be glad to see you looking like this: I'll need to think of something more impressive for our first date: have fun" Merraid added.

"Don't worry I'll keep those two out of danger" Leone commented she wore a flamboyant and revealing yellow and black dress.

"Who's idea was it to have her chaperone" Merraid asked.

"Mine: besides Leone has wanted to go on a date with Tatsumi for some time why not let her join in" Akame stated.

"Yeah you ready Akame?" Leone stated.

"Yes save one thing: you go get Tatsumi and I'll meet you at entrance ok?" Akame explained

"Yep, I'll go get Tatsumi; hopefully he's ready because if he's not well I'll get him ready" Leone teased.

Shortly in Akame's room… Akame opened a long box she kept in her chest with her other keepsakes, inside was her old sword Kiriichimonjii, she took it in the sheath and strapped it to her side alongside Muramase, the blade still called to her even though it had been years since she last used it in battle. "Don't worry old friend you'll see use soon: hopefully not tonight though: I have big plans and you aren't going to ruin them" Akame commented to herself.

She left her room and met up with Tatsumi and Leone, they then went a good distance from the base and came a carriage which Aria had loaned to them for the occasion, they then went inside and the carriage road to the city gates, it was late afternoon and the sun was lowering in the sky. The carriage passed the guards at the gates without issue: Tatsumi had planned out the date; first they would eat dinner at the restaurant owned by Aria's family then they would head to the Umatora Theater to watch the performance of the Empress that never was: a rendition of the life a princess that was for the longest time thought to inherit the throne but was cheated by her father's second wife who used a loophole to put her son on the throne, then they would stay the night at Grundewick manor: that was the plan.

Later… "This is the place, Meat of the Gods, you said you wanted meat Akame well here is all the meat you can eat" Tatsumi introduced.

"You know me too well: well lets eat the meat!" Akame exclaimed and rushed in the door; Tatsumi and Leone having to catch up.

"Do you have a reservation?" the Waiter at the front desk asked.

"I'm Lady Aria's husband; she made a reservation for three in advance" Tatsumi commented.

"Ah, I see here you are, Clair could you lead them to their table?" The waiter stated and a young waitress approached them.

"This way milord and madams" Clair stated and led them to a table that resided in a private booth away from the other customers. "We offer the finest of wines and food to sate your appitites can I get you anything to drink?" Clair asked, Tatsumi looked at her, she was quite the looker, long flowing raven hair and dark brown skin, her curves were curvascous as as good as Leone's.

"I'll take Red wine, Chentau Borduex vintage; in fine glass" Tatsumi ordered.

"Bring me your best mead and a lot of it!" Leone ordered.

"Of course you say that, no wine or alcohol for me, some orange juice would be great if you have any, other then that nothing strong" Akame ordered.

"I'll take care of that I'll give you all time to decide what you want to eat and I'll be back with your drinks" Clair replied and left them to decided what to eat.

"Since this is all on the Grundel's tab how much do you intend to eat Akame?" Leone commented.

"More then you'd let me eat at base" Akame commented "Also don't call me that here call me Akiri here" Akame replied.

"Right I better watch my mouth" Leone reminded herself.

"And ease up one the alcohol, I don't want you getting drunk and spilling the beans that way either" Tatsumi commented.

"Tatsumi you know me I can drink seven mugs and not get drunk" Leone replied.

"We both have had this discussion before Leone and we both know that number is about five and half before you start muddling your wits; I don't want anyone out to kill us because of your big mouth" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok Ok, I'll only drink three mugs this time, on my honor" Leone replied.

"Alright but I'm telling our waitress that so she knows not to serve you more then that" Tatsumi stated.

A half hour later… "This is good! This is great!" Akame stated gorging herself on a large chunk of beef. "This place is amazing I have to come here more often" Akame added in between bites.

"Waitress-" Leone was about to say.

"No you've already had three we had an agreement, so now you are going to have to drink water or nothing" Tatsumi interrupted.

"Spoilsport; man I'm looking forward to the performance, can you order some tomatoes to go, I need some to throw at the preformers if they do bad" Leone stated.

"They don't serve tomatoes here, in fact tomatoes are super expensive and we haven't had any since the Western cities cut off trade and a blight wiped out this year's crop" Akame replied

"Damn, forgot about that; shame the performers are lucky" Leone stated.

They soon finished eating and left with the tab paid for by Aria's advance payment given to them; as they went to where the the carriage was parked they found there path blocked by people in red robes. "In the name of Valtor we offer your souls to him and should we fall our own! Praise Valtor!" The Cultist leader shouted and they thru off their cloaks to reveal their armored attire, and drew weapons.

Akame with grace drew her swords and moved quicker then the attackers could react and Tatsumi and Leone could ready themselves to fight, Akame darted into the group delivering precision strikes to each target, each strike the same and in the throat. Akame powered thru the group and cut them down rapidly by the time Leone and Tatsumi joined in the assassins numbered only five guys which were quickly bled from every pour by Valruost.

"That was nuts, these guys mean business and are targeting me too; in fact they are after me and those close to me: I'm sick of these guys and I'd like to know what I did to piss them off" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd like to know too" Leone commented, then searched the bodies for anything of value or interest. "Nothing here except a lot of gold, yoink!" Leone remarked picking up every single coin purse. "More of the good stuff for me" Leone commented.

"Something never change Leone, you are always thinking about gold and bear" Tatsumi remarked.

"Can you blame me, I'm just a hot girl with simple needs, be greatful you fill one of those perfectly" Leone teased.

"I think we should put off going to the theater, this dangerous we should head to Grundewick manor for safety" Akame commented.

"You're right, I'm sorry these assholes ruined our date" Tatsumi stated kicking the head of one of a fallen assassin.

"Don't worry I enjoyed dinner, that was enough for me let's go" Akame stated and they got into their carriage and told their driver to held back to Grundewick manor, the night had fallen and the city gates had closed which meant the parasites were out to prey on the city.

Later that night… "Uungh! Uungh! Ooah! Tatsumi-kun" Leone moaned as Tatsumi pounded her rear; he was kissing Akame as he rode Leone doggy style, Leone loved it.

"I'm glad we can have a nice private night at home" Tatsumi commented to Akame after he broke their kiss and intensified his thrusts into Leone.

"I'm not sure I can call this home" Akame commented as she massaged Tatsumi's back with her breasts and grinded against his rear like she did with Merraid.

"Don't worry we'll have our own home soon enough, Aria's nearly finished getting thru the buying process for our new abode" Tatsumi commented.

"I think it's crazy you two- OOH!" Leone moaned. "Screw conversation Fuck me! Fuck me like the slut I am Tatsumi!" Leone moaned.

"You aren't a slut, you are a faithful girlfriend and soon a faithful wife" Tatsumi replied.

"I do enjoy this though" Leone replied.

"You can enjoy sex and not be a slut Leone; you are amazing" Tatsumi replied then came inside her, he then turned her over.

"Right now that you've given me some joy I'm going to let my little sisters give your sword some loving" Leone commented and placed her EE-cups on Tatsumi's length massaging it, an endevour which Akame joined her in, as both sets of breast soothed Tatsumi who simply smiled his iconic grin, laid back on a pillow and let his two lovers do their thing, Akame sat on his face and he began eating her out, giving her his best taking advantage of every spot, licking the folds inner and outer and insides into her G-spot all the while massaging her butt cheeked with his hands, even going as far to give her ass some attention with his tongue.

Suddenly his length was deprived of the warmth of their breasts, but was soon embraced in the folds of Leone's pussy; Akame sat up and made out with Leone then drank from her breasts; Akame's skill from her romance with Merraid allowed her to please Leone in ways Leone had never experienced; all this was good.

"You did good today Tatsumi you did good" Tatsumi thought to himself as Akame creamied him and he released into Leone, he pushing both off him and impaling himself once more in Akame.

"Tatsumi-kun! Give me your seed, I want your children: Fuck me all night!" Akame moaned, Tatsumi oblidged as he pressed in and out and moon shined on their lovemaking.

Meanwhile… "What have I here two pretty faces out and about late at night" a man thought to himself taking a look at two lovely young woman, they had just gotten off work from the nearby Umatora theater; one blonde and the other a ginger. "Now for some fun" he thought to himself and grinned, he then readied the pommol of his sword and stunned with hard knocks both women out dragging them into the alley way, he then stripped them of their clothes and tied their arms with ropes as well as blindfolding them. "Now for my fun" the man grined licking his tongue across his lips as he took of his clothes and raped the two women with eager joy, when he was done he carried them off and took them to a nearby guesthouse where he was staying.


	31. Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Love and War

Melitine, Underground lab beneath the city….

"AAGH!" a man screamed as the electrical energy flowed into him.

"Vitals charged; now for stage two, injection" the scientist stated to his automatons.

"By your command Doctor: Chemical IZ-327 ready for injection" an automaton stated readying a syringe with an orange liquid inside.

"This is test subject number 532, I have yet to figure out the exact dosage that results in a stable sentient subservient minion, so far all results have resulted in gibbering abominations that were either required to be put down or stored for future examination: hopefully you 532 will be the one who receives the right dosage" the Scientist explained. "Now inject, try 14 miligrams of IZ-327" he ordered, the automaton complied and injected the man with the dosage of the orange chemical, his skin twisted and distorted, his body over all twisted into an abomination that resembled a cross between a mole rat, an otter, a turtle and raptor with the claws of the last one. It clawed at its shackles.

"Damn it: Another failure, I'm beginning to wonder it I'll ever find the right medium: I2-108 how does subject number 532 stand as far as a risk, safe for future study or requires termination?" the Scientest questioned.

"Recommending termination, the subject has become far too dangerous for further tests: subject shows clear signs of aggression and heightened strength, it is uncontrollable Dr. Izel" I2-108 replied.

"Alright then; I8-219 deliver a terminal electrical shock" Izel ordered, the automaton at the control panel adjusted a dial to 300,000 volts then pulled the lever delivering a terminal shock, the creature screamed an inhuman primordial shriek and moved no more.

"Another failure, remove the cadaver and place it in storage for an autotopsy; I need a break for now" Izel commented then turned to the door opening behind him.

"Ah Father, an unexpected visit" Izel greeted as his father Prime Minister Honest walked into the room.

"Indeed, Izel my son, how is your research progressing?" Honest asked his son. Izel was a tall man of similer size and height to his father, the shared trait that marked him as his father's son was his golden eyes as well as his framed forehead, there however all similarities end, Izel had pale skin due to a lack of sunlight he also had dark blue hair, he wore a monocle over his right eye which had impaired vision, his attire consisted of a green labcoat which was worn over a green robe which was tied with a red cloth wrap, his body however protruded with biological and mechanical augmentations made by his own hand, included an arm that was green and scaled as part of a bio alteration that allowed him to grow protective scales and strengthen his modification, he also had four extra mechanical limbs attached to a spider like exoskeleton which allowed him to move faster and do secondary tasks at the same time.

"It would be progressing a lot faster if you provided me more than these death row inmates to experiment on" Izel replied.

"Yes indeed it was, and I would if I could, however with rise of Night Raid and Esdeath's return to the city along with establishing her Jaeger enforcers I am restricted from using the common folk from the city and the hicks from the countryside, people disappearing is too much of a give away for Night Raid to investigate as well as the local authorities, for now you will have to work with the local prison population; I may try and find an alternative" Honest replied.

"Shame, so far however my research is progressing decently on my other projects bar this own, work with Chemical IZ-327 or as I have dubbed it Rune after the grooves left on the space rock which we acquired it from" Izel explained. "A single drop has interesting affects regressing or twisting the nature of evolution itself, it has a random effect on anything; some creations made from it are benign, but others are mindless bestial abominations that either have been restrained or terminated due to safety hazards." Izel explained. "Personally, Father this project has extreme potential, I have discovered how to reproduce this chemical as it corrupts any liquid it touches into the same substance, also my research as proven that this substance is not native to Eden, it is from another planet in another galaxy, it is as utterly alien to Eden. However it in minor doses of about two drops has augmented minor lifeforms into interesting creatures, also in the same dosages it has given my arm its current state: if I can find the right dosage we could create a super warrior that is subservient to us and could be used to conquer the world" Izel explained.

"I see, continue this project however I need you to put it on the back burner, I have another project for you, you aren't the only one who's arm has been changed" Honest commented.

"Tell me more; have you been dabbling in the occult again father?" Izel commented.

"If you can call worship of Lord Valtor occult, here allow me to show you" Honest stated and removed the gauntlet to reveal his new hand.

At Grundewick Manor….

Tatsumi woke up to a normal sight in his experience, something at this point in his life he had gotten used to, woman naked and next to him, Leone and Akame. "A new day awaits me and I wonder what it will bring, probably me killing more idiots, I can't go one day without killing somebody mainly because they either deserved it or tried to kill me" Tatsumi stated to himself mentally. Considering the fact that Leone was still sleeping on him he wasn't going to move until she was awake, so he ran his hand thru her soft blonde hair and gave her a chaste kiss, Akame woke up kissed him and got out of bed and redressed in casual attire she borrowed from Seryu: then left him with Leone sleeping on him.

Leone did wake up. "Hey Tatsumi-kun how you feeling this morning? Not that it matters I am going to have so much fun with you this morning because man am I horny" Leone stated and kissed him aggressively, Tatsumi let her tongue explore his mouth until he decided to kiss back.

Leone mounted him letting his length plunge inside. "Yes! That's the spot, come on Tatsumi give you nii-san's boobs some loving" Leone moaned Tatsumi oblidged drinking from her right breast while fondling the left, he placed right hand on her rear to a moan from Leone. They continued like this for a few rounds and about half-an-hour till Aria yelled to them to get dressed come down for breakfast.

Tatsumi was not remotely surprised to find Akame's plate was covered with bacon and sausages: he simply sat down in between Sheele and Seryu, plated up his usual breakfast and ate. "So how are you guys doing this morning" Tatsumi asked.

"Personally, today Tatsumi I feel like I should go back to sleep" Sheele commented.

"I feel full of energy and am ready to fight for Justice" Seryu commented.

"I want to play with Makoto-san" Luna chimmed in.

"Alright then I'll take you to the palace with me today" Constantine replied.

"Yay!" Luna cheered.

"Luna has a crush on Makoto-san" Air teased.

"Knock it off Air, you have one too" Fal commented.

"So, do you" Air retorted.

"Girls please, no arguing at the table" Ieyasu commented.

Tatsumi ate his food and finished breakfast taking his plate to the kitchen; he was met by Aria who had done the same. "Hey Tatsumi, I think the baby needs your attention" Aria commented.

"Alright" Tatsumi stated and listened at her chest, hearing nothing. "No sounds yet Aria, give it a few more weeks" Tatsumi commented.

"I hope to, things are going nuts, I have all these cravings luckily mom has been able to give me the right things, last night at dinner I asked for a quail's foot when I meant a quail's leg, this is nuts" Aria replied.

"Well at least our little angel will be worth all the effort; speaking of I need to talk to you about something" Tatsumi asked.

"Alright shoot, I'm listening" Aria replied.

"Aria, I- the leader of the Revolution wants Makoto dead, did you know that?" Tatsumi asked.

"What!? I have to talk with my father about that, I'd need to clarify that information; but if that's the case there is something we haven't been told about and why the hell would they do it independently, we're the assassins here our job, Who gave you the information" Aria replied.

"A General from the Revolutionary army had a plot that was foiled by Esdeath just the other day, she rounded up and captured the conspirators and would be assassins; she informed me one of the Revolutionary army General's had orders to carry out a multipronged assassination attempt that would kill her, Honest, and Makoto; Akame also told me that the leader of the Revolutionary army has big plans that don't include Makoto and his sisters having a happy ending he wants to destroy the Empire and the old order along with anybody associated with it and replace it with something else now I have no idea what that something else is but if killing an innocent kid- no three innocent children it truly isn't worth fighting for" Tatsumi explained.

"Well Esdeath's informants are good and she did actually capture the people involved, as for Akame, why would she keep something like that secret? You'd think that with information like that would be important: a lot of the nobles that support the Revolution do so out of a desire to remove Honest and replace him with a better Prime Minister like my father or Chouri. I'm betting not even Najenda knows about this, I- need to ask Akame about where she heard this from alright? I'll get back to you later in the meantime continue business as usual" Aria replied.

"Ok: Aria though, if this information is accurate though I'm forming my own faction, tell your father that if this does happen to be true to inform his allies about it; in the meantime, we are going to have to keep this plan of mine secret" Tatsumi replied.

"Hopefully it won't have to come to that; but if it does well you are right; if the leadership of the Revolutionary army wants Makoto dead as part of a way of destroying the Empire what's to stop them from wanting people like my family or Spear's family or any other secret revolutionary supporters in positions of power gone" Aria commented and left.

Tatsumi dressed in a professional crisp military uniform with his swords on his sides and back left the manor. "Today I'm going to have to think: I need to clear my head; also I'm going to have to do some digging about these cultists that keep trying to kill me and people close to me: this is getting way too dangerous" Tatsumi thought to himself as he stepped out into the streets of Melitine he looked about noting people of all walks of life passing him by, to them he was just another person in city granted very important person as his attire suggested but still another person.

About a few minutes later he arrived at Main Street and noted a large parade of soldiers, a military triumph was underway and chatter was all about that a big shot had crushed the last remaining hold outs of resistance in the Southern provinces finally fully integrating them into the Empire. "Well looks like a new player has arrived on the scene; better head to the Palace and see if Esdeath knows what's going on: but first I'll need to get something for Makoto" Tatsumi thought to himself, he then went to the Grand Market and looked around for things that Makoto would find entertaining; he noted the wanted posters of Night Raid members but also a few new bounties on people.

Tatsumi took a look at the poster of Akame, took out his knife and cut it down from the notice board along with the other Night Raid members: he had decided he'd make an effort of removing those where he saw them; granted that was something that didn't have a lasting effect as someone would put new ones up but it was a silent act of defiance against Honest's rule. "Maybe I should update the posters with 'new intel' that might change things" Tatsumi thought to himself. The idea of spreading disinformation hadn't occurred to him before it would actually be useful to change the faces on the portraits it would actually allow Night Raid members who had wanted posters more freedom to move about the city.

Taking his usual route he looked for any signs of trouble, as yet no assassins had hampered his path; he noted however something, a tanned skinned female mercenary who was decently endowed with short cut black hair and grey eyes and wore bronze brigandine armor with swords at her side was rejecting advances made by another mercenary, one Tatsumi recognized; Enshin.

"Seriously you aren't recruiting: come on hottie give me a chance" Enshin stated in his shrill voice.

"I don't recruit I work solo, so find someone else to get a job from, also I happen to know you're doing this because you're after my ass: I'm not spreading my legs for someone like you, much less anyone I don't have feelings for which at the moment there isn't anyone, if you want a partner or someone else to work with find somebody who cares" the Mercenary stated to him

"You bitch I'll show you- "Enshin stated about to draw his sword when Tatsumi walked up.

"Hey Enshin what did I tell you yesterday about hassling people?!" Tatsumi shouted.

"Ooh I- Fine work solo I hope somebody comes though and teaches you some respect bitch" Enshin commented and stormed off.

"What an asshole" the woman stated after he was out of distance.

"I second that notion, I told that creep yesterday when he showed up not to mess with the locals; with an attitude like that he'll piss off either Night Raid or the Jaegers: and the last thing I want as a member of the Jaegers is hunt him down" Tatsumi commented.

"Whatever; thanks, by the way: my name's Saraya, you got work that needs done?" the Mercenary replied.

"Honestly, I could use a bodyguard, there are no shortage of people trying to kill me: I've killed everyone has tried so far but I am starting to get bored of being alone when these encounters happen; you said you work solo?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, I do, alright bodyguard work, how long do you need me to work for and how much are you willing to pay?" Saraya asked.

"An absurd amount plus free room and board: my wives' are extremely rich and I happen to have access to it; also I get a hefty salary from the Emperor's treasury as his Minister for Fun, he created the office, so yes I'll pay; starting with about 200 gold in advance as an initial finder's fee" Tatsumi negotiated.

"Deal, as long as you don't charge into danger like my last employer" Saraya replied and Tatsumi handed her the 200 in a bag.

"Don't worry; I don't charge blindly into the trouble, it either finds me or I find it with planning: also, my father in law is keen on seeing me dead: one of them the other two love me" Tatsumi replied.

"Your father in law wants you dead what did you do to piss him off" Saraya asked as she joined him.

"Well for starters I rescued his runaway daughter from thugs, she fell in love with me, she came to my room naked and willing, she rewarded me, we eloped the next day and she did all this to avoid getting married to a man nearly twice her age: then I took her to a ball at the palace and he found out about our relationship, the Emperor made him pay up her dowry and give her everything she owned and now he wants me dead for his daughter choosing to marry me of her own free-will" Tatsumi explained.

"So, who is he that he has this much money" Saraya asked.

"If I tell you, you won't run off?" Tatsumi replied.

"Personally no, I don't care about who's trying to kill you, I only care about my pay; give me that and I'll kill whoever you need me to" Saraya replied.

"Fine, the father in law trying to kill me is Prime Minister Honest" Tatsumi explained.

"Wow, you are a brave man, and you have balls of steel if you're willing to fuck his daughter marry her and parade it about in public; I have a deal of respect, provided what you're saying isn't bull shit" Saraya commented.

"No bull in it whatsoever" Tatsumi stated then noted several armed thugs blocking his path and turned to note more blocking his retreat. "We have company" Tatsumi stated.

"Tatsumi the Minister wants your heads: both the one on your shoulders and the one between your legs for taking his daughter" the Thug leader stated.

"Shit you weren't kidding; back off from my new employer he doesn't have time for you cuckbags!" Saraya stated and drew her falchions and readied herself, Tatsumi drew his sword.

"Because I don't feel like wasting Smaug's time on you goons I'll make this easy" Tatsumi stated drawing Valruost who mentally said "HELL YEAH! LET'S KILL SOME SHIT HEADS" thru their mental link. "Which ones do you want, the dozen in front of us or the dozen behind" Tatsumi joked.

"I'll take the stupid one who decided to monologue rather than attack" Saraya replied.

"There are fifty of us on either end of the street against the two of you, do you two think you stand a chance against us!" one of the Thugs stated, suddenly needle like blade impaled him in the throat, a blur of speed rushed in and three of the thugs were decapitated by a rapid falchion slice.

"Make that three vs 96!" Taeko stated having jumped down from the rooftops.

"Its on!" Tatsumi stated. "Valruost: Speed of Kahirii!" Tatsumi proclaimed and a red aura emanated from him as the bloody red blade glew brighter red. (Song: Radioactive /In the Dark mash up, Nightcore)

Tatsumi charged towards the thugs who saw only a red blur where the young man in Military uniformed Plate mail had been, then those at the front saw nothing as they were decapitated. Tatsumi leapt over the fallen thugs onto the crowd of assailants dancing amongst their ranks, arms were sliced off and legs out from underneath their owners while some were bifurcated others bisected. Swiftly and dashing and slicing, while to the opposite end Taeko and Saraya's falchions danced a flourish of slices as the two performed acrobatic jumps over the enemies before driving blades. Taeko drove her blade in a one-handed thrust that skewered the skulls of three enemies and before grabbing the spear of one of the fallen men and cartwheeling to drive rapid thrusts into two enemies with it, before turned to fling it into an attacker with Warhammer that had come charging towards her: the spear struck true impaling the man into a nearby wall.

On Tatsumi's side ten of the attackers had fallen, he darted back and forth in between the thugs' ranks fighting and slicing thru the enemy in bloody swift strikes, the more blood flowed onto Valruost the swifter Tatsumi became and the stronger as well. "VALRUOST: ZHAKUR-KHAZU-KHAINE!" Tatsumi roared and around him the mass of thugs armored and unarmed alike bled from every pour, blood flowed forth from them like that of Christ in Gethsemane however they were no gods and thus they died in agonizing death and the blood didn't fall to the ground it was sucked into Valruost; in this blood wrath those who could see Tatsumi clearly would have noticed his green eyes had turned blood red. "More blood, Die! Die! DIE!" Tatsumi yelled as he cut down attacker after attacker.

While on the other side of the alleyway oblivious to Tatsumi's bloody rampage worthy of Blood-Elf berserker, Taeko and Saraya powered on cutting down the enemies with precision strikes, with the occasion needle shaped blades flung by Taeko here in there for effort, more enemies surrounded them and they fought back to back slicing down any and every attacker, blood was flowing down the street as no one watching dared intervene; not even the city guards who wouldn't bother as they had been bought off in advance by the killers.

Soon however the thug's numbers declined to a few terrified survivors which were quickly mercifully finished off by Taeko and Saraya on one end and viciously mangled to death by Tatsumi in a Valruost fueled blood rage. The fight concluded, Tatsumi looked noted the red around him fade to normal daylight and noted the bodies all around him; the blood on his Jaeger armor; all the enemies that had intended on taking his life were now dead he turned to note Taeko and Saraya who to his surprise were hugging.

(Song End)

"Of all the people I was expecting to meet when I came to the Capital the last person on my list was you little sister" Saraya replied hugging Taeko.

"Same here Saraya: I haven't seen you in 5 years" Taeko stated as Tatsumi came over.

"You two know each other?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh Tatsumi I nearly forgot; here where are my manners, this is my big sis Saraya Oarburgh: Saraya this is my boyfriend Tatsumi" Taeko introduced.

"Wait a minute since when were we a couple Taeko?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not now: Saraya what are you doing in the Capital and with Tatsumi of all people" Taeko asked.

"Him: he's my new employer, he's paying me good money as his new bodyguard and I can see why he would want to hire one" Saraya explained.

"So, wait you two are sisters back up: Chelsea and Merraid I know about but Saraya enlighten me about this" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I'm Taeko's older sister, Merraid's younger sister, I'm 21 I left our clan home carry out the time honored tradition of an Oarburgh assassin: mercenary work, I operated and have operated solo, an Oarburgh fights either alone or with her family; I moved off on my own so I didn't have to put up with Merraid's rantings about our family traditions or her bragging about fucking every girl that she felt remotely attracted to. So, I've been doing that for years, I've killed hundreds of people for my contracts, but what I want most is to stay out of this fucking war: it may be good for business but either side views mercenaries as disposable holding the belief that the dead cost nothing" Saraya explained. "So how is Merraid and what brings you to the Capital Taeko? I just got here yesterday" Saraya asked.

"Well for starters Grandma Barbara died two years ago from old age, and the new viceroy confiscated our family estate; we killed him: we then joined on with the Revolutionary army simply due to the fact that the Empire had taken our ancestral castle and the Revolutionary army offered it back as a reward for our services. Some of us: Merraid, Gil, myself, the Twins, and Chelsea joined their elite assassination unit Night Raid, while Cassandra and the others joined the mainstream Revolutionary army and at this moment Cassandra is now a General who has recently joined Night Raid herself, the rest are in her former army on the Eastern front" Taeko explained.

"Well I never figured you would want to get yourself involved it the wars, well if the Empire's taken our clan home that is reason enough for you to get involved as for me: well I'm loyal to the person who pays me money and at moment Tatsumi pays well: he's given me a finder's fee and I think I'll be sticking with him for the time being" Saraya replied.

"Well that was eventful, I have to get going: some big shot just returned to the Capital and I have to get to the Imperial Palace and see what this is all about" Tatsumi commented.

"Whoa you are serious? Fine but if they tell me to stay outside I will" Saraya replied.

"Don't worry they'll let you in all I need to do is let them know I'm with you" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'll tag along too: always wanted to see the inside of that palace" Taeko commented.

"Alright, but don't kill Honest; as tempting as it may be to do so Taeko I don't want you getting yourself killed" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright" Taeko agreed sheathing her blade.

Shortly… Tatsumi and his two Oarburgh bodyguards were nearing the gate to the upper district when a blonde blur darted in front of him. "Hey Tatsumi" Leone chimed and ducked behind him.

"Give back our money you bitch!" a man yelled followed by five other men who were angry.

"Alright STOP!" Tatsumi shouted with an authoritive tone.

"Good: Officer arrest that blonde bitch she stole my money" The man shouted.

"First off I'm not from the Capital Police I'm a Jaeger and a Major-General, arresting people is not my department; second off are you guys really sure she was the one who took your money" Tatsumi replied.

"Damn sure as fuck she is and if you're a Major general then I'm an emperor a kid your age" the man stated.

"Shove IT! I am a general and if you take that tone with me again, I'll break your nose" Tatsumi replied.

"I don't have to take that from you; guys let's beat this guy up he's probably some friend of the bitch who's in for a fifty-fifty split!" the man replied and readied a sword. Big mistake Tatsumi drew Valruost and bifurcated the man.

"Anyone else think attacking me is a good idea?" Tatsumi replied, the other men, drunk though they may have been, shook their heads and ran off, two of which with noticeable brown stains on their pants. "Idiots" Tatsumi stated and turned to Leone.

"What have I told you about conning people out of their money?" Tatsumi replied.

"I can't help it; they get so distracted looking at my curves and when they start drinking the become so gullible all I have to do is sigh and they throw their money at me hoping for blowjobs and instead I take it and bolt" Leone commented.

"It's not healthy Leone, and trust me it will come back to bite you in the ass hard someday: Now I don't want you getting into any more trouble so you are coming with me so I can keep an eye on you" Tatsumi replied.

"Sure, why not? Interesting stuff happens to you a lot Tatsumi-kun, besides a day with the man I love that is sweet" Leone commented.

"We're off to the palace I want to see what all the parades are about, some big-shot has come back and I'll bet we'll find him at the palace I'd like to know who the new player in the Capital's games is and if they are a threat" Tatsumi replied.

Later… Tatsumi easily passed the guards despite his company he simply told the guards that Taeko and Saraya were his new bodyguards and Leone was his mistress; both of which were true as Taeko had decided to stick around and watch his back. The throne room door was shut but he opened it and walked in on a meeting with as much stature and authority as he could present.

"Tatsumi-san! Come in this is a surprise, look Esdeath-nii it's Tatsumi!" Makoto shouted jumping up for joy on his throne.

"Tatsumi-nii!" Luna stated and rushed up and hugged him.

"Good to see you too Luna" Tatsumi stated getting on her level and picking her up in a hug before twirling her around and putting her back down again. "My apologies for arriving unannounced and for my entry: I saw all the fanfare and parades outside wondered if someone new has arrived" Tatsumi explained.

"That would be me" A man explained in deep thick accent, a big burly muscular man who was bald and has tanned skin with a brown beard. He wore strong chain mail armor on his chest, back and legs in addition to chain mail boots, over this was a general's sash and medals and on his back was a long blue cape as well as a large trident. "General Tethek Tsunami; Imperial protector: I have returned after a pacification mission to the Southern provinces in which I finished the integration of the Southern lands to our Empire, minus the semi-autonomous temple cities of our Lizardmen allies" the man introduced. "And who prey tell are you?" General Tethek asked.

"Major-General Tatsumi of the Jaegers; second in command to Grand Marshal Esdeath of his Majesty's military and his Majesty's Minister for Fun" Tatsumi replied. "Speaking of I brought you this Makoto" Tatsumi stated and took a basket that he had strapped to his back off, he had gotten this in the market district outside the Palace, he opened the basket and pulled out a puppy, a furry Labrador retriever and took him to Makoto.

"A PUPPY!" Makoto yelled jumping for joy, the puppy woofed as Tatsumi handed it to him. "Thank you Tatsumi-nii I love puppies I'll take care of him and play with him and have fun with him: if he is a him, is he a he or a she?" Makoto commented and asked.

"It is a boy: what are you going to name him?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm going to name him Patches: I love you Patches who's a good puppy you are, you are" Makoto stated playing with his new pet.

"Will that be all General Tatsumi?" Honest asked, irritated by Tatsumi.

"No in fact I think I'll stick around just to annoy you Honest: also, because Esdeath is here and I want to talk to my wife" Tatsumi replied and walked over to said General and received a hug.

"You three at least will leave?" Honest asked Leone, Taeko and Saraya.

"They stay with me: Taeko and Saraya are my bodyguards, Leone is my mistress and keep your hands off of them if you want your hands to remain attached" Tatsumi responded and hugged Esdeath. "Besides I want to talk with Makoto I haven't had the chance to speak to him in a while" Tatsumi added.

"Refer to the Emperor as his Majesty boy" General Tethek remarked.

"Tatsumi-nii can call me by my name if he wants to, don't be bossy; also, he as an Imperial Advisor outranks you so you treat him with respect" Makoto reprimanded and the puppy barked in agreement.

"Now where were we, yes, you were speaking about rewarding you for your victories in the Southern Provinces General Tsunami" Honest stated, his eye half on the general and half on Leone standing behind him.

"Excuse me your highness" Leone asked.

"Don't interrupt!" Honest barked.

"What is it Tatsumi-nii's mistress?" Makoto asked.

"My name is Leone; do you have anything to drink I could do with something to drink" Leone asked.

"Sure, we have things to drink: Valet can you go get some drinks for Leone-san" Makoto stated to his servant to on side.

"What can I get you ma'am?" the Valet asked.

"For the moment water; hold the poison" Leone responded, the servant left the room.

"You are awfully irritating" Honest commented.

"Takes one to know one: Your Highness does he actually do anything fun?" Leone asked.

"If I tell him to: Honest-san Imperial decree you have to dance like a ballerina for the rest of the meeting while juggling oranges: in a Pink tutu" Makoto chimed.

"Your Highness please be serious" Honest begged.

"I like it when you make Honest dance" Luna commented sitting next Makoto.

"I am serious: General Budo!" Makoto shouted; and the royal guard general snapped to attention. "Take Honest-san and have him dress up now or you get to throw him in the dungeons and keep him there for a month" Makoto ordered, Honest gulped and was escorted out of the room, Leone giggled at the face Honest was making.

Momentarily… "That girl; she has moved up on my list of people to kill to ruin Tatsumi's life!" Honest thought to himself. "Yet there was something odd about her; she was alarmingly brave also very confident and- something unusual about her" Honest continued thinking. He then was led to a nearby room and locked inside to change; which he did so, trying his best to keep the gauntlet on after dressing in the tutu, he then left escorted once more by the guards his mind occupied with the Blonde Nuisance as he now dubbed Leone and walked into the throne room, he noted Tatsumi and Esdeath look at him, along with everyone else in the room, they stopped grinned then burst out laughing. "That Boy" Honest thought looking at Tatsumi.

Honest grabbed a few oranges off of a food cart and stepped in front of the throne where to his hard suppressed rage Leone was sitting on the side of laughing. Honest began to speak about the business of the day while juggling all to the laughter of Makoto and a number of others mainly Makoto, Tatsumi, Luna, Taeko, Saraya, Esdeath and Budo but also a couple guards the rest of the people in the room either smiled in amusement or pitied him; it was easy to tell who was on his side.

Talking as he was juggling and dancing; he was also looking at Leone and listening to her endless laughter; laughter that sounded rather familiar. "Could it be no- possibly" Honest thought then took a hard look at her while continuing to ramble on about various matters of court. The hair blonde golden though, fair face, fine teeth, strong physically, but also slender and busty as well but the thing that stood out most were the eyes the golden eyes a very rare trait. "She is" Honest thought losing his focus causing him to drop an orange and slip up and fall flat on his back.

"YAY!" Luna cheered. "Again, I want to see Honest hurt himself again" Luna cheered next to Makoto.

"I don't think he'll be able to repeat himself, Budo can you get a foam bat and bonk Honest on the head with it whenever says a word that begins with or ends with a Y" Makoto ordered Honest groaned.

"That will be all for today your highness I have urgent business to attend to" Honest stated as he got back up and bolted out of the throne room.

"Now we can play Patches!" Makoto cheered.

Later in Esdeath's room… "Alright Esdeath who is this new guy and how dangerous is he?" Tatsumi asked.

"Very: General Tethek Tsunami is a professional warrior and skilled tactician who specializes in crushing uprisings and insurgencies, he comes from the Southern Province of Idonath that borders the sea: he wields the Teigu Manaan which is the Trident on his back which allows him to don the Sea God's armor and summon lightning bolts and crack the ground with seismic quakes. He is very experienced and one of the generals that is loyal to Honest though that is mostly out a hatred for me: he does not agree with my methods nor believe I have a place in the army as a whole; he also is a Social-Darwinist which means he thinks that only certain people have a right to be soldiers or have power in general women not being among those he thinks should be either soldier or have power: in fact his doctrine as a whole is extreme he would have only the strong exist and all he deems weak wiped out save those kept as slaves. I believe that the strong survive and the weak perish, but the weak should have the chance to prove they are strong to become strong and join the ranks of the strong: he would have the weak either exterminated or enslaved never given the chance to become strong" Esdeath explained.

"Noted, this guy sounds like he'll be a danger; so, he's loyal to Honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Honest has him start to cause mischief; I'll keep an eye on him: so Esdeath how are you today" Tatsumi asked.

"Fine; so far the baby seems healthy, I've been relatively good as of late; now Tatsumi I've got a change of plans for you, something has come up as of last night that will require you to stay behind in the Capital during our mission to take out that Revolutionary General. Last night a number of women disappeared, that wouldn't be unusual on its own apart from the fact that other women were found: Raped and in some cases dead, there were a two who escaped; they didn't get a look at the rapist as they had been blindfolded during the rape itself. However, this case of mass rape and murder is too alarming to deal with. I have no idea who's responsible for this and I want you to investigate I don't want another Champ on our hands" Esdeath explained.

"I'll do that gladly, just to get that creep or creeps of our streets, I'll bring you his dick as token of victory" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath kissed him on the cheek.

"Good, now tell me who are the three ladies you've brought with you to a palace?" Esdeath asked.

"Well first off there is Leone, she's my mistress and first love, we took each other's virginities and we've been at it since then, she was also the first person I met when I came here; granted we got off a rough start but we've improved since then, you don't have a problem with her having been my first right?" Tatsumi explained.

"No none whatsoever, I love you regardless of who you've laid with; you're the strongest man in the world and deserve the love of many women for your might; besides it gave you a lot of experience making you a way better lover; speaking of in our first time why did you hold back?" Esdeath replied.

"Mainly to keep from pissing you off and stop you from driving an ice spike thru my head" Tatsumi japed.

"HA! Of course, you were afraid of me during our first time, I tend to scare people, though let me be honest I would have let you ravish me with full control during our first time" Esdeath replied and hugged him holding him tight, he did the same. "So, who are the other two ladies?" Esdeath asked.

"Well there is Taeko Oarburgh, she's the brunette with silver crescent in her hair, she's a fellow Night Raid assassin, so is Leone, and Chelsea's twin sister; she's also the younger sister to Merraid Oarburgh and as I just found out the other lovely woman my new bodyguard Saraya Oarburgh, the one in the bronze armor with the dual swords: I hired her because I got sick of having to cut thru Honest's constant waves of assassins by myself; besides it shows my status more I have bodyguard and will have two more joining me as soon as they figure out their outfits for their job, and Taeko I think she'd like to be my bodyguard if I asked" Tatsumi explained.

"So Taeko, does she have feelings for you?" Esdeath asked inching her hand down his back.

"I'm sure she does, in fact she's been teasing me about it; I just am not sure she knows how to approach me, she's clearly a virgin, I know that for a fact thanks to Chelsea and Mera, I think I love her too, but I'm not sure; Esdeath how do you think I should approach her" Tatsumi asked.

"Be honest Tatsumi, that's the best thing about you, you aren't afraid to tell people the truth; and be brave because you are" Esdeath replied. "Now about Saraya you think she has feelings for you or is it strictly professional?" Esdeath asked.

"Professional at the moment but I think we may become a couple in the future if I'm honest with myself" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath groped his butt. "Just like I am with you" Tatsumi stated and kissed her, soon her room's floor was covered in their clothes and Tatsumi was pounding Esdeath's ass like there was no tomorrow reverse-cowgirl style while fondling her massive breasts and making out with her passionately.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Melitine… a Large General's estate was a common sight in the city of Melitine, even more so when it was fortified. Such was the estate of General Leon Malkath, it was well guarded by crisp professional troops of the 231st Legion, the army he commanded, uniformed and well-armed guards patrolled the complex the center being a large circular mansion which sat on a hill looming over the rest of the buildings: the centerpiece of it being a grand skylight that hung in the center of the roof.

All this was being studied from an abandoned apartment complex about two blocks away via a pair of binoculars. "Security is tight; I've spotted about 100 guards outside alone there are five barracks, as well several guesthouses, but the real gem is that Mansion in the center; the man who designed that skylight was a genius" Chelsea remarked looking thru her binoculars and pulling out the stick of a consumed cherry pop, throwing it away, twirling out a new one from her bag and replacing it with the new one.

"This rooftop is a sniper's dream perch" Seryu stated, Koro woofed in agreement.

"I agree with you: too bad I don't get to shoot at those idiots down there" Mine remarked. "I have no idea why we are bothering with this anyway, why not just wait for our target and let me end it with one shot" Mine added.

"Thru that skylight Mine? The General doesn't leave his house save when he's going on campaign and Honest moved the 231st to the capital for garrison purposes, which means he isn't leaving any time soon, so if you are going to shoot him it's going to have to be thru that skylight and I doubt even you could make a shot from the angle it's at, the horizon line won't add up." Chelsea commented.

"I think we are going to have to take a closer look" Aria stated.

"I know that; the real question is how: that place is walled up tight, we'd need to do a night recon; that or I'd have to infiltrate the guard and that is a major risky proposition, there are bound to be extra security precautions" Chelsea remarked.

"Maybe we could just walk in and ask them to let us in?" Sheele joked, but in as air-headed a manner as possible to make it seem sincerely air-headed.

"Right: and why don't we ask Honest to stab himself in the face while we are at it" Mine remarked sarcastically. "It's never that easy Sheele, never" Mine added seriously.

"This is a difficult proposition; Chelsea do you see any alternative entrances?" Aria asked.

"Well apart from the main gate there are a couple of side entrances but those are heavily guarded however I do see a few grates, which means we may be able to get in thru the sewers" Chelsea remarked.

"Ewhh! Gross!" Mine exclaimed.

"I don't like it either but it may be our only option; do you see anything else?" Aria replied.

"Well there is something off with the mansion itself; there appears to be some other structures separate from it, but nothing too notable they seem to connect to the outer walls though" Chelsea replied.

"Hmm, any chance we could get the blueprints somehow, that would help" Sheele suggested.

"That actually may be possible but we'd have to find the contractor and firm who designed it and infiltrate that and take the blueprints and even then I'm not sure we'd be able to change our plan that much" Aria replied.

"Your father is in charge of construction Aria do you think he'd be able to get the schematics?" Seryu asked.

"Yes, but there is the matter that we'd need to go thru some red tape which we don't have time for: this coup needs to be stopped by cutting off the head of the snake: then again my father could pull some strings: I'd need to talk to him; Overall though I think we need to show Najenda the place and see what she thinks the plan should be" Aria replied.

"Hopefully nobody takes this sniper's nest position while we're gone" Mine remarked.

"Don't worry, this building has been purchased by me as part of my special project and is being renovated; nobody apart from my construction teams comes here and they are off for the week thanks to the Festival of Takorhi Magya" Aria replied.

"That's good at least now let's go" Seryu commented and they left.

Back at the Palace… Esdeath's breasts were wrapped around Tatsumi's length Tatsumi blushed. "So Esdeath; for this investigation I'm going to need a few other Jaegers as back up, also there is the matter that we don't want Honest getting any ideas while you're out of the city" Tatsumi commented.

"Whatever you need I'll give it; now I can afford to part with Wave as I know his abilities in battle, now who else will you need?" Esdeath asked massaging his length before deep-throating it.

"I'll need Cosmina, Mez, Seryu, and Suzuka" Tatsumi commented.

Esdeath stopped deep-throating him and lick the tip before continuing her paizuri. "I noticed that all of them also happen to be in a relationship with you, is that favoritism I spot?" Esdeath teased.

"Not at all I have a distinct need for all four, besides all four of them hate rapists and there is irony that a rapist gets killed by women that he would have preyed on" Tatsumi replied, pulling Esdeath's head down to have her take his upper length inside his mouth for a moment. "Agh! Cumming!" Tatsumi moaned and released, Esdeath attempted to swallow it all but some of it got out and creamed her breasts, which she started licking off.

"Yum, I love the taste of your seed Tatsu-bunny, yes I do appreciate the irony in the whole situation" Esdeath stated then climbed onto him and let her length enter her vaginally as she pulled him into a kiss as she pushed him downward against a pillow. Her tongue explored his mouth, he twisted his around hers and locked lips, he wrapped his arms around her back pressing her large breasts that he loved dearly against his chest and her soft blue hair caressed by one hand. They were one, husband and wife, locked in the greatest show of love for each other, nothing could separate them.

A loud knock came from the door, Tatsumi broke the kiss. "Go away! I'm busy" Esdeath yelled.

"General I have important news!" Wave commented from behind the door.

"It can wait! Right now, I'm here and with the man I love and nothing can be important enough to separate us at this moment" Esdeath replied back.

"Alright General I'll talk with you later" Wave stated and left.

"Now, where were we?" Esdeath asked rhetorically before kissing Tatsumi again.

Elsewhere in the Palace… "Of all the indignities I have to suffer this by far is the most humiliating, that puppet of mine can be a spoiled brat sometimes I swear if I didn't have to deal with Esdeath and my other rivals at court I would do so many things that I'd love to do to him and make myself Emperor" Honest remarked to General Tethek.

"Your puppet is getting a bit rebellious; you have four years left as his regent I wonder what will happen when he comes of age and finds out how great a job you've done managing the Empire" Tethek commented.

"That's why I have you to deal with uprisings when and where they crop up, this depression only exacerbates the problem" Honest replied.

"If you didn't put such high taxes and spend so much on there wouldn't be an economic depression" Tethek commented.

"Since when do you know so much about economics? Not that it matters I've got bigger things to worry about then people being poorer; it means more desperate people selling off their relatives to me; which means more food for me" Honest commented.

"Please don't bring up your cannibalism, personally it's the one thing that makes such a former warrior like yourself weaker" Tethek replied.

"I'll ignore that; I've got other things to worry about anyway, I tell you my life was easier when I just had Esdeath to deal with" Honest remarked.

"Speaking of who is this new comer?" Tethek asked.

"Him; Tatsumi, this upstart hick from countryside has been a massive thorn in my side; it all started when he foiled my attempts to kill that old fool Chouri, he killed the Three Beasts and if that wasn't impressive enough Chouri married his daughter to him: of all the things I've seen that old fool do I find it most offensive that he a noble married his daughter to a country bumpkin and on top of that the two love each other" Honest explained. "And not just her, he also married Grundel's daughter, that morsel Aria, it would have been enough if it have been the end of the matter but it wasn't the end of the matter; he somehow manages to earn the love and interest of Esdeath of all people, then he befriends my puppet, then on top of it humiliated me in a game of chess; that had to have been the most lopsided game I've ever played" Honest added. "Then on top of the whole thing the Emperor makes him his 'Minister for Fun' and Esdeath makes him her second-in-command and a Major General, he has foiled my plans at every end; he wields two, two Tiegus! And I'm not even going to mention how many assassins he's killed that I've sent against him; the man is unkillable, politically a mastermind who's managed to worm his way thru court machinations, but that wasn't the worst thing he's done no! The straw that broke this camel's back was when my beloved daughter Lillianna my most prized and beautiful child ran away, fell for him, he took her maidenhood and on top of that eloped with her, and if that wasn't enough he humiliated me by bringing her to a dance in which they boldly danced in front of me and when I confronted her my puppet did the worst thing he has ever done, he forced me to give up her dowry and all the things she owned; things that for her disobedience she had forfeited! I hate Tatsumi! I despise him! I will take everyone he loves, rape and torture them in front of him then kill and eat them in front of him then when all is said and done, I will torture and rape him then eat him alive!" Honest ranted.

"I see; well he seems to be quite smart and a serious contended now what are you doing now to deal with him" Tethek asked.

"What am I doing, trying my hardest to kill him and everyone he loves and everyone associated with him; things were bad enough when Night Raid was going rampant but now they rarely attack and they are the least of my troubles; the Revolutionary army is on the full march, the Eastern provinces are lost, the west is deadlocked, at least the Northern forces are defeated but right now I'm fortifying the Capital and the most important bastions available I won't let this Revolutionary army destroy my Empire!" Honest commented.

"I can see your problem, now what you need is a unit dedicated to enforcing your will I think I can help with this" Tethek offered.

"Alright then I need to form a secret police of sorts; I would have had Syura do this but he was killed by Night Raid in broad daylight! I need a band of enforcers to deal with my enemies; starting with Tatsumi!" Honest stated, then smirked.

"So, what about the women who came with him? That Blonde was extremely brazen and I respect her boldness" Tethek commented.

"Her, Leone: I have some suspicions about her; of Tatsumi's allies though I want her alive because if my suspicions prove true, I will have a use for her, once I've broken her rebellious spirit" Honest stated. "Speaking off I want you to investigate that matter: she is extremely important to him, she is his paramour but also extremely close to him, I wonder what she is doing now?" Honest asked.

With Tatsumi… Leone was enjoying riding Tatsumi, she had joined in his fun with Esdeath and currently was kissing the general while pressing her breasts against her, Tatsumi's sword was sheathed inside Leone and his tongue was pleasuring Esdeath's own sheath. Leone broke the kiss. "You know that was my second kiss with a girl" Leone commented to Esdeath.

"That was my first, you are a good kisser, I don't have feelings for women, but nothing wrong with kissing my sisters in love with Tatsumi" Esdeath replied.

"You know we aren't married yet" Leone commented

"What? You're Tatsumi's first and you two haven't wed, you need to fix that; it's important to marry Tatsumi if you love him so much" Esdeath commented.

"Yeah and we will, I just don't want a grandiose ceremony, a nice private affair with my friends, my mother, my half-sisters" Leone replied.

"You should do it soon: also, you should sober up, you'll likely get pregnant with Tatsumi's child soon and alcohol can cause birth defects" Esdeath replied.

"When I get pregnant I will, but at the moment for the three months I've been in a relationship with him not one of his shots has gotten lucky with me" Leone replied.

"He will get lucky soon" Esdeath remarked, as if to confirm her remarks Tatsumi released and this case he did get lucky; very lucky, three times as lucky.

Later at Night Raid HQ… "Tatsu-kitty I'm looking forward to my first mission with your friends in Night Raid" Cosmina stated her arms wrapped around Tatsumi's right arm.

"I'm looking forward to it to, Cosmina though remember you're pregnant and I don't want you to put yourself in too much danger" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry, once I start singing with Heavy Pressure the baddies won't be able to shoot me: they'll be mesmerized by my lovely voice or their skulls will explode like balloons when you pop them: which why would you do that balloons are so fun to look at don't pop them" Cosmina replied. "La de, de da de lad a dum" Cosmina hummed, as Tatsumi and her walked into the briefing room.

"Ah Tatsumi you're here: just who we were waiting for" Najenda greeted. "Glad you're here, Aria and her team scouted the target's home and it is a fortress: members of Night Raid we all know this won't be an easy mission so we are going give it all to come up with a plan that allows us to victory with minimum losses, ideally none at all." Najenda explained then pulled out a diagram of the target's estate and put it in on the table, Aria stood moved up next to Najenda.

"Alright I've managed to get my hands on the diagrams for our target's mansion thanks to my father's contacts in architecture; this place is a massive fortress that was built for trouble even more so then my home; this place was either designed by a paranoid madman who left nothing to chance or strategic genius" Aria explained.

"The mansion itself is circular in design, there is grand skylight in the center: it overlooks a great hall made for dining: we will strike here during dinner; there are a number of guards in barracks, but there patrols are going about in given patrol routes; as for side entrances those are heavily guarded along with the main gate; this mission is going to require a frontal assault, there is no ways about it: Mine will take up a sniper's position on a roof-top of a building that overlooks the mansion; Chelsea and I will infiltrate the main gate but we will need a diversion to distract the guards" Najenda explained. "Once we enter the compound we'll kill the guards in their barracks, then we'll crash enter thru the skylight: the glass shards themselves will be a hazard so we'll send in our armored soldiers for the main wave with our lighter armored soldiers going in behind; General Malkath is rumored to be a Teigu user so approach him with caution" Najenda explained. "For this mission we will be taking a team of 16; this is far too risky for a normal team: I will lead the mission, Tatsumi will lead the main team which will consist of him, Bulat, Pais, Seryu, Leone, Sayo, myself and Cornelia, Lubbock while lead the other forces consisting of Sheele, Aria, Yami, Cosmina, Chelsea, Tsukushi, and Gin: we will attack the main gate first then split up to kill all the security, then regroup to take out the main target, once we are done we leave: Mine you are to provide constant sniper fire until we are inside: once we are you fall in and join the rest" Najenda explained.

"Any questions?" Aria asked.

"Yeah how exactly are we going to create a diversion?" Tatsumi asked.

"That is an interesting one, to which I'm not sure how; we'd need a pretty good distraction to lure them out into the opening" Lubbock commented.

"I've got an idea!" Cosmina exclaimed causing people to turn towards her. "I know what will draw them out music" Cosmina explained.

"Music? How will that help?!" Mine asked.

"Well Pinky-chan that's where my Teigu comes in: I have a little song that if I sing it will get their complete and unaverted attention" Cosmina stated.

"Right and I'm the Empress of the Empire" Mine remarked sarcastically.

"Not funny Mine in fact I'll show you" Cosmina stated and pulled out Heavy Pressure. "Heavy Pressure: Siren's allure" Cosmina proclaimed and then began to sing in an angelic voice and in a language lost to the ages, a few members of team's eyes became pale disks. "Dance for me, dance for me" Cosmina commanded seductively, and the affected members danced. "Now Stop; come back to normal" Cosmina commanded and those affected returned to normal. "Now do you believe me Pinky-chan?" Cosmina teased.

"Stop calling me that and yes I believe you now you bi- No! can't swear anymore that stupid F- JAR!" Mine yelled and stormed off.

"At least the jar seems to be working" Sheele commented, to sighs from everyone else in the room. "What? I think it's making Mine a much better person and if she has kids don't want her acting like that with them" Sheele defended.

"Nobody was disputing that Sheele, I'm still shocked by Cosmina's singing that's all" Tatsumi remarked.

"I'll say- Cosmina don't do that to me every again" Lubbock stated palming his aching head.

"Well we have our diversion I hope it works" Chelsea commented.

"If it doesn't, we are in deep shit" Najenda replied.

Later at the Hot Springs… Tatsumi kicked back and relaxed, the warm water soothed his aches gained from his killing of assassins on the way back; granted Leone, Taeko and Saraya had done a fair amount of the killing. "Aah this is the best; oh, I loved this water" Tatsumi spoke to himself, closing his eyes.

"I agree this is a good place" Taeko stated walking up in bathrobe and slippers along with a towel which she laid on the stone next to the pool. Tatsumi opened his eyes to see her then closed them when she untied her robe. "Don't worry I'm fine if you see my girls" Taeko teased, she was naked under the robes and after she slipped out of the slippers, she was completely nude and stepped into the warm water, where she swam over to Tatsumi.

"So, this is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Only if you want it to be: Tatsumi, you know how I feel about you, every mission I've gone on I teased you and flirted with you, I've tried my best to get my feelings across but you didn't respond, so I talked to my sisters: first Chelsea who's told me to be honest with you as you like that, but a few other things; and then Merraid who considers you the only true worthy man in the world, the only one who is kind and caring, who isn't assertive when it comes to approaching women, just nice and respectful I-" Taeko tried explaining, then kissed him on the lips. "Love you: Tatsumi we've been on over twenty missions together in the past three months we've known each other: during those you put yourself at the front, you didn't hesitate to kill some of the worst people in th world, yet you are merciful when you need to be or when you shouldn't be I mean when it's less practical to be; your handsome, those lovely green eyes. you remind me of someone I knew" Taeko explained.

"Who was it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well about three years ago before the Oarburghs joined Night Raid I met a young man, he looked a lot like you, he was a man of few words and though my sisters gave him crap I respected him, felt attracted to him: there was one problem" Taeko explained.

"And that was?" Tatsumi asked.

"He was on the wrong side and in the wrong place at the wrong time; you see he was employed as a bodyguard to a rather corrupt noble and well I dated him a means of getting information about the layout of his employer's manor, it didn't happen overnight, it was over a month, and all though I started dating him for information I had real feelings for him and had we been on the same side we may have become a real couple. But I'm a person who's had to make hard calls: his employer had to die, he was praying on children and young girls taken off the streets and using them as sex slaves and forcing them to preform acts of horrid deviancy with him as well as his inner circle, even going so far as to force them to have sex with danger beasts and common animals." Taeko explained saddened and pained by the story. "So, the time came for our mission and he was the guard at the gate. I held feelings for him but we had no way of knowing who was guilty of being in our target's inner circle. I didn't warn him but I did give him the mercy of a quick death; a death which to this day nags at me because I had no way and still don't have a way of verifying whether I killed a monster or an innocent man just trying to earn an honest living, I didn't even stop to mourn Tatsumi: I killed someone I genuinely had feelings for this world- It's so cruel! Why does our species have to be full of such devious and despicable monsters: I know they aren't the normal but still I wish we could tell the difference!" Taeko continued pain and sadness turning to anger and grief Tatsumi hugged her, she wept into his shoulders.

"Don't cry." Tatsumi comforted.

"You haven't heard the worst part: the worst thing is he was named Tatsumi too, I was forced to kill my original Tatsumi all because of this stupid fucking corrupt world and Empire that twists normal people into horrible monsters to a point you can't even tell the difference between the normal people and the monsters" Taeko replied then cried uncontrollably and Tatsumi held her tight and let her cry, she blushed as his groin pressed against her stomach.

Taeko stopped. "So you see how it was, ever since then I've shut myself off from people who could have been potential love interests, all I could see was his face, I shoved my sense of love beyond that I feel for my sisters and family to the back of my head: until I saw you" Taeko replied. "Tatsumi; I first saw you when you were on the main road to the capital: I watch the main road on occasion to make sure travelers that coming to the Capital aren't waylaid by brigands that occasionally decide they want to occupy the roads and the day you arrived I looked down from the trees and saw you: immediately I wiped my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things but I saw you, you look exactly the same as he did, but you were more carefree, brave, daring" Taeko explained. "You didn't know it but there was a group of bandits that would've attacked you on the road, I killed them all silently and quickly without you even knowing they were there: I followed you into the city but lost track of you in the crowd, imagine my surprised when you showed up at Night Raid HQ a few days later: a fresh crisp new recruit; and I was annoyed when your first mission occurred that we were on separate teams heck Ieyasu tried to flirt with me; if hasn't told you about that he must be a true friend" Taeko added.

"However, I remember well our first mission" Taeko stated and reminisced.

Flashback… 1 week after Tatsumi arrived at the Capital. "Alright the bastards we are killing tonight are the worst of monsters I've ever heard of; they call themselves the Enthusiasts and their enthusiasm is directed at innocent people: putting out people's eyes, whipping and raping for fun, even going so far as to- force humans to engage in bestiality with animals in the heat! This is not going to happen anymore we are going to kill these bastards and we are going to take the heads of this group and give them true suffering" Aria stated. "Tatsumi you Taeko and myself will crash their blood orgy; Sheele, you Chelsea and Akame are to eliminate any sleeping enemies" Aria ordered.

"You and I followed Aria into display, the Enthusiasts had lost themselves in their abominable blood orgy that they were complete defenseless when we attacked: you cut thru those monsters like a knife thru butter; I killed those who tried to resist and Aria, well she gave them hell making sure not to kill them so she could torture them to death: I remember the joy I had when I put down a madman's abomination of a dog that he considered his son, and then gouged out his eyes with needle-blades: it was so enjoyable to kill him how he screamed, I was blind to another cultist that was about to attack me but you cut him in half before he had the chance" Taeko narrated. "Then came the punishment for the survivors and the leader of the cult that Aria had captured: it was enjoyable to watch her work and then she was done. I loved it when you poured pitch on them as they strapped to alter were burned alive: a good end to such vile human beings, and you made me so horny with your muscles; then we freed the captives and burned their makeshift temple to the ground you remember it right?" Taeko narrated.

Present… "Yes, I do I- remember, that was the first time I killed defenseless people but they were evil but still defenseless: I- didn't like it: I don't like killing" Tatsumi replied.

"Neither do I, just because I was raised an assassin due to my family traditions doesn't mean I enjoy killing people: but I've gotten off topic Tatsumi: you are my second chance: you are the mirror image of the man I loved, in both body and name: I-" Taeko stated and kissed him, Tatsumi kissed back and broke the kiss.

"Taeko I- if I really mean that much to you I can't in good conscience reject you; and thank you Taeko; I've always wondered if girls truly mean it when they say they love me and I know now they do: I love you too" Tatsumi replied and kissed her again, this time with more passion.

They would have taken their passions further were it not for an interruption. "Hey love birds" Chelsea teased, causing both to stop and blush looking at her. "I hate to be a spoil sport but I made an agreement with Tatsumi yesterday that he and I would spend some time here alone" Chelsea explained.

"No problem sis; I warmed him up for you, I can wait, but he is mine for the rest of the night after our mission" Taeko commented.

"Taeko I promise that" Tatsumi stated and kissed her again

"Speaking off I just finished talking with Saraya she's a bit jealous she doesn't get to tag along, you might want to let her know how things work here at Hotel Night Raid" Chelsea explained, Taeko got out of the water Tatsumi not bothering to close his eyes as he watched Taeko dry herself off and dress in her robes, at the same time though Chelsea was removing her clothing and putting it next to her towel and as Taeko left Chelsea jumped in. "We're twins you know, I'm the older sister by 2 minutes" Chelsea commented. "She did tell you everything right?" Chelsea asked curious as she swam over to him.

"She did, all of it" Tatsumi replied.

"Good I'm glad she was honest with you, told you how much you mean to her and how you've caused her to know love again" Chelsea replied. "Speaking of Tatsumi have to tell you something" Chelsea explained then swam over to her clothes and brought back something that shocked Tatsumi, a pregnancy test which was in the positive. "I'm pregnant with your child" Chelsea announced causing him to blush cherry red. "I knew you'd react that way: now for some fun" Chelsea remarked and smirked seductively, she fished in the water and found him still fully aroused. "Ooh someone's awake Tatsumi can you sit on the ledge you've got a massive cherry pop down there and I want to suck it" Chelsea explained.

Tatsumi got up and climbed against the Rockwall on a slight rise above his favorite spot revealing his length in all its glory; Chelsea didn't wait a second to start blowing him and she got to work: Chelsea had given great blowjobs at the start of their relationship now however she now gave him the best blowjobs; better than even Cosmina and Esdeath. Chelsea's licks going up the length were electrifying, when she gave him head the pre-cum on it was swallowed, and when she sucked it, well that was bliss and when she used her D-cups to massage his length and sucked it at the same time that was nirvana and euphoria mixed in with cute moans and giggles. The sun set as at Chelsea blew him; he knew that night fall would happen soon which meant the team going after the General would be leaving soon: Tatsumi was going to use the time he had before he to go to show Chelsea how much he loved her. "Now I'm going to try my hardest to stay alive and keep everyone I love alive; especially Taeko; I made a promise to her that I'd show her how much I love her and I refuse to die not even if I have to fight the Devil himself will I die: I've got reasons to live plenty of them and I will fight with all the strength of the gods" Tatsumi thought then took Chelsea's ass and rode it doggy style.

Later that night… Mine looked out thru Pumpkin's scope looking for each potential target looking first for the sniper's nests. "You asshole cunts are going to have a bad night" Mine said to herself, she was alone on the roof top so she could swear all she wanted; she then looked down at the team moving up. "Perfect, now as soon as the guards at the gate start falling, I get to start shooting and the Goddess Sniper isn't going to miss her shots" Mine said to herself.

"Alright team you know what to do" Najenda whispered; the group crept to the sides of buildings that faced the gate to the mansion, out of the sight of any street lamps and the lanterns of the gate guards. "Cosmina do your thing" Najenda ordered.

"Let the show begin" Cosmina replied and strode up giddy in her signature purple outfit to the surprise of the guards.

"(Wolf whistle) Well what have we here? Hey good-looking" One of the guards flirted.

"Oh, hey pretty boys: I love to sing why don't you guys listen to a song before I tend to your other needs" Cosmina stated, then pulled out Heavy Pressure. "Heavy Pressure: Siren's Allure" Cosmina proclaimed and began singing the siren's song; the guards at the gate were now under her control. "Now go into that alley for a surprise" Cosmina commanded, the five gate guards went into the shadows where they were quickly and quietly dispatched by her teammates. "Shame for those pretty boys, but I'm above them now; I have Tatsu-kitty; I don't need anyone else; still though it is funny to see them fall head over heels for me" Cosmina stated to the others as they approached.

"Now that those guards are dispatched: stealth team go ahead of us and take out the patrols" Najenda ordered, then she gave a signal to Mine to begin.

Above… "Alright assholes now you fuckers die" Mine said to herself then focused the nearest sniper. "Dead" Mine commented and fired, the pink round sped silently across the sky and connected with the target blowing his head off, then turned to the other snipers and ruthlessly dispatched each one in the same brutal manner, "Dead!" Mine exclaimed. "You're Dead too" she commented. "You are soo Dead!" she remarked each target died rapidly, then when each of the snipers was finished, she turned to the patrolling soldiers that weren't near the stealth team and fired rapid shots in quick succession hitting each and every target she aimed at before they could even react.

Below… One of the patrols consisted of 10 men who were sharply alert, the first fell quickly to an unseen attacker then the next fell too, then a thrown blade struck the officer in between the eyes causing him to collapse dead; then the attacker revealed herself and drew a rapier; the soldiers charged; Aria thrust into the first, dodged a spear and yanked if from the attacker's grip before delivering a power kick to the face that snapped the man's neck she then lunged at the next attacker piercing his throat before flinging the spear into another solider from a second patrol of six men who heard the racket; Aria then bisected another soldier then disappeared then cut down each of the remaining men of the first patrol with ruthless efficiency before leaping over the second patrol before stabbing each in the back, and decapitated the last attacker; Sheele then arrived on the scene.

"Sorry I'm late Aria: I had to kill some other guards" Sheele apologized.

"Don't worry I'm fine not a scratch; all these guys are dead let's move on" Aria replied.

Across the compound the guards were being dispatched, the second team had gone in and killed the ones asleep in their beds before joining in to finish the other patrols soon the guards were dead and they could move on to the main mansion itself.

Shortly atop the skylight… "Well looks like General Malkath is treating his elite troops to a feast: time to crash the party" Najenda commented, the team backed away from the skylight Pais readied her Teigu dawned her pink armor and was joined in dawning armor by Tatsumi, Bulat and Sayo.

"Time to crack the shell and then the nuts inside" Pais commented then brought up the Warhammer Teigu she wielded and brought it done on the edge of the Skylight; the glass shattered the shards fell impaling some of the guests while others including the general dodged; then they leapt in and went all out, Tatsumi immediately going for the General.

"Night Raid what a shocker; time for you to die!" Malkath taunted and readied his Warhammer. "Zharrganath: Wrath of Magma!" the General proclaimed his body now covered in magma-shard armor; Tatsumi immediately attacked, the General countered, Tatsumi was alone in this bought the rest of the team having to deal with massive number of guards.

Tatsumi lunged with Valruost and parried with Smaug striking hard on the armor, chunks peeled off when he received a hard hit from the Warhammer; he then struck harder knocking his opponent thru a wall which he followed him thru intending to strike down his opponent that he thought was down on the ground but to his surprise was ready to strike and he received a hard blow from the Warhammer that even thru the dragon armor did damage breaking his left shoulder causing him to drop Valruost he then received harder whacks, Tatsumi was stunned by the blows and losing focus as such the dragon armor was fading off and a blow knocked him to a floor unmasking him. "Now I'm going to crush your skull like a melon" Malkath yelled and brought up his Warhammer prepared to drop down a killing blow, but before he could do so a green Spector appeared masked and clad in samurai armor blocked his blow; Tatsumi recognized his defender as the guardian spirit who parried the strikes with super-human speed before removing the right arm of Malkath causing him to yell as the ethereal blade ignored his armor and cut the limb off, his screams were silenced as the Spector decapitated the general, a few more of his guards charged into the room before getting sliced down with speed. Tatsumi got up his wounds and broken bones had regenerated so he was good as new and saw the Spector go forth and slaughter each of the remaining guards to the shock of his fellow Night Raid members.

The spirit as soon as he had finished the attackers looked at Tatsumi and the other Night Raid members. the Spector looked at Tatsumi. "You're my dad, right?" Tatsumi asked, the Spector nodded then vanished.

Nobody spoke, they checked each of fallen enemies and found each dead, wounds have completely bypassed the armor: Tatsumi then walked over to Malkath and picked up his Teigu hammer. "I'm shocked: I never expected this" Najenda stated after everyone had gathered up.

"I didn't expect that General to give me such a run for my money" Tatsumi commented.

"That spirit; he sliced down the enemy soldiers like they were nothing" Pais commented.

"Told you ghosts existed Mine" Sheele commented to the Pinkette.

"Alright Sheele you were right: I'm hating to admit it but you were: so, lets clean out the safe of this guy and make sure that there aren't any captives we need to free" Mine replied.

The team then searched the mansion, every potential guard had been killed; same cause apparently the spirit of Tatsumi's father hadn't immediately left he had gone and killed all remaining threats, including those household servants that had concealed weapons, then they searched for any secret torture dungeons and found them; released every captive that was still living before looting the manor of everything it had of value before leaving the rotting corpses and the place behind.

Shortly at Grundewick Manor… "Welcome home Aria and your fellow teammates: servents begin getting dinner ready" Angela greeted as the team walked in the door.

"Thanks mother: killing the monsters of the Capital is hungry work" Aria replied.

"Your welcome, now I want all you to clean up and get ready to eat, victories deserve celebration" Angela replied.

"Yeah and the best celebration is a feast" Ieyasu added, to the laughter of everyone. "What it's true" he replied.

Shortly… Tatsumi had gone to his room and changed from his Night Raid get up to clothing more suited for dining when he had finished dressing Taeko walked into the room. "Tatsumi how are you feeling, you took some hard hits" Taeko asked.

"Good, my regeneration completely healed those hard knocks" Tatsumi replied.

"So that spirit was your father? He must have been an important person when he was alive" Taeko remarked.

"I know now for a fact he was my father but I still don't know who he was; what caused his death why he was clad in such ornate armor I just don't know" Tatsumi stated and put on his bracelet.

"What's that?" Taeko asked.

"Just a piece of good luck my Village Elder gave me before me and my friends left our home; he told me it would bring good luck, and given it allowed me to meet Aria I'd agree" Tatsumi replied as he clamped it on.

"Why don't you wear it often?" Taeko replied.

"Because it attracts muggers and I don't want to kill more people in a day then I have to: ideally I'd like to go one day without having to kill anybody but Honest is determined to make my life a living hell regardless" Tatsumi answered.

"After Dinner though you know what happens" Taeko replied.

"Yep I'm a man of my word; we'll spend the whole night together I hope you are ready to give up your maidenhood" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, Tatsumi I've been dying to to give it to you for months now: I have half a mind to do so right now if I wasn't so hungry" Taeko replied

"Same here" Tatsumi replied and kissed her on the lips, holding her tight.

Shortly at the table…. Tatsumi sat down next to Taeko and to Cosmina: he looked at her in surprisingly modest clothing, she wore a purple sweater and black sweats and a normal hairband with a pair of cute ribbons on other side in nice bows. "Hey Tatsu-kitty, Hey Taeko-chan how are you two doing" Cosmina asked.

"Hungry like a wolf" Tatsumi replied

"That's good I'm looking forward to the food and those yummy cookies: Mrs. Grundel you make amazing cookies the best cookies in the world!" Cosmina replied.

"Thank you Cosmina I'm glad to hear it" Angela replied with Ieyasu leaning on her shoulder.

"What is your secret?" Cosmina asked.

"Love, care, and a lot of mixing with a pinch of cinnamon" Angela replied honestly and smiled.

"So Tatsumi after this you want to celebrate" Cosmina asked flirting.

"I promised Taeko the evening" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate some education" Cosmina replied.

"Why not? It'll make my first time all the more special; but I get first dibs and you have to watch until I'm done" Taeko replied.

"Agreed Taeko-chan" Cosmina replied as the food was brought in. "Ooh! Roast boar my favorite!" Cosmina commented.

"Before we eat, we always offer a prayer, Taeko why don't you say it?" Angela replied.

"Alright I'm a bit rusty but I can do it" Taeko stated. "Matalia mother of the Harvest and lady of the hunt, Khurnos lord of the hunt and lord of the woods and plains we thank thee for this fine bounty; bless this great feast that was offered to us that it will nourish and strengthen our bodies; bless us in that we may bear fruit in all we do and bless thy children that live: we thank thee for these things in the name of Ulmo King of the Gods and the names of all the others in our pantheon, Amen" Taeko prayed.

"Amen" Everyone stated, then filled their plates and ate, everyone was hungry and within minutes they had emptied their plates and then had seconds, then desert and soon the table was cleaned of all food.

Later in Tatsumi's room… Tatsumi wasn't surprised that when Cosmina and Taeko disrobed they wore quite seductive underwear, for their modest attire outward it didn't surprise him their underwear was less so. "Alright Taeko first things first you need please him; let's start simple first off take off your bra and panties, leave the stockings on he loves them" Cosmina instructed, Taeko did so and Cosmina did the same.

They then walked over to the bed. "Now remove his boxers and you'll find the best thing in the world" Cosmina instructed in a giddy excited tone of voice; Taeko did so and found his dick.

"Wow this is big, Mera and Chelsea had first dibs at this, Man I wish I had gone for you two days after we met and beat them to the punch this thing is massive and must feel amazing" Taeko commented. "Are they all this big?" Taeko asked Cosmina.

"Nope; Tatsumi makes any other man's junk pale by comparison he's the best most hung guy in the world" Cosmina explained. "Now take those ample titties of yours and wrap them around it and see how it feels" Cosmina instructed.

Taeko took her DDs and wrapped them around his length, Tatsumi moaned as she did so. "Now lick the tip" Cosmina instructed as she sat down next to them, Taeko licked the tip, then licked the length, then took it into mouth and began blowing him, Tatsumi enjoyed the warmth of her mouth and of her breasts, Cosmina began to masturbated next him, he then put his hand on Taeko's hair and pushed her downward. Taeko sucked him then released his length from her breasts to deepthroat him, she had suppressed her gag reflex long ago during her training with poisons which allowed her take him deep: Balls deep.

"Wow look at her Tatsumi she is a natural at this" Cosmina commented while fingering herself, she moved over and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll say she's taken me super deep I thought only you, Esdeath and Chelsea could do that" Tatsumi replied.

"That's impressive for a virgin; now Taeko can you move yourself and sit on Tatsumi's face" Cosmina commented, Taeko did so: Tatsumi began eating her out, probing for and finding her sweet spots and licking them with his experienced tongue, Taeko moaned into his dick as she continued sucking it and Cosmina moaned as she fingered herself and played with her breasts. "Oh Tatsumi-kun" Cosmina moaned.

Tatsumi and Taeko came creaming the faces of both partners, both of them licked it off. "This is yummy" Taeko remarked licking her face and boobs.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it: now let Tatsumi please you follow his instructions and you are in for enjoyment" Cosmina replied.

"Alright Tatsumi please be gentle" Taeko requested.

"Alright Taeko bend over" Tatsumi ordered, she did so and presented her massive ass to him; Tatsumi entered her anal cavity quickly making sure the pain subsided quickly then rode Taeko.

"OHH! Tatsumi-kun! Please! Give it to me this is amazing!" Taeko exclaimed Tatsumi ran his hand thru her hair and grasped it like he would a horse's mane and road Taeko as gently as possible allowing her to enjoy it, she moaned cute moans he used his free hand to play with her breasts giving her the enjoyment she deserved, that she had always wanted. "Tatsumi-kun, my Tatsumi-kun I've waited for this for so long, you've always been in my heart and now my dreams are realized" Taeko moaned out as Tatsumi gave her the loving she had always wanted and kept giving it to her for twenty minutes before he came inside her ass and pulled out.

"Now Taeko come's the main event there are a number of positions you can have your virginity taken thru any preferences?" Cosmina asked.

"To be honest I want it to be romantic and as meant to be as possible" Taeko replied.

"Then I suggest the Missionary position; let me show you it" Cosmina replied and demonstrated the position, Taeko assumed it.

"Tatsumi please be gentle" Taeko requested again, Tatsumi readied himself pressed her legs against her breasts and entered her, blood flowed down his length but he was kissing Taeko, the kiss and her pain tolerance ignored the snapping of her barrier, Tatsumi continued the kiss then broke it and moved her legs and took her right nipple in his mouth and drank from her. Taeko moaned in pleasure, and to her surprise Cosmina took her other nipple and began to drink from it then stopped and kissed her.

"Enjoying it?" Cosmina asked.

"Yes! Fucking YES! This is the best thing ever, I've never felt so good in my life and this is truly the best day of it" Taeko moaned as Tatsumi alternated breasts continuing to thrust deeper and deeper; and he kept going and going, stopped drinking and kissed alternating positions spooning with her and fondling her soft breasts and kissing her.

Tatsumi was getting close to cumming. "Taeko I'm going to cum again soon where do you want it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Inside me: I want your children, we will fight this war: kill Honest and when our children are born they'll grow up in a world of peace" Taeko replied and Tatsumi obliged releasing inside her, Taeko passed out tired.

"Good job Tatsu-kitty I'm glad she enjoyed it: now for giving me some" Cosmina replied with a flirty face on.

"Yes, remember though we can't go for too long" Tatsumi explained.

"I do, hey Tatsumi I want to ask you if you'd marry me: tomorrow along with Taeko-chan" Cosmina asked.

"Sure" Tatsumi replied and entered Cosmina's ass and rode her until they both passed out.

Meanwhile… "Please don't! Not there! No!" a young woman yelled as her rapist took her.

"Don't worry I'll make this nice and rough! I love bitches like you; you're hot and not often I get to bang a cute Western girl like you, I love pink hair" the Rapist replied to her and licked chest and pulled her pony-tailed pink hair. "You I'm taking home along with the other hotties I really like; you're lucky, the girls I don't like well they're dead I love those massive titties of yours what is you name hottie" He asked.

"Linsey" she replied. "You are a sick man and you are a coward if you won't allow me to see you" Linsey taunted receiving a spanking with a wooden club.

"Fine I might as well do you a favor bitch and tell you my name since you gave me yours: My name is Enshin and you are my new favorite plaything; hope I don't get bored of you, granted I haven't gotten bored of this yet, now all I need is a job: I'll find a group of like-minded mercs to hire me and then I'm out of the city and you ladies well I'll have an use for you to warm my bed on those campaigns along with any other bitches" Enshin commented and smirked, then knocked her out and raped her more before tying her up and carrying her away along with her two friends he had also done and tied up. "Now where should I strike next: Shamshir what do you think" Enshin commented. "Fuck you then I enjoy this and you are just as much my bitch as these chicks" Enshin proclaimed and laughed maniacally before vanishing into the night.


	32. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: The Siren's Secrets and the Dragon's Hunt

 **Author's Note: Thank you for 100 reviews and 20,000 readers, I'm glad to see my story is so popular, which surprises me as this story has way more readers and reviews then my other stories, on that note I'd ask you guys to read and review them; this chapter has been a pain to write hopefully however the next one won't take as long**

Tatsumi woke up to a warmth in front of him and behind; to the front he noticed Taeko which he remembered from last night to his back however. "Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina mumbled in her sleep and tightened her grip around his body. Tatsumi smiled at the moment he wasn't going to move; he was going to let the warmth of two beautiful girls snuggle against him: all was fine for him. "Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina mumbled again. "Good morning Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina greeted, Tatsumi looked behind to find her amethyst eyes looking at him.

"Good morning Cosmina" Tatsumi replied.

"Today Tatsu-kitty I want to marry you and we are going to do exactly that: I'm going to get myself a lovely purple gown and you and I are going to have nice private ceremony with our friends, in fact have Leone-chan marry you too she's been with you more than anyone else, then you can have your bunny and your kitty marry you" Cosmina explained.

"Why not? Alright but there is something else, there is a dangerous rapist on the loose and we as the Jaegers are going to track him down" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok Tatsu-kitty whatever you say; monsters deserve to die; we are monster hunters so we'll make the monsters dead. Though I think it will take a us a few days to track down this lunny-tic" Cosmina agreed.

"So Cosmina we need to talk, you know a good deal about me but I don't know as much about you; if we are going to husband and wife, I need to know more about you" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright Tatsu-kitty, but on patrol where no one else can hear us; my story's not for other people to know; its dark, super dark and I've done some things that you may hate me for doing but I don't regret doing as I did them to people who were horrible monsters who took away everything I knew and loved; I'll tell the others but in my own time; preferably when this awful war is over" Cosmina agreed, though she was reluctant to do so.

Taeko yawned and woke. "Man, my ass is sore; I had a crazy dream last nig- it wasn't a dream! I did it! I really did it! I did what I've wanted do for months now!" Taeko declared.

"Yeah, we did it, I did you; I have no regrets and you don't either: question though do you always talk to yourself when you get up?" Tatsumi replied.

"Sometimes, not often" Taeko replied. "Oh, good morning Cosmina I forget you were with us last night; man, that was an amazing first time, not just my first time but my first threesome too: how many girls can claim that?" Taeko commented.

"Spear, Akame, Leone, Merraid, the twins, Chelsea, Sayo" Tatsumi replied.

"Me, though it was a fivesome" Cosmina replied.

"Really Cosmina, you had to say that?" Tatsumi replied sweat droping.

"It was so fun they were so hung, they enjoyed it and so did I" Cosmina replied. "Though you are right; none of the guys I've done before compare to you" Cosmina agreed.

"You really are a slut Cosmina, you really are, also mean that as a complement" Tatsumi replied.

"Thanks, by the way so are you Tatsumi" Cosmina teased.

"I am not" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah you are; you've done so many girls at this point and you are addicted to sex, you have it at least once a day; therefore, by definition you are a slut" Cosmina replied. "Though if I'm going to be nicer you are a nymphomaniac like muea" Cosmina complimented.

"Really Cosmina how many guys have you done?" Tatsumi replied.

"You really want to know? I will tell you later when I tell you more about myself" Cosmina replied.

"I'm surprised though with all the guys you've done it was me that got you pregnant" Tatsumi replied.

"And girls too; I love pretty girls too; I don't know what it is; most of that can be do to the fact I didn't let guys cum inside me; I love licking the cream off my body; though the rest can be attributed to the bracelet Dorothea gave me to keep me from having kids; her reasoning being that she didn't have time help me care for them and didn't want me to be distracted from my work; but I don't need it anymore: I have you Tatsu-kitty, Dorothea-chan has you too, and she has all her other assistants so she doesn't need me to help as much" Cosmina explained.

"Have you done as many girls as boys" Tatsumi asked.

"No: I've done way more pretty boys then pretty girls" Cosmina replied. "In fact, I really am glad Dorothea is extremely rich what with her father being a major noble in Trader Town; it helps to cover expenses; I remember that time I spent 30,000 silver in a single night" Cosmina replied.

"What!? How did you manage to pull that off" Tatsumi replied?

"Oh there was this really high class pretty boy, he cost 3000 by himself, then there was the extremely fine vintage wine, the caviar, the marzipan, the cakes, the other 20 pretty boys, the 6 pretty girls; whoa that was one great night; me and the other pretty girls enjoyed have all our holes filled by those hunks, I did every single one of those pretty boys man they were so hung and those pretty girls had fun titties to play with, big titties too, and they loved mine; also there was the price of the love dress I wore for the and the jewelry too" Cosmina replied.

"Forget I asked" Tatsumi replied blushing and wincing at the thought of the mass orgy that Cosmina had engaged in.

"Of course that wasn't the biggest one I've ever don-"Cosmina began and Tatsumi put his hand over her mouth.

"Too much information: alright Cosmina, not only are you a slut, you're the biggest one on Eden; I'm beginning to second guess my decision to get into a relationship with you" Tatsumi replied and Cosmina began to tear up. "Shit I didn't mean that sorry Cosmina I really do love you, and I really don't care how many guys you've done, what you wanted most is love and now you have it from me and I won't ever abandon you" Tatsumi comforted.

"No you're right, I really am the biggest slut on Eden, I- I am so glad that someone like you actually loves me in spite of that; you are truly the most caring man in the world: Tatsu-kitty, I'm not sure I deserve your love but I'm going to try my hardest to be worthy of it: I'm not going to ever betray you: I will always love you" Cosmina replied and hugged him weeping into his shoulder.

"Cry all you need to Cosmina, let it out, don't let it stay inside you: anyway, we should get ready for the day: I'm hungry and I'll bet you are too" Tatsumi comforted.

Shortly… Cosmina in modest attire leaned on Tatsumi as she ate breakfast, Aria sat to Tatsumi's right while she sat on his left, she chomped down on the bacon; before eviscerating her eggs, she did so all with a happy demeanor being projected; after eating her food Cosmina leaned on Tatsumi's shoulder. "I love you Tatsu-kitty" she softly said in his left ear.

"So, any news in the paper that may be of interest to me my father in law?" Tatsumi asked Constantine who was studying the paper.

"More women disappeared last night, also a few bodies were found too, most of them men a couple women; all of it spread in the lower city districts; however, nothing really connecting the whole thing: overall plenty of leads but nothing conclusive" Constantine replied after examining the crime reports. "Also looks like troop movements are underway" Constantine added.

"That would probably be Esdeath taking out the force she's sending to deal with nearby Revolutionary army forces that are about two days from here; that group was part of a failed plot to assassinate the Emperor and the ruling council" Tatsumi replied.

"Ah yes, that assassination attempt, apparently that general either doesn't know there are supporters of the Revolutionary Army on that council or he doesn't care either way he is as good as dead if Esdeath is going after him" Constantine replied.

"Daddy what is the Revolutionary army?" Fal asked.

"The Revolutionary army is well, that is complicated Fal, because it isn't a unified faction; there are a number of different groups under different leaders each under a council of military and political leaders each with their own interests: overall their goals are to remove Honest from power and root out the corruption inside the Empire: however the methods for doing so differ" Constantine explained.

"Who's in charge of them daddy?" Fal followed up

"As for who directly leads the movement that depends on the faction, the leader with the most power and influence is Boreth Falkland, a former Viceroy of the Province of Dartkuusa on Eastern borderlands; a wealthy province too, however the taxes Honest issued and Honest's attempts to seize the silver mines from the Falkland families fiefdoms cause him to rebel; a number of other provinces followed suit, he is a Teigu user and an experienced commander backed by a number of the finest generals possible, in addition to having support from the Eastern Kingdoms with whom he has trade ties: as to other notable leaders, well there are few publicly support the movement, the majority do so in secret; I am one of those secret supporters, General Najenda is another one and so is Minister Chouri; all of this involvement of course is extremely secret" Constantine explained.

"Why is everything so secret?" Fal asked.

"Because if we don't keep it secret Honest will have us killed and before he does that, he'll do horrible things to us, then kill us and then eat us" Aria commented.

"Ok I like secrets I'll keep it secret" Fal replied.

"Anyway, that is all beside the point I've got to go: Seryu, Cosmina, we have work to do" Tatsumi replied.

"Hold it Tatsumi: today you aren't just going to march of to work: I have something important that we both need to take care of today" Aria interrupted.

"What is Aria?" Tatsumi asked.

"I finally after going thru all the red tape and paperwork managed to get the deed to Gamul's mansion and not just his mansion but his entire company" Aria replied.

"What?! The mansion I get but the company?" Tatsumi exclaimed shock.

"His compony well that required a hostile takeover" Aria replied, and winked.

"Hostile as in killing?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Sort of, a hostile takeover is when a much bigger company buys out a smaller one; though in this case it required a bit of assassination, a few of, actually most of Gamul's business partners were not savory people so I marked them for death as minor Night Raid missions, granted I may have killed a few myself but they were all scumbags anyway; little by little I was able to buy out the assets of the dead targets allowing me then get a majority of the company about 80% then with a generous injunction I bought out the remaining share owners and bam I own the company" Aria explained. "Anyway, that is beside the point Tatsumi; we are going to inspect the mansion, I took a few tours of the place but I haven't found everything the place has to offer; I want to see if there are any skeletons in the closets so to speak" Aria explained.

"Why would there be skeletons in closet Aria-nii" Luna asked.

"Not actual skeletons Luna, hopefully but give how much of a wicked man Gamul was I wouldn't be shocked to find any, point being there are probably a number of secret places which we are going to have to clear out: also, I got the mansion specifically for a big family" Aria explained.

"Ok you convinced me, but Seryu and Cosmina are coming with; this concerns them too and I don't want to have to go searching for them" Tatsumi replied.

"Agreed: now I must see to getting ready: also, Tatsumi I had another reason to go there my best friend other than Seryu lives nearby: we've been friends since we were kids" Aria explained.

"Does she have any skeletons in her closet?" Tatsumi asked.

"No more than I have: let's just say we share the same interests and way of thinking" Aria replied with a smirk.

"I know that face; tell me I'm not going into something above my station" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi I wouldn't dream of dragging you to something you can't handle besides we aren't visiting her today we are checking out the place where we are going to live" Aria replied.

"We're tagging along too" Meela shouting coming in with Loris in what had to be most flamboyant outfits mixed with battle armor that Tatsumi had ever seen, morian helmets atop their heads with holes made to allow their ponytail's out, their armor was plates and half-plates of titanium covering flamboyant many colored pantaloons, skirts and shirts; the both carried Halberds their preferred weapons. Saraya walked in behind them in her usual get up alongside Taeko.

"They finally got their 'bodyguard' uniforms ready" Taeko replied.

"These two talk a LOT, Tatsumi I'm charging another 40 gold a week for having to put up with them, in fact they were another reason I went out my own, you two would not stop wanting to ask me how I thought about this or that" Saraya commented, then face-palmed.

"Why not; I actually love the idea of my new Oarburgh bodyguards with me, as for the extra money: sure Saraya, just let Aria know the expenditure" Tatsumi replied.

"Hey!" Aria replied.

"You're my wife and my chief source of income" Tatsumi replied, Aria facepalmed.

Later… Tatsumi had forgotten how much he enjoyed carriage rides; having spent his most recent weeks moving about the city on foot; this however was way better he didn't need do anything with his legs but put them up on an ottoman inside the luxury carriage. "Aria I'm amazed with the amount of money your family has you don't let it go to your head and think you are above other people" Tatsumi commented.

"Oh that, well you have to remember people are people, just because of someone's birth doesn't make them superior to other people by factor of wealth; besides I could have just as easily been born to a poor peasant family as a wealthy noble one: also my family has a history of rising up from poverty to power and we love our origins and try to live up to them" Aria explained.

"I love this carriage though; I still thought it was pretty funny the day you got this 10-man carriage, all your guards were lugging it around in a giant gift-wrapped box while you were casually strolling along; I thought it was pretty funny" Tatsumi commented.

"Yeah you are right it was pretty hilarious, but I don't regret buying it, this carriage has been so useful" Aria replied.

"I second that" Taeko commented.

"I hope this place we're going to looks nice and presentable and hopefully we can get some almonds I love almonds" Cosmina remarked.

"I think we can get some later Cosmina, I don't think Gamul any behind that are still edible" Aria replied.

"I hope this place is big enough for all us who love Tatsumi to live there" Seryu commented.

"Trust me the place is as big as my parents' home it will be more then enough for a large family like ours" Aria replied.

"Speaking of Tatsu-kitty agreed to marry me today and Leone-chan too" Cosmina remarked, to surprised looks from the other girls and Tatsumi's signature guilty as charged expression.

"You know that takes some effort Cosmina: it takes time to get a dress made, cater to the wedding feast and cake, book a place to carry out the ceremony: also I don't think you told Leone about your plans either, point being I think you'll need a couple days to get ready for that" Aria commented.

"You're right Aria-chan I was thinking it would be easy: also I haven't told Leone so that is another valid point, valid is an interesting word Dorothea says a lot, speaking off I need to tell Dorothea chan about it and I need to invite the other Jaegers to the ceremony so I'd have to wait for them to get back" Cosmina replied.

"Hopefully we don't take too long looking over the new place Aria, every second I'm not investigating that rapist's crimes is another one he could be using to rape an innocent girl or plan out something equally as vile" Tatsumi remarked.

"I know; but who this is he or she isn't going to be operating in broad daylight" Aria commented.

Meanwhile… "Welcome to the Reavers Enshin" A tall burly man in plate mail stated and shook his hand.

"Finally my type of people; so when are we going to move out any chance of interesting plunder and when am I going to get a chance to fuck some bitches" Enshin commented.

"As soon as the boss negotiates the next contract; he's got a way with words and knows how to drive a bargin granted it takes him some days but there are plenty of fat nobles who'll pay a room of gold to get rid of their rivals" the mercenary replied.

"So I got a bit of downtime; that's a bummer; by the way I'll bringing my personal cum-dumpsters along with me: any guy who thinks they can go after them will get my Teigu slicing them to ribbons" Enshin replied.

"Don't worry nobody messes with a Teigu user around here; they are rare as is and worth twice their weight in gold" the mercenary commented.

"Good now I'm going to find myself something to do" Enshin replied then left the bunkhouse where the Reavers were staying as he had his flat in the slums to stay at; he then went about town looking for potential targets and stopped outside a quaint house. He noted a lovely dark-haired woman in a fine dress watching a cute little girl, her daughter, play in their front yard; all the while she tended to flowers.

"Well, well, well, look at them Enshin; they'll do: now I think I'll come back here at sunset; they look like perfect material: now the girl is a bit young but she'll do, yes, and her mother well that is a hottie" Enshin thought to himself and noted down the place for a future visit, he also eavesdropped, for a bit until the girl noticed him.

"Hey mommy look at that creepy man I don't like the way he's looking at me" Logue shouted, running over to Logue her mother.

"I see him: Hey you! Keep off my husband is a Jaeger and a veteran of the Capital's Incineration Squad; my daughter is not for sell and if you have any ideas you better shove off now, I have a shotgun and I know how to use it I was in the Imperial Army!" Kije threatened picking up her gun from the grass near the flower patch and pointing it at him and Enshin ran off. "Better Logue?" Kije asked.

"Yes mommy; can we go inside now? I don't feel safe out here" Logue replied.

"Yes, dear let's go inside" Kije replied and picked her up after shouldering her gun. "You are getting heavy I think we need to have you ease off on the candy" Kije commented, then took her inside the house.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had arrived with Aria and they were now surveying their new home for anything Gamul had left behind, namely any skeletons in the closets or secret torture dungeons. Their examinations found a couple actual skeletons in the closets however they weren't real just plastic decorations, they also surveyed and found a few secret passageways. Their search took about 2 hours and they found Gamul's secrets however not torture rooms but vaults in which were a large amounts of gold and other valuables apparently Gamul was paranoid about his money and thus hid it very well; other than this though the man had nothing that was hidden.

"I'm surprised for such a despicable person as Gamul was he didn't have any secrets bar these treasure rooms" Aria remarked.

"Hey at least that's better than finding rotting corpses; I literally hate that part of our job" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes I dislike it too: well at least the place is secure; interestingly enough he had some dresses in the closet; he and a few pictures of a woman; apparently he was a widower" Aria replied.

"I wonder when Gamul first became a sleazebag" Tatsumi added.

"I can agree with that, you know I wonder too about our targets what drove them to be so evil and rotten, where did they go from being ordinary people to being monsters in human skin?" Aria agreed.

"Anyway it's been great have a chance to do something relatively normal for once; and to do something that doesn't involve me killing anybody: I like this place and hopefully when all is said and done our kids will enjoy living here Aria" Tatsumi replied, he then stepped up to Aria and kissed her, she kissed back and he rubbed her belly. "Our sweet little angel gets bigger by the day: I love you my Capital Angel and I hope our little angel will be just as kind and loving as his or her mother" Tatsumi remarked after breaking the kiss.

"Don't worry we'll raise our children well; they will be sweet angels" Aria replied hugging him. "Now I'll keep an eye on the house and start shopping for furniture and other decorations: until our place is in order we'll stay at my parents' home, you go out there and take down whoever this monster is praying on innocent girls and women" Aria replied. "Also be sure to make sure that you torture them to death before killing them" Aria added.

"Don't worry I'll stop this monster and put him in the grave" Tatsumi replied, then left the room.

He then tracked down Cosmina, Seryu and his bodyguards and left to held to Jaeger HQ, which was about a few blocks from the new manor, which was a good thing as far he was concerned as it meant he was less likely to run into assassins hired by Honest on his way to work at his day job; granted that didn't stop him from running into them but it did minimize the risk.

And in this case they arrived at Jaeger HQ unmolested, both figuratively and literally, and walked in; the receptionist greeted him and informed him that Esdeath had left with the other Jaegers; leaving behind Wave, Suzuka, Mez and Bols for him to work with as well as Doya who Kurome had left behind to watch her stuff, mostly the cookies that she was never seen without being in a sack.

Shortly… "Alright Team we are going after a serious monster, this guy may be as messed up as Champ who fortunately I know for fact isn't behind this as he is quite dead, but whoever's pulling this off is just as much a monster; now there have been numerous incidents occurring thru ought the Capital as such we are going to have to split up into teams of two: Wave you and Seryu will search mid-town, Mez and Suzuka you two will search the lower west districts, Bols and Doya you are going to patrol the upper east side, that's your stomping grounds Bols and I know you can handle it, as for me Cosmina myself and my bodyguards will sweep the slums; I have no idea who's behind this so you have my permission to bust any criminal even if they aren't related to this crime, there are few survivors that we can question so want us to ask them: this may be traumatic for them to recall but we need any information we can get to nab this creep" Tatsumi briefed.

"Question why do you get the armed escort?" Wave asked.

"Because I'm paying them, if you want an armed bodyguard feel free to hire your own; they are also Oarburgh Assassins so they are fairly good at their job, though you do have a point; Meela and Loris cover the south side of Melitine and Taeko you and Saraya will tackle the north side: that way everything is covered, even though this is a Jaeger Op I'm deputizing you four as part of the team" Tatsumi replied.

"So why do I have to work with Wave?" Seryu asked.

"Because he needs a partner and I trust you the most Seryu to watch his back, besides he can tank any enemies while Koro gobbles them up" Tatsumi explained.

"We'll each patrol the area's I've outlined till dawn tomorrow, I want to make sure we cover as much ground as possible and if the criminal shows up we can catch him in the act, also we can clean the streets of any other miscreants we run into: that's I have to say, Jaegers armor up we aren't taking any chances" Tatsumi ordered, the teams divided up and armored up, this was a dangerous mission and Tatsumi wasn't taking any risks; they were dealing with a serious threat and he didn't want any of his teammates to die, or worse be violated by the very criminal or criminals they were hunting.

Later… Wave took a good look about, mid-town Melitine was a hub that allowed someone to get to any part of the city with ease: he wasn't as enthusiastic as his partner Seryu; he thought her fixation on Justice and punishing enemies of it was too bloodthirsty. Then again he didn't know what made her obsessed with it; namely the murder of her father, rape of her mother, having to raise an infant half-brother as well as live in an orphanage until her adoption by the Grundels and working for the judicious Captain Ogre the Demon who before his corruption was a man of Justice who believed in those principles and of course Ogre's betrayal and her joining of Night Raid to pursue vigilante justice.

It was later afternoon and the sky was darkened by clouds that had flown in from the east as well as the sun making its descent when they heard a scream from a nearby alley, followed by "HELP ME!" coming from a woman in distress, Wave drew Grand Chariot in its sword form and charged with Seryu following similar suit and Koro barking fiercely. They rounded the corner and spotted the crime in progress, a young woman was having her dress being ripped open by a stout armored thug; he had his back turned to them.

"HALT! VILLAIN FACE THE WARRIORS OF JUSTICE!" Seryu screamed and Koro let out a fierce bark, Wave leapt forward and kicked the man off of the woman and broke his knees with the pommel of Grand Chariot.

"There now he's out, Seryu cuff him, we'll take him back to HQ and interrogate him; I don't know if this guy is our perp but he's certainly going to have to face the Justice system" Wave replied.

"Right away my fellow Soldier for Justice!" Seryu replied with a curt salute before going over kicking the groaning thug and putting him in handcuffs.

"Miss are you alright?" Wave asked. The woman got up and covered her exposed breast , she had ample d-cups, her skin was deep brown and her hair was sea-blue, she wore a nice yellow and green blouse which had been torn and grey sweats and green arm warmers in addition to a yellow and green furry cat-eared hat, she wore soft white boats.

"I- I think he broke my legs; my name is Sheera; you save me from that- that- monster in human clothing, here I was minding my own business taking my groceries home and this brute attacks me and takes me into this alley way; he would have raped me if you hadn't stopped him; who are you officer?" Sheera asked.

"My name is Wave and I'm not a Capital Police officer, though I am an officer: Colonel Wave Lawson of the Jaeger Corp and the Imperial Army, at your service miss Sheera. Here you're legs are beat up my group has a Doctor that can patch you up I'll carry you, you can stay at our HQ until your legs heal; I'll need you to fill out a report though: this guy's going to be held without bond in Jaeger HQ and we'll get him brought to trail during which you will testify against him as a witness" Wave explained and picked her up, making sure not to touch her bum, and slung her over his shoulder.

"Thanks; I'm glad you were there" Sheera replied.

"Alright Seryu lets head back to HQ I don't want to risk this scumbag escaping" Wave replied.

"Alright: Koro: Berserker Mode!" Seryu ordered and the Teigu assumed that form. "Carry that evil doer, if he tries anything take his legs off!" Seryu ordered, Koro picked the whimpering man up and slung him over his shoulder.

Elsewhere in the Capital… "Alright Cosmina you promised you tell me more about yourself earlier" Tatsumi stated.

"You're right Tatsumi I did agree, and now we are alone and your other girlfriends aren't with us I feel comfortable talking about myself, so ask away and I'll answer the best I can" Cosmina replied, then hung to his side.

"Alright how many guys have you been with?" Tatsumi asked.

"Do you really want to know?" Cosmina asked.

"Yes" Tatsumi replied.

"447 before you, you are the 448th and the one for for me; as for girls I've been with about 320 of them including Suzuka, Mimi and recently Dorothea, she wanted some education as how to better please you" Cosmina replied.

"You really are the biggest Nymphomaniac on the face of Eden" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you didn't call me a slut that time, well to be honest my nymphomania is my copping mechanism" Cosmina replied.

"What for?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Tatsumi I haven't told you about my past, in fact only Dorothea knows about it but for you I will tell you the whole story" Cosmina replied and began her story. "My childhood was as normal as you could expect, I was born in the village of Ifamazi on the Western Border of the Empire; my father was Imperial born and my mother was Western bard who fell in love with him, there was always disdain and hatred from the other villagers for my mother; they thought her some sort of sorceress which they wrong about, but they never did like her. I was one of five children my parents had and their first born; when I was 10 my mother taught me how to sing, teaching me the songs she learned in her travels; I was a quick study. When I turned 15 I was a master of my voice to a point where I had started dating; about month later we had our first time, however there were two problems, the boy I was in love with was the grandson of the Village elder who hated me and my family and the elder was vindictive and once it became apparent his son had gotten me pregnant he had enough. The elder branded me and my family traitors and accused us of witch-craft, a mob burned my house, then crucified my father and made me, my mother, my three sisters and little brother watch; then they raped me and my family before killing those I loved in front of me including my lover; then the elder beat me with his cane, he beat me so hard that I miscarried and lost my first born child! They then threw me out into the woods and hoped I would die; I didn't revenge burned in my heart and I sought a means for my vengeance; but I didn't have the money; I had to rob people and prostitute myself for money; during my wanderings I found something spectacular; a chest that had been lost from a caravan and inside of which was a special microphone: Heavy Pressure. After I found it, I was taught how to use it by the Teigu itself and I honed my skills for about three months then in returned to my village and enacted my vengeance" Cosmina explained.

"What did you do?" Tatsumi asked.

"I gave them a taste of their own medicine; I walked in and sung my siren's song to the whole village; they came out under my spell. I then had them all strip, I had the men come to me all those smug pretty boys and I gave them the time of their lives; I raped every **single one** of them, then them and I did the same to all the jealous girls who bullied me and the hags who called me and my mother vicious names as well as the men themselves, then I had the woman castrate the men of the village and I strangled the Elder with my bare hands; then I had every single one of them barricade themselves all in the town hall and I took a torch and lit the hall a flame; they all died screaming and I left them cackling off into the night, only the children were spared from my vengeance I sung them off to a nearby village not to far from my home" Cosmina explained all while smiling.

"Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because they were all monsters; they murdered my family they raped my five-year-old brother and made me watch and forced him to have sex with me; then on top of that they raped all three of my sweet little sisters, one of which was 7 years old! Seven! Then after they raped my mother and sisters they blinded them raped them again and again until they got tired and strapped them to a wheel and broke and killed them, then they raped their corpses, in addition to that they pulled out my father's eyes and made him eat them before they crucified him, then my little brother; the things they did to him were so vile- so vile, they might as well have given him to Champ for how vile they were: my brother he- he- but that wasn't the worse, they killed my baby; they killed my child in my womb; forced me to miscarry! What I did to them was nothing compared to what they did to me: I gave them a suitable punishment for their crimes and I don't regret it" Cosmina raged, then started crying uncontrollably, Tatsumi wrapped her arms around her and allowed her to cry out her grief.

"I'm sorry Cosmina; I shouldn't have made you relive those horrible memories, those monsters got what they deserved for their crime; but what you did though was wrong, I will keep this secret but if there are people who if they found out about this would kill you for what you did" Tatsumi comforted.

"I know, I probably deserved to die for what I did, but I didn't, I kept pushing on, after the blaze I took everything there was of value and went to the City of Parsa; there I met Dorothea, I don't exactly recall what happened, the last thing I remember before waking up in her room was I took one too many swigs of wine, which is weird considering I can probably hold my drink better then Leone can, it takes about 9 mugs to get me drunk, you wouldn't think it to look at me: I have expensive tastes Tatsumi, in fact I gave a pretty good example of my tastes earlier today; that one night was not my most expensive spending spree, my most expensive spree was when I hired an entire brothel staff for my own enjoyment; about a hundred pretty boys; not just the prostitutes but the guards too: before you ask where I got that money Dorothea is loaded: I sold a valuable Teigu when she had finished researching it to the highest bidder, then spent about a 10th of the money I earned on that night of fun" Cosmina explained. "My adventures with Dorothea were many and we saw a lot of interesting sights; from old ruins to marvelous cities, we went all over the Empire. As to what cause me and Dorothea to join the Jaegers well: when Dorothea found out about all those Teigu users she couldn't resist an opportunity to join a group with that many users to study them; I joined along for the fun; then I met you and well here we are today" Cosmina explained.

Later at nightfall… Logue was returning home from a late time grocery trip with Kije. "Mommy I don't like that dark, can we get home quicker?" Logue asked.

"I'm moving as fast as my legs can carry me; also, we are carrying groceries so we can expect to be moving slow so we don't spill them" Kije replied.

"Still though mommy I don't like the dark" Logue worried

"I don't either; but don't worry I'm here for you if anything goes wrong" Kije reassured.

They were about two blocks from their house when they heard a noise. "Mommy what was that?!" Logue asked scared.

"I don't know, stay close to me Kije, I don't like this, in fact I hate being out after dark" Kije replied, then their hidden enemy revealed himself, he grabbed Kije and kicked Logue in the stomach and slung her over his shoulders. "MENG GHAZI!" Kije yelled and began to attack with circle five of the Imperial Fist, path of the tiger dragon: delivering a kick to her attacker's chest, causing him to drop Logue. "You stay away from my daughter you bastard!" Kije shouted and began to launch a chain of unarmed strikes, her attacker retaliated with strikes of his own and parried her blows.

"Oh, joy a lovely beauty who fights back, I love it when girls fight back it makes the rape all the more enjoyable especially since when I'm done with you I'm going have fun with that cute little girl of yours!" the man remarked in a nasally voice Kije kicked him in the gut.

"Not going to happen! You asshole!" Kije replied her voice hot with anger and launched a rapid strikes with her feet and put her hand into her dress to pull out concealed Walter P-38 pistol, her attacker noticed the gun and began to run as she fired at him, the snap of flame from the gun briefly allowed her to see her assailant from the rear, the shot missed and she corrected her aim and shot again this time the round grazed him in the elbow, then she shot again this shot hit him in the shoulder.

"Logue! Kije!" Bols shouted coming up with his own pistol drawn and Doya with her revolvers drawn, they noted the movement and fired only to miss their target, Doya fired again and scored a lucky hit on the man's right hip, he escaped out of their reach.

"Darn it he got away!" Bols shouted, "Kije are you alright, where's Logue?" Bols asked urgently.

"I'm right here daddy: who was that and why did he hurt me and mommy" Logue stated coming over to Bols he picked her up and hugged her.

"I have no idea who that was: Logue what matters now is that you and your mother are safe" Bols replied.

"I can agree with you" Kije replied. "Don't worry yourself Logue, this is something for grown-ups to worry about" Kije replied.

"What about the groceries mommy?!" Logue asked concerned.

"Oh, right Bols could be a dear and walk me and Logue home and help carry our groceries" Kije asked.

"I'll carry Logue; she's probably tuckered out from all this running, Doya please help my wife with our groceries" Bols replied.

"On it: I am so glad that ended as well as it did, its da- darn shame that the criminal got away" Doya replied, and helped Logue pick up the groceries, thankfully everything was mostly intact, with the exception of a couple eggs that had been broken. They then left and returned to Bols's home.

When they arrived, they put the groceries away and Kije started cooking dinner. "Please stay before you go back on your patrol, I want you to have dinner" Kije requested.

"That guy can't have gone far we- "Bols tried to argue.

"He won't be going after anymore women or girls tonight he's wounded and will want to get those bullets out of him before he dies of lead poisoning" Kije replied. "And even if you did go after him you have no idea where he went, the direction ran in leads to seven-way junction and he could have gone in any direction; besides I'm betting you both are hungry and it's the least I can do" Kije added.

"You're right; I could use a meal" Bols stated and took off his mask, Doya was shocked by seeing his scar and even more so by the fact that Logue wasn't afraid of him. "Doya I not surprised by your reaction, I tend to get that from people who see me without the mask for the first time: anyway, Kije let me help cook dinner" Bols replied, and walked over to her, kissed her on the cheek and rubbed her belly.

"How's our little baby doing in there" Bols asked.

"Still shaping up, anyway if you insist on helping you can ready the meat; I'll handle the sides; I bought some nice tender cuts of steak from the butcher today and they are nice and ready for cooking" Kije replied, Bols and Kije got to work cooking dinner while they did so Doya talked with Logue.

"So, you work with daddy, you're a Jaeger too you have a Teigah or Gueati or whatever it is too?" Logue asked.

"No, I don't have a Teigu, I'm Kurome's bodyguard, she's one of the Jaegers so I'm an honorary member of sorts: So how was your day apart from that scary thing that just happened to you?" Doya asked.

"It was good; apart from that scary guy; he said he was going to do something bad to mommy and then to me: I was worried he'd kill mommy and me" Logue replied.

"Don't worry he won't hurt you or your mother ever again; did you by chance get a look at him?" Doya asked.

"Well no, but I did hear his voice it was nasally I think he had a sickness or something and he moved pretty fast; then mommy shot him and he ran away" Logue replied.

"Wait she shot him, so did I that means he may have left some blood behind!" Doya replied then got up and picked up her light and a white cloth, she then left the house and doubled back to the crime scene and collected the blood that she could. "I think Dorothea may want to take a look at this" Doya thought to herself.

When she returned, she sat down next to Logue again, and Logue gave her a hug on her arm. "Thank you for helping to save my mommy; you are amazing" Logue thanked.

"No problem its all in the job description" Doya replied.

"You're like a big sister; hey I'm going to be a big sister soon too do you have any siblings if so, I'd like to know what it's like being a big sister?" Logue questioned.

"I'm an only child, my parents weren't really able to have kids after me; though if I did have a little brother or sister, I would love them and play with them and take care of them" Doya replied.

"Really, well I'm going to take care of my little sister I'm going to play dolls with her, and braid her hair, and play hide and seek; I'm going to do so much with my little sister" Logue replied.

"What if you get a brother?" Doya asked.

"I have no idea, but I want a little sister I hope I get one" Logue replied and soon Kije came back with food along with Bols and they had dinner.

The following day at Jaeger HQ… The rest of the night proved without incident; however the following day was going to be a killer; after everyone who was out that night took a long nap, they woke up and Tatsumi along with Seryu and Aria, who he had invited over, went to the cellblock where their singular prisoner was chained to the walls and naked, they brought with them a cart full of instruments of interrogation and torture. "I hope you got a good night's sleep because you are going to need the energy for what we are going to do to you" Tatsumi explained.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, tried to fuck that lovely morsel, I've fucked others too, why do you Jaegers care about it? You aint the Capital Police!" the Prisoner responded, Tatsumi slapped him.

"Alright first off don't think that just because we are part of the Army and under Esdeath's command that we don't care for the General populace, in fact that's part of the job to care for them; now we are going to ask you some questions; answer them and I may be convinced to have the judge give you a lighter sentence but there will be a price there too, however if you don't answer questions well my partner and I have a way to deal with those who don't talk" Tatsumi explained then attached a pair of clamps to either shackle and then to a battery as well attaching a Lie-detector to him. "Now we'll start simple what is your name?" Tatsumi asked, "By the way I'm the good cop, Seryu is the cop who loves me dearly, and Aria well she's my wife and the girl who's going to make you scream if you don't behave" Tatsumi added.

"Go suck a dick!" the Prisoner insulted.

"Aria remove his for me" Tatsumi instructed.

"Gladly!" Aria yelled and gave her demon face and grabbed the most painful pair of pincers, a Crocodile Clamp, and her rustiest knife.

"Wait don't!" the Prisoner exclaimed.

"Not happing, you're a rapist. Oh, by the way you were going to lose this anyway so I'm just going to do it here and now!" Aria replied and clamped down on his length with the pincers which were covered in sharp spikes, he howled in agony, then she slowly cut the top part off with the rusted blade laughing as he yammered in pain as she cut the top half of his length completely off, she then released the clamps. The pain was subsided for about three seconds then the spikes dug into his right testicle and yanked it completely off, Aria then repeated the process for the other testicle all the while laughing her demented face looking him in the eye, he tried to shut his eyes, Aria stopped.

"No, no, no: you don't get to close your eyes when I'm torturing you: I'm going to you to keep them open!" Aria yelled, then went to the cart and grabbed a mask meant to keep his eyes open. He looked once more into her demented eyes, and she returned to spaying and neutering him, soon his enter length was gone Aria then picked up the biggest piece. "How does it feel?! Having your manhood removed because you abused it, I'll bet it hurt like hell, you hurt those girls you raped more!" Aria taunted.

"Now I'm going to ask you again what is your name?" Tatsumi asked.

"Clive, Clive Portner I'm a merchant I have a lot of money I can pay you if you free me" The prisoner replied and received a mean slap from Seryu.

"I'm adding trying to bribe government authorities to your list of crimes: now Tatsumi feel free to ask him the next question" Seryu commented.

"Alright: Now Wave and Seryu caught you in the act of rape, how many girls have you raped and have you killed any?" Tatsumi asked.

"2 bitches before her and I aint killed anyone" Clive lied.

"Liar" the machine stated.

"Aria feel free to give him his punishment" Tatsumi replied and smiled. Aria grabbed flask of an acidic solution and dipped his left pointer finger inside and let it dissolve, more screams, Aria then grabbed a less menacing set of pliers and clamp, she then held his mouth open with the clamp and started to pull out his teeth, taking out nine of them before stopping.

"Now answer the question you asshole rapist!" Aria replied.

"Alright! I raped 40 girls and killed six of them; I have a secret harem of sex slaves; I rape my wife for fun and my daughters! I am a Rapist!" Clive admitted.

"Now for the next question: Do you know anything about the recent outbreak of rapes and did you have any part in that?" Tatsumi replied.

"Which ones, I operate in secret usually and I am usually asleep by 3 AM?" Clive replied.

"East side of Town first" Tatsumi clarified.

"No!" he replied, "Liar" the Machine shouted.

"Aria punishment time" Tatsumi commented, Aria cackled and grabbed a corkscrew.

"Get used to this" Aria commented then drove the corkscrew into is left eye to scream and yanked it out and forced him to eat it. "One-eyed now!" Aria replied and laughed maniacally.

"East Side?!" Tatsumi asked.

"Two of them!" he yelped in answer.

"Mid-town?!" Tatsumi asked.

"One!" he yammered. "LIAR!" the Machine shouted.

"Aria what does he lose next?" Tatsumi replied.

"Do you have an axe somewhere?" Aria asked.

"Near the fire extinguisher" Tatsumi replied, Aria left and came back with a firefighter's axe.

"You aren't coming out of this with your all limbs intact which leg do you like more?" Aria interrogated.

"My right leg, my left is my bum one" Clive lied knowing his right was lame, the machine said "Liar" and Aria took the axe in both hands and chopped off his right leg, allowing blood to flow momentarily before cauterizing the wound.

"I should have brought the one from my backyard Tatsumi-kun; this one is a lot less balanced" Aria commented and put the axe against the wall.

"Now again Mid-town?!" Tatsumi asked.

"Two, I tried a third but some smug ass creep ran off with the third girl last night!" Clive replied.

"What did he look like?!" Tatsumi asked.

"like a mime without make-up, he also had a nasty laugh: Also fuck you!" Clive replied.

"Thanks for that information, Aria do me a favor, he doesn't need the other leg" Tatsumi replied.

"It's lame but I need it!" He yelled the machine said he lied again; Aria then took another swing with the axe; he howled again.

"This thing is a pain to swing" Aria replied putting down the bloodied axe again, then grinned at her victim.

"Did you commit any more rapes recently?" Tatsumi asked.

"No!" Clive yelled, the machine said liar again.

"Aria before you remove any more parts of his anatomy feel free to give him some shock therapy" Tatsumi suggested, Aria took the battery and set the switch and sent a painful shock into his body and he screamed. "Now I'm going to ask you again did you commit any more rapes?" Tatsumi replied.

"Only two, both the night before last and the girl I failed to do; That's All I know" Clive squealed.

"Thank you, Aria, remove his tongue" Tatsumi ordered and Aria grabbed the pincers and knife again and pulled out the man's tongue. "Now I've gotten all I need out of you I'm going to deliver your sentence, you see I'm a Major General and I've got martial law power over this case: in a way I'm Judge, Jury and should I choose to be Executioner; however for you I'm not the executioner, that belongs to a- a dear friend of mine who's dying to eat you, Right Seryu?" Tatsumi replied.

"Right Tatsumi-kun, Koro! Heketonichires: Jaws of death!" Seryu ordered and Koru moved in grew to the size of a wolf, Tatsumi and the others stepped out of the room and abandoned the man to his sentence.

"YEEGH AGAHHAHGHAAAAAAAAA!" Clive screamed as Koro devoured him, Koro then caught up with them in hall.

"Good job my little soldier for Justice did you do a good job, did you eat all your food?" Seryu asked getting down and picking Koro up, he woofed. "Glad you enjoyed it; also glad to hear he tasted better than that creep Makati" Seryu replied.

"Seryu you sure do talk to Koro a lot" Tatsumi remarked.

"Of course, I can, I can speak to him" Seryu replied, Koro woofed.

"Since when could you speak dog Seryu?" Tatsumi asked.

"Koro doesn't speak dog he speaks in the normal language, you just can't understand him because your not his Teigu holder" Seryu replied and Koro woofed in agreement, then she fell down. "OGH!" Seryu moaned and then threw up on the floor.

"Seryu are you alright" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm alright just, I think you got me pregnant" Seryu replied.

"That's wonderful news!" Aria shouted.

"Yeah it is; because now we'll both have kids and they'll be siblings" Seryu replied and hugged him. Tatsumi went on to the medical bay where he found Wave and Sheera, Sheera wore casts of both legs and lay back on a bed with an IV in her army she also wore a green night gown, Wave sat next to her.

"Hey Wave" Tatsumi greeted.

"Hey Tatsumi; come to check in on me?" Wave replied.

"No bud, came to check on our guest: Sheera I want to let you know the man who tried to hurt you well, he won't bother anybody anymore" Tatsumi replied.

"So was he the guy we're after?" Wave asked, not caring that Tatsumi had the man executed after torture.

"No, he was responsible for some of the crimes though: he admitted to all the murders that happened, as well as to having a personal sex harem locked away in his home: Aria will let Najenda know about that; I'll let Night Raid handle that" Tatsumi replied not worrying about Sheera knowing about that as they had saved her and were giving her medical aid for the next month or so.

"Thanks for taking me in" Sheera thanked.

"That wasn't a problem, Wave I want you to keep an eye on her, I'm going to have a chat with Bols and Doya for their report also I got a description of sorts on a possible suspect" Tatsumi replied, then Wave and Sheera alone with each other.

Tatsumi then went to Esdeath's office and told Seryu to send Bols and Doya to him there; he attempted to pull the Esdeath assured kick back but that resulted in him knocking his chair over he then got back up and looked at the photograph on Esdeath's desk, one of her and him at their wedding, along with Najenda and Sayo, as well as the other picture from the same ceremony one of their wedding kiss. "Esdeath: I wish you luck on your mission, shame I couldn't be there by your side" Tatsumi thought, then pulled out his wallet in which he had pictures of all his wives and girlfriends, he then went thru them name by name and put it away and wept. "I hope I'm strong enough to keep you all safe" Tatsumi thought. "I came to the Capital seeking glory, I found it, but its bittersweet glory; by day I'm an Imperial General and the Emperor's Minister for Fun, by night I'm an Elite assassin working for Night Raid, I'm also a husband and soon a father. All this time before I left I thought I'd just be humble farmer living in the fields working my farm with Clementine and Sayo by my side and a bunch of kids wandering around and while I still have both of them to love and hold to my heart, I've got other women as well that I love; however all the while everything I love risks being taken away in an instant; Honest that monster wants to destroy all I love and cherish, break me before he kills me, I refuse to break, I could run away from it all, but running never solves anything; I am not a coward nor will I desert my friends and family; especially not with children on the way: No I am going to give my hardest I'm going to kill Honest and change the Empire and the world for the better; break this cycle of violence and cleanse the world of those who delight in the suffering of others: This I swear" Tatsumi thought to himself.

Bols and Doya walked into the office and took seats in front of him. "Alright now that I've gotten the matter of our captive out of the way I want your report; the other teams didn't turn up anything of note apart from common crooks and a few things but nothing of real interest that stands out, you two however had a close encounter with our possible perp" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright Tatsumi, I'll let you know though this scumbag made this personal when he went after my family: if we do catch him, I ask to be the one who kills him" Bols explained.

"Granted but first we will give him hell: now tell me what happened" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright; well my wife and daughter were on their way home from buying groceries, when they were attacked by an unknown attacker; he told Kije that he intended to rape her and my sweet little Logue, Kije managed to overpower him and when he spotted her gun he ran with his tail between his legs, she actually got him, then Doya and I showed up just to see him taking off, Doya and I fired a couple shots off and Doya hit him, but he got away in spite of his wounds; I then tended to my wife and Daughter and escorted them home; we didn't bother to pursue because he ran off towards the main intersection and could have gone in any of seven directions; so we went home had dinner; Doya collected something from the crime scene though" Bols explained.

"Doya what did you find?" Tatsumi asked.

"I collected some blood samples here" Doya explained and handed him a cloth.

"Take these to Dorothea, she may be able to identify the perp; I'm going to try and see if I can find any other leads myself; I'll also come up with some plan, I think we need to set a trap" Tatsumi replied.

"How would we go about a trap?" Bols asked.

"I'll think on that, our perp targets women so perhaps a mass gathering of defenseless women that he couldn't resist would be enough to draw him in, but I'd rather not do that: I'm got other informants I can work with and I'll have them do some digging: I'm going to go set some other things up though: I'm getting married to Cosmina soon; so expect an invitation to a small private ceremony: nothing to grandiose or flashy beyond the dresses: I've also got other things to think about, so for now you two are dismissed, Doya take that cloth to Dorothea and perhaps she can run a DNA test and try and identify who it belongs to" Tatsumi replied then saluted and let the two leave.

"Things just got more complicated, puzzles among puzzles; this monster whoever he is will pay, it was bad enough when he was going after total strangers but now he's gone after my friend's family, he's made this personal; Champ made that mistake and this asshole will suffer the same fate" Tatsumi thought then smiled at the mental image of whoever the perp was getting tortured by his Capital Angel of Death.

The office door opened and Mez walked in. "Hey Tatsumi-kins" Mez greeted and came over and sat on his lap. "You look tense, something wrong" Mez questioned.

"This whole crisis is what's wrong, in this case I'm looking for a needle in a haystack, it's like looking for Champ all over again; on top of it when night falls this creep is going to end up going somewhere where I'm not expecting and rape a poor defenseless woman or even worse a little girl; this guy whoever he is will be taken down I swear it" Tatsumi replied.

"I figured as much, you are tense, Tatsumi there is only so much you can do, you are one person in a big city, a city that is a shadow of its former glory and one that is corrupt beyond imagining: what you need to do right now is take a break; you'll think a lot better once you are relaxed" Mez replied and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Mez; question though how are you feeling?" Tatsumi asked.

"Refreshed, energized and ready to kick some ass when the time comes, but right now horny; Tatsumi I have a favor to ask of you" Mez replied.

"What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Our first son; I want him to be named Gozuki after my father; my father was a good man, he may have killed a lot of people but it was his line of work, he raised me and my step-siblings well and of anything I made a promise to myself I'd name my first son after him" Mez requested.

"That's fine by me, besides I'm not that great when it comes to coming up with names" Tatsumi replied.

"Speaking of coming, let's head to bedroom" Mez teased and exposed one of her breasts. That was all the invitation he needed and Tatsumi carried Mez to Esdeath's bed.

"We have to make the bed though after we are done" Tatsumi explained as he removed her top exposing her nice d-cups.

"Of course I have no desire to piss off Esdeath" Mez stated and removed his shirt exposing his chiseled and well toned chest. "You really do work out a lot, my question is how much of it is from your country life and how much is from your training" Mez teased, as she removed his pants and his boxers and began blowing him.

"I- well most of it comes from my country life; speaking off how does it feel that a countryside guy like me is in a relationship with a city girl like you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Doesn't matter: I just love your dick and you for all the right reasons" Mez replied interrupting her blowjob, she then wrapped her breasts around his length and began massaging him with them going up and down and moving her breasts in different angles, all the while licking his pre-cum off of his tip with her tongue before taking it back inside and sucking him off. She then turned around to allow Tatsumi to put his tongue to work, he licked the juices that were building up on her folds then inserted his tongue into her anus. "Oh, that's new!" Mez commented and resumed blowing him, Tatsumi then returned to her loins and began eat her out, he took a finger and put it into her navel and fingered it to Mez's bliss, taking his other hand to grope her butt.

The mutual oral experience lasted for about ten minutes before they both came, creaming each other in their bodily fluids and licking them off before dismounted. "Alright Tatsumi you know where I want it" Mez replied shaking her rear at him, Tatsumi rammed himself into her anus and rode her ass. "Gods Tatsumi you are so hung, I needed that; OH! I love this and you too; fuck me, fuck me like a hound fucks a bitch; give me the whole treatment and take my tight asshole on a joyride!" Mez moaned out. Tatsumi rode her doggy style for 2 minutes then began spooning her for another minute before taking his favorite anal position reverse cowgirl. He fondled her breasts moving them around in circles as he placed his head on her shoulder and they began to make out: tongues danced and wrapped around each other all the while Tatsumi thrusted in and out of her tight asshole.

Soon Tatsumi came and filled her ass with his spunk and pulled out, Mez dismounted. "Tatsumi, take me, give me your seed and we'll see if Gozuki comes into the world by the next year" Mez stated and fingered her folds open inviting him in, Tatsumi entered her and kissed her, the tightness was great he pulled her up, pressing her breasts against his chest holding her ass with one hand as they kissed romantically, his other hand stroked her soft blonde hair. Tatsumi loved the contrast of her caramel brown skin against his white skin the love he felt for her was strong and he was glad to have her with him.

Tatsumi was no longer worried about the crisis in the city, he was calmed and could think much more clearly with Mez giving him a reason to think, but his thoughts were focused on her, one of the four Rakshasa demons the elite bodyguards of the Emperor, here with him the Minister for Fun, Tatsumi was all too happy nothing could ruin this moment. Soon he came once more, his seed striking home and fertilizing the five eggs in her womb, one of which would be Gozuki Jr.

An hour later Tatsumi left HQ with Cosmina and his bodyguards in tow and headed to Night Raid's base; Tatsumi decided that it was time to break out the stops, the Jaegers may not have the numbers to cover the city; but Night Raid did, and they operated at night making the job all the more appealing; as for dealing with the monster praying on the women of Melitine, well he had a great idea: he'd deal with this scumbag the same way he dealt with Champ, by luring him into a trap that was too tempting to resist; a chance for him to have many women of great beauty at once: only for them to surprise him by being Oarburgh assassins.

To take this into account however he'd need to break down where the suspect was operating which in itself could take weeks however he had something in mind for that too: the strategy, use his spy network which he had been building up to monitor the whole place, and use some of his female spies as courtesans to try and get info about the creep. There was also the information that he had gotten from Bols and Doya's report, about how Logue had heard the voice of her attacker and had wounded him so he was, after he got Najenda to unleash Night Raid's full surveillance assets, going to interview her for specifics.

Later… Tatsumi arrived at Night Raid HQ and briefed Najenda on the situation and use of assets. "Anything else come up Najenda?" Tatsumi asked after concluding their planning.

"Yes I've received a list of targets from high command and am reviewing them, expect in the next couple of weeks a few missions: also Tatsumi I have heard from Aria that the leader of our movement attempted an assassination attempt on the Emperor and that the forces in charge of that attempt were taken down by Esdeath and that she left the city with a good percentage of the Jaegers and an army to take down the nearest Revolutionary Army group that was associated with the plot, were you intending on joining them on that mission?" Najenda explained and asked.

"Yes, mainly to keep up my cover for the other Jaegers also because Esdeath was also a target of that plot; in fact our most recent target had his own plot with the exact same goals in mind, I will also add I refuse to have any part in the plan to kill Makoto or his sweet little sisters" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi need I remind you we are at war" Najenda replied.

"With Honest, not Makoto or his siblings, they are children Najenda, innocent children and you know that, they have nothing to do with the state of the Empire; Najenda don't tell me you're willing to kill innocent children" Tatsumi replied.

"This is war Tatsumi, people die in war" Najenda replied.

"Not innocent children, Najenda I know for a fact you left the Empire and rebelled because of crimes against innocent people, especially children, and you joined the Revolutionary army: Najenda I know for a fact that anyone who is willing to kill three innocent children for the sake of their own agenda is an evil person at heart; a cause that wants to do that no matter how noble it was when conceived and how evil the enemies arrayed against it, is not worth fighting for: besides if anything I care Makoto; he's like the little brother I never had; he's like family to me: Najenda can we honestly live in a world with our children knowing we had to kill innocents to make it happen, I don't want to live with that and I don't want to fight for a cause that has lost its goals" Tatsumi replied, Najenda frowned.

"Words like that could be considered treason" Najenda replied grimly.

"It isn't treason to do what's right; I don't fight for the Empire, in fact I at this point don't fight for the Revolutionary Army: I fight for what's right; the Empire has its flaws but with a good leader those can be mended; there are more people who are good then evil in this world; do you fight for what's right?" Tatsumi replied.

"I fight for those I care for, and love, my family and friends, I am no ones puppet nor am I a heartless person; I- you're right if the Revolutionary Army has lost its way and purpose the time has come for a new power; a new group that wants to change the world and for the better; there are those of the same mind as you Tatsumi I will try my best to seek them out; but for the time being as far as anyone outside our circle of those we can trust this conversation never happened we will continue business as usual" Najenda replied.

"Yeah business as usual, killing people, I really hate having to kill people, however moving on let's try and strike with more precision and try and avoid killing people that we don't know for a fact are evil; also if a friend of mine gets marked for death by High command, we find a substitute of greater evil to replace them in the report: they'll never know the difference" Tatsumi explained.

"Doing; by the way Tatsumi one of these targets is a friend of yours" Najenda stated and handed him a folder and Tatsumi looked inside.

"Shit" Tatsumi swore. "No, he's a good person, he's got a family, this no he isn't remotely this, I'm finding the real mastermind behind these crimes and will take him down in his place" Tatsumi added, then looked at Najenda.

"You better start digging then: I'll send out the teams to start digging for information on our serial rapist" Najenda replied, Tatsumi left her office with way more to think about then before.

"Now to do what I do best: sticking my nose where it doesn't belong and finding trouble as a result" Tatsumi remarked.

"You do tend to do that a lot" Taeko remarked.

"I've only known you for a day Tatsumi and you are indeed a trouble magnet, which is fine by me" Saraya added.

"Personally, I find it fun" Cosmina commented

"Let's find some answers!" Meela commented.

"YEAH!" Loris agreed and they left.

Their passage thru the forests around Night Raid HQ was not without opposition as a well-armed group of robbers dressed in soldiers gear attacked them. "Yep there goes my day without killing" Tatsumi remarked as he killed the first of many attackers

"Since when were you a pacifist?" Saraya replied as she drove one of her falchions thru a man's temple and the other thru another's neck.

"I'm not I just don't like killing people" Tatsumi replied as he bifurcated one of the attackers; the robbers began to flee which was a mistake as they tried to run Tatsumi and his protectors ruthlessly cut down all remaining survivors.

Later... Tatsumi rounded the corner into Eight-roads way where seven separate roads lead in multiple directions, it was then that he saw a quite familiar face. "Well its you again Mr. Tatsumi look at you, first time I saw you, you were with some dusty swordsman and now I see you with a little harem of your own; you have got to be a luckiest man in the world with all those bitches following you around" Enshin remarked, he had his trademark arrogant smirk on and he licked his tongue as he spoke is his obnoxious voice, Tatsumi noted that he walked with new pauldron on his left shoulder which was new.

"What of it; I'm lucky yeah, but people keep trying to kill me, have you joined some group that will put up with you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah I found a group of like-minded guys with my values; so what's with the harem?" Enshin asked.

"They happen to be my bodyguards: I got tired of killing Honest's hired goons by myself; so, I upped my security" Tatsumi replied.

"Well does the work entail guarding you in the nude" Enshin mocked and was punched in the face by Saraya.

"Shove it asshole, just because I work for Tatsumi doesn't me his or anyone else's bitch; now shove off and find a whore who'll spread her legs for you, not that you have much of a dick in the first place asshole" Saraya replied.

"You bitch I don't have to take that from you" Enshin stated and began to draw his blade only to find a sword pressed against his neck by Taeko.

"Enshin, Enshin, remember the first thing I told you about the Capital, don't attempt to kill me or harm people who work with me: secondly Taeko is an Oarburgh and I'm certain that even someone like you has heard of how good they are at killing and their fondness for poisons" Tatsumi replied.

Enshin soiled himself. "Right, right: I won't cause any more trouble for you or your bitches" Enshin replied, slid out from under Taeko's blade and left, Tatsumi took a look at him and noted he held his side as he ran which was odd. Tatsumi then left taking the correct turn and soon arrived at a pleasant yellow painted house which was Victorian in design and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a woman asked from inside.

"It's me Tatsumi, I'm a friend of Bols from work I want to ask you some questions" Tatsumi replied, Kije opened the door.

"Come in then Tatsumi, have a set, your lady friends too" Kije invited.

Shortly… "Thanks for the tea Logue, I have a question though: Kije last night you and Logue were attacked and you heard your attacker and wounded him; did you get a good look at him too or can you at least tell me what he sounds like" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I didn't get a good look at him, I will note though he was relatively agile, also he had a deal of experience because he was able to compete with me in hand to hand combat and I have mastered the Imperial Fist apart from the two rings they restrict to those of their order, he was slim too, about the same height as me and not as bright, his voice however was nasally, slimy like something that that crawled out of a deep cave or a swamp" Logue explained. "I did manage to pull out my gun and after he saw it he ran; I missed two shots but him on the third in the shoulder: then Bols and Doya showed up and added their own gunfire to the fray, after that I was more concerned for my daughter than anything else" Kije explained.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Tatsumi asked

"I'm former Imperial Army, Special Forces division, retired and I fought in the Southern Campaigns; I met Bols during them" Kije explained.

"Mommy can I talk to daddy's friend?" Logue asked running and jumping around the room.

"Sure why not?" Kije replied.

"Logue did you see the guy?" Tatsumi asked.

"I saw a bit of him, he had creepy eyes, also his voice had a bit of a his to it like a snake, he was a Snakey Man; he slithered away" Logue replied.

"Ok that helps did you notice anything else?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I did see him get shot and that lighted him up that I could see him a bit, he had black hair and he slithered away: I'm glad mommy and I were safe, Daddy and Mommy say I can't go outside until the bad guy is gone for good, which means I have to stay inside and play with my dolls, I like my dolls" Logue replied.

"Well you are sweet girl: I have my suspicions now as to who this guy is: If only I had more information to work with" Tatsumi replied and left having some addition information to work with.

The Sun set on the day and Tatsumi dismissed his body guards apart from Taeko to help with the Night Raid search he then decided he, Taeko and Cosmina would take the longest route possible home to Grundewick manor: that would require him to track thru the slums at night as well as go thru mid-town and other parts to get to Grundewick manor on the East side of the city. His travels thru the slums were bold and he walked with Valruost and Smaug at the ready on a moments notice. Going thru the slums he did run into trouble makers but no rapes in progress, just small time crooks and an would be slavers as well as pricks who came to just torture normal people for fun; Tatsumi was tempted to stop at a nearby inn/brothel but as much as he wanted to get his dick wet in pussy it was not the time for such things. he then passed thru the rest of the slums without any further incidents; where he found himself near the restaurant where he had taken Akame on her first date.

He then spotted a familiar face, Clair the waitress who had taken his order on said date, she was walking home clearly but then he spotted movement and noted someone moving in the shadow, it was then he noticed that he could see as if was daylight as Clair hadn't seen him or his companions; apparently when he had drained Mengele's werewolf blood with Valruost he had not only inherited the regeneration but also his night sight. That allowed him to see the attacker well as he tackled Clair and she screamed as he knocked her out and broke her legs; and Tatsumi saw clear as day the attackers face. "HEY ASSHOLE I TOLD YOU NOT TO PRAY ON THE GENERAL POPULACE OR YOU'D HAVE NIGHT RAID AND THE JAEGERS ON YOUR ASS: WELL NOW YOU HAVE BOTH ON YOUR ASS ENSHIN! FEAR THE NIGHT!" Tatsumi yelled and lunged towards Enshin charging ahead faster than Cosmina and Taeko could respond to, he immediately delivered a hard punch to Enshin knocking him off of Clair and sending him running. "Taeko don't let that bastard escape!" Tatsumi ordered and Taeko ran after Enshin who dodged the needle blades Taeko threw at him and then yelled something allow the lines of "Dervish Speed!" and ran off faster than Taeko could pursue and he ducked off into a number of different paths.

"He got away: that monster!" Taeko yelled pissed off that he gotten away from her, she was the fastest Oarburgh and nobody got away from her by running yet he had.

"I knew he was bad news the moment he showed his mug at the gates of the city" Tatsumi replied. "Well he was fairly warned and we now know who we're dealing with: now comes the matter of finding him" Tatsumi added, then turned to the stunned and unconscious Clair, he picked her up carried her along. "She's out cold; lets get back to Aria's place Angela can help take care of her" Tatsumi explained and they ran, ran as far and as fast as they could until they found the warm lights of Grundewick manor and the strong walls that protected it.

Tatsumi gave a shout out to the guards at the gate who let him and those with in without questioning him, he then walked inside to the servents saying "Welcome home Lord Tatsumi" to which simply said "Good to be home" before heading into den where Angela sat in her chair with Ieyasu sitting on her lap.

"Hello Tatsumi; who's that with you?" Angela asked.

"Clair, she was just attacked by the rapist who's been on the loose and I got a very good look at him and know who he is now" Tatsumi replied putting Clair on the nearby couch.

"Ieyasu get my medical bag, I'll have a look at her see how bad she was hurt" Angela stated, Ieyasu got off her lap and went to Angela's room to collect the bag. Angela came over to the couch and examined Clair for anything serious.

"She's fine, she has a few bruises and she'll be out for a couple hours but other than that she'll be ok however she had both her legs broken I'll make a cast but that will need some work" Angela explained, Ieyasu returned with her bag.

"Hey Angela I got the bag" Ieyasu explained.

"Good, now put it away, the girl is mostly alright I don't need it" Angela replied and Ieyasu frowned and sulked away.

"Poor Ieyasu, he gets a chance to help me and didn't need to do it" Angela commented. "I'll go and make it up to him with some of my cookies and some mommy's milk his favorite" Angela added and left to follow him.

"I still can't believe my best friend is dating and in love with my mother in law as well as banging her; and he's my brother-in-law and in a few years he'll be my father-in-law too: my life is nuts with him and it's all his fault too" Tatsumi commented to Cosmina and Taeko.

"How is this all his fault?" Cosmina asked.

"It was his idea to come to the Capital and hope to strike it rich; well we did strike it rich but we also got ourselves mixed up in political games, a civil war, and relationships with women that we wouldn't have gotten ourselves into in the first place" Tatsumi replied.

"Nothing's wrong with that Tatsu-kitty; I think your life is way better now; especially since you have me" Cosmina replied and lead him off to his room and once they were there proceeded to blow him till time came for dinner and then they went back did it again.

The next day Tatsumi went over a list of people Esdeath had marked as Honest's most powerful supporters, men which didn't leave the Palace: he was going to have to make a note of each of these idiots and try and find their weaknesses. As to the threat posed by Enshin apart from knowing he was the culprit and he needed to draw him out, in order to pull that off he'd need to do one of two things; option one find where he was held up and storm the place hoping to corner and catch/kill him in his own den or option two create a trap that was too much for the creep to resist.

However, going about either option was going to take days possibly weeks so for the time being until he had a lead he'd look to deal with other targets; in this case Honest's political allies, the first and easy of these for him to identify and probe were those at court; figures that were clear puppets and who's names and faces he had committed to memory. "Youken: Honest's chief sycophant, torturer and a pedophile old man: Creep" Tatsumi thought. "General Noukan: Honest's personal guard commander, enforcer and executioner apart from Teketh, this guy is a womanizer who spends most of his time with his concubines and when he's on the loose he'll brutally torture Honest's enemies and anyone that gets in his way and rape woman and girls for sport: Scumbag" Tatsumi continued to think. "Dousen: Honest's personal financier and banker which is code for embezzler and extortionist, only interested in money and asserting his status and got his rank thru bribes, the epidemy of corruption: Thief!" Tatsumi added. "Gebezi head of public finance and merchant guilds; arrogant, greedy, views the common people of the empire as livestock and takes pleasure in taking everything a person has: Miser!" Tatsumi added. "Field Marshal Koukei: Minister of Military Affairs, closest Honest has to any direct control of the military; got his rank because Honest gave it to him, he has no military experience and is sloppy, he embezzles munitions as well as weaponry and sells them on black market for his own personal profit, on top of that this guy slanders and fabricates evidence of treason on military commanders that either Honest hates, won't follow his orders, or are just rising stars he can't control: Craven!" Tatsumi thought. "Now for the worst of the bunch Saikyuu the deputy Prime Minister: this guy is Honest's personal prodigy, his bastard son and his chief aide, nothing Honest does happens without this guy's knowledge; he is also an avid participant in anything Honest does, also this guy keeps records of anyone and he is extremely good at fabricating evidence of crimes and having someone take the blame for it; also he is an extreme pedophile: Monster!" Tatsumi concluded.

"Good morning Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina greeted pressing her breasts against his back.

"Morning Cosmina: I was just thinking about the list of the top five worst scumbags apart from Honest in this city; overall I think I've given a word for each one: I'm going to head to the palace and see if I can get a massive bounty placed on Enshin's head for any information leading to his capture or death; I'll even put my own money upfront" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then you are going to need to find an artist" Cosmina teased. "Lucky you my talents are just limited to song, dance, and sexual positions; I also happen to be a talented artist and have a photographic memory; get me some paper and an artist's tools and I'll give you a portrait for mass production" Cosmina explained.

"Alright but the picture has to be exact and simple, this is a mugshot not a royal portrait" Tatsumi replied. They dressed, had breakfast and wrangled up some artistic supplies; it took Cosmina an hour to draw the illustration Tatsumi needed.

"Did I do a good job?" Cosmina asked.

"Pretty good, it will do, I'm going to go see the Emperor and ask for his approval to mass produce this and set up a bounty, hopefully some eagle-eyed person spots him and turns over the info" Tatsumi replied.

Later… Tatsumi arrived at the Palace to no great fanfare though protected by his bodyguards; he made his way to the throne room and as usual barged in to the surprise of the room. He noted however a man in chains prostrated before the Imperial throne with two well-armed guards keeping an eye on him, he also noted that Honest was smiling in spite of him being in the room which meant Honest had gotten something he wanted and was going to gloat. "Minister Syoi you have been found guilty of High Treason before the court, as punishment for your crime you will be drawn and quartered publicly and slowing by bull auroches" Honest decreed.

"What's going on here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh Tatsumi-nii come here; I just punished a traitor he's going to die soon" Makoto commented.

"Are you sure he's a traitor?" Tatsumi asked knowing for a fact that if Honest wanted somebody dead it certainly wasn't for the best reasons, more likely it was all for his own sick benefit.

"It's true, Honest-san gave me some very compelling evidence; so well he's guilty" Makoto replied.

"I'm sure you are aware of your crimes Syoi and as such I will be looking forward to your punishment, and don't worry I'll take care of your beautiful wife" Honest commented. That made Tatsumi's skin crawl, take care of her? Most likely rape her, torture her and eventually murder and eat her. Not on his watch, he may not be able to save Syoi from his death but he could at least save his widow from Honest.

"Your highness may I make a request; I trust that upon the traitor's death all he owns will be repossessed by the crown; as such I would make a personal request" Tatsumi asked being as shrewd as possible and putting on his best politician's smile, his military uniform only added to his persuasive ability.

"What is it Tatsumi-nii, whatever you want that belongs to the traitor you can have I was going to give out his things so name what you want and I'll give it to you" Makoto replied.

"I request to take Syoi's widow as my own wife and to take her into my protective custody; just because I think she needs someone to take care of her after he's gone as the Prime minister pointed out" Tatsumi replied, Honest dropped the smirk and glared at Tatsumi with angry eyes.

"Your majesty I must protest this I as Prime Minister get first choice of any assets seized from traitors" Honest replied recovering his composure.

"Sorry Honest-san but no: Tatsumi-nii has been a good and loyal servent and deserves a reward, besides Honest first come first served, also there is one law that supersedes your position on this: International Dibs Law" Makoto replied, Honest face palmed then ate a drumstick of questionable meat; Tatsumi had no idea what animal it came from.

"Thank you, your highness," Tatsumi replied and turned to Syoi and got on his level and spoke softly. "Sorry I can't save your life but I can at least keep your wife safe" Tatsumi whispered. "Syoi no matter your crimes I'll take good care of your wife, I'll love her and care for her and treat her with love and respect; I'm sorry that this isn't the best outcome but it's the least I can do; also I would like to make two more requests Makoto-nii" Tatsumi explained and then turned to Makoto.

"Name them, you've got a lot stuff that you need to be rewarded for" Makoto replied.

"I request that 75% of all the Syoi owned go to his widow, also as to his execution, I request that he die by beheading" Tatsumi requested.

"Granted Tatsumi-nii enjoy!" Makoto replied.

"Now as to his punishment: I'm sorry for this Syoi but at least it's better then what Honest would have had done to you, as a dear friend of mine would say: I'm sorry" Tatsumi apologized and drew Valruost and swiftly beheaded Syoi to the shock of the court. "My apologies for the mess your highness but I thought it would be better for him and the treasury if I did it here and now, after all the man who gives the sentence should pass the sword" Tatsumi replied.

"It's okay Tatsumi-nii; you did the best you could, who cares about a mess that floor gets cleaned easy; also, you are just and currently I've made a decision" Makoto replied and turned to tall man with bald spot. "Lord Yorkar you are fired, Tatsumi is now my Minister for Justice by Imperial decree" Makoto declared to further shock and Honest fainting. Makoto got out of his chair and picked up his toy sword. "Honest-san no sleeping!" Makoto shouted and began to whack him with the wooden blade. "Wake up!" Makoto shouted over and over again.

"My thanks your majesty for your wise decision I promise to live up to my office" Tatsumi replied taking on as humble an expression as possible and suppressing laughter at Honest's current predicament. "Esdeath has no idea what she just missed" Tatsumi thought. "Now your highness there is a matter that needs your immediate approval and I as new minister for Justice have a request to make" Tatsumi explained and pulled out the wrapped up proto-poster of Enshin and opened it causing Makoto to stop poking the unconscious Honest with his toy sword and come over to him.

"There has been a mass outbreak of kidnappings and rapes across the city; this man whose name is Enshin is the prime suspect and as I identified him in act culprit, as the first act of my new position I want this picture to be copied and mass produced for wanted posters and request that the Imperial treasury back a bounty of 1,000,000 gold pieces for information leading to this man's capture or death" Tatsumi explained showing him the poster.

"I see Tatsumi-nii this man is a creep and if he's been doing horrible crimes he deserves to have a bounty scribe record this: Imperial Decree in the name of Emperor Makoto I Gildanstrom (Myself) I decree Enshin threat to the Imperial court and an enemy of the people who is guilty of high crimes against the people of Emperor Makoto, any information that results in the capture or death of Enshin will be rewarded via the payment of 1,000,000 gold coins!" Makoto declared to a scribe near him who nearly lost his glasses at the mention of the 1 million, which made him the most wanted man in the Empire even more than 3 Night Raid members combined.

"Thank you, your highness," Tatsumi replied. "Scribe! Take the decree and this picture to a courier and have it sent to the bounty office and mass produced, I want posters of this man all over Melitine in 48 hours, by order of Major General Tatsumi, Minister for Fun and Justice" Tatsumi ordered, the scribe took the poster and decree then left. "Your highness is there anything my new position requires me to do" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty much stuff like you just did and if you want to you can still go out and bring the evildoers to justice" Makoto replied. "As for those boring meetings don't worry you don't have to worry about those" Makoto added and Tatsumi turned to leave but stopped.

"Your highness forgive me, I should've asked Syoi this before I killed him but anyway, where is his home? I'll bring the news to his wife of both his death and our betrothal" Tatsumi asked.

"Check his wallet Tatsumi it should have his address; oh and keep any money he has in it; that's yours" Makoto explained and Tatsumi turned to the man's corpse and found his coin purse, he noted his imperial badge of office, he had been a high-ranking official, somebody who obviously was aware of Honest's crimes and tried to confront him openly; Honest clearly had turned the tables on him, also inside the wallet was a picture of his widow: Tatsumi noted she was indeed beautiful, with long lime green hair, Latin skin and a body that rivaled Esdeath's, she also wore glasses which added to her beauty and wore a lovely gown he also noted writing in the bottom of the picture. "May we be together for eternity, Lila" Tatsumi read mentally and wept. "Honest you bastard" Tatsumi thought then before leaving walked over to the still unconscious Honest. "This might wake him up Makoto" Tatsumi replied and kicked Honest right in family jewels: causing Honest to wake up squealing a high falsetto. "There you go works every time, if he does that in the future your highness feel free to hit him there again" Tatsumi commented and walked out leaving a fuming Honest who as he left the room screamed "TATSUMI!" to which he responded "That's my name and don't wear it out"

Shortly at a private manor not too far from the Palace… Tatsumi knocked on the front door and it was opened by a door man who after he explained who he was allowed him in along with his Oarburgh bodyguards who stopped in the front room to admire it, he soon was lead to a study where the same woman he had seen in the photograph sat looking at a photo album, she was different however in that she had a third trimester tummy. "Excuse me miss" Tatsumi greeted.

"Hello, who are you and what is this about?" Lila asked concerned by the official uniform.

"Major General Tatsumi, Minister for Fun and Minister for Justice, I bring to you bad news; unfortunately your husband has been executed for High Treason, I wasn't able to do anything for him beyond give him a merciful and quick death by beheading; as a result of his death his property has been seized by the Crown; however I have some good news; I was able to keep most of it out of the hands of Prime Minister Honest; including you, he intended to take you for his own but I managed to persuade the Emperor to avoid doing so, but there was a catch" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh dear, my dear Syoi; why?! Alright I expected his death and worse however what is the catch? at least I stay out of Honest's grip what did you do to save me from that- monster?" Lila questioned breaking down in tears.

"I made an injunction to put you into my protective custody and arranged for you to be betrothed to me as my wife; it was the only way I could keep you out of Honest's vile clutches. I also managed to secure 75% of you husband's property and his home for you. I know this isn't the most ideal solution and I'll try my best to be a loving husband like I am to my other wives, I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do, I'll provide complete financial support and you can rely on my sizeable imperial salary" Tatsumi explained, to his surprise she got up put the album down and came and hugged him, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you for what you've done, I'm saddened by the loss of my Syoi but he would have wanted me to move on, you did your best to ensure my safety and security, you've done a selfless act that I can't really repay beyond agreeing to be your loving wife; just one thing though: I am pregnant and due soon so you will have something else to care for in addition to me" Lila replied and then kissed him on the lips, Tatsumi felt extremely humbled, here a total stranger whom he had done a selfless act, that on its merits were questionable yet it didn't matter to him he was her savior he had saved her from Honest's vile clutches and the torments that came with it, in return she pledged her love.

"I'll try and prove worthy of all you just gave me" Tatsumi replied, he turned to leave when Lila collapsed to her knees in pain and moaned. Tatsumi got down on his knees and asked "Are you alright what's happening?!"

"The Baby! I think it's coming: do you know any doctors?" Lila replied in obvious pain.

"I know a couple very good ones, here let me help you!" Tatsumi replied and carried her out of the room and down to the main hall where he found Cosmina, Taeko, Saraya and the Twins waiting for him. "Help me, she's going to give birth!" Tatsumi begged, they helped him carry her out, they then cut thru paths to the upper ring market where Tatsumi found Aria along with Sayo and Yami shopping. "ARIA!" Tatsumi yelled causing her to look at him in confusion.

"Tatsumi?! What's going on!?" Aria asked handing her purchases to one of her guards and rushing over to him.

"Aria no time to explain, this is Lila and she's about to give birth!" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright bring her to my carriage! Sayo get some blankets I'll pay for them! Everyone else help me with her" Aria exclaimed, running to Aria's ten-man carriage, Tatsumi laid Lila flat on a blanket.

"Are you a doctor?" Lila asked Aria.

"Yes, my mother is also a doctor, she taught me everything I know: Tatsumi help me with her clothing I need that off for delivery; Don't worry I'll take care of you" Aria stated, trying to contain her concerns, while Aria had seen people give birth during her instructions and helped her mother with it, she had never on her own had to help deliver a child.

It took a few minutes: Lila moaned in pain groaning in agony. "Push!" Aria shouted, repeatedly helping to keep her comfortable Sayo arrived with blankets and Aria kept Lila steady; Lila soon yelled in pain as she pushed out her newborn child.

"It's a boy!" Aria shouted as she caught the infant which cried as it emerged, she then took one of her kukris and cut the umbilical cord to the pain of both mother and child, before checking the baby to see if he was healthy then looked at Lila who had passed out and felt her for a pulse finding she was still alive. Aria then wrapped the baby in the blankets Sayo brought her and cleaned up the mess made by the delivery. "Whoa; that had to be the most intence thing I've ever had to deal with in my life" Aria remarked as she held the crying child. "There, there, you're ok little one and so is your mommy, she's just been tired out: Tatsumi hold onto him while I check to see if Lila is ok" Aria stated and checked Lila and noted her breathing and heart rate were normal she was exhausted however by the whole experience.

Shortly… Lila woke up to a moving carriage and to Tatsumi holding her child as Aria looked her over. "You're awake, now Lila how are you feeling? Are you feeling any pain? Can you move your arms?" Aria asked.

Lila shook herself and moved her arms. "I feel sore but I'm fine is my baby ok?" Lila asked as she noticed that Aria had taken the effort to redress her while she was passed out.

"He's ok and sleeping peacefully" Tatsumi explained and handed her child to her.

"A sweet little boy, I'm so happy; this is both saddest and happiest day of my life; now I have to thank you doctor" Lila stated turning to Aria.

"Aria is my name, you're welcome, I was just doing my job and duty" Aria explained.

"Now about you, sweet little wonderful bundle of joy: What am I going to name you? Tatsumi do you have any ideas?" Lila asked.

"No I don't, I'm terrible when it comes to coming up with names, why don't you name him Lila, he's your child, I'll try my best to be his father but still he's not my blood child so I don't think I have the right to name him: that's yours" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright then: hmm… I think I'll name him Tatsumi; after all you've done for me I think it's fitting that my child bares your name; especially since all future children I have will be yours and you've given me all I have left to remember my husband and been so selfless already, plus it's a nice name" Lila replied to the shock off all present and to Tatsumi fainting. "I didn't realize he was that humble" Lila commented to the laughter of everyone else.

Two Nights later… Enshin had left his private flat in the slums to pray once more on the innocents of the capital; however, in his flat his captive victims were about to make an escape. One such victim named Lindsey had managed to contort her hands in a way she could slip out of her shackles after doing so she crawled over to where Enshin kept a dagger, he had taken the keys with him as he always did but that didn't guarantee anything. Lindsey had been training herself with her skills as contortionist and was now ready to put them to use; she turned to her fellow captives and used the dagger to pick the locks restraining them to the walls there were about 10 of them that he had all secured in his private dungeon, the flat itself had been a former brothel which had shut down a few years prior due to bad business and trafficking in drugs: one of the former prostitutes had been a dominatrix and Enshin had made use of the shackles.

Lindsey smiled as she freed her fellow captives, the youngest of which was 13, then group together with them. "Alright girls, now's our chance we ditch this place and get as far from here as possible before Enshin gets back" Lindsey explained, she then along with the others stole some of Enshin's clothes so they weren't naked anymore; he had taken and shredded their clothes over their period of captivity, they then took the weaponry that had been stolen by Enshin from people he killed just for the fun of it; the man had been in the Capital for about two weeks and hadn't been inactive in that time. The girls escaped some were actually skilled with a blade so they didn't have to worry about getting nabbed by the other unsavory elements of the Capital, then they left the slums and went down a number of side paths before stopping short of running into a carriage whose guards we well-armed and equipped.

"HALT! I'm Guarry! Drop your weapons and we will spare your lives!" Guarry shouted he and the other Grundel guardsmen readied their weapons, they were surprised when the girls did exactly that, the carriage opened and Angela walked out with Ieyasu at her side with Belvaac at the ready.

"What's going on here?" Angela asked.

"Please have mercy on us; we weren't attempting to rob you, we just escaped from a horrible monster I managed to escape my shackles while he was gone and freed the others; please don't hurt us" Lindsey declared, the guards lowered their weapons as they noticed that apart from the clothing the women were scared and bruised along with showing terrified expressions.

"Men help them, I'm alarmed by that news; I'll take you to my home and tend to your injuries" Angela explained, the girls followed them noting that the guards didn't do anything to harm them; they were worried that they had escaped from one monster to be captured by another however that fortunately was not a case.

Their arrival at Grundewick manor was like a dying man in a desert arriving at watery oasis populated by beautiful women who took care of all his needs, Angela lead the girls in and took them to guests rooms where she tended to their injuries at listened to their stories; taking mental notes about their shared ordeal.

Shortly… "Will they recover?" Ieyasu asked.

"It will take a month at least, some of them have broken legs and arms, they've taken some horrid abuse, I had to treat numerous gashes and used all the penicillin I had in my bag I haven't seen people this badly injured since my war days as a battlefield medic" Angela explained grimly.

"You've done your best Angela; there isn't much else we can do apart from take care of them" Ieyasu replied.

"You're right Ieyasu, I think these poor souls could use some cheering up, you and I should make a few batches of cookies and I'll have the cooks start preparing dinner; it's the least we can do, and by the time Aria and her team get back from their mission they'll be hungry.

Elsewhere in the city… Tatsumi was glad to get Enshin of his mind and be able to deal with an enemy that he knew wasn't going anywhere and would be easy to kill. The target in question was Gordon Vakla, an Imperial noble and political ally of Honest who was exceptionally found of taking little girls and boys from off the street and raping them; to the point of creating a private roleplay thing where he forced them to dress as forest sprites for his own sick fantasies he also wore a green outfit and thought he was a fairy himself calling himself Mr. Tingle and insisting others called him that too; overall the guy was trash that the world could do without.

Tatsumi took a small team of Aria, Sheele, Clementine and Mine with him on this mission, Mine took up a sniper's perch on the roof of a nearby building which overlooked the estate of their target and which she reached using a fire escape. The plan was to have Aria neutralize the gate guards then have Mine start clearing the Courtyard; then it was a simple matter of rest of the team charging in alongside Aria to kill the external security and break into the main manor, find Valka and kill him and free any captives.

"I'm worried what with the stories of that rapist monster about; its like the butcher all over again" One of the guards said to his partner.

"Don't worry, the guy's only interested in women and last time I checked we both have penises, so don't worry John" the other guard replied.

"Still though there are other things to be concerned about: what about Night Raid, they haven't pulled off anything major in a while not since they iced General Malkath" John commented.

"Night Raid, schmite Raid, there's nothing here to get those terrorists to come here" the guard replied.

"That you know about Louis; that you know about" John replied.

"Maybe but as long I get paid who cares if the guy is a scumbag" Louis replied, his last words as he suffered from a case of acute decapitation curtesy of a currently invisible Aria, John yelled and tried to draw his sword before receiving a shuriken to his throat causing him to drop over to the ground bleeding out, the last thing he saw was a pink orb of energy flying accord the sky.

Mine's shot connected with the Sniper overlooking the front gate, and two more follow up shots hit Snipers in two other locations; Mine then unloaded on alert guards who were trying to get a bead on her position. "Hey Tatsumi I've been heavily trained since we last fought side by side, I want you to decided what weapons I should use, my Estoc, my stilettos, Starcrusher or all three" Clementine asked.

"All three: show me what you can do Clem" Tatsumi replied and dawned the dragon armor.

"Gladly, I haven't even shown you my second Teigu, you aren't the only one with two here" Clementine replied then smirked licking her lips. "Taurox: Armor of Brass!" Clementine declared, her body was clad completely in brass armor of the same design she wore casually, then they charged; joining up with Aria who had drawn her rapier and they stormed inside.

"Night Raid!" a guard screamed.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized and bisected the man with Extase, two fired their rifles at her, but the rounds were deflected off of Extase, during their focus on Sheele said guards were quickly terminated by Tatsumi and Clementine, one man decapitated by Smaug the other had his skull caved in by Starcrusher, then three more were dismembered by Extase and two more fell to Aria's Rapier.

More Guards charged to join the fight only to blown away by a series of shots fired by Mine which tore into her targets disintegrating them where she aimed, one unfortunate was left as a pair of legs and a lower torso which stood comically for a moment before following over.

In the chaos of the fighting Tatsumi flung Valruost at a battle axe wielding guard who had snuck up on Sheele resulting in a kill, cosmic irony had three men charge him from behind and when Tatsumi turned to face them two immediately diagonally bisected by an Estoc and the last one had his skull crushed in, Tatsumi noted that Clementine was wielding an Estoc, a two-handed blade, with one hand and Starcrusher in the other; also whenever she swung the flail it was not remotely random it hit every target exactly where she wanted it to and without any danger to her. Overall Clementine fought as a battle-hardened berserker mixed with the finesse and trickery of an assassin, Tatsumi noted that each time she killed she went faster, she even charged into a group of machine gun users whose bullets to their own surprised bounced off the armor and flew back at them killing them rather abruptly and ironically.

Soon however the guards found themselves all down to three men and the Night Raid team didn't have a scratch on them. "I'm sorry" Sheele applied and killed all three with single swing. "Now let's deal with our actual target" Sheele commented.

Shortly….

"Oh, I love this just keep tending to me my little sprites one day you'll grow up and be fairies just me me Mr. Tingle" Gordon Valka stated as a 12-year-old girl dressed as a nymph sucked his loins. He then rambled as his door was broken down. "Hello I'm Mr. Tingle and you kind people are?" Valka stated looking absolute absurd in his green hat; Tatsumi replied to his question by kicking him in the junk.

"Aria your time to shine" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, it is!" Aria stated her smiling face contorting into a demonic face.

"Demon! Demon!" Valka squealed, Aria punched him and readied her kukri.

"Your worst nightmare" Aria stated, the others cleared out all the children and left her to her fun. "I brought my favorite toys to play with too" Aria replied opening a bag to pull out saws and hatchets as well as a number of instruments of torture. "Let's start with your little fairy!" Aria stated and grabbed one hatchet and holding up his junk before cutting it off to squeals.

Tatsumi and the others cleaned out the safe and grabbed valuables wherever they found them, then they returned to Aria who was covered in the blood of her recent victim who was now in no position to speak after having been flayed alive as well as having his tongue ripped out. "I wish he'd have lived longer; but once you cut threw the layers of skin you tend to run into arteries and veins any of which you could easily cut open resulting in a bleed out: like my work? I was thinking about hanging the body out front with a sign on it with the words 'I'm a crazy fairy' written on it in his own blood" Aria explained.

"Lets do that: shame you didn't let me join in; I think I may be able to have kept him alive longer" Clementine commented with smirk.

"Since when do you torture people Clem?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi, I found it quite an addicting hobby, it's one of the best ways to scare your enemies I'm also quite good at it" Clementine replied with a demented grin that he had never seen her give before and which gave him the shivers.

"Lets just make sure that they get the message" Tatsumi replied.

"I think they'll get it, also I'm going to hang that brat of his son up there too with another sign saying 'I won't be bad anymore" Aria remarked.

Shortly… Tatsumi and his team returned home to Grundewick Manor to the usual fanfare and greetings from Aria's household servents they then went upstairs to change into clean clothes and sent their blood stained ones to the wash before heading to the dinning room, Tatsumi was surprised however to see a number of new faces, all female and all who had been cleaned up but still bore scars from abuse.

"Hey Mom, who are these people?" Aria asked, while she was used to new faces being at their dinner table she was concerned by their scars and the fact that while they ate the food eagerly they still looked rather distant.

"Victims of that monster Enshin, he kept them chained up in his flat and tortured and raped them always making sure they stayed alive so he could do it some more: monster" Angela explained, fortunately Fal, Air and Luna were having a sleepover at the palace with Makoto so Angela could speak openly without having to send them away; bad thing though was it made her worry about Honest being anywhere near her little adopted angels.

"So where is he staying?" Tatsumi asked.

"In an abandoned brothel in the slums but I don't think he'll come back there anytime soon he'll probably have come back and found out about our escape" Lindsey answered.

"Damn! That snake has to be stopped: I need a way to lure him into a trap he can't get out of" Tatsumi replied.

"Then you need to think and do so hard: what do you think Enshin would go after" Aria replied.

"Any woman or girl he finds attractive; the trick is how do you predict where he'll go, the Capital is big place and anyone can go missing in it and not be noticed" Tatsumi replied.

"Well how about a nice gathering of girls who look defenseless in a place where you can't usually take weapons" Taeko suggested.

"Cosmina what do you think?" Tatsumi asked.

"About how to nab the meany Enshin; well he can't resist pretty girls what about me: or a girl who looks defenseless but isn't" Cosmina suggested.

"You aren't suggesting you act as bait; he's seen you with me he won't fall for it" Tatsumi replied.

"I've got something bigger in mind: how about a show, a performance with dancing girls and singing; a private show booked for you exclusively" Cosmina replied.

"That won't work; what I need is a something he would find irresistible" Tatsumi replied.

"What about a group of famous local celebrities; I have seen a fair few pretty girls in the Umatora Theater troupe" Cosmina suggested.

"That may work; but I'd need to book the entire theater for the purposes of the trap and on top of it make the whole thing super enticing for Enshin to fall for it" Tatsumi replied.

"I think if we serenade him he'll come" Cosmina replied and smirked.

"I still don't think it will be that easy Cosmina unless you've got a hidden trump card that can draw in a specific person to you in 100 mile radius" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then I guess the only option is to wait and hope somehow we can corner him" Cosmina replied.

"NO! You know what I'm tired of waiting; I'll go out on the streets and search for him, even if I have to spend the whole night doing so" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"No Tatsumi you're pushing yourself too hard" Aria assured. "You haven't slept a proper night's sleep since this whole crisis started" Aria commented.

"I can't have one with a monster like Enshin on the loose he's as bad as Champ: I didn't sleep peacefully at all while Champ was on the loose; I can't do so now! I mean in my state if I sleep Honest will take full advantage of my grief and torment me with nightmares using that damned Teigu of his!" Tatsumi replied, Aria held him.

"You are tense completely now you need to think clearly first off put yourselves in Enshin's shoes, he's public enemy #1 at the moment, there are plenty of people that want you dead and you have a massive amount of money plus you are trapped inside the city the guards at every gate have your picture and orders to capture or kill you on sight; you'll want to go down on your own terms and in a blaze of glory and take as many people you can with you: in other words what does he want most?" Aria comforted and reasoned.

"What he wants most; well he told me himself, wealth, people to kill and women to rape: he is a pirate and he thinks like one" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes Tatsu-kitty, now there is one thing a pirate wants more then anything else; treasure, Gold and a lot of it; but he also wants women, who are the beautiful women in the city?" Cosmina added.

"Wait you're onto something; a lot of beautiful women, the Ladies of the Umatora Theater troop: the Dazzling Goddesses 20 of the most beautiful women in the Empire, Umatora is nice and centrally located, he wants a blaze of glory where better for him to go to die: but still there is the matter of bait, I've got to make sure that this works and he comes" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi, Gold and in addition to that you need to add the woman he has on his mind the most" Cosmina stated.

"Wait you aren't- Cosmina! That-! That-! Bols is going to kill me if this goes south but if it works- Cosmina you're a genius!" Tatsumi stated, then he thought the plan out. "Ok here's my idea, the only way Enshin will come is if he thinks he has something to gain. The only way to pull that off is with an Imperial pardon, a fake one of course but he doesn't need to know that, and as the Minister for Justice I can do that: but to make it truly convincing it has to be from the one person who hates my guts more then anyone else: Honest" Tatsumi explained.

"How are you going to pull that off?" Mine commented.

"I've got an idea how to do that" Tatsumi replied then smirked, he then got up with a spring in his step and went in search of the one person who knew Honest inside and out.

Shortly…

Tatsumi knocked on the door, Lillianna opened the door dressed in her silk night gown and silk stockings and with a night mask on her forehead. "Tatsumi? What are you doing here; you know I go to bed earlier" Lillianna greeted.

"I need your help with something tomorrow and so I remember I'm going to need to sleep in here with you: my wife, also I have a question that I need you to answer first" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright Tatsumi come in then but I'm going to need you to help me with something in return" Lillianna agreed with a wink, Tatsumi walked in to the room and she shut the door.

"Question Lillianna can you forge your father's signature?" Tatsumi asked, as Lillianna pulled off his shirt.

"Well I can as a matter of fact, we have the exact same letter work, also I've done it before; mainly to kill any marriage contracts my Father had tried to pair me with; do you have something in mind?" Lillianna replied as removed her night gown.

"Something of the sort, there is a man I need to trap and this is something I bet your father would actually do just for sick kicks, I want you to write a pardon from him for this man, a fake one of course, then I let word get around the city to the perp" Tatsumi explained, removing his pants leaving him in his boxers he then picked Lillianna up and carried her to her bed.

"Now what are you going to give me in return Tatsumi-kins" Lillianna asked with a seductive smile.

"The night of your life; and hopefully our first child in the long run" Tatsumi replied and unhooked her bra, she removed his boxers and he her panties before he lay back on the bed. Lillianna started by wrapping her breasts around his length, considering the fact they were same size as Esdeath's Tatsumi was enjoying it. She then began to give him head licking the tip of all the precum before engulfing it in her mouth and sucking it.

"Ugh. I've missed this I've not had enough time to spend with you Lillianna and I forgot how much I love this. OH! Your tongue!" Tatsumi moaned as Lillianna continued her work, she then turned herself around obscuring his vision, Tatsumi inserted his tongue inside her folds and begin licking her insides going to the right spots. Lillianna moaned as he licked her out and he moaned as she deepthroated him.

They continued like this for ten more minutes, both of them using their mouths the best they could, then they came creaming each other's faces which was followed by the two licking up the mess. Lillianna dismounted and presented herself to him twerking. "Now which hole are you going take my handsome husband" Lillianna teased.

Tatsumi thought for about three second but her booty ball butt was begging for him to take her in the ass and do so doggy style, so he got up and mounted it. "OH! So big! I figured you'd go there" Lillianna moaned as Tatsumi went snug inside; he enjoyed this tightness: in truth he thought Lillianna was nearly equal to Esdeath; however, he wouldn't mention that to either of them that was a secret he was intending on taking to the grave. He thrusted moderately doing so with as gently as possible, Lillianna wasn't a girl he'd take roughly, she was too sweet and too kind do that and she liked it gentle. His skin contrasted against hers as he founded her breasts riding her like he would a horse his head against her soft hair the silver hair that was in his opinion more precious than actual silver.

In fact, her beauty was serene; leaving him to wonder how someone so kind and sweet could be the daughter of someone so vile and evil as Honest, also there was the matter of her mother; whoever her mother was she must have been truly beautiful and Lillianna was clearly a spitting image of her mother. In fact, Honest had commented he'd know her mother's eyes anywhere; speaking of his memory of that encounter had been in his head recently and he understood plain and clear how badly Honest hated him. Tatsumi had figured out that before he met Lillianna, Honest's attacks on him hadn't been personal they had been him trying to remove a political rival; however when he had eloped with Lillianna who was the spitting image of her mother and obviously the child her father loved the most because of that amongst other things he had crossed a line that had earned him Honest's undying eternal hatred. Tatsumi didn't care that he had made himself Honest's enemy he had made him that when he joined Night Raid and learned that he was responsible for the rot inside the Empire, but he did sort of pity him because he had to take in consideration that he had taken from Honest the person he treasured and cared for the most in fact it was as bad as if Tatsumi had cucked Honest with Lillianna's mother when she was alive.

These thoughts were interrupted as during his thinking Tatsumi had been giving Lillianna much needed loving and sex in her ass which deserved all the attention he was giving it, he moaned as he released, his seed filling her anal cavity as Lilianna moaned in true bliss.

"Tatsumi, I needed that; I'm ready now make sure you come inside me; I want your child" Lillianna stated as she flipped over and laid back against a soft pillow.

"Have you given thought to any names?" Tatsumi replied as he entered her missionary style.

"I was thinking (Ugh) if we have a boy (Yee!) we'd name him Syura after my twin brother, my brother may have been one of the worst people ever but he was still my brother and he always treated me with love and respect; I- I-!" Lillianna replied and emitted a high-pitched moan as Tatsumi struck her g-spot three times consecutively.

"And a girl?" Tatsumi asked.

"Lillian after my mother gods rest her sweet soul: oh my mother she was the kindest and sweetest soul, I never knew her she died giving birth to me and Syura my father was broken and I think that began to cause him to become evil, she was the most beautiful woman he ever met and the first to capture his heart" Lillianna replied, Tatsumi kissed her cheek.

"I can see, alright I agree with your name choices I'm not good at coming up with them anyway; Lillianna you are truly a reflection of your mother and it shows" Tatsumi replied and kissed her romantically as she pulled the blankets over them. Tatsumi broke the kiss and drank from her breasts enjoying the sweet milk inside, he drank extensively from both and alternating between the two as he came inside Lillianna before tumbling her over and letting her be on top, going for another hour before she passed out in his arms Tatsumi looked at her sleeping beauty and fell asleep not caring about Enshin or Honest or any of the many enemies he had, here he was safe and he had a beauty worthy of songs of legend.

The following day Tatsumi began to take the steps needed to put the plan into action, he first consulted Bols and told him about his plan, it took a good amount of time to convince Bols to agree with him though less to convince Logue who dropped Kije off at Grundewick Manor for safe-keeping and baby-sitting where she enjoyed playing dolls with Luna. Next came taking with the Umatora troupe and their leader as well as the Dazzling Goddesses who took more convincing; after taking those steps he then had Lillianna draft a missive on Imperial stationary which he had acquired from Honest's office with the aid of one of his spies; the missive was a pardon and business offer which Enshin could not refuse because of how much it would benefit a man in his situation. The offer was a complete pardon of his crimes, employment as one of Honest's enforcers, with an upfront payment in Gold ingots as well as 25 of the most beautiful women in the Capital, to be given in a in-person meeting at Umatora Theater.

The team for this mission would consist of four Jaegers: Himself, Bols, Cosmina and Seryu. And four Oarburgh assassins from Night Raid (Not counting Saraya who was his bodyguard) Chelsea, Taeko, and the Twins. Chelsea would be very important for the plan as he would use Gaea Foundation to disguise herself as Honest to put Enshin at further ease; then when he was inside they'd spring the trap and incapacitate him, Cosmina would use her Siren's Allure to mind control him and then would come his punishment.

That night at Umatora… Enshin walked into the trap none the wiser, one of Tatsumi's spies had delivered him the 'pardon' without issue and Enshin did not kill the spy to avoid risking the offer being nullified. Tatsumi and the Jaegers waited in the stands above the center of the theater where the stage resided, on which were 25 beautiful woman, 26 if you counted the disguised Chelsea, and four being professional assassins in theater attire each of which had their arms behind their back to fake being tied, also next to them was a table which a chest full of rocks stood in as a substitute for the prize; Tatsumi had given his informants 250,000 from the bounty in advanced and another 50,000 in case the plan didn't work.

Enshin stepped forward. "Ah the Prime Minister Honest, I'm glad this wasn't a ploy its good to meet you at last, so you said you needed professional killers to serve as your enforcers" Enshin greeted.

"Yes indeed I do, however there appears to have been a mix up" 'Honest' stated as the exits were locked by a few hidden stagehands. "You see I'm in need enforcers but I need to see your pardon" 'Honest' replied, Enshin grabbed out the document and handed it to 'him'. "I see so you are indeed Enshin but you see there is a problem this isn't my signature it is a forgery" 'Honest' replied.

"What!? How?!" Enshin replied.

"Mainly because Honest isn't here" Tatsumi stated jumping down from the stands as 'Honest' hand gripped to side, drawing a rapier and fading aside to reveal Chelsea in her standerd attire.

"SHIT!" Enshin replied drawing Shamshir and charging to begin an attack, Chelsea parried and delivered and underhanded kick as she pierced his shoulder causing him to drop his sword and yell as he clutched his limb as he received a hard kick from behind which came from a high heeled shoe.

"Now we have you where we want you 'pretty boy' who am I kidding you're as ugly as your sins" Cosmina commented, then took Heavy Pressure and sung, everyone else covered their ears as the Siren's Allure brought Enshin under control his eyes purple spiral orbs. Cosmina then gave a thumbs up. "Can you hear me loud and clear?" Cosmina asked with a wink.

"Yes, mistress Cosmina Queen of song and beauty!" Enshin proclaimed in an enslaved tone of voice.

"Good now I want you to strip" Cosmina commanded and Enshin did so removing his attire and multiple concealed daggers. "Now you've done that I want to take one of your daggers and write my name in your own blood across your chest without killing yourself" Cosmina commanded and Enshin took a small blade and with delight carved the name Cosmina above his stomach in blood. "Good now I want you to take that blade and shove it down the tip of your cock" Cosmina commanded.

Enshin took a blade and drove it down the length sheathing it inside it, not yelling as he did so; the stab cut his length in half down the middle. "Good, good, now I want you to cut the whole thing off, geld yourself" Cosmina ordered, she did so in such a sweet tone of voice too, Enshin couldn't resist such a sweet angelic voice and castrated himself.

"Excellent Enshin good boy; now I want you to take your blade and cut your hamstrings" Cosmina commanded and he did so immobilizing his legs making them useless. "Now take your blade and remove your left breast from the nipple up" Cosmina commanded, Enshin did that and removed the left breast in its entirety letting blood flow out and the muscle beneath be exposed.

"Now I want you to take your sword and cut your feet off" Cosmina ordered and smiled with glee as Enshin took Shamshir and cut his own feet off. "Now remove skin and muscle from your legs" Cosmina commanded and he did so without rupturing any major arteries. "Now I want you to shave your head of unruly mess you call hair" Cosmina ordered and with glee cut off all his hair. "Now I want you to take your dagger and remove both of your eyes" Cosmina ordered and giggled as he pulled both eyes out. "Last thing I want you to do is remove your tongue and swallow it" Cosmina commanded and then laughed as he did so. The Girls from the theater troupe were shocked by the torture but not just that they were also terrified of Cosmina who's voice had caused him to do so without a protest and with a grin, she then snapped her fingers and Enshin tried to the scream in agony but couldn't make a sound, Tatsumi and the other Jaegers stepped up.

"Bols you get the honor of showing this monster that he should Fear the Night, kill him" Tatsumi ordered and smiled Bols dragged Enshin outside as he struggled, everyone else followed him, he was then dropped in the middle of the ground as he tried to crawl away. It was no use, first Enshin heard a snap then felt pain as Salamander fire from Rubinciate ignited his body, the oil like substance getting deep into his skin cooking his insides he opened his mouth and screamed silent screams, mentally swearing and cursing everyone and everything as he noticed the fires continued, even as he died he could see the flames though he was blinded in fact the flames got hotter and hotter as his soul left his body and was dragged down to where it belonged, in the fiery depths of Hell.

"It's over: Tatsumi I don't know what to say, your plan worked and I owe you those drinks and an all you can eat buffet; you've done so much for my family Logue come here" Bols stated, Logue did come over to him and clung to his side.

"Bols I have to be honest with you: I'm not just a Jaeger, this is my night job: I work for Night Raid, I hunt down the scum of the Empire and bring them to their well-earned graves; though in this case I'm not giving Enshin one; these charred bones will bagged up and dumped in deep pit somewhere apart from the head; that's going on Esdeath's desk" Tatsumi explained.

"You're Night Raid? To be honest I'm not surprised Tatsumi, you are too good a person to work for Empire; so, what happens now?" Bols asked.

"I'm offering you the chance to join; we could use someone like you, besides Night Raid isn't loyal to the Revolutionary Army, you wouldn't be working for them or the Empire you'd be working for me; also, there is something else" Tatsumi offered.

"I'll join, anyone else who offered I'd refuse but you Tatsumi, you are a good friend, you saved my family from two monsters in Champ and Enshin and you also represent what the Empire needs to change: now what is that something else" Bols agreed and asked.

"The Revolutionary Army wants you dead and wants Night Raid to kill you, we are disregarding those orders they accuse you of being responsible for the massacre and razing of the Village of Magnee not too far from Melitine, I know for fact you were just another soldier following orders you didn't have a choice in the matter; instead I'm going to find the people who were in command of that mission and gave the orders and take them down in your place, that way when the Revolutionary Army asks questions I'll have an excuse and can claim you're dead" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok I can help you with that; but you'll need General Esdeath's help, she can get the information you need" Bols replied.

"Thanks, Bols, thank you everyone I do believe we are done here; I've got a wedding tomorrow Bols: I'm getting married to Cosmina and Leone; I'd like you to be our best man" Tatsumi offered.

"Why not, it's the least I can do after all you've done for me" Bols replied.

The following morning… Tatsumi had seen to informing Makoto of Enshin's demise, Esdeath returned to the Capital with the other Jaegers soon after and he informed her of everything that had gone down and the wedding he had planned for that evening; Esdeath took Enshin's head and put it on her desk, the ordered the rest of the bones to be ground into meal and dumped into a nearby trash can.

That evening came the wedding Tatsumi enjoyed the lovely dresses worn by Cosmina and Leone, the gold and white silks wrapped around her and highlighted her curves, Cosmina's gown was bright and Tatsumi wondered if there was such a thing as too much purple and put that out of his head when she smiled. They approached the alter and were wed then that night came the bedding; overall Tatsumi was glad he also had fully forgiven Cosmina for her previous atrocity knowing that she had done so as a result of torments given by those vile people.

Meanwhile…. "The documents are rather impressive, birth certificates, census data, other things, however there is the matter of one thing to prove this father; DNA I need something from her to verify for certain that she is indeed what you suspect" Izel commented looking over the documents.

"That can be arranged, upon her next visit to the palace I will see to acquiring a sample" Honest stated.

"Nothing to distinct all I need is a lock of hair to do the test" Izel explained.

"Good then" Honest stated then left the lab. "Leone if you are what I suspect you are, then that revelation will rock your world! HAHAHHAAHAHAHA! HAHAHAAAHHAHAA!" Honest commented to himself and laughed maniacally as he left towards the palace, unaware of the red eyes in the dark behind him and the chittering.

 **AN: the Plot thickens people, once again thanks for the 20,000 readers and over a hundred reviews you guys are the best; more Empire's End coming, any other stories I think of are on hold until I finish this one, more stuff is coming and I want ideas people, each character is getting a focus chapter, some more than one, here I need help I need your suggestions for one off or multi-chapter antagonists, with Enshin's death falls the last of the Wild Hunt villains and thus I have exhausted the canon's list of villains and need more; send you suggestions via PM, also remember from this point on Tatsumi's enemies aren't just in the Empire but the Revolutionary Army as well, the next chapter will be Leone's focus chapter, it will be fun to write, and hopefully won't take as long; anyway don't be too harsh on Cosmina in the comment section, she is a character who has gone thru so much abuse that her state of mind is erratic she's only good because Tatsumi is there for her. Anyway, see you all in the next one; this has been Nathan, thanks once again to Neo-Byzantium my co-author without whom this story in its entirety wouldn't be possible, and thanks to all you guys for reading I am glad to see my work being appreciated and I am grateful to all you guys**


	33. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: the Lioness's Blood

Jaeger HQ, One Week later…

"Tatsumi come in, come in we have much to discuss" Esdeath greeted as Tatsumi walked into her office, a charred skull sat on her desk frozen in fear.

"It's good to see you my lovely wife; so how's the new desk decoration doing" Tatsumi greeted.

"Still dead as he should be, Enshin should have known better then to prey on the people of the Capital, you did warn him what would happen to him if he did" Esdeath replied as Tatsumi sat down in front of her.

"Personally I'm just glad that he's dead, you know I wish I had killed him when he started talking shit to me when he arrived, that would have saved so many innocent girls" Tatsumi replied.

"It may have Tatsumi, emphasis on may, there are still many parasites in Melitine who would have done the same thing as Enshin; overall I'm impressed by your dedication Tatsumi also by the fact you've been keeping Honest in check" Esdeath responded.

"Yeah you are right, there are plenty of scumbags in this city just as bad or if not worse then Enshin. As for Honest well I have my regrets: considering the innocent man who had done some digging into Honest and tried to confront him only resulting in him being accused of and found guilty of treason, I was too late to spare him but not late enough to stop Honest from getting his vile clutches on his wife and infant son, as well as his property" Tatsumi replied.

"That is rather noble of you, who was the man anyway whom Honest had murdered?" Esdeath replied.

"Syoi was his name I don't know his rank only that he had managed to get information on Honest's corruption and tried to turn the tables on him, Honest wanted him to die by being drawn and quartered, I interceded and gave him a merciful beheading" Tatsumi explained.

"Minister Syoi: he was good man, an honest man and one of the few straight arrows on the ruling council; If I had been here I would have made a case on his behath, that is a grim loss because he was one of the few people who cared about the weak in the Capital; that was a strong decision on your part Tatsumi, another reason why I'm glad I married you" Esdeath replied and leaned across her desk to kiss him on the cheek.

"So speaking of our marriage, why do you let me have a harem? You never struck me as the person to put up with that sort of thing" Tatsumi inquired.

"Tatsumi, Tatsumi, Tatsu-bunny, that is an interesting question Tatsumi to which I have the answer and it relates to my clan. You see Tatsumi in my clan the Patras Clan we believed that the strong survive and the weak perish, we also believed only the strong were fit to marry and have children, strong men specifically, women are adherently stronger because we have to go thru the greatest trial one a man never can have, that of childbirth. In my tribe only two types of people were buried, a warrior who died in battle and the woman who died in childbirth. So in my tribe the strongest of the men took many wives and concubines to breed strong children that had to fight to survive as soon as they could lift a sword; my people were warriors, from the youngest child to the oldest among us: the greatest glory was to sacrifice yourself that you could have those who were weak a chance to become strong. In this world the strong survive and the weak perish however the strong should not oppress the weak they should fight so that those who are weak have the chance to become strong. So the answer to your question as to why I let you have a harem it is because you've earned that right in the customs of my people and I will not interfere with that in rememberance of my clan, my father, my mother, my aunts, my siblings, everyone who bore the name Patras" Esdeath explained.

"I'm glad you explained that to me, and I'll make myself stronger I won't give up, ever." Tatsumi replied and give her a kiss on the lips.

"I'm glad you are willing to make that commitment" Esdeath said after breaking the kiss.

"I've got to go, I promised Leone I'd show her my new office at the Palace, I've had to go thru and overhaul everything as well as put up new things" Tatsumi explained.

"You should put a few skulls around for a fear factor, it shows people the price of justice" Esdeath suggested.

"Good idea, personally I think I'd rather give this job to Seryu but that would probably be a mistake on my part" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi are you saying you aren't good enough for the job?" Esdeath asked.

"No, I'm just saying I think Seryu would be more qualified, I'm not an expert in the Imperial Legal system" Tatsumi replied.

"Now before you go I have something for you in my room, a surprise if you will" Esdeath commented seductively.

"Alright then Esdeath, you need it anyway" Tatsumi replied and Esdeath led him to her room, to his surprise on her bed Suzuka and Dorothea were waiting for them in quite seductive lingerie, Suzuka in black and Dorothea in blue.

"Hey Tatsumi" both girls greeted as Esdeath shut the door behind him.

"Who said I don't mind bringing other girls in for you; besides Dorothea and Suzuka have been wanting a bit more from you, you haven't spent some time with them for a while now and I thought we could all spend time together" Esdeath commented as the other two got up off the bed, the three of them relieved Tatsumi of his clothing and carried him to the bed. "Now relex Tatsumi and let us please you" Esdeath stated soothingly as she and the girls undressed leaving them in their stockings. "Suzuka you've been without him the longest so why don't you take him inside you first, I'll let him put his amazing tongue to work and Dorothea, well you please him with yours" Esdeath explained.

Suzuka went up and buried Tatsumi's length inside her folds and began going up and down, Dorothea took his balls and caressed and licked them while Esdeath sat on his face and Tatsumi put his tongue to work and used his hands to carress Suzuka's breasts. Dorothea continued licking and then took one of his balls in her mouth and sucked on it all the while Suzuka and Esdeath moaned saying "Tatsu-Bunny!" and "Tatsumi-Senpai!" as he took full advantage of their insides pleasuring them to the full extent of his ability.

"Tatsumi" Dorothea moaned as she licked his balls and part of his length which wasn't sheathed inside Suzuka. "He's so big, I'm glad he is my first and only; I'm just worried as he gets older I'll stay young and youthful: well the day he dies I die nothing will change that" Dorothea thought to herself, and noted that his length was going release rather quickly as he reached his limit. Tatsumi came inside Suzuka and Esdeath came on his face, Dorothea licked up the seed that leaked out of Suzuka.

Esdeath dismounted him as did Suzuka, they then moved to one side of the bed where they were joined by Dorothea in presenting their rears to him. "So Tatsumi which ass are you going to tap?" Esdeath taunted. That was a tough one, Esdeath had by far the best one in the world, however he hadn't been giving Dorothea and Suzuka the attention they deserved so he decided it was between the two, and Dorothea's rear was the cutest and most tempting so backdoored her.

"OH! Tatsumi!" Dorothea moaned, Tatsumi pulled her against him reverse cowgirl and caressed her breasts with one hand and her hair with the other, Suzuka came over and ate Dorothea out causing Dorothea to moan as this was the first time a woman had done this to her outside of training with Cosmina and she was surprised at how good Suzuka was but considering the fact she used her free time when Tatsumi wasn't around to bang Cosmina and tend to her needs as part of the harem, Dorothea wasn't surprised by her skill. Esdeath allowed Tatsumi to drink from her breasts, the thing she loved to have him do the most, her milk made him stronger and she just loved his attention on her breasts, she kissed him as he did this and wraped her legs around him from the side. "AAAAH!" Dorothea moaned as Suzuka found her g-spot and Tatsumi went extremely deep. "So good, amazing!" Dorothea exclaimed.

Tatsumi soon came in Dorothea's rear and Dorothea soon came covering Suzuka in her juices. "So good" Suzuka state as she licked off the juices. Tatsumi pulled out and entered Dorothea vaginially kissing her deeply as he did so.

"I love you Dorothea" Tatsumi replied and laid back Suzuka climbed on his face and he proceeded to lick her outer folds, Esdeath came to his chest and sucked on his right nipple with her lips while moving the other about with finger, granted no milk came from the nipple but she liked the sounds he made as he did so in between eating Suzuka out. Dorothea bounced up and down on his length moaning.

"Oh Tatsumi; this is heavenly! I- AAH! So good mate with me give me your offspring" Dorothea moaned. "Where have you been all my life? I've been missing this for how long now? 30, 50 years, I don't know" Dorothea thought to herself she was not going to tell him her exact age, she was self-consicious about that she was over 150 years old, had wealth beyond measure and had achieved her longevity and youth thru a Teigu that had been in her family for centuries. "I don't care how old I am, I'm not going to live forever, I die when Tatsumi does: a life without him isn't a life worth living" Dorothea thought to herself. She loved how he fealt inside her, how he probed her insides, how he gave her all she wanted from him and more, knowing he was her soul mate, and as he came she knew in her heart he had gotten her pregnant, three children were now in the making inside her. "TATSUMI!" Dorothea moaned, then fell off, she then wrapped her breasts around Tatsumi's length and was joined in this by Esdeath and Suzuka, this triple tit-job was to Tatsumi like being inside Dorothea all over again and more so when the lovely ladies licked his length and alternated who sucked it.

"This is the life, Ieyasu coming to the Capital may have been a crazy idea on your part and it has brought me no shortage of trouble but it has brought me wealth, purpose and most importantly to me a family: I didn't have one before I came to the Capital now I have one; a rather large one but that's way better then having none" Tatsumi thought to himself. "I don't regret doing Esdeath either; she was in bed with me naked and willing who the hell am I to resist that; especially with her massive boobs and her beautiful blue hair, she's the most beautiful general in the Empire and the second most beautiful woman in the world, Aria being and always my Capital Angel" Tatsumi thought and smirked and simply let his lovely beauties do their best to please him.

It went on for another hour during which Tatsumi made Suzuka's ass very sore, she was pregnant but really it really didn't matter her how much he took and banged her rear Suzuka was a masochist so pain was pleasurable to her; he gave Esdeath his all too, giving her the best tumble possible taking every position he knew with her, as well as with Dorothea and Suzuka. All in all, it was some of the best sex Tatsumi had in his life. Leone was waiting for him in the lobby along with his Oarburgh bodyguards, Leone wore a lovely gold and black gown that made her resemble a queen bee; her hair was styled as normal but she wore interesting headdress.

"You look amazing" Tatsumi remarked to Leone.

"Please this was all Meela and Loris's doing, I asked them to put together an outfit for going to the Imperial Palace and they delivered, besides you're not half so bad yourself. So, what took you so long?" Leone asked.

"Esdeath had a bit of a surprise for me, I enjoyed it" Tatsumi replied honestly with a smirk.

"I'll bet, so how was the foursome?" Leone asked.

"How did you know it was a foursome?" Tatsumi countered.

"By the three different colors of lipstick all over your face; who were the two lucky girls that Esdeath brought for you" Leone asked.

"Dorothea and Suzuka" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Ok Tatsumi; by the way the man with the dancing bears outside is charging you more for delaying so long" Leone explained.

"Not surprised, not at all; well I'll just take that out of the Imperial Treasury; he's bringing the bears for Makoto's entertainment" Tatsumi replied and they left.

It took them about half-an-hour to arrive at the Palace and 10 minutes to explain to the Imperial Guards at the gate that the bears were tame and they had already toileted somewhere else on the way there. Tatsumi opened the throne room doors interrupting one of Honest's boring rants. "YAY! It's Tatsumi-nii!" Makoto cheered.

"Your Majesty" Tatsumi greeted and kneeled. "I've brought something to entertain you: Dancing bears!" Tatsumi explained and the Bear trainer came in with seven fully grown polar bears dressed in red vests and fezs.

"Oooh! I want to see!" Makoto exclaimed bouncing with glee on his throne; some of the advisors smiled others were scared by the presence of seven fully grown polor bears in the throne room.

"I will demonstrate your highness" the Tamer stated. "Minister Tatsumi I'd advise you and your associates to move away and give my bears some room" the Tamer stated.

"Your highness I must object to the presence of bears in the throne room, I worry for the safety of people here" Honest objected.

"Your protest is noted Honest and because it's not fun, ignored" Makoto replied, Honest slunk away however he headed towards Leone without her or Tatsumi noticing; he then grabbed a lock of her hair he also couldn't resist groping her ass and slaping it.

"Ouch!" Leone exclaimed and noted Honest grinning behind her. "You pervert!" Leone commented and punched Honest in the face knocking him down and out, fortunately the rest of the court was too focused on the dancing bears to notice the fact that Leone had knocked Honest out. "Bastard" Leone muttered and moved over to Tatsumi and watched the bears dance while warming his head in between her breasts to Tatsumi's blushing grin.

Honest recovered noting the bears still dancing and his face fealing like it had been hit by clothes iron. "Ouch, one thing's for sure she can hit extremely hard" Honest thought mentally and noted he still had the lock of her hair he had grabbed so he pocketed before anyone noticed. After the bears stoped dancing he came over to Makoto and pointed at Leone. "That woman just punched me in the face and knocked me out your majesty!" Honest accused.

"Yes, I did, after you grabbed my ass and yanked on my hair: can anyone here say they wouldn't do the same?" Leone countered and every woman in the room especially the recently arrived Esdeath raised their hands.

"Tatsumi-nii what should I do? You're my minister for Justice how do I settle this?" Makoto asked concerned.

"Personally, I think you should punish Honest for gropping my wife like a pervert; something humiliating" Tatsumi interceded.

"I agree, now how to punish Honest-san?" Makoto replied Honest had to restrain himself from trying to strangle either Makoto or Tatsumi. "I know now! Honest-san no more candy for you all month, and for rest of the week you can only drink water and eat brussel sprouts!" Makoto declared with a somewhat evil grin.

"NOOO!" Honest exclaimed dramatically.

"Complain one more time Honest-san and I'll make it two months and for that whole time you'll have to eat brussel sproats and drink water" Makoto explained.

"Alright your majesty I take my leave" Honest stated and creapt out of the room grining as he looked at the lock of hair.

Honest then creapt thru the palace to a specific library, he then went to a specific bookshelf and pressed a concealed button and the shelf along with the wall behind it, he then descended the stairs after turning on and taking the lattern he had on a hook nearby and closed the passage entrance behind him a went down.

Shortly… Honest had taken his efforts to get to Izel's lab withot running into anything that might cause him to fall in the sewer waters need him, he arrived unfortunately for the rest of the world unscathed and stepped inside the lab. Izel was once again attempting to find the right dosage of Rune to no good results. "Another failure; terminate it!" Izel ordered and one of his robots administered a lethel shock to the abomination with three heads and a gapping maw in the middle of the chest. Honest walked in. "Hello father; have you need of something, at the moment I'm once again disappointed, once again another failure; if it weren't for the fact, I'm managed to make more of this chemical then I've used I would give up; I'm shelving this for now unless you can find me some like-minded personal to assist in this research" Izel replied.

"Good, I have need of you for our current special project" Honest replied.

"I see, have you brought a DNA sample?" Izel questioned.

"Will this do?" Honest asked handing him the lock of Leone's hair.

"Yes; IZ-571 prepare the DNA analyzer!" Izel ordered, one of the automatons nodded and readied a machine equipped for the task; Izel then took the sample and inserted it into a container; the sample was than ran thru a number of genetic records. "Interesting very much so, Father I will need a sample of your own hair to check for a match" Izel stated Honest handed him a lock of hair, Izel also took out a lock of hair from his own head and put it into the sampler. The Machine preformed an analysis using also additional information from the recorded databanks.

"Match found" the machine noted.

"Your suspicions were indeed correct father; Leone is indeed your daughter; her parternal DNA is the same as mine on the father's side and is an exact match to your DNA, I have no doubts in this evidence; I have no means of identifying the mother however I may be able to do so with further samples or census records" Izel explained.

"What an interesting twist of events: Izel continued your research into your other projects I have a plan in the works" Honest stated.

"Also father the first batch of your Demon-infused warriors is ready for duty" Izel informed.

"Perfect timing: just in time for their first field test; are they properly equipped?" Honest replied.

"Yes, the equipment is the best I could acquire at the moment without anyone getting suspicious and has been customized to your specifications" Izel replied.

"Excellent then, the time has come for a field test I will inspect my troops" Honest replied and collected the hair sample.

"Alright then Father, they are down the left hall third room to the right" Izel explained.

Honest then went to the room in question, the soldiers were crisp and ready in fine black plate armor with the crest of Valtor painted in the center of the chest plate, their faces were obscured. "Veer Dath'uul adas mokso vadiki Valtor!" the soldier's stated. "Greetings my demon servents I hope you are enjoying your new vessels; I have the first of your new orders: I have here a lock of hair" Honest stated and held it up to each of the soldiers to smell.

"The girl this belongs to, Leone, I want you to bring her here alive; kill anyone else accompanying her" Honest ordered, the soldiers saluted.

Later that day… "I really think you shouldn't be having two sepperate jobs Tatsumi" Leone remarked, she was accompaniyed by Tatsumi as well as Seryu and Tatsumi's Oarburgh girls.

"Leone, I have four sepperate jobs, besides my step-father told me that if you aren't doing something to productive, you'll end up getting yourself killed in this world of ours" Tatsumi replied.

"Personally, Leone I think you're worrying too much" Taeko replied.

"Yeah Tatsumi- "Meela was about to chim in when they found their path blocked by several black armored soldiers.

"Citizens I'd must request you step aside" Seryu ordered hoping that would work.

"Nai me Qock dvar maku einvy nartuku Valtor: Fordge Volgoth Imkar Racta! Camaku Leone!" The leader declared his helmet had a noticeable crest on it and they readied their weapons to attack.

"Great another day with people trying to kill me! Again!? No breaks from it, I'd take a day off but that's not an option!" Tatsumi remarked. "Smaug: Dragon Armor!" Tatsumi declared and armored up.

"Shamshir: Battle Dance!" Taeko declared, she had bonded with the Teigu of Enshin, and used it with ease, the others readied their forms and Leone assumed Lionelle. The fight commenced each combatant clashed with speed and strength; however, these new attackers had extremely fast reflexes and were it not for the training of the Oarburghs, Lionelle's regeneration, and the sheer duriblity of the Dragon Armor they could've easily taken them down.

Leone used her claws to tear into one attacker and then tore him in half. However, as she did so and as Taeko decapitated another, two creatures emerged, humanoid but with deep red skin, scales and bright eyes as well as sharp horns and mouths full of sharp teath, they had sharp claws as well as hooved feat.

"DEMONS!" Leone yelled and without thinking pounced on one of the creatures and ripped it apart, it screamed inhumane screams that sounding like a mix of nails on a chalk board and the scream of howler monkey crossed with a blue nosed baboon. Taeko biffercated the other demon as Tatsumi cut down more of the attackers along side his other protecters with Valruost and Smaug cleaving thru the armored foes like butter, the Twins drove their halbards into chinks of the armor before dismantiling it and the warriors beneath the armor while Saraya's dance of blades countered the constant onslaught of warriors who as they fell brought more of the demons possessing them. The onslaught went on with Seryu and Koro keeping most of the attackers in place while the others could flank and kill them, soon the battle ended.

Tatsumi looked at the corpses. "What the hell were those?! Those weren't demons, were they?" Tatsumi asked shocked.

"This wasn't a normal assassination plot Tatsumi, they knew my name and and they were awfully focused on me during that whole fight" Leone replied.

"That's not good, who do you think sent these assassins?" Taeko stated.

"I'm not sure these things are human" Tatsumi commented on a feeling then stepped to one of the fallen warriors, he noticed no blood was coming from these bodies which was a surprise, but upon opening one of the helmets Tatsumi found that there was a reason why they didn't bleed. Inside the helm he saw a face at that had been charred and burnt, with seared and cooked skin on the outside and eyes frozen in terror. "HOLY SHIT!?" Tatsumi swore and recoiled from the sight of head.

"What is it?" Seryu asked and came over and saw the face. "Gods above! They aren't human!" Seryu remarked, the others came around and saw it too.

"Not human at all: I we should take one of these corpses and bring it to Angela for an atopsy" Taeko commented.

"Great that means we have to hall a lifeless corpse from this side of the city to Grundewick Manor in broad daylight and on top of that we have no idea who is responsible for this" Saraya complained.

"Not exactly" Tatsumi stated looking at the insignia in the middle of the armor of one of the corpses. "This is the same mark those cultists had on their robes and their armor; in fact, this stuff is of the same design and on top of that they said that word Valtor, these things work for Valtor whoever the hell that is" Tatsumi explained after looking it over.

"I'm thinking he's a demon" Leone commented.

"I hope not Leone; corrupt and scheming politicions, criminal scumbags, danger beasts, I can handle those, but I sure hope that Valtor isn't a demon because the last thing I want to fight are demons from Hell itself" Tatsumi remarked grimly then looked down at the face once more frozen in fear. "I have no idea what's going on here; I swear though I'll find who's behind this and bring them down" Tatsumi thought. "We should split up, one group should take a body to Angela and I'll take another to Dorothea; I'd like to find out what these things were, who created them and where they came from" Tatsumi explained.

Seryu, Tatsumi, and the twins took one body with them to Dorothea, while Leone, Saraya, and Taeko hauled another off to Angela.

Tatsumi's team arrived to Dorothea's laboratory without any trouble and he walked in and got tackled by a flying purple glomp. "TATSU-KITTY!" Cosmina yelled exstatically and caressed and hugged Tatsumi.

"Wonderful to see you too Cosmina" Tatsumi replied after pulling himself out of her chest.

"So what are you doing here?" Cosmina asked and noticed the armored body being carried by the Twins. "I hope that poor man is alright" Cosmina replied.

"Not a man, not remotely, and not alive, I have no idea what it is: where is Dorothea?" Tatsumi asked as said doctor walked into the room.

"You called?" Dorothea greeted, clad in her usual dress over which was a labcoat. "Tatsumi I'm surprised, if you're here for more 'fun' I'm still too sore for some more" Dorothea added.

"No, I need you to preform an atopsy" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm not a mortician, also I don't experiment on human beings dead or living" Dorothea explained.

"It's not human, at least not anymore if it ever was" Tatsumi stated his eyes still showed the fear of the unknown, Tatsumi was brave very brave but these creatures, demons or no evoked a primal fear on some level.

"Alright then: I'll make an exception bring the cadavour over to that table by the side wall: I just cleaned it off so it should be clear enough for an atopsy" Dorothea explained, the twins put the body still it's armor on the tap. "Cosmina remove the armor; I'll need to preform a sepperate test on that" Dorothea ordered, the purple-haired nymph put on gloves and went over to the body and removed the helmet.

"YEEEEEEEEEEEGHHHH!" Cosmina screamed and then fainted causing Tatsumi to rush over to pick her up, Dorothea ran over to see what had terrified her and witnessed the corpse's face for herself.

The face of the cadavour was seared red with a large pentagram on the forehead, in the center of the pentagram was the letter V, Dorothea looked at it. "Well this is unusual: Tatsumi I've not seen something like this before. I'll need to run some tests, but I will note I recognize this symbol in the forehead of this cadavour: I've done a deal of exploration and research over the years and I have seen this mark in ancient ruins throught Eden, not just in the Empire but in the Western Kingdoms, the North, the South especially and even the Eastern Kingdoms." Dorothea Explained. "I'm going to collect a flesh sample it should take about half-an-hour for the machine to analyze and give me an exact ID on what this thing is; in the meantime I'm going to ask you to come with me to my library; I want to show you my research into the symbol and my knowledge on the subject" Dorothea concluded, Dorothea collected the sample and put it into an analyzer then she, Tatsumi, Seryu and the Twins went to her library.

Dorothea's library was extensive and on the third floor of her underground facility; the library had belonged originally to Dr. Stylish but Dorothea had added to it with her own collections of research and other books she had acquired in her travels.

Tatsumi took a seat in a nearby arm-chair, Seryu and the Twins also sat down and they waited a couple minutes tell Dorothea returned with a large book that was as thick as a dictionary and as wide as a pillow, the title on the book read "Research on lost and mysterious civilizations Volume 6: The Blackstone People" by Dr. Dorothea.

"Here Tatsumi: This book is my personal records of a people that I refer to as the Blackstone People but who are also known by some circles as Forgotten Ones, they had a massive Empire that spanned the known world and perhaps whole world; these ruins are all over the world however in specific places, the architecture seems rather uniform with circuller step-stone pyramids, collums, monoliths, statues of bizzare creatures and a number of other architectural marvels, however there is a strange material used in the construction of all the buildings that this civilization built, a form of black stone as black as tar and greasy in texture." Dorothea explained. "The ruins I've encountered were in various states of disrepair, though I encounters a few of them remarkable intact, there were three characteristics that unified them all however: 1. The black stone used in construction, 2. The language and artwork engraved on them and 3. This is where I am extremely alarmed and still bamboozled by: no wildlife of any kind goes near them; not even insects, and this alarms me and frightens me the most: No Plants grow in them." Dorothea continued with noticible alarm on her expression. "These ruins aren't normal by any stretch of the imagination, in fact they in my opinion feel rotton, evil, to a point where nature doesn't even dare touch it: I haven't been able to decipher their language however their mosaic engravings which depict visuals are enough to show me what their civilization was like and it was a civilization even more twisted then the Empire; they were savage and practiced human sacrifice along with other far worse rituals; whoever the Blackstone People were they were clearly not pleasant people also I have verified my research with extensive survays of these ruins to alters that were still stained with blood after miliennia" Dorothea continued.

"Whenever I went to one of these ruins, I always went with triple my normal level of security and whenever we surveyed them there was always this air of dread in area surrounding it as if the places were corrupt. However there is the matter of that symbol, the Pentegram with the letter V in the center; it was always under deceptions of their deities the chief of which bore it in the center of his chest; their chief diety was a demon; it was gargoyle like with large bat-like wings, the creature was clothed however in attire completely alien to any civilization I know of in it's design, the creature held one hand a massive sword but in the other a set of scales, other creatures of demonic and human design were also depicted; but there was one defined diety and that symbol belonged to it." Dorothea explained.

"Could you read any of the text?" Tatsumi asked.

"No I've not been able to decipher the script, I will note there was another thing about these ruins; in the Southern Lands I actually once travelled in the company of some Lizardmen and when I asked them if I could explore the ruins in the area they wouldn't let me out of their sight while I went there and they were on constant alert almost if some primal instinct inside them was readying them to fight at a moments notice" Dorothea explained.

"Any other things of interest about these people?" Tatsumi asked.

"Surprisingly the ruins themselves have a great deal of history recorded in imagery, which suggests an emphise on recording the deeds of their civilization; also they were a rather unified people, ruled by three people, two kings and a high-preist, each ruler had distinct role in their society; over all however the one that held the most power was the high-preist, the society was highly militarized and had a professional army of the kind that no longer exists in the world today; as to what happened to these people they were wiped out in a war with those they had conquered who were obviously by depictions aided by the dwarves, lizardmen and giants; the ruins date back to over 5,000 years ago and any other records beyond that which they engraved have long since degraded into dust" Dorothea explained.

"I have to let you know another thing Dorothea; after we killed one of those things a demon was summoned and that was the same for every single one them" Tatsumi explained.

"That isn't good, I have no extensive knowledge of the occult beyond what I have in my library but demons are a far too real threat, some of my colleagues in the scientific community would laugh at your claims, I'm not one of them as I have encountered demons before, in several of the ruins of the fallen civilization; there were also depictions of them everywhere" Dorothea replied grimly.

"I wonder if the demons have anything to do with the rot in the Capital and the Empire as a whole" Tatsumi considered.

"There is the possibility of that being the case however without evidence to back it up I'm not sure if it is, also I'm not sure what to think about this civilization; this world of ours has many mysteries and I'm not sure anything exists that has the answers to them" Dorothea commented.

"Well at least we can get the answers as to whatever those things that attacked us were" Seryu remarked.

"Yes indeed, the machine will have finished the analysis by now come and follow me" Dorothea stated and they followed her back to the lab. "Report" Dorothea commanded.

"Analysis completed: the subject expired 12 days prior due massive internal and external combustion; the subject is human however analysis shows the DNA has been heavily mutated; the corpse also has high levels of sulpher present in the body" the Machine replied.

"Interesting: this was once human but not anymore, this body bares all the hallmarks of being dead for some time; apparently the demon that used this as a vessal had long since consumed the soul of the person inside the armor; any characteristics about the attackers that I should know?" Dorothea asked.

"They moved remarkable fast and had superhuman strength: I was hard pressed to keep up with them" Seryu commented.

"I see, well by the looks of things we are dealing with something clear artificial, someone somewhere is manufacturing these things as some sort of soldier, be alert as this very likely Imperial research anything else I should know?" Dorothea replied.

"Yes they seemed awfully focused on Leone during the fight in fact they knew her name, also there were two other names, Volgoth which I've never heard before and Valtor the name I've heard cultists shout before trying to assassinate me and or my friends and family" Tatsumi explained.

"A Cult, very interesting, it begs a lot of investigation; I'm going to have to head to the many libraries in the city see if I can find any information on the name Valtor and this cult, Valtor must be the name of the chief diety worshiped by Blackstone civilization and now by this cult: I'm sure there is some sort of contection between the two" Dorothea replied.

"Well good luck on that research Dorothea: I've got some other matters that I need to investigate; mainly who sent these things and why they are after Leone of all people" Tatsumi replied, he left followed by his entourage. However before he could leave he was stopped by Cosmina.

"Hey I need to talk to you; now" Cosmina explained in a serious tone. "Privately" she added, Tatsumi followed her after signaling to the others to wait for him and was led to Cosmina's room, which of course made anyone ask the question "Is there such a thing as too much purple?" No is the answer to that question and Tatsumi sat down in a fluffy armchair across from Cosmina's own.

"What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi; I'm scared, I've seen this symbol way before the attempts on your life when I was younger: you see when I was a teenager I had to keep an eye on my adventurous younger sisters, rest their souls, and they loved to explore ruins near our village in fact ones that we built our homes from using the stones from the ruins; well whenever I went to those ruins I always felt a sense of unease and during one visit I had to follow my sister who decided to wander off inside one of the ruined structures and while I was there I saw that symbol on a black stone bloodstain alter; I felt serious dread there and so did my sister, also I felt like something rotten dwelt there" Cosmina explained.

"Wait you said they used the stones to built the village? How many houses were built from them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Most of them, not my home or the home of some other people; that stone always creeped me out, even when I torched my home the stone wouldn't warp or crack in the fire: I think Tatsumi that those ruins had something to do with the madness in my villiage: my family and others those who were murdered didn't live in homes made of that black stone and there was also the fact they built a strange temple: I can't understand to this day what caused those who destroyed my family to be so evil, so cruel, demanted; monsters I- Tatsumi I don't trust those ruins and I think they should be avoided, nothing good ever comes of them: there is something twisted and mad about this world of ours and I hope that one day it can be eliminated" Cosmina answered.

"I understand now why you fainted; Cosmina those things were once human and I don't know what happened to them; I think you're right though the ruins have some effect on people and something else too, fell magic that causes madness and corrupts the mind; I've got to investigate this" Tatsumi replied then left after planting a kiss on Cosmina's cheek and collecting his lovers.

Tatsumi then went to Jaeger HQ to tell Esdeath about the attacks to which Esdeath then ordered an investigation into the matter, he then returned to Grundewick manor in time for lunch which was to be expected a decent sized feast; which proved to be filling. Angela had done a similer atopsy but hadn't come to the findings Dorothea had beyond the cause of death and what the body was.

That meant it was up to Tatsumi to think on how to approach this; if these human-demon soldiers were after Leone there was only the option of asking her if she had any ideas of why those things would be sent after her; so, he decided it was time to spend the day with Leone.

Meanwhile in the Palace… Honest sat in his chair at his desk, eating a choice cut from his secret larder of forbidden flesh; it was one of the few things he could eat without Makoto noticing. Honest had a secret stash of foods hidden in both his office and his room which were interconnected; these stores were replenished via a secret storeroom which imported food into his secret kitchen, he was a good chef and considered himself a master at cooking his diet. Honest may have looked at a first glance as an obese minister; however, that was far from the case, he was not obese, at least not in fat, but muscle. Honest had created his own dietary regiment as well as excersize regiment which kept him surprisingly fit and he was not a slouch remotely in a fight despite his advanced age.

"Delicous" Honest thought and heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?!" Honest asked annoyed as he now had to hide his food.

"Father you summoned me?" a man's voice replied.

"Indeed, I did Satake come in" Honest stated not having to hide his food afterall.

Into the room came a talk physically slender and strong young man, he had long shoulder length black hair, gold eyes, and was handsome to look at, he had black paint under and around his eyes; his teeth were phialed to sharpened fangs, he wore a black bodysuit over which was a black oranate breastplate decorated with ancient sigils and writing. "What do you have need of father? I'm looking forword to the hunt also do you have anymore of that choice cut for me?" Satake questioned.

"I have need of you and your hunters; you and I are going on a hunting trip and we are going to prepare a trap, we are hunting a half-sibling of yours who has gone unnoticed until now; I will be attempted to draw her and those with her out into a trap, my most recent test of my new minions failed the task however there are things that can be done lure out our prey; I won't need you or your band of hunters for the bait however I will need you for the trap" Honest explained.

"A hunt where we wait for the prey, boring but I'll do it, when are you going to let me have a nibble on one of those princesses; they look absolutely scrumptious" Satake commented.

"Not until they are older and my puppet is easier to control, also you know that if either of them goes missing Makoto will know immediately something is wrong and he will launch a full investiagation I wouldn't be able to stop; so in the meantime Satake you won't be having either morsel as much fun as it would be to play with them and their brother, just like I did to their mother!" Honest replied.

"Shame; well any morsels I can have a nibble on?!" Satake stated.

"Don't worry I have something in mind for you; in the meantime, you will have to be satisfied with your usual fare; now I've informed you go I have no need of you for anything else right now I'll send for you if anything comes up and I have a change of plans" Honest explained and Satake left. Honest then walked over to a nearby shelf and pressed a button behind one of the books on it allowing him inside a secret armorery; while he left his old Paladin armor out in th open he had other weapons and armor tucked away, including a custom made suit of armor made from best materials in the known world, including the alloy used by the Easterners, it was a suit made in more peaceful days, Honest put the armor on under his coat and then turned to a large chest inside which was a notched broadsword that was dark black and etched in shadow energy. "Malus: the Darkblade" Honest said to himself and sheathed the blade at his side.

"Hopefully Tatsumi I will be able to draw you into my trap and then I'll show you what a master swordsman looks like" Honest commented and then cackled.

Outside at the Royal Guard Barracks… Mez stepped forward alongside Suzuka heading for a specific barracks; she had been waiting for a certain person to return from leave and that person had returned from leave and she had used her position to call up a special formation. "Attention!" One of the officers shouted and they stood at attention.

"At Ease!" Mez yelled. "Alright you may wonder why one of the Four Rakshasa Demons has called this special formation and that is because of intel and evidence I personally acquired that one of you is a TRAITOR!" Mez explained.

"Captain Commonus Reyne! Step forward!" Mez ordered and the man walked up frightened.

"I have been waitng for you return from leave for some time now; I have it on my own personal authority and investigation that you are guilty of selling your fellow guardsmen as slaves!" Mez explained, the man froze.

"How!? I didn't-!" Commonus stammered.

"One of your Clients informed me of your wrong doings before I had him beheaded; it didn't take much investigation to find the others in on your ring; they are all dead except for you: Commonus by the authority vested in me by Emperor Makoto the First I find you guilty of treason and slave trafficking; as punishment for your crimes you will be crucified: Men seize him and get a cross ready I want him strung up for all the city to see!" Mez replied and ordered, they then dragged him off to Mez's grin.

Meanwhile… "So Tatsumi those things were after me; that means somebody sent them, that cult that has it in for you and for me: something is up and lets try and figure out what it is" Leone commented as they moved about the manor yard.

"I've got some theories; Leone anything unusual about the way they fought you" Tatsumi asked.

"They seemed to be trying to focus on knocking me out as opposed to killing me: something is definitely wrong here; I'm not sure why though they were specifically targeting me as opposed to everyone else; its almost as if they had a score to settle with me" Leone replied.

"Any ideas why that might be, I personally thinks its because you are close to me and this cult has been sending its enforcers after me and those I care for, but this wasn't a normal cultist group, they chanted in some language that I've never heard and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up" Tatsumi replied.

"I have no idea, perhaps somebody I relieved of their money was part of this cult but that wouldn't explain how they knew my name" Leone replied.

"Speaking of Leone how many people have you conned out of their money recently" Tatsumi asked.

"If you must know about 5 this week, and they really had it coming" Leone answered.

"Leone, nobody has it coming for them; Leone have you considered how many people you might have doomed to some horrible fate in this city by depriving them of their money?" Tatsumi replied, knowing full well that when she had done so when he first arrived she nearly did just that if it hadn't been for Aria coming along and taking him in.

"Nope, in this city Tatsumi survival is a matter of your smarts and skills, you can be an amazing warrior but if you aren't that bright you could easily find yourself in the hands of one of Melitine's many scumbags" Leone replied.

"That's still very cruel, Leone I know you have kleptomania but you do realize that robbing people of what they have and leaving them to the winds of fate is likely to result in death here in this 'wonderful' city" Tatsumi remarked.

"Tatsumi it's the way you survive in this city: Tatsumi I've lived my whole life in Melitine, I know it like the back of my hand and know too well the rot that plagues it. My mother was a prostitute from the age of 10, she had me within the first nine months on her job, she had to sell her body to disgusting people to survive and she also had to steal and con and swindle her way to survive; all the while she had to take care of me; you have any idea what its like when you have a mother and no father; I do and it is a hard life, my mother tried her hardest to make sure I didn't have to follow in her footsteps and sell my body to survive. So I was left to fend for myself and to survive I had to steal and swindle myself the things I needed to live from those better off then me. You don't have any idea what it is like to live in this wretched city; most of the money I stole went to supporting my mother who had to deal with all sorts of crap; if I wasn't so good at shell games, rigging dice, and every other con in the book I wouldn't be where I am today, far more likely I'd be a prostitute working in some dusty brothel or a slave to some rotten noble or dead. If it wasn't for the Grundels I would likely be dead from my wounds; I've worked as hard as possible to keep myself alive and I take every opportunity I can get to survive!" Leone ranted.

"Still though you spend a lot and I mean A LOT on booze and on frivolous things; and you still rob people that have more in common with me then with any of the monsters in this city" Tatsumi replied angrily.

"You don't get it do you? I have done all I have done for my survival, sure I drink and do so a lot but can you blame me; I have to cope with the stress of this world somehow and I won't smoke, do drugs and I certainly would never spread my legs for anyone I don't love: my life has been harder then you could ever imagine, you think life in the Countryside is hard Tatsumi? Life in this city is way worse, because at least the monsters in the countryside can be recognized for the danger beasts they are where as here people are the monsters and you can't easily tell if they are monsters or not! This world of ours it's rotten some evil has rotted it for a long time. I do everything I can to have a better world, to not have to go thru what my mother had to! I don't even know who my father is and personally if I ever did meet him I'd like to know why he abandoned me and my mother treated her as if she was nothing but a toy for him to play with; I don't know if my mother told the truth about him but I do know I'd like to know who he was and why he abandoned me" Leone ranted.

"Alright Leone; I'm sorry I just- I care for you and love you, you don't need to steal anymore to survive you have me and your friends to help support you. We are here for you and you don't need to pray on the unfortunate" Tatsumi explained.

"You're right Tatsumi, I've got you, Aria, all my other friends and family, and my wonderful sisters-in-law I'll have to think about it: you know Tatsumi there is something we should visit my mother: damn it! I should have invited her to our wedding I'm such a idiot!" Leone replied.

"Alright lets go meet her" Tatsumi replied, Leone then lead him towards a neighborhood only a few blocks from Grundewick manor; they stoped at a specific house, it was three floors tall and Victorian in design, it was fine crafted and painted a lovely sky blue, it was protected by a high fence, it looked pretty good as the sunset behind it.

"This is the place; come with me" Leone explained and led Tatsumi along, they were dressed in fine clothing of the kind that they had been wearing earlier only this time it was more crisp and regal; overall nobody who had a grudge to settle with Leone would recognize her in the get up she was wearing; Tatsumi had no such luck as he wore his Jaeger General's Uniform in its green and blue glory and with the medels awarded to him by Emperor Makoto for his many accomplishments in the city.

Leone rang the doorbell and they waited about a minute before it was opened.

The woman who opened the door was exceedingly beautiful without a wrinkle to be seen, she had lovely grey eyes and long flowing blonde hair in raidient curls, the hair followed to her mid-section, and rested on her shoulder it was much like a lion's mane; she wore a lovely sky blue blouse alongside soft brown pants that were awfully comfortable; both of these did little however to mask her figure: Leone had inherited her mother's figure in it's entirety, the only real difference was figure was she was graceful and slender, her body was not one of a brawler but more of a dancer. "Hello Mother" Leone greeted.

"Leone? My sweet little golden angel I haven't seen you in months? And look at you and who is this handsome young man" Her mother greeted.

"Oh yeah I should've have led with that; this is my husband Tatsumi; he's well one of the most interesting people in the world and has a fair share of titles to his name, Tatsumi this is my mother Catherine" Leone introduced.

"Tatsumi what a nice name come in my dear daughter and you my son-in-law we have much to discuss" Catherine invited and they came inside. "Handsome indeed, Mommy likes" she thought. Catherine led them to her den, she then put on a tea kettle and came back.

"So Tatsumi tell me about yourself; also I'd like to know how much you know about my daughter as well: don't leave anything out, I know my daughter more then anyone else and she doesn't keep any secrets; speaking of Leone I forgive you for not inviting me to your wedding you've been awfully busy of late haven't you?" Catherine replied.

"Alright well I'll start at the beginning" Tatsumi explained and told her all about him, interrupted when she returned with tea for them to drink. When he had finished his story, Catherine looked at him with interest.

"I can understand now what Leone meant when she said you were the most interesting man in the Capital; you are the luckiest man in this city; there aren't many people with those accolades; I- well you remind me of heroes out of the old stories" Catherine remarked.

"So mother what do you think of him beyond that" Leone commented.

"Easily one of the most handsome men I've ever met; and a caring husband: Tatsumi I expect my first Grand-child by this time next year" Catherine replied. "You are quite the looker, there must be a reason why women are interested in you, besides your looks and your overall character traits; I must see for myself" Catherine thought. "He is younger than you" one part of her said to her. "Leone's older than him too; besides if my daughter is married and in love with him it must be for a very good reason. Now I just need to think here how to spend some time with him: Leone does love my tea I just need to doctor it" Catherine thought. Leone finished her drink and noted the kettle was empty.

"Hey mother can you make me some more?" Leone commented.

"Sure sweety I'll do that; Tatsumi do you want anymore?" Catherine asked.

"Nope; If you have anything that would make for a filling snack I'll have that instead" Tatsumi asked.

"Perfect" Catherine thought. "Coming write up, I made some bon-bons I think you'll enjoy them" Catherine replied and left, she made a show of it making sure to walk in as sexy a way as possible, Tatsumi blushed.

Catherine soon came back with the bon-bons having put the kettle on. "So Leone how has your day been so far?" Catherine asked.

"Once again I've not been able to get thru a day without killing someone or something; the something is what happened, we were attacked earlier and I don't know, they were something so bizzare that I don't think you'd believe me if I told you; one thing I do know is that the attackers were after Leone" Tatsumi replied and nommed a bon-bon, the sweet chocolate was nice to eat.

"Well that is unusual, Leone any idea why those attackers were after you; do you think you might have caused someone to send a bounty hunters after you?" Catherine replied.

"Not likely, no these guys were something else they were something entirely different" Leone replied, the kettle boiled and Catherine left and came back with tea and filled Leone's cup.

"Catherine you have any idea why'd they go after Leone?" Tatsumi asked.

"There are plenty of reasons and any of them could be likely" Catherine replied.

"So mother (Yawn) I'd like to know something do you think it could be something specific" Leone asked.

"I have no idea Leone; you'll figure it out you are very smart" Catherine replied, Leone slumped over in her chair and fell asleep, leaving Catherine and Tatsumi alone.

"My girl must have had an exhausting day already Tatsumi lets take her to her bedroom; she needs a nap what with what she's been thru" Catherine remarked.

"Yeah you're right; I'm guessing it was a mixture of the mission last night, having to put up with Honest's antics and the attack; she's burnt out" Tatsumi agreed and picked Leone up and slung her over his shoulder as she sleapt like tired beauty. Catherine lead him upstairs to a room which was decorated as Tatsumi expect Leone's room to be; with a lot of yellow wallpaper, some nice imagery and good sized bed as well as few other things including some stuffed animels which was surprising as Leone had never struck him as the type to have any but that may be do to the fact she had him to keep her warm at night. Tatsumi then placed her on that bed and tucked her in before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Now my son-in-law why don't you and I spend some time together?" Catherine replied.

"Sure why not, it's not like I have anything else to do: I think I'll stay here tonight; today has been quite an impressive one" Tatsumi explained.

Catherine led him out of the room turning out the light so Leone could sleep in peace. Catherine then lead him to her personal study.

"So Catherine I'd like to know something who was Leone's father? Also Leone told me about you, was your life really that bad growing up" Tatsumi questioned.

"Her Father, I'd rather not discuss that; it's a very private issue and that has bad memories for me: in fact Leone was telling you the truth about my childhood; I was born here in Melitine with all the troubles that entails, when I was 9 years of my parents were killed by a gang from the syndicate; I was spared and taken captive; they sold me as a sex slave to brothel; I had my innocence taken from me by an nobleman a few days later for 5000 silver; I only saw 20 silver coins from that; and my days were like that for a long time. I spent my time as a high-class courtesan in the slums and had to have sex with grown-men and woman to make ends met and I couldn't leave; then when I was 10 one of my customers got me pregnant with Leone; nine months later I was 10 and a mother of a young girl who I went into overtime to care for. I had to take more of the money that I was paid and use it to care for my little girl. I was fortunate that I had a surrogate mother in one of the older girls, I say older she was about 14 and she was carrying enough to help me with Leone, she helped me deliver her and nursed her for me; I have to do my best; as I got older I got more of the money I was given. I enjoyed sex but I hated that I had to use my body to care for my only flesh and blood in fact I swore never to let my daughter come to this, I eventually managed to escape from the brothel after earning my freedom I then took to being a con-artist, it was so easy to trick people in the shell game I had a knack for it and I earned enough money to afford a decent place to live granted it was small and little better then a shack but it was home. I then taught Leone how to do the things I had to do to survive and she as she grew older became a massueist fortunately not a prostitute: my daughter stayed a virgin until you and her fell in love; I'm glad that I was able to keep her safe from having live with the trials I had growing up and she is willing to help me" Catherine explained.

"That's a lot to take in, I'm sorry for your horrid life; personally I'd like to figure out who it was that made a you a slave and the men who took advantage of you; they were nothing short monsters" Tatsumi replied.

"It doesn't matter anymore; I'm satisfied in that they will rot in hell for eternity; I'm just glad to have survived all my hardships; there were more people who didn't not even the nice girl who helped me raise Leone, she died from being strangled by one of the pimps after she tried to help one of the other girls escape from that horrid life; the girl was caught and the pimp kept her as his personal slaver for the rest of her life; she was only 7 and I have no idea what happened to her; in fact that incident is what caused me to escape; I only hope that she's in a better place now" Catherine replied and wept at the fate of her friend.

"What was her name?" Tatsumi asked.

"The nice girl; her name was Kayla; a kind soul whose life was ended by a cruel man after he raped her" Catherine replied.

"I'm just asking because I want to name our first child after her; in memory of the person who helped Leone in those early years of her life" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you are willing to do that; she didn't deserve her fate. In fact I really don't deserve my life as is, Leone is my only family; I have no one other then her to love and care for; but I need someone to do so- I- you Tatsumi; you are such a kind and caring man; a person who won't stand for evil whereever it is: I think if there was a man worthy of my love it would be you, for all you've done to care for my daughter" Catherine explained and approached him and sat in his lap and put a kiss on his lips.

"Crap" Tatsumi thought. "She's your mother-in-law this is- Leone will- you know what forget it; I need this and she needs this if she wants love I'll give her it; I'll give her more love then that deadbeat who used her and didn't bother to care if he had sired an illegitmate child; I'd never abandon a child of mine even if it was a prosititute who bore it" Tatsumi thought, he then returned the kiss it was rather gentle.

"This is nice; I've never been this at peace before" Catherine remarked; their kiss turned more tender from that to lust as that made out, their tongues dancing as Tatsumi lowered his right-hand and placed it on her butt elicitating a moan from Catherine.

"I think we should head somewhere more suitable for this" Tatsumi suggested after breaking the kiss.

"Alright I'll show you my room" Catherine replied seductively and held his hand guiding him up to the third floor and into her room which was quite spacious and well furnished; with a bathroom that was adjacent to it and a walk in closet.

"This is a big room and quite big how much does this place cost?" Tatsumi asked.

"For me; not that much; the Grundels provided this place for me to stay; they are nice people as you know; now I'll show you why people paid high-prices to be with me; I may be out of practice but I know how to please men and women" Catherine stated and shut the door she then removed her blouse, kicked off her shoes and removed her pants. Her underwear was completely designed for seduction consisting of fuschia stockings, a fuschia push-up bra with only one strap along the back and what had to be the most scandlous panties ever, if you could call them that they were hollowed out and left her vagina and anus complete exposed also they offered no coverage for anything apart from parts of her legs to either side.

Catherine then removed her bra exposing her massive F-cups, she then put on her best 'fuck me' face possible; Tatsumi simply undressed, making sure to put his clothes in a nice pile and leave Valroust and Smaug standing up as the prior cheered him on his mindscape while the latter was indifferent, leaving him without clothes and exposing a full-mast erection.

"By Lady Venura herself; that has got to be the biggest cock I've ever seen; my daughter got first dibs on that? I'm jealous but she made the right call you are the most hung man I've ever seen and that is saying something; now come and take me" Catherine commented and ran up to him, Tatsumi picked her up and thrust his length entirely into her folds, she wasn't tight but she was snug and warm as well as deep too. "OOOOHH!" Catherine moaned. "That is- ugh- soo big! I've not had something this good in 15 years: you're so hung Tatsumi- Tatsu-kins! Fuck me and make me your woman" Catherine moaned as he thrusted in and out of her; Tatsumi carried her to her bed and laid back pushing her up as she bounced up and down for a bit before he pulled her back so he could drink from her breasts.

"OOH! That's good drink all you need; that's the spot!" Catherine moaned, Tatsumi held her rear with one hand and ran the other thru her mane of hair as he thrusted in and out of her. The milk was great Tatsumi noted it tasted a lot like Leone's but was sweeter.

Tatsumi then rolled over and he was on top and drank from her breasts thrusting in and out giving Catherine the best tumble, she had ever received. "So good! So good! OH!" Catherine moaned as he hit her G-spot. Tatsumi kept going for 20 minutes alternating positions until he came inside her filling her womb and without him knowing getting her pregnant.

Catherine dismounted and had him lay back. "You've given me an amazing ride now I'm going to give you my tender care: I give my first titjob at 14 and my boobs were half their size and I loved give them; the way a cock feels when it is wedged between my boobs it's unmatched; I stopped using dildos years ago because they just aren't a suitable substitute, they don't have the warmth of real skin; no toy is a substitute for a real man, or a woman I'm not picky as long as they are young" Catherine replied she then wrapped her breasts around his length and massauged it with all the skill she had claimed. Tatsumi had to admit she was giving him the best titjob apart from one given by Esdeath; and her tongue was amazing; she was fascinating and enjoyable; still though part of him felt guilty that he was sleeping with his wife's mother but that part was crushed by the fact that A he was enjoying this and B he could also marry her too and she needed someone to love in her life; in fact it reminded him of Angela and Ieyasu's relationship; except without the awkwardness.

"I mean she's more like Leone's older sister then her mother; she's as beautiful as Leone; besides I'm not passing this up" Tatsumi thought and simply let her do her work; he did her and she did him; granted she was easily giving him indeed the tumble of his life as she was highly knowledgeable in the art of pleasure and taught him several positions he didn't even realize existed.

And they kept going, 50 rounds later and Catherine passed out exhausted Tatsumi alongside her.

Earlier that day… Honest sat in his office awaiting General Teketh who he had sent for expecting a progress report as he did so he spun a fidget spinner in his hand; he had to grant that Tatsumi and Makoto were right on that it is perfect for something to do to with your hands while waiting. Teketh walked in dressed in his military garb rather then his armor as he was at the moment not in a situation he'd require it he also wore a hat over his bald head.

"You sent for me Prime Minister?" Teketh asked.

"Indeed I did: General Teketh; I did so because I have need of an update on your project for putting together a new team of enforcers" Honest explained.

"Ah that; well I've already started the training; You know I was one of those who pioneered the program for the training of the Elite Seven; for the last three years there hasn't been an Elite Seven since the desertion of all but one of the members: As such I have revived the program and I expect have a new team ready by the end of the month; once they are ready I will lead them on any mission you require of us, also those who do not qualify with form the Group of Terror; they will be the main line of your new enforcers" Teketh explained.

"Good, now I have a request: I need about a dozen of those who are well trained enough for a field test; I have a specific target for them to well neutralize as part of a private project of mine, also they need some testing" Honest stated.

"Very well I will select the best of my trainees; should they fail their mission I will have to increase the training regime to make it far more tougher if they are the best and they fail they aren't even remotely ready for service" Teketh explained.

"Excellent Teketh; now I have other things to note, my son Izel has been experimenting and he made a breakthrough: I've been having him figure out how to create a superior superhuman soldier that can be trained on mass, hard to kill and most importantly expandable in other words the perfect soldier" Honest informed.

"A bold project; however a foolish one; only the best survive and there is no such thing as a perfect soldier; any human is capable of error and just as capable of making a mistake" Teketh replied.

"There is a difference between the two" Honest replied.

"Yes there is a difference: Anyone can make an error Minister, but an error doesn't become a mistake until you refuse to correct it" Teketh remarked.

"Which is exactly why I you are my best enforcer; you have your orders; also send for my son if your troops fail I have other means to pursue my objective" Honest replied.

"And that is?" Teketh asked curious.

"The Truth, Teketh, the truth for a certain person; a child in the big city of Melitine without knowing who her father is and without knowing her true home: I intend to bring her home" Honest explained as cryptically as possible.

"I see; you are cryptic Minister, speaking in hollow lies and conspiracies, enjoy weaving your webs I have other more practical pursuits to tend to" Teketh replied and left making sure to stomp his Trident on the way out.

That night… 12 shadowy figures lurked in the dark of the rooftops above Melitine's Eastern District within the mid ring of the grand walls; they were not Night Raid however they were hunters in search of a specific prey specifically Leone. The assassins were clad in black cloaks which they wore over lightweight padded armor; their weapons were daggers made of steel, they wore masks that complete masked who they were and their attire was mono-gendered: in other words, completely unindentifiable or untraceable.

Inside Catherine's home… Tatsumi woke up from his sleep after Valroust screamed at him to wake up. "Tatsumi! Enemies approach they are after Leone!" Valruost yelled, Tatsumi lept out of the bed with no patience for anything, he grabbed Valruost and ran, heading downstairs. He arrived just as the door was unlocked and was waiting patiently as the attackers came in.

"Hi guys" Tatsumi replied picking up Valruost with a dualist's speed and grace and readied himself. The attackers didn't say anything they simple charged in attempting to surround and attack from all sides; to their shock Tatsumi moved faster then they could react and bisected two the attackers before they even knew what was happening, the others then redoubled their efforts. "Valruost: Speed of Khaine!" Tatsumi declared and then moved faster then the could even comprehend as he cut down four attackers who tried to counter and missed. Two assassins attacked from behind and sliced their blades into Tatsumi's back he powered on, summersalted behind two attacker and bisected both of them across their abdomans. He then chained kicks and slices; two more attackers fell and then another and soon there were only two enemies left.

"Valruost I'd like to take these two alive; got any abilities that will paralyze a target indefinitely?" Tatsumi asked rushed. Valruost replied. "Valruost: Puppetfreeze!" Tatsumi yelled and the two assassins were paralyzed. "How long will that hold them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Three days; long enough for you?" Valruost replied.

"Yeah that's long enough; and oddly specific" Tatsumi replied.

"Because in three days they would die from dehydration" Valroust replied.

"Do you think of stuff besides people dying?" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm a sword Tatsumi and I was a bloody-handed warrior before I was infused into this sword; killing is my job" Valruost replied.

Tatsumi put his sword down and walked up to the two frozen assassins, he deprived them of their weapons, then stripped them to make sure they had no concealed weapons; the assassins he had frozen were both women about his age; one with red eyes and red hair and the other with purple eyes and purple hair, the both had average skin tone which indicated western heritage, they were well-endowed and if not for the fact they their expressions were frozen along with the rest of them they would be beating the crap out of him for strip-searching them and leaving them frozen in place in the nude.

"Sorry to leave you two ladies like this but it's the only way I can make sure you can't fight back when I release you from the binding; I'm not going to take advantage of you two like this; I'm not a scumbag; honestly I have no idea who you guys are and why you were trying to kill me nor how the hell you managed to figure out where I was in the first place; what I will say is you two are now my prisoners and if you cooperate maybe I'll let you switch sides and join me; but don't and well I can be just as creative as my lovely Capital Angel in getting information" Tatsumi explained he then halled both ladies over his shoulder and took them to the nearest closet then he went first to Catherines room and redressed and then to Leones room and grabbed some clothes and dressed them and gave a kiss to both of them. "I'd hate to have to kill you two; I'm a sucker for pretty faces; it will probably get me killed but given the fact I just fought the twelve of you in the nude I think I'll survive. Now I think I can release your lips so you can talk" Tatsumi replied.

Tatsumi then muttered to Valruost and released their lips. "Alright first off what are your names?" Tatsumi asked.

"Does it matter to you pervert?!" the Red head yelled.

"Actually, it does especially since I'll do this. I am Tatsumi and what your names" Tatsumi replied keeping as straight a grin as he could muster.

"I'm not giving you info" the Red head replied.

"I'll give I've never been this powerless before: I'm Jeanne and she is Francine" The purple-haired girl explained.

"Alright now what were you and your fellows attempting to do?" Tatsumi asked. This was going to be a long interrogation session; he was not going to torture them though; mainly because he didn't feel like it, he wasn't expert in it and I didn't have the tools he needed to get information out of them. So the only strategy he had was simple: try and break thru to them; at the moment they were completely in his power and not in a figurative sense, it was quite literally he literally controlled their ability to move and they were frozen stiffs; he could take advantage of them and they wouldn't be able to resist; however he wasn't going to do anything like that; he wasn't some scumbag, no he was a civil person and was going to treat them so.

"I'm not telling that" both stated simultainiously.

"Alright then I'll leave you two in here until morning then I'll take you to my in-laws place; and I'll let you know my wife is a master at extracting information she finds torturing the scum of Eden to be an delightful hobby; I've never seen her do so from women and I don't want to leave you to her" Tatsumi replied, the threat of Aria seemed to work.

"Alright I'll level with you; just letting you know you are making very powerful enemies; We are from an elite training program of assassins; its called the Group of Terror; my sister and I were training to be the best so we could join the ranks of the New Elite Seven; look I don't know why our commander wants you dead we are just here to follow orders" Francine explained. "Now are you going to kill us?" she asked practically challenging him to do it.

"Nope, because you two are my prisoners" Tatsumi replied.

"And that has anything to do with it, we are completely at your mercy and we tried to kill you: besides killing us would be the practical thing to do" Francine replied.

"Really, well I never do what is practical when it comes to taking someone's life, I don't kill the defenseless or children, I haven't killed a woman in my life and I have not intention of doing so right now: you see that is what makes me different from most assassins I don't kill unless I have to, if I don't need to I won't kill and at the moment you two are completely at my mercy and not likely to cause any trouble for me or anyone else any time soon" Tatsumi explained.

"Then who are you exactly, we only got the address and according to it there should be one person here which we supposed to take captive; then you turn up out of nowhere kill most off our team with a Teigu while fighting in the nude; which I must admit was not remotely in the briefing" Francine questioned.

"Like I said before I am Tatsumi; Major General Tatsumi of the Jaegers as you can tell by my uniform and the Emperor's Minister for Justice and Minister for Fun as you can tell by my badges" Tatsumi explained.

"So, what the hell were you doing here?" Francine asked.

"Yes I'd like to know that to" Jeanne asked.

"Visiting my new mother-in-law; who happens to have fallen in love with me; I have that effect on women which it drives me nuts: she's had a hard life and no one actually has ever shown her love beyond my wife her daughter Leone; who she had when she was **10**! Ten she was a child prostitute in the slums for most of her childhood, this is a kind of shit that goes on in Melitine; I come from the countryside I'm not native to this city and considering the things I've been thru since I came here: I've regreted leaving my village, but then I crush those thoughts considering I have other obligations now, I have nine wives, I've got children on the way; I'm the second in command to General Esdeath, I hold two seats on his Imperial Majesty Council and I have to kill assassins sent after me by Prime Minister Honest and his ilk every single fucking day! So if you think that you have it tough believe me you don't because most people in this rotten city are prey; not for danger beasts but for monsters, Human Monsters in human skin; and most of them send you people out to kill me and everyone else trying to make a difference in this place! I FUCKING HATE MELITINE! I HATE HONEST! I HATE THE ROT IN THE HEART OF EMPIRE! I HATE LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY WHO WANT MAKOTO DEAD! BUT ABOVE THEM ALL I HATE HAVING TO KILL PEOPLE!" Tatsumi ranted causing both to fear his visage.

"So what are you going to do with us" Jeanne asked terrified.

"That depends are you two going to try and kill me if I release you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Depends do you have an offer that can convince us not to?" Francine commented sensing an opportunity to trick him into freeing them. "Look we didn't join this group voluntarily we were taken from our military unit; used to be they would train the Elite Seven from children but apparently they are now just picking the most elite troops the Empire has to offer and throwing us into the hell that is training to become an Elite Seven; I only joined the army for the money; my sister joined with me for the exact same reason: you're an Imperial General we're on the same side" Francine replied.

Tatsumi had to think on that. "I'm the Emperor's minister for Justice I could grant you two a pardon but there is still the matter of you two trying to kill me and who ever sent you will want a report on what happened also I need to be repaid for the trouble you caused me; you two owe me your lives: so you two will have to serve me; indefinitely until I've forgiven you two; also I want to make sure you two are put to use so I'll need to think on that" Tatsumi explained and then sat down and communicated with Valruost. "Anything I can do to make sure they won't kill me: to make them completely subservient" Tatsumi asked mentally.

"Taking them as your slaves eh, well that's a new one?" Valruost commented.

"No! not slaves more like indentured servents they owe me a debt and will work for me until its paid or I forgive it; but that's not what I mean; I mean to make them under my control" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh Tatsumi you have an answer for that one; with a few drops of your blood I can craft a spell of hypnosis so powerful they will be subservient to you completely: in otherwords it will be as if they were under your command from the get go" Valruost explained, Tatsumi complied reluctantly slicing open the palm of his hand and wiping it on the brow of both girls.

"I'm making you two the first of my Justicars; a new order I've created you are loyal to me and to no one else save my family: Valruost: Mazharki Khanieve Vakanii Rozovii!" Tatsumi declared, the blood on their faces glew and formed marks that burned into their minds and brow; for the moment their eyes were glowing red and then it stopped. "Valruost: Heal" Tatsumi stated and rubbed his palm against the flat of the blade his wounds completely healed. "Who do you serve?" Tatsumi asked.

"We serve you Generel Tatsumi and all those of you line, until our deaths; Valruost Eterna" Francine explained in a normal tone and with grace; Jeanne said "Valruost Eterna" too.

"Now for the test: Varluost: Waesa Vilda" Tatsumi declared releasing both of them from the blood grip, they rose and bowed to him.

"What do you command master?" Lianna asked.

"Yes we will do anything you desire master" Francine added.

"Anything?" Tatsumi asked concerned and to his shock both removed the clothes he had put on them.

"Anything Tatsumi-Senpai" They both said.

"For starters put your clothes back on and well help me clean up the bodies downstairs I want to at least put them in an orderly pile" Tatsumi replied then mentally yelled at Valruost "What the fuck did you do!?"

"I brought them under your command, they now live to please you and do so by any means: your blood brand makes them bloodsworn to you, whatever you command they will do it they are now your slaves" Valruost explained.

"But I didn't want to turn them into slaves: Valruost I wanted them to follow me of their own free will, in fact do they have any left?!" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes they do however whatever you command then to do they will do it without question; Also I'm calling you out for having to smoking hot babes naked and willing and not fucking them" Valruost replied.

"I'm not that kind of person Valruost; this is different they were ordinary people who granted were trying to kill me until I put that blood mark on them and now they are like I don't know slaves: I don't take advantage of woman and have sex with them; only if they absolutely want it and is of their complete free will: I- You know what forget it: I'm arguing with a blade that was begging for me to rape them when they were frozen with your bloodlock ability: if I have sex with them it will be completely consensual!" Tatsumi ranted mentally to his Teigu.

"Then you are truly worthy of my power, you act like my first master and creator: you are worthy to you Tatsumi I bestow my trump card: when the time comes use it" Valruost replied.

"I hope to never have to use that ability again: Jeanne, Francine, don't unmask those bodies I don't want to see the faces of the people I killed; just pile them up I'll figure out what to do in the morning" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes Tatsumi-Senpai!" Both stated.

"I'm going back to sleep and hopefully when I wake up this whole affair will have been a dream" Tatsumi replied and returned to Catherine's room undressed and climbed back in her bed where she still slept.

The following morning. "WHAT THE HELL!" Leone yelled shocked by three things: first off the fact that there was a nice pile of bodies laid out in the living room, two that there were two attractive women asleep on both of her mother's couches and three the sheer mess left in the path of Tatsumi's fight.

Tatsumi woke up along with Catherine and quickly redressed; Catherine in something new so as to avert any suspicion as to what had happened last night granted Leone would easily put two and two together as they rushed downstairs to the scene in the front room and both girls wide awake and Leone completely shocked. "Alright what happened, who are they and what is with the mess?" Leone questioned.

"Alright well there was an assassination attempt last night by the bodies over there, Valruost alerted me to the arrival of them and I killed all but those two whom I tested a new ability on; they are now devoted solely to me and my family; so yeah: I really didn't want my ability to do what it did but now I have to make do with what I've got; girls introduce yourselves" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm Francine, I serve Tatsumi-Senpai" The redhead greeted.

"And I'm Jeanne I serve Tatsumi-Senpai too, we are the first of his new Justicars and we are loyal to him only and to his family so we serve you too mistress Leone" Jeanne explained.

"Ok that explains it: now who were these corpses?" Leone asked.

"Group of Terror; top class and now only two remain of that group thanks to Tatsumi-senpai" Francine explained.

"Yes, those two: I recognized the name from somewhere" Leone replied.

"Same here but I know exactly, they were training for the Elite Seven; Honest has given the green light for a new one and on top of it he's had the program shifted to select elite soldiers rather then raising them from kids." Tatsumi explained.

"We were part of the top class: I must admit though Tatsumi-senpai has demonstrated that the group's best isn't enough; we survived due to his mercy and would have served him to save our selfs as the punishment for failure is death in the Group of Terror" Francine added.

"Did you two and him do anything?" Leone asked.

"Nothing apart from talk, be branded and cleaned up the mess we also borrowed some clothes to wear; also, the bodies are pilled up nice and orderly" Jeanne explained.

"Great and you two Mom tell me you didn't- wait you obviously did sleep with Tatsumi; egh my life is nuts" Leone replied and and face-palmed.

"My daughter knows me too well" Catherine replied. "Yes, I did sleep with Tatsumi and it was the best thing ever!" Catherine replied and kissed Tatsumi on the cheek.

"Not that this matters Honest is getting serious Leone I think the fact there are now truly elite assassins out to kill me should be a bigger conern then who I'm sleeping with; anyway, about that how the hell did they know I was here?" Tatsumi asked.

"We didn't and Prime Minister Honest gave the order to kill Catherine; you simply were something that wasn't factored in" Francine explained.

"That's a name I didn't want to hear" Catherine remarked.

"No one does, most of the Empire's problems are his fault and doing; though why the hell would he send an elite assassination unit to kill you is beyond me: in fact Mother I think after this its best you lie low at Grundewick Manor until we can investigate it" Leone replied.

"Leone its more then that; personal" Catherine replied.

"How personal?" Leone asked curious.

"I- guess its part of an effort to target those related to Tatsumi; you did say that yesterday a group of assassins to try and kill you, perhaps he's after you" Catherine suggested.

"But why me? I guess I did humiliate him in front of the entire court twice now but to make it that personal that's remarkably low even for him" Leone commented.

"I don't know Leone, I bet only Honest knows his motives and not even his troops do; I'd like to know though because if its about me it go after me: don't go after people I just met in a hope to draw me out" Tatsumi replied. "Who is your commander anyway?" Tatsumi asked his Justicars.

"Former commander; Sal Ikoth, but he's a subordinate to Field Marshel Teketh Tsunami who's been put in charge of the project" Jeanne explained.

"Anyway lets get rid of these corpses I don't want the rot to ruin my house; lets head to the backyard and bury them" Catherine explained, they then stepped into the backyard and dug a rather deep and large hole; the backyard wasn't visible to anyone; then the began dragging out the bodies.

"Don't unmask them: I'd rather not know who I killed" Tatsumi remarked as Leone was about to remove the mask of one of the fallen.

"You're right I'd rather not know who died either" Leone replied and flung the body into the pit, they then flung all nine other corpses into it and buried them.

"I'll make a mental note to never plant anything there ever again" Catherine replied.

"The next thing we need to do is tell Aria and the others what happened here and take these weapons to her for a look over" Tatsumi explained then continued. "Leone you handle that: I'm going to go give Honest a piece of my mind, Francine you and Jeanne will help Leone with that" Tatsumi added then he left making his way for the palace; not caring for the fact that he was going to have to kill more hired assassins on his way there.

Later at the Imperial Palace… Tatsumi had arrived without any trouble on the way there and one of the first things he did was make his towards Honest's office and kick the door down, to Honest's surprise as he was in the process of drinking a glass of wine. "Oh, its you; not a surprise you know that it was very rude of you to kick the door down" Honest remarked.

"Since when do you care about being polite, look I'm here to let you know this: I've had to put up with your shit since I got here and I've had enough; you can send all the assassins at me you want but you go after my relatives you've crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed" Tatsumi explained as sternly as possible.

"A line you crossed first: when you took my daughter from me! Like I said silly boy this is war I gave you a chance to get out and this is what it will be like" Honest replied.

"But why!? What does my mother in law have to do with anything, I only just met her yesterday; you really need to think clearly who you are going after" Tatsumi replied.

"So, he thinks this is the first attempt; I can use this to my favor" Honest thought. "You took my daughter from me Tatsumi, not just any daughter of mine but the last child of my beloved first wife the only woman I ever truly love; you took her affection and twisted her against me!" Honest raged.

"You're an easy person to hate Honest: you eat people, you rape children, women and men, torture people for fun and start conflicts the Empire has no hope of winning all for what? You think people dying is funny, you think that people are disposable means to an end?! Well I don't in fact it's the exact opposite of how anyone should think!" Tatsumi replied.

"You don't comprehend the gravity of my plans and the grand scale of them, but yes I do think people are disposable, everyone here in this Empire is a means to an end: an end that will get me what I want most!" Honest replied his grin sharpening as his filed teeth became more apperant.

"And what of it, what is worth all this meanless death, what is it that drives you to commit such horrid acts of depravity?! Why are you so Evil!" Tatsumi asked infuriated.

"Love Tatsumi, Love" Honest replied cryptically.

"You do all this because you love to do it?! I see now why the Empire's heart is so rotten and how evil you truly are and you've given me even more of a reason to want you dead and gone" Tatsumi replied.

"You don't comprehend anything silly boy; if you think I'm evil you're wrong, because you evil doesn't come close to describing what I truly am and if you think I do this for enjoyment: Well I do to an extent but not just that there is something else that drives me and you'll never be able to figure it out save you saw the entirety of what makes me who I am! If you think you know all you need to know Tatsumi; you are wrong because you haven't a clue of how 'evil' I can truly be!" Honest replied. "Now get out of my sight; its enough to know that Teketh's unit isn't ready for action, if they can't handle you how are they supposed to fare against anyone else!" Honest replied and banged on his desk.

"Fine: I just wanted you to know how I felt, also don't even try to frame me for treason; I'm the Minister for Justice now and two can play at your game Honest remember that" Tatsumi replied and left Honest to steam in anger.

"AAARGH!" Honest yelled as Tatsumi left the man in his dust.

Shortly… "Now to get my mind off of that wretched scoundrel I'm stressed and need relief Esdeath" Tatsumi explained to his wife. He had found her rather quickly.

"I can see you do: well I don't have the time right now; I've got to get any information on that project, as head of the Military I'm entitled to know about anything my subordinates do even if they are in Honest's pockets also I've got to read up on parenting tips: I never had a mother to care for me and I have to learn how to be one, now go to your concubines take the day off forget about Jaeger work or Night Raid missions forget about your problems and try and relax" Esdeath explained and kissed him. "But don't worry about me because tonight you're staying here with me and we'll have all the fun in world" Esdeath added before kissing him on the forehead and leaving him.

Tatsumi then wandered off to his private suite; which was rather extensive more like giving him half of Grundewick manor to stay in. Tatsumi walked in and noted he stank from blood and sweat, so he came up to five of his concubines: Steela, Camilla, Lyra, Andromada and his personal favorite Constance. "I've had a rough night and morning; too much is on my mind and I need to relax; a warm bath please, then a massuage and pleasure of any kind" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes Lord Tatsumi" Camilla stated, she was beautiful girl about two years younger then him, she had dark blue hair like Luna and wore a set of circuler glasses, her eyes were blue as well and she had an Asian skin tone and had a figure comparable to Akame's, her attire was that of frilly dark blue transperant pantaloons and a silken blouse.

"Constance my dear I need your touch and your comfort" Tatsumi explained.

"With pleasure milord" Constance explained.

Shortly Tatsumi found himself in a warm bath in large open tub the size of a small swimming pool, the water was warm and full of nice smelling soup and bubbles. Tatsumi lay back on the ridge as his concubines stripped Camilla saw to washing his back and massuaging his shoulder blades which were tense she also cleaned the still fresh injuries on his back given by the assassins the previous night. Lyra caressed his right side, she was a sweet orange-blonde with short hair and jade green eyes; she had light skin and a bust equal to Najenda's, she also tickled his right nipple. On his left carrassing him was Andromada a tan skinned brown eyed busty beauty with silver hair like Najenda's and a bust to match; she also washed and caressed his hand as well as his mid to lower back. He nursed from the extremely busty Steela who was a dark-skinned beauty from the southern tribes she had midnight black hair and was brawny in build, her eyes were dark-red as was common with the women of the far south.

But above these women one had his immediate attention and though he loved his concubines, the one he felt the most love for was Constance. Constance was a grey eyed beauty the same age as him with long black hair flowing to her mid-section and an hourglass figure of graceful D-cups; she was extremely beautiful and reminded him a lot of Sayo almost as if she was her long lost sister but there was no relation to his best friend between the two; she was soft and graceful and she was one with him at the moment as he was embedded inside her. Usually she would have worn an outfit and headwrap that made her resemble a peacock but at the moment she wore nothing allowing him to see her in all her glory. Constance kissed him a sweet caring kiss.

"Relax our love let us take care of your needs" Lyra said into his ears.

"Yes relax, that's what I need" Tatsumi thought and broke the kiss.

"Tatsumi, my dear you are tense let me relieve you of your tension and your erection but talk with me tell me and the other girls here what is on your mind milord" Constance soothed.

"I've got a lot on my mind, I- I need a break even if it's just one day; I work too hard if keep pushing myself and don't enjoy the things fate has given me it will probably take them away" Tatsumi thought. "I need a break from all the stuff going on in my life, I'm going to stay here for the day and the night: spend time with you Constance and you four too and all my loving concubines; I need release from all this even if its just one day and even if part of me doesn't want to and wants to keep going" Tatsumi explained.

"We can do that Tatsumi my dear; in fact we'd love to do that right girls?" Constance explained.

"Yes Lord Tatsumi let us take care of you that's what we are here for" Andromada agreed. The others followed suit and he eased into the water let all five women warm him and care for his needs; as Constance was filled with his seed and tired, Steela came up and relieved her of that duty and let him bury himself inside her tender folds all while Constance still tended to him giving him soft kisses and washing his hair along with her own. Lyra let him nurse from her breasts; the girl of his concubines was the youngest and the most eager towards him; overall the woman of his harem were about the same age or younger then him with none being older then twenty nor younger then 16. Tatsumi was in bliss and he forgot about all his troubles letting the tensions inside him relax: he was being pampered and consensually reverse gangbanged but it didn't matter to him he needed this and he was going to relax and enjoy a nice relaxing and soothing day in his private suite at the Palace and let the troubles of the outside world not bother him.

So he relaxed continuing his thrusts at a relaxed pace letting the lovely dark-skinned beauty Steela kiss him along with Constance and Lyra; Camilla recited poetry and Andromada tended to every tence nerve relexing it with soothing energy work. "Tatsumi" all of them said, and the most soothing was Constance; the queen of his concubines and the one who could always relex his tender nerves and he could trust to resolve his problems.

At the same time as Tatsumi was enjoying the warmth and relaxation that came with his concubines Honest was scheming in his office not bothering to care about the broken door as he did the work that came with his position. "Prime Minister" a Man greeted.

Honest looked up and noted a man in a brown suit with book at his side; he had dark brown hair and a handlebar mustache. "Ah Saikyuu, come in my son no need to be so formal" Honest greeted, it was one of his greatest tricks of persuasion to convince people to allow him to appoint one his sons deputy prime- minster: especially when he had been born out of wedlock to a palace serving girl who had caught his fancy, also the accusations of nepotism that came with him favoring his family over the other nobles. He had managed to convince them and Makoto by making a convincing case that the position of Deputy Prime Minister had no real significane and was merely there in case of an accident: what they didn't know was Honest had the means to grant more power to that office which essentially gave Saikyuu free reign to do as he pleased as long as Honest approved of it. "If there is one child not born of my love's womb that I am proud of it is Saikyuu he truly is a statesmen worthy of my own blood" Honest thought.

"Father what happened to that door?" Saikyuu asked stepping over the broken doorway.

"A certain Major-General kicked it down, had some rather sturn words for me an interesting debate and left; rather rude of him to kick the door down; but he was rather angry with me" Honest replied.

"Do you want me to draw up some charges and have him eliminated Father?" Saikyuu stated with glee and alertness.

"Not that simple, he's Esdeath's personal whore and the Emperor's Minister for Fun and (Groan) Minister for Justice. Fabricating charges against him won't work and so far, assassins haven't either, and he has way too much influence for me to dispose of directly; unlike that fool Syoi" Honest replied. "Now what is it that brought you here?" Honest asked not wanting to talk about his nemesis Tatsumi any more then he had to and especially after Tatsumi had already told him what he thought of him.

"Yes that; well I have reports in from the Eastern front my lord; our defenses are holding but more military forces join the rebels daily; also the Western front is completely static at this point, the only thing passing into the Empire over the western border are those Dwarven flying ships or Zeppelins I believe they are called; so far the Dwarves are neutral but favor the rebels we have refrained from attacking them due to the dangers adherent in fighting Dwarves" Saikyuu explained after showing a map of the current movements of military forces.

"So the war is at a deadlock on one front and and we are barely holding on the other; Falkland's forces are grow day by day; I should have had him killed before I went after those silver mines his family owns but I didn't and now I have enemies within the Empire and without" Honest replied. "If not for Esdeath and Teketh's efforts we would be fighting on all sides but to be holding onto our position is good enough for me; they only need to hold for a few months and soon I'll have the means to control the Empire with no need for any of the political games or Esdeath, Teketh or any of the generals under my command" Honest added.

"So father what have you got planned?" Saikyuu asked.

"At the moment my plans are very fluid and one of them has changed; find your brother Satake and tell him I want to see him also get someone to repair that door: that silly boy" Honest replied, Satake grinned and left. "Perhaps its time I take things into my own hands; this problem with that boy has gotten too far out of hand; I think its time I take another measure of his skills; see if he's as good a fighter as he thinks he is; maybe he will be drawn into my trap for that daughter of mine; Leone, a nice name; if Lillian and I had gotten the opportunity to have a second daughter I would have named her that, but alas Lillian died giving birth to Syura and Lillianna, one of whom died ignominisily and the other is an unfaithful whore who spread her legs for my number one enemy" Honest mused mentally then resumed looking over his new decrees; laws he had drafted that required only his puppet's signature to become law, a signature that was easy to get as his puppet never read any of the complicated documents he simply signed his name.

In about another 20 minutes Satake arrived in his office. "Who beat the shit out of that door?" Satake asked.

"Watch your mouth in here my son or risk me sticking hornets in it, there has been a change of plans; tonight I want you to take your Night Hunt and head the slums of the city, then play with the people of the slums have as much fun and make as big a mess as possible then before daybreak come back; and we are going to do this over and over again until I can craft a trap for your half-sister dearest" Honest explained.

"With pleasure father: my boys and are looking for some fun and a hunt, I could use more mates for my bloodline and meat to eat" Satake stated with a grin showing off his sharpened teeth.

"Good; just letting you know though I'm going to be tagging along; it has been a long time since I had the chance to let loose and have some fun: also it will make this all the more pleasing so when the time comes to trap your sister I can be there to give the news" Honest explained.

"Sure, then dad; just don't cramp my style: I like to work in black; now I'm going back to sleep, Saikyuu woke me from a great dream" Satake replied and left his father to grin manically.

The rest of the day proceeded as normal: Well as normal as it gets in the city of Melitine where evil never sleeps and holds sway and where every day and night is a fight to survive and where any sort of crime can be gotten away with if you're smart enough or powerful enough. Tatsumi proceeded to enjoy the delights of his harem and of the luxuries offered to him by his office, while Honest schemed and plotted. Esdeath studied parenting tips and the Jaegers kept the streets relatively clean of any scumbags, while the members of Night Raid enjoyed the luxury of a low focus on them; as other issues that had cropped up made it so that it was almost as if the group was forgotten until they carried out another assassination then it was the talk of the town for a few days and the city moved on.

However, time didn't pass multiple days at once, the morning went into afternoon and from afternoon into evening, and from evening into sunset then twilight and finally night.

And everyone in Melitine feared the night; and not just because of Night Raid, but because of the other rotten things in the city. In the slums the night came and terror came for a few blocks first it was quiet and then it was hell for the people as the Night Hunt ran amok and raped, murdered, tortured and destroyed anyone and anything in their path. Elsewhere in the city two Night Raid teams in two sepperate locations killed two of Honest's allies, one military officer the other a slave trader who was also a cutthroat merchant, pedophile, and robber. Each died brutal deaths; the Officer was shamshirred by Taeko and her strike team while the merchant was Ariaed (Brutally tortured and murdered by Aria Grundel) by Aria and her stealth team. So overall the night had given the reaper his due of both innocents and monsters and the Reaper wasn't picky.

The following morning Tatsumi awoke in the warm embrace of Esdeath as well as his concubines. He loved the warmth of Esdeath using him as her pillow, also the warmth of his concubines; namely Constance, Camilla, Andromeda, Lyra and Steela who had joined in his loving with Esdeath the night before. Warmth was all he needed; and when they awoke the time came for more loving; which they gave him and they got ready for the new day.

The first thing Tatsumi did after getting dressed and eating was to head to Grundewick Manor where he found Aria in a state of grief along with some other members of Night Raid Leone being the only one who was angry; Tatsumi wondered what the source of their grief and found a newspaper with a headline on the front cover; massacre in the slums and noted the death count, 80 dead and mass destruction reaped in the immediate area. "That- I have- no words." Tatsumi stuttered having read it, then recovered his composure. "Whoever did this will pay; we've got to tell Najenda; I've got a plan for this" Tatsumi explained.

Later at Night Raid HQ… "This is agreedous, this is- something that happens in war not inside a city: Tatsumi you are correct as such I will begin a series of patrols; teams of 5 will watch the areas around the slums and in them at night; whoever is behind this obviously will strike again" Najenda commented, Cassandra stood to her side. "Tatsumi I want you to go set up a team; pick whoever you think is best suited for the task at hand; with the exception of team leaders" Najenda added.

Tatsumi then made a team of five members, the members of that team were Leone, Sheele, Seryu, Sayo and himself, they would be ready for anything. The rest of the day proved as normal and when night fell the hunt began, strikes happened as Honest and the Night Hunt ravaged the slums leaving messages in flesh of those they killed, however they didn't encounter any of the teams. This shadow war continued for 3 days and nights with hundreds of ordinary people being killed after undergoing the worst Honest and the Night Hunt could think off; they began leaving messages in blood, usually with one word Leone as well as leaving the mark of the Cult; this tipped Tatsumi off that whoever was responsible for this sent the strange human-demon soldiers that had attack him earlier that week.

The Fourth Night… Tatsumi and his team were on full alert; as they went thru the extensive slums that Melitine had to offer, their weapons at the ready for any sort of attack; there were no shortage of parasites armed to the teeth out in the slums at night ready to attack the unaware also there was also their quarry or quarries as it was apperent they were dealing with more then one enemy. Their searches lead them into an underground tunnel which was stained with fresh blood. "Make ready; we could be walking into a trap" Leone commented, Sheele readied Extase gripping the giant scissor as tightly as she could and Seryu readying her Justice cannon; the flechettes loaded and ready while Koro stood at alert and growling. Sayo had already dawned the Angel armor and had Icarus at the ready with one finger already on the string of her bow.

They went deeper into the tunnel the oil lamps that gave light to it were eerie in the current state of tension, in fact it was so tense that all that nobody spoke or so much as gave any signs of emotion. Soon however they came to a large chamber in which several figures stood in dark black armor save one who wore deep blue-black armor with the mark of Valtor in deep magenta on it in the center and a fur coat; a black studded crown rested on his head amid white hair and a long black-red bladed sword was in drawn in one hand with his golden eyes staring them down.

"Honest" Tatsumi stated. "I never took you as someone who'd get his hands dirty with stuff that you send underlings for; so, this was all to draw me to you; are you that desperate to see me dead?" Tatsumi commented.

"I've never been one to shy away from combat silly boy, in fact I was a warrior of great renown and skill before I found the battlefield of politics to be more interesting then that of swords: however this case is rather personal and my hand was forced to take matters into my own hands with the failure of my servents; speaking of this is my son Satake and his hunters: we have been hard at work in case you haven't noticed" Honest explained.

"But why? Why would you engage in such wanton hate and vicous atrocities? Do you think this sort of stuff is fun?!" Sayo asked.

"It wasn't just for fun little girl, no it was all meant to draw someone out; and for once Tatsumi you weren't my target though you showing up is a bonus because it means I can be rid of you once and for all; no I did these things to bring my little girl to me" Honest explained cryptically.

"What?! Who are you talking about? Speak honestly evildoer!" Seryu replied.

"Not you Seryu Ubiquitous, yes I know your name, along with the other girls in that harem of yours Tatsumi, Sheele the purple haired purple eyed ditz, Sayo your childhood friend and personal slut, but especially you Leone you're the one I've been hoping to trap" Honest replied and smirked showing off his sharpened teeth.

"Why me? What's so interesting about me Honest? If this all about me humiliating you twice you've got a depraved and insane way of showing it by murdering and torturing innocent people!" Leone replied angry.

"All to get you here Leone. Tell me Leone have you ever wondered where you came from? Who your father was? I can answer that for you" Honest replied smirking as he did so.

"What does that have to do with anything here?!" Leone asked getting angrier by the minute, so far this was a stand off as Tatsumi was thinking of how to approach this as there were about a dozen troops with Honest and his son, all clad in black armor and he suspected more in the side tunnels.

"Allow me to explain as you clearly haven't figured it out; years ago when I was but humble advisor to Emperor Isshin the Lost I was quite a man who had and still does have; deviant tastes: particularly for sweet lovely beauties; I often walked the streets of Melitine in disguise searching for ways to saite my appitites as it were, mainly those that were more intimate in nature; during my amorous adventures I came to a particular brothel and came upon a cute little grey-eyed blonde girl who was freshly flowered and cost a sizeable amount for her first tumble; I paid the sum and gave her that tumble I smiled as my cock was stained with her virgin blood and I took that little 9 year old for a tumble she'd never forgot. I left not giving that encounter much mind as I had many such encounters, however I did come back and give that girl a tumble again and again until I tired of her and moved on to more exotic tastes, however one of my amorous liasons as with many of them resulted in a child, one who bares my eyes; golden eyes" Honest explained this information shocked everyone with what he was implying.

"No" Leone said softly.

"Yes Leone; a fitting name indeed for a child of mine: if I had gotten a chance to have another daughter with my dear Lillian gods rest her soul, I would have named her Leone, however you will do fine; Leone I am your father!" Honest replied and outstretched his hand.

"No! That's not true; it can't be! My father was some mercenary looking for a good time, I- Cannot be the progeny of a monster like you; much less one born of you! The one worst of Monsters in this world if not the worst of all of them!" Leone yelled.

"Search your feelings you know it to be true!" Honest declared.

"NOO! NO!" Leone yelled and started crying. "Why?! This can't be true! It- it- it- "Leone cried.

"It is true; now come daughter and join me; and I will spare your friends, join me and we will rule the Empire together!" Honest replied.

Leone was in a state of sheer anger and sadness; trying to argue that it wasn't true; but then she looked at his eyes and relized they had the same golden luster as her own; the only difference being his were filled with dark twisted designs. "You're my father; but that doesn't matter! It never did! I have a question for you then: Why did you abandon me and my mother?! Leave us to fend for ourselves in the cruel slums of this sick city!?" Leone raged.

"Why? Do you honestly think I have the means to remember every person I fucked? To remember every man, woman and child I've buried my length in? If I knew you'd been conceived I would have snatched you and your mother up and taken you to the palace to be raised a proper woman; you never would have had to fend for yourself on the streets to survive; never had to prostitute yourself for money" Honest replied.

"I never did prosititute myself, I was a virgin until I gave it to my one true love Tatsumi! I did fight to survive, I stole, I conned, I lied and cheated my way to survive this horrid city; but I never abandoned my mother; most of the money I've taken over the years has gone to support her; I have consumed a lot of beer, whisky and wine over the years but I've kept my mind clear even when I was drunk I was never a whore; neither was my mother she was raped by pedophiles for money, most of which was stolen by pimps, I never have had opportunity to kill one of those monsterous bastards but I've had the opportunity to purge this city of parasites: I've killed thousands of them; I hunt them; everyone in Melitine fears the night: but I give the worse one of the best reasons to FEAR THE NIGHT!" Leone exclaimed and ranted.

"So, you're part of Night Raid? I never thought one of my line would sink so low, and you aren't the only one all of you are part of that group! Your group killed my beloved son and your brother Syura, you killed my brother-in-law who was your uncle and have killed many of my allies and friends!" Honest shouted.

"What of it? They were all monsters! And if you think you can turn the tables on us Honest look at you; Tatsumi has just as much influence at court as you, the Emperor wouldn't take your world over his or that of Esdeath; you'd be a laughing stock!" Leone replied.

"Oh no I have no intention of informing my puppet of your true identities, I'm fully aware of that; though I suspected you of being so from the beginning I wonder how many others are in on this group; Esdeath being part of Night Raid though! HA! That is too funny, the leader of the group I tasked with hunting Night Raid is part of it and probably the leader of it! HA! Too hilarious!" Honest remarked. "But I have no need to tell my puppet you know why; because I'm going to cut out Night Raid's heart here and now: I'm going to kill you Tatsumi, and your lovers too all save Leone, you my daughter are of use to me and if can't wed you off to an ally I will keep you and fuck you and make you bare children of mine; I've fucked my daughters before and keep some as my personal bed slaves! You Leone will be broken! However, Tatsumi you will die!" Honest stated. "Ephialties: Shadows of Battle!" Honest declared, his crown glowed and shadowy duplicates of himself manifested, each a dark black clone with red eyes.

Thus, the battle commensed, Leone lunged at her half-brother Satake while the shadow clones and the Hunters went for Sayo, Sheele, Seryu and Koro. Tatsumi charged.

"Smaug: DRAGON ARMOR!" Tatsumi declared and the red plate armored him. "Valruost: Speed of Khaine!" Tatsumi yelled and moved quickly, both blades ready as he adopted his fighting stance.

Honest vs Tatsumi… (Song: Whatever it takes by Imagine Dragons)

Tatsumi charged at Honest and began an onslaught of blades. "Malus: Mirrorstorm!" Honest declared. Tatsumi attacked, his blades clashed against Honest's sword but to his shock Honest was keeping up and countered with brutal ease.

"Shit: I've underestimated him!" Tatsumi thought but continued his attacks, flurries striking as he had to parry and block Honest's power attacks as he used both hands to bring intense strength on his blade, also Tatsumi noted his attacks had precision blows and his sword was obviously a Teigu: Tatsumi had never figured Honest for a duel Teigu user like himself but that meant he was even more of a threat then he gave him credit for.

"Gunda Vadda Raukka!" Honest chanted then began a series of concise attacks that Tatsumi recognized as Imperial Fist rings; specifically the third and fifth rings which favored the two-handed style Honest was using. Tatsumi countered by adapting his technique to a mixture of the second ring of Imperial Fist and his own custom fighting style which allowed him to barely keep up.

As Tatsumi parried and lunged Honest probed and striked also Tatsumi was forced to counter Honest's onslaught with one blade as at the same two he had to slay two shadow clones of Honest which upon a break in their guard and pierce to the side evaporated in smoke. Tatsumi was left to continue his defense and hope for an onslaught. "I've underestimated him: I thought he was just some fat politician, in reality that fat of his is muscle, and he's an extremely good fighter in fact I'm completely on the defensive Valruost" Tatsumi thought.

"He is one of the strongest warriors I've ever had the pleasure to face Tatsumi, keep up your defense and probe for weakness: he's older then you so have at least the advantage of youth" Valruost counciled Tatsumi noted a slip in his guard and Honest's blade impacted and tore thru the outer layer of Smaug.

"OUCH!" the Dragon Armor yelled. "That sword is a Teigu Tatsumi; Malus: the Darkblade, its an ancient blade and is one of the few weapons that can pierce Teigu armor; in fact can ignore it if he knows how to use the trump card" Smaug yelled, this caused Tatsumi to have to be more agile as he couldn't depend on Smaug to tank this attack.

"Well boy you are definitely everything I expected as a swordman and you are holding your own against me which is something few can say they have done; but here's the thing I'm not even unleashing my full potential!" Honest replied and unleashed more attacks.

(Song End)

Leone vs Satake (Song Animals by Maroon 5)… "Bring it on: I've delt with tougher!" Leone challenged as she channeled Lionelle taking her catgirl from and bringing her claws against her half brother.

"Oh yes a proper scrap! I've not had this much fun in months! Pantera: Powerclaws!" Satake declared as the his Teigu shaped his body with darker more panther like features as opposed to what Lionelle caused Leone to look liked only his claws were longer.

Leone begin with a strong left hook and followed up with a kick; Satake replied with a series of power punchs and grapples, Leone then kicked him in the nuts which normally would have droped other men but instead found her foot hurting at she kicked solid metel. "Ha nice try; like my polomer alloy underarmor sis? You aren't the first girl who's thought to try that" Satake jeered.

Leone replied by clawing his face and right eye; pulling out the eye which to her shock regenerated. Leone then drove a powered punch thru his chest to similer results. "You have regeneration?! You're a fucking copycat!" Leone remarked.

"HA! You're funny, maybe father will let me play with you; I'd hope to see you're as fierce in bed as you are in a fight!" Satake replied grappling.

"I am and you don't get to see it; first off I'm your sister; well half-sister secondly I'm not losing to a scumbag like you: I wonder how many of our father's bad traits you inherited!" Leone replied and countered his grapple by yanking out his arm which caused speed regeneration which she followed up with a chain of punches.

"All of them! I need to eat human flesh to fuel my teigu, I like fucking anyone be they a big guy, a little girl or even my own sisters or bastard kids! You think I've got it! Valtor gives me all the strength I need!" Satake replied Leone retaliated with hard kicks and punches.

(Song End)

Sheele, Sayo, Seryu and Koro vs the Night Hunt and Honest's honerguards… (Song: Monster by Starset)

At the same time as the fights between Leone and Satake as well as Tatsumi and Honest, the other Night Raid members who had come with them fighting three types of enemies: First came the Night Hunt soldiers, who were clad in lightweight black plate armor which along with offering them protection concealed their faces apart from a flap for their jaws which were filled with sharpened fang like teeth much like those of Honest and Satake themselves. The second were the dark blue and magenta armored personal guards of Honest who came in from the side tunnels wielding massive great axes. The last being the shadow clones of Honest himself, which while they died in one good hit had about as much skill as Honest himself albiet a fraction of it.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized to three guardsmen before opening up Extase and cutting them in half like their were paper men, two attackers came at her from the side and two came at her from the front she speared Extase thru the men apologizing as she killed them then drew her daggers from her dress and dodged the axes of the two attackers then backflipped behind them and drove the daggers thru the back of their necks; blood stained her lovely dress as she leapt over the fallen bodies stowing away one dagger and grabbing Extase with her free hand, she then spun like a dervish cutting down two shadow clones: all the while shouting "I'm sorry!"

Sayo had already leapt up flying to the high celling and unleashing a volley of arrows at newcomers arriving from the tunnels before diving in and divided her bow into curved blades and slicing down oncoming honer guard.

"Koro: Beserker mode!" Seryu yelled and Teigu assumed his massive from and began gobbling enemies; she discarded her launcher which was useless in the tight space and started spinning her tofana pistols and began shooting each enemy with methodic ease calling her shots as she fired into armor; still though three Night Hunters charged her direction with swords from her left flank and nearly were on top of her when she revealed her arm blades and cut each down. "Justice!" Seryu shouted as she bisected one Night hunter while grinning. "Executed!" Seryu yelled as she drove her right blade thru the helmet and head face first of another. "Chew-chew!" Seryu yelled as she flung a chew-chew ball at the last who Koro grabbed and dropped into his bottomless maw of teeth which blended the man.

Another Night Hunter tried to sneak up on Sheele but he found himself keel over after he heard a gunshot; the round tore thru his heart causing him to flop over dead, behind him Seryu smirked with smoke coming from her mouth gun, as an honor guard charged at her from beside only to find a dagger cap his skull and splattering his brain into the ground as at flew back to Sheele who caught it her hands.

"You watch my back Seryu I'll watch yours" Sheele stated in her serious tone; Seryu got up back to back to Sheele as they killed enemies on either side, Sheele was countering and killing enemies with agility that shocked the enemies who were ruthlessly killed at this point Sheele had stopped apologizing as the enemies at this point were mostly shadow clones of Honest thus not being living beings; Sheele was methodically trying to reach Honest: her target!

Sayo in the meantime was simply mowing down the remaining grunts with Icarus " Icarus: Unrelenting Barrage!" Sayo declared and her draw and speed intensified as she unloaded light arrows into enemies which vaporized chunks of their bodies on impact.

(Song End)

Back with Tatsumi and Honest… (Song duel: Carnivore by Starset vs Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons) Tatsumi continued countering he was only warming up but Honest wasn't even that in fact he seemed to be fresh as if this was but a minor execize to him. "What the hell has he been thru that he's still fresh" Tatsumi thought having to counter another onslaught of blows, he then noted an opening and capitalized with Valroust slice Honest across his chest the blow however left a gash in his armor which really didn't faze him also said blow allowed Honest to counter as he sliced Tatsumi across his own chest shredding the Dragon armor like paper Honest then capitalized with further lunges which began to crack holes in Tatsumi's defense as he then followed up breaking the guard and driving Malus into Tatsumi's shouder shattering the plate and causing him to drop Valroust as Tatsumi tried to block with a two handed grip Honest's follow up power cleaves which were amplified by the eighth ring of Imperial Fist which Tatsumi noted was Spear's preferred discipline but Honest's mastery made Spear look like an amateur he was that good as he kept up his guard the Dragon armor resceded offering less protection.

Just as it looked like Honest was about to break thru his guard Sheele attacked from behind and drove one of her daggers into his shoulder before following up with Extase which Honest blocked with supernatural ease he then danced blades with Sheele before flinging her to the side with a grapple. He then had to counter Tatsumi who had gotten back up and was fighting Honest with a frenzy of strikes trying to break Honest's guard. "Try all you want silly boy! Your ditz may have given you a save but she's only bought you more seconds before I give you the invitable!" Honest taunted as he countered this time Tatsumi received Honest's right hand grabbing his right wrist snapping the bones and breacking it.

"YEAAGH!" Tatsumi yelled as the bones snapped and Honest retaliated by breaking his guard and sending Smaug flying, then to his shock Honest embed his sword in Tatsumi's leg; his regeneration was going into over drive.

"Now I'll crush you with my bare hands!" Honest yelled and began to wail on him, Tatsumi fealt his ribs crack and his shoulder break as Honest struck those first following it up with hard kicks to his gut as he wrestled him into a choke hold, Tatsumi's face was going red as Honest wraped his arm around his neck. "Oh it has been a wonderful game Tatsumi; but I'm afraid its over: Checkmate!" Honest stated as he began to squeeze.

(Song end)

Smash! Honest was knocked back by a hard punch and he noted Leone standing in front of Tatsumi like a mother lion protecting a wounded mate from hyenas. "You will NOT kill my husband! I will rip you apart!" Leone roared and began to punch Honest who noticed Satake had been overpowered by Leone and now was being disarmed and sliced by Sheele whom had been thrown at him by Honest in his rage allowing Leone to get an edge over him.

Leone Vs Honest… (Song: Battle Cry by Imagine Dragons)

Leone lunged at Honest clawing into his shoulder striking hard and quick with primal fury Honest was shocked and had to hit back hard with seventh ring of Imperial fist the Onslaught stance, however in spite of every punch and kick he thru Leone powered on striking him hard proceeding to wail on him punching him hard in the face causing blood to flood his eyes temporally blinding him giving her all the advantage she needed though he kept her from wringing his neck with his right claw; Leone managed to seize his still human left arm and pull, pulling with the strength of a lioness and yanking the limb out of its socket. "YEEAAAAAAAAAHOJH!" Honest shrieked but that only served to make him angry and he kicked her off of him and dodged a sword flung at him by Tatsumi, who had at this point despite taking extreme abuse to his body and undergoing a slow regen, who came at him with Valruost: Honest seized the blade which was Malus and countered with chain blows. "YOU BOY! DIE! I! MY ARM!" Honest screamed as Tatsumi countered driving the sword into his wounded side. Honest dodged sheathed his sword and grabbed an unconscious Satake from Sheele before jumping into the walkway out of reach. "Ephialties: Shadow Wall!" Honest declared creating a barrier between him and the Night Raid team.

(Song End)

"This is over for now Night Raid; you've won today: but I am not beaten yet; enjoy your victory and Leone: I'm proud of you my Daughter you are truly a worthy child even more so then Syura; shame that you can't see my way of thinking: Goodbye for now!" Honest remarked and a portal materialized and he went thru it dragging his unconscious son thru it and it closed before Tatsumi and the others could catch up, Tatsumi passed out after he escaped.

Shortly… "TATSUMI!" Leone yelled, as Tatsumi recovered consciousness; he was bloody covered in blood and felt the pain of his bones reknitting back to normal and the wounds he had taken healing.

"Oh Leone! I- I've never come this close to death before: Honest he's- way more powerful then he seems" Tatsumi replied looking at his surrondings and noted he was in a bed at Grundewick manor with all the woman he loved looking over him with concern and Aria tending to his injuries.

"I know Tatsumi we know: that was not the kind of fight I expected going into this patrol: we barely made it out alive" Leone explained.

"How are the others" Tatsumi asked concerned.

"Patched up by yours truly and my mother; they took some flesh wounds and some bruises but it will all heal: you though Tatsumi I've never seen you get yourself this badly hurt; I never expect Honest of all people to be able to do this to you" Aria replied.

"Why am I still covered in blood?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because I haven't finished patching up that deep gash in your shoulder; Honest nearly got your corrated artery and your lung; thank goodness he was off by about three inches; but that's not the worst of it your bones have been broken too you'll be out for some time though" Aria explained, Tatsumi noted the wound in his shoulder, it was massive and darkened with blood, he also felt the bones though the regeneration was knitting them back into place.

"My regeneration is doing a lot of the work" Tatsumi commented.

"I'm aware of that but this is the worse I've ever seen you, also anyone else I've ever seen in this state died from wounds this bad: I'm trying my best to save you so shut up and let me work!" Aria yelled and Tatsumi let her do that, he closed his eyes and smiled knowing that he and the others were safe.

Meanwhile at the Palace… "Lord Valtor hear my prayers I summon thee to me now" Honest recited noting the naked and tied up Satake, his Teigu was now out of reach. Valtor manifested from a fiery portal that refrained from ignited the surrondings as he hovered into the room.

"You called Honest? Well what happened to you?" Valtor asked noting the badly bloodied Minister in wrent armor, a torn coat and covered in blood in bruises all the while minus an arm.

"A family quarrel with a daughter of mine whom I'm both angry at and pleased with resulted in me losing my arm; which while I'm proud that she was able to beat me in a fight and remove it; I'm in need of a new limb" Honest explained, Satake opened his eyes.

"Well then the price for that is blood, blood of your own in fact" Valtor stated as another portal opened as his scribe walked in with his desk and abominiation.

"Another contract then; I'll pay; here I'm sure that this one here will do just fine as payment" Honest stated looking at Satake who was now aware of his lack of clothes and the fact he was chained up.

"Father why?" Satake stammered out.

"Because you failed me: the price for failure is well serious; will he do?" Honest asked.

"Yes he's more then paid for it; I'm in need a of a new plaything for my succubi bodyguards" Valtor stated and grabbed Satake by the throat. "Child you are in for pleasure and pain for eternity: Honest have your new limb consider the contract signed" Valtor added as Honest's severed hand that belonged to Valtor's scribe signed the contract.

Honest fell to his knees in pain as a new dark burgundy scaled arm grew in place of his severed limb Valtor thru him another bracer for his arm which latched itself to Honest's shoulder. "A pleasure doing business with you Honest farewell for now, call me if you want to strike another bargin. YAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAHA!" Valtor commented and dragged Satake off thru the portal as he yelled and cried father, Honest didn't so much as shed a tear in fact he smiled.

"More power, next time Tatsumi you won't be as lucky" Honest stated and then picked up a photograph. "I think you look great on my desk next your siblings Leone" Honest stated and put a picture of her that had been taken by his spies next to that of him with Syura and Lillianna that had been taken a few months before Tatsumi had arrived. "More things to come indeed!" Honest stated and laughed.


	34. Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Blind and the Beauty's vengeance

 **Dedicated to Lemony Cheney 2009-2019 Rest in peace Elder Birdsmen.**

Tatsumi looked at things from the comfort of his bed; it had been a week since his bought with Honest and he had gotten time to think about the whole fight and the threat Honest posed to him. "He was way stronger then I gave him credit for, in fact he was holding back and I was going full bore that means one thing I've got to push myself harder, I need to train in every sort of fighting technique, strategy, weapon, and trick that I can learn; I'm going to have to put myself thru the mill and push myself to the limit and pass the limit" Tatsumi thought to himself. He still felt pain in his shoulder, the regeneration had healed the wound along with a number of others in spite of this healing however he had a scar where Honest's blade had pierced him which despite the regeneration didn't heal, he attributed that to the fact that Honest had stabbed him with a Teigu blade which no doubt left serious wounds.

The door to his room opened and in came Sheele, she was dressed in her normal attire and had with her a plate of Angela's cookies and a glass of orange juice, in addition to his breakfast of Eggs, toast, bacon, sausages and hash browns. "Good morning Tatsumi-kun; I brought you breakfast, how are you feeling today" Sheele greeted.

"Like I've failed at being my best; I'm still shocked by how skilled a fighter Honest is and how he nearly mopped the floor with me; I've got to do better" Tatsumi replied as Sheele put his food on his tray.

"I know how your feeling, remember I fought him too, and I can agree he is by far the strongest enemy I've ever faced. If I had more focus, I think I could have taken him down; but in my haste to save you I didn't aim for his head; big mistake on my part. Anyway, I hope you love your breakfast; do you want me to stay here with you?" Sheele asked.

"Yes Sheele, I could use the company; I need to talk to somebody about how I'm feeling; you may want to shut the door though because I want to talk to something that relates to your secret identity" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course," Sheele replied and went to close the door which she did then pulled up a chair and sat next his bed. "So, what do you want to talk about?" Sheele asked.

"I've got a personal request Sheele, could you train me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I've taught you all Night Raid has on offer for you to learn and you're one of the best if the best members of our team" Sheele replied.

"I'm not talking about that kind of training, I want you to train me in the ways of the Sorrowful Ones" Tatsumi replied, to Sheele's surprise.

"Tatsumi what you are asking is well rather personal for me to give you: and it isn't something to be done lightly. You see for me to teach you fully you'd need years of training, unless you are an extremely good study; I trained from a very young age Tatsumi it isn't something that can be done over a matter of days it takes weeks Tatsumi, and well I'm concerned; you see Tatsumi the training is very dangerous if you fail the punishment for failure is death that is how dangerous it is" Sheele explained.

"Please Sheele, do it for me and not just me for everyone forced to live under Honest's rule, I need everything and anything I can learn to hold my own" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright then Tatsumi it's dangerous but if you insist I will teach you, just like my adoptive father taught me; you're in for an arduous training regimen that if you fail it will kill you, I can try my best to refine what takes years of training into a few weeks, we'll start training after you recover from your injuries and after I can set up a training center for you; this is secret however, the techniques of my order aren't usually taught to outsiders so upon the start of your training you will be required to join the guild by me: the Guildmaster." Sheele agreed.

"How long will it take for you to set up a center?" Tatsumi asked.

"About a week, I can use Angela's however there are a number of things I'll require for the training that I'll have to purchase; also you'll have to fast for two days at the start of your training it will strengthen you and condition you to survive in captivity or in the wild" Sheele explained.

"Thanks for agreeing; Any other things I could learn?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi there is no limit to the things you can learn" Sheele replied.

"I know that but are there other techniques and methods I could learn as well as weapons and tricks" Tatsumi asked.

"Well there is the option of learning the methods and fighting techniques of the Elite Seven, there are five members in Night Raid you can learn from, you could also learn the Oarburgh techniques and Grundel techniques too; then there is the Imperial Fist which you are learning from Spear, and special forces techniques and whatever Esdeath uses to be as kickass as she is" Sheele answered.

"I'm going to learn them all, I have to in order to be strong enough to defeat Honest and anything he has to throw at me" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you are willing to do whatever it takes to make the world better, now I've got something else to tell you Tatsumi" Sheele replied and looked at him with happiness in her eyes. "I'm pregnant" Sheele explained, Tatsumi smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that; I'm so glad you are going to be a mother and me a father to our wonderful child, I just hope we can beat Honest before you give birth" Tatsumi replied, then Sheele did something unexpected and pulled a box from her purse. "What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

Sheele opened the box and inside it was ring made of silver and studded with opals. "Tatsumi it's a wedding ring: I want to marry you" Sheele explained.

"I'll gladly do so; one question though where did you get the money for that?" Tatsumi asked.

"From Mine; those jars sure have filled up, as much as she tries to keep herself from swearing she can't help it and when she says just one swear word it's usually followed up by the number 1 bad word with an I-n-g jar, then she says it again when I tell her about the five silver she owes and then goes off ranting a series of profanities so imaginative that I wonder how much she owes me afterwards" Sheele explained.

"Speaking of Mine, has she been you know about getting ready for such a proposal?" Tatsumi asked.

"If she has been, she'll blindside you with it" Sheele replied, then handed him the ring.

"I'll try and get you something just as good if not better for your wedding ring" Tatsumi promised.

"Tatsumi you're so sweet, personally I don't care how expensive the ring is merely that is comes from your heart" Sheele explained and kissed him on the cheek, causing Tatsumi to blush cherry red.

"I'm feeling a lot better now Sheele, I think I'll be ready to get back out in world tomorrow" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm glad to hear it; by the way Esdeath is coming over to see you later, she wants the whole encounter you've had in your words; Seryu and I have told her about the matter but she wants to know what happened to you first hand" Sheele replied.

"Great that means I've got a lot of explaining to do" Tatsumi remarked.

"Yep; anything also you need me to do?" Sheele asked.

"Sleep with me, tonight" Tatsumi requested.

"Granted; I'll be there and don't worry no missions are out that require my attention so you and I will have a lot of time to spend together; tomorrow we will begin your training and also we will survey the countryside and look for some side jobs we can do to get you back in shape and to test out what I've taught you" Sheele granted.

Meanwhile… Leone had done some thinking since her father's true identity was revealed to her and she was not going to steal from ordinary people anymore, but that would require training to avoid letting her kleptomania take hold; so in order to do that she decided to go with one of her favorite scams; conning new arrivals to the city out of their money, and keep an eye out for any interesting people and help them instead of rob them.

So Leone took her usual spot to watch for newcomers, the same one she had stood in when she first met Tatsumi, and waited and looked at the new arrivals to the city; there were a variety of people coming in thru the east gate and so far none peaked her interest a good number of them were refugees fleeing the Revolutionary Army in the east; while the Revolutionary army tried to keep its troops from committing any crimes there were some factions that didn't agree with this line of thinking and were opportunists just looking for an opportunity to rob, rape and kill for their own sick enjoyment; there were even some men and women who would rape captives taken by them in battle; even if these were the people they were supposed to liberate.

"More and more people come here to Melitine expecting to get some relief and safety from the war in the east; yet these poor dregs, they have no knowledge of how bad this city is to live in: and as the war draws on it will get worse. I personally am outraged that these people are having to run from people that are supposed to be fighting for them, it's like both sides are wrong, at least the Revolutionary Army tries to help the people, but at the same time they allow some of the worst parts of society not aligned with the Empire to fight alongside them and don't intervene when they go rampant" Leone thought. "I mean this war it's caused so much pain for the people, I wish it could stop; but it won't end until the reason we are fighting ceases to be in existence; that being the corruption that plagues the Empire as a whole" Leone continued thinking. "But really though what am I fighting for? I sure as hell am not even considering my father's offer not even remotely, did I just use the word father UGH! I hate knowing the fact that I am a child of that monster, the source of all the problems in this Empire; that demon in human skin; really is he even human anymore; somehow he managed to get himself a new arm to replace the one I ripped out of his socket; and he's dabbling in dark magic! Stop yourself Leone if you think about him, he's going to have you questioning yourself which isn't good." Leone continued thinking. "But really there is some sadistic shit going on with both sides; there are some dangerous characters, but there are those who'd want the Emperor dead? Why? He's just a kid, a 12 year old who acts like he's nine, he's not a threat to anybody and he has nothing to do with what is going in the Empire as a whole, that is completely Honest's doing along with all his cronies and supporters as well as the scumbags who think they can do anything they want and get away with it which for the most part they can because the system is damn corrupt" Leone thought.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw somebody that stood out from the mass of refugees, and by that really stood out. That somebody was a man, he had dark-tan skin and wore an orange and blue turban with golden thread woven in, his hair was black and he had an impressive black beard. His clothes were fine orange and blue silk robes worn and sown with golden thread and gems, at his side were two curved daggers of the jambiya style as well as two scimitars, his shoes were padded and he had a monkey on his shoulder. The monkey was dressed in similar garb and the man also had an Elephant leaden with goods and garbed in decorative armor; the man also was alone apart from the animals and however he was clearly wealthy and had a rather large bag slung on his back and a rather fine velvet purse.

"Well, well, I said I wouldn't rob ordinary people but I didn't say nothing about the rich" Leone schemed mentally, and suppressed a smirk as the man walked in her direction.

"Excuse me miss I've never been to this city and I'm looking for someone" the man explained.

"Aren't we all, and it is Mrs. as I am married; but you are forgiven, my husband is well how shall I put this badly injured in a recent attempt on his life and mine" Leone explained. "Anyway, but where are my manners my name is Leone and yours is?" Leone asked.

"Ibbin Al-Hashim, I've come to the Capital in search of my adopted daughter; she came here a few years back and I haven't heard from her since so I came to check up on her" Ibbin explained.

"Right and I'm the Empress, you aren't here to trade at all?" Leone asked.

"No that is indeed my reason for being here; Mrs. Leone have you seen her if not I will be on my way as I don't have time to deal with the sarcastic" Ibbin explained.

"Ok my apologies, so who is she and what does she look like?" Leone asked, figuring it may be worth a shot as she might know the person in question.

"My daughter, well my adopted daughter, I adopted her from an orphanage when she was six years old, she was rather eager to leave the place and I having lost my wife during child birth along with my child was eager to have a child to care for. Anyway, her name is Sheele, she would be about your age, she is quite beautiful and smart, she has purple hair and eyes like the people from the west and she wears glasses because she is near-sighted and she can be a bit-airheaded at times" Ibbin explained.

"I know her; she's a friend of mine, now look this city is full of people that aren't trustworthy; I've spent my life knowing that and having to survive here since my birth, I have friends but I am very protective of them so I'm not sure if I can trust you" Leone replied honestly, because his description was spot on.

"And I can't exactly be reliant on someone who has been eyeing my coin purse during this conversation, however I can see in your eyes you are being honest; also I can advise you that it would be rather foolish to attempt to rob me, I may look flamboyant and I am rather wealthy however I am not defenseless, not remotely, however I can make it worth your while if you can lead me to my daughter" Ibbin explained.

"Alright I'll bite, just warning you though I'm not incapable of defending myself and I'll also add that if you try anything to harm me or my friends, you'll regret it and you won't last a Night in this delightful city" Leone agreed.

"I won't betray your trust Mrs. Leone; I will pay you once we've found my daughter" Ibbin agreed and the monkey ooked. "Don't worry Omar I haven't forgotten about you and I'm sure Sheele hasn't either" Ibbin commented and the monkey smiled.

At Grundewick Manor… Tatsumi did one of the few things he could do when he was bed-ridden and recovering from injuries and that was reading books; in this case ones on tactics for duel wielding; in fact he had plans to also ask Cassandra to mentor him in the subject as she favored the multi-blade fighting style to make use of her extra limbs. He was studying a section on bladespiners of Tokaro when Seryu walked in with Koro at her side she wore a bathrobe and carried a gift basket.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun; I've come her to cheer you up and give you something to enjoy" Seryu replied and put down the basket by his nightstand, next to the other 20 or so gift baskets with get well soon cards brought to him by his lovers and his friends.

"Give me something to enjoy? Seryu I'm up to my knees in baskets, also I've nearly recovered from my injuries" Tatsumi explained. To this Seryu winked and untied her robe and dropped revealing the fact she wore very revealing, seductive and scandalous dark green underwear, clearly made of velvet and silk along with silk stockings held up by a garter belt.

"Just a little bit of fun you know you want it" Seryu seduced, revealing her left breast and nipple that was begging for his lips.

"Yes I do, It's been what, 4 days since I last had any sex and well I deserve it" Tatsumi agreed, Seryu removed her bra completely as well as her panties putting them and her robe to the side out of the walkway and by the closet, she then walked over and climbed under Tatsumi's blankets and removed his pajama bottoms and his underwear to find him fully aroused and ready.

"Man, I missed this" Seryu commented as she got into the bed and begin her work. Tatsumi moved the blankets forward and put his book to the side so he could see Seryu who wrapped her breasts around his length and began blowing him, he loved her cute look and the expression of her eyes. Tatsumi gave her a head pat and caressed her hair as she blowed him and massaged him.

"I love that soft hair of hers; man it's always so silky and it smells like watermelons which isn't a surprise given how much she loves them and the absurd amount of watermelon shampoo; her hair I consider it more valuable than actual copper" Tatsumi thought as he continued to caress her hair, while Seryu continued to blow him as she rubbed her breasts along the length before taking it deeper. "Man Seryu you give the best blowjobs in the world and that's even factoring in Esdeath and Cosmina" Tatsumi thought, even though Esdeath gave the added factor of the biggest boobs and best titjob he'd ever received she wasn't as talented when it came to blowjobs, not to say she wasn't amazing, but there were people who were better at it, Cosmina had years of experience but to her it was more a case of a cat playing with a ball of yarn then a matter of love; but Seryu it was all love thru and thru. "CUMMING!" Tatsumi yelled as he unloaded inside Seryu's mouth she swallowed all of it and then licked her lips

"Delicious, just as sweet as normal now for the main show" Seryu commented then climbed on him taking him deep inside her, while she kissed him romantically. "You know you missed me" Seryu remarked in his ear.

"Not just you this in general; Seryu I wonder if this is the chief reason you married me" Tatsumi commented.

"Ha! Well as much as I love having sex with you Tatsumi that wasn't the only reason I married you, I married you because your values are the same as mine and you've taught me what Justice truly is and you accept me regardless of my faults" Seryu replied as he intensified his thrusts before slowing again. "Seriously though; I'd hate to live in a universe where we never fell in love and I died a virgin and in some horribly fucked up way" Seryu added and the both laughed.

"That I can agree with; you know what would be worse though Seryu, living in a world where people who loved me and I loved died horribly and never got to express their feelings and one where Esdeath died without me having the chance to love her only for me to survive and have to live in world without her and most if not all the people I care about" Tatsumi replied.

"You're right that would be worse, Tatsumi though the worst of all would be a world without you: because you make the biggest difference in this world of ours" Seryu agreed.

"You're right and the worst world would be one without me" Tatsumi agreed too, then they resumed love making.

Meanwhile…. Leone was taking the most round about path she could, Ibbin knew it of course and asked her to stop. "Excuse me Mrs. Leone, I can tell you aren't taking the most direct path to our destination; as I can see you still have trouble believing my story" Ibbin stated.

"Yeah, but how did you figure that out?" Leone asked, shocked that he was aware she was actively trying to take the most roundabout path.

"I may not look it but I have my share of experience in the broader world and have can tell if someone is trying to mislead me; everyone has a tell that shows if they are trying to deceive someone: as for my story I have something that will verify it completely" Ibbin explained, he then opened his bag and pulled out a photograph, the photograph showed a much younger Ibbin and an 8 year old Sheele, clad in clothing that was typical to his custom's and she was hugging him affectionately and he was holding her to him in a father's embrace.

Leone was surprised, but she couldn't question the authenticity of the photograph, that was Sheele, the eyes were the same, her hair, her features, everything screamed Sheele but also her expression showed the same one that Leone herself made when she hugged her mother. "I- I- My apologies, here I'll lead you to Grundewick Manor, the main way" Leone apologized and lead him down the proper route and they arrived at Grundewick Manor in short time.

"Halt" Guarry shouted, as he and the other guards stood at ready.

"Ease off Guarry, he's with me: look do we have the means to care for an elephant and monkey?" Leone replied.

"I- We do, sir who are you? Mrs. Leone trusts you and that is enough for me but I'd like to know your name" Guarry questioned.

"I am Ibbin Al-Hashiim, I have come here to see my daughter Sheele" Ibbin explained.

"Very well you may enter, but watch yourself, the Grundels are nice people and very caring however they aren't so forgiving if you cause problems for them or for the people of this city if you catch my meaning" Guarry explained.

"I understand, I won't do anything to offend my hosts" Ibbin explained, the gate was opened, Leone first led him to the large stables which kept the many horses the Grundels own and was large enough hold an elephant. He was then led inside to the greeting of Aria who had just walked into the entry hall.

"Hey Leone, who's this?" Aria asked surprised by the new arrival.

"I am Ibbin Al-Hashiim, I came here to visit my daughter Sheele" Ibbin explained.

"Sheele? Well she's in her room I'll take her to you if you're genuine" Aria explained, Ibbin showed her the photograph. "I see well I'll lead to her" Aria replied and then led him upstairs.

Shortly… Sheele was busy enjoying the thing that soothed her most apart from Tatsumi, a good book, when she heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Sheele asked.

"Me, Sheele there is a guest wanting to see you specifically" Aria explained, Sheele bookmarked her spot and went to open the door to find the last person she had expected to see.

"DADDY!" Sheele yelled and hugged her father in a tight hug.

"Sheele, it is good to see you again my sweet angel" Ibbin replied holding her tight, Omar the monkey joined in.

"And Omar too, I missed you too" Sheele declared. They broke the embrace and Sheele asked "What are you doing here?"

"It is best we discuss that in private Sheele, we have so much catch up on too; Ms. Grundel could you leave us to talk in private" Ibbin explained.

"Sure, and it is Mrs. Grundel, I'm married, my husband is currently indisposed at the moment due to the fact he's recovering from an injury; speaking of got to check on him" Aria explained and left the two alone.

Sheele shut the door. "So how have you been my dear daughter how have things been going? And your mission how is that progressing?" Ibbin asked.

"Well things have been busy lately, as for the contract, so far I haven't had the best opportunity to eliminate my target, I tried recently and failed however he won't be able to track me or identify me because of my allies" Sheele explained.

"Please dear explain to me, tell me it all, we have all the time we need at the moment" Ibbin replied.

"Alright then; I guess I should start at the beginning, when I arrived at the Capital I spent my first month trying to integrate myself in the city during which time I fell in love, unfortunately we weren't meant to be, the man I love sacrificed himself to save me, though I managed to avenge his death, I was severely injured by other attackers and if it hadn't been for the intervention of the lady of this house and her daughter I would have met my end on the streets due to my wounds" Sheele explained. "That girl who lead you here is Aria Grundel and she's the daughter of Lord Constantine and Lady Angela Grundel, they live here and have accommodated me since they took me in; I joined up with Night Raid, the top assassination unit of the Revolutionary Army as a means to take down my main target as well as other odd jobs; I've been member for about a year now, and well I have no regrets for joining the group they are good and solid people, and I met my friends Mine and my new BFF Seryu; but most importantly I met my husband to be" Sheele explained.

"Husband to be? Sheele who is this lucky man" Ibbin asked.

"His name is Tatsumi, he's well probably the most lucky man on the whole of Eden, he was from the countryside but now he's pretty much taken to the Capital like he was meant to be here, however I don't mean in a bad way, he is probably one of the most influential people in the city if not the whole Empire because the Emperor is well his biggest fan; he's got a tight rope to walk as he has to live a double life as a Night Raid assassin, and a major political and military leader including being the second command and husband of the Empire's finest Esdeath herself. Overall he is lucky and noble by marriage, but he's also handsome, smart, an absolute stallion in bed, as well as being level headed and optimistic, but he's also a person who sees the good in others and does the right thing regardless of whether it is practical or not; we'll be marrying soon, we haven't set a date but I proposed to him and he accepted, but that's not all daddy, I'm going to be a mother in less than a year; hopefully when all this is over and Honest is dead the Empire reformed" Sheele explained.

"My dear daughter; I'm so glad to hear that you have found love, I'm also glad that I'll be having grandchildren soon; Sheele you may not be my child by blood but you are my child in spirit and in law; I'm also glad you will be getting married soon in fact I will stay for the ceremony and hand you off to him myself" Ibbin explained.

"Thank you, father, now what brings you here to Melitine? I'm trusting its personal not guild business" Sheele replied.

"It is personal, rather for you, Sheele I've spent the last two years continuing the investigation into the slavers who took your birth parents and my search has borne fruit, both good and bad fruit, as well as brought me here" Ibbin explained.

"So, what did you find out?" Sheele asked immediately interested.

"Unfortunately I found out that your birth parents died five years ago I'm sorry; I'm even more saddened to learn that those responsible are still at large and the man who cause their deaths is still alive" Ibbin explained, Sheele took off her glasses and wept, this was sad news for her; she had always hoped in her heart they were still alive and the news that they had been killed was extremely painful for her. "I'm sorry Sheele, there wasn't anything that could be done; they died as a result of being tortured by a corrupt noble couple, they were rather sadistic slave masters, both frequently raped their slaves, the woman was the most abusive though, your mother lost the will to live after she was forced to have an abortion by the noble lord to remove his offspring, she committed suicide by flinging herself from the roof of the slave quarters after slashing her wrists" Ibbin explained.

"What happened to my father? I hate to ask but I must know, because the truth makes me stronger" Sheele asked.

"Your father suffered the worst fate; he was left to the lord's wife to do with as she pleased, and what she loved to do most was rape him and feed him the flesh of infants that were those born of her husband to his slave girls, she kept him alive for a long time and he died of Robula's disease that he contracted from the food and water he was fed; the lady lamented the loss of her favorite plaything" Ibbin explained.

"I hope those monsters are dead" Sheele remarked, angry.

"They aren't I gave them worse fate then death, I broke them body and mind; I gelded the nobleman and tore out his eyes; I blinded the woman and raped her and left her broken along with her husband; they then with no purpose to live and having understood the extent of their crimes turned themselves in. They are currently rotting in a prison made for the criminally insane and by this point they likely have died from Immuration; however, they aren't the ones who bare the most responsibility for their deaths that belongs to the slaver who sold them to that rotten couple" Ibbin explained. "That slaver I've had extreme trouble in tracking down until rather recently, I managed to get a lead that nearly resulted in his death along with those loyal to him however I only succeeded in robbing him of power and criminal empire; now the only thing he has is a band of robbers forced to prey on the weak outside this city to survive" Ibbin explained.

"Who's this monster, I'll cut his head off myself" Sheele asked getting pissed.

"Daughter calm you anger, it will lead you into making rash decisions; now the name of this slaver is Tanto, he once ran a rather extensive slaver empire, he had connections across the Empire itself and his paws in every route possible; he had his take from every military campaign, both of the defeated and of the soldiers who didn't perform well; he's been in the business for 20 years Sheele, and is responsible for the enslavement and murder of tens of thousands of innocent people: I managed to destroy his organization thru a matter of assassinations and exposing his top allies in the government; this has left a power vacuum during which he escaped and has taken his most loyal followers and become an outlaw praying on innocents throughout the Empire and most recently near the Capital itself" Ibbin explained.

"I've heard stories of a new group of brigands operating near the city and hitting outlying villages; I had no idea though that the person leading it is responsible for my parents' deaths: I'll lead a team to take him out, I'll get a group together ask for information about him, what he looks like and where his hideout is: and when I find him I'll kill him quickly and apologize as I snuff out his wretched heart" Sheele explained.

"I will go with you on that mission, mainly to keep you level-headed but also to see how this war has shaped you" Ibbin explained.

"I will try and stay level-headed, but it will take some time to put together a team, scout out the base and then plan the attack; I'll have to tell Najenda about this too" Sheele explained.

"Good then, in the meantime though we should spend time together; I'd like to meet that new husband of yours and give him congratulations" Ibbin replied.

Shortly… Tatsumi and Seryu kissed passionately as they continued their love making, Seryu pressed against him and Tatsumi pressed against her, their heat warming each other. The door opened and Seryu dismounted and rolled to the side under the covers. Sheele walked in with Ibbin while Omar the monkey perched on her shoulder. "Sheele? Good to see you what is it? And who is that?" Tatsumi asked surprised.

"I'm sorry for not knocking, Tatsumi I want you to meet someone." Sheele explained.

"I am Ibbin Al-Hashiim and I am Sheele's father" Ibbin explained.

"Ibbin, I've heard about you a lot actually Sheele talked about you a lot when we had time; anyway, I guess you heard the news about our engagement, I've not bought Sheele a ring yet because I've been bedridden as a result of a rather severe injury" Tatsumi explained.

"Indeed, she told me about it, you are a lucky man and brave man, now tell me who wounded you, I've heard about you and know your secrets so you can be honest with me" Ibbin replied.

Tatsumi thought about that then responded. "Alright the source of my wound was none other than Prime Minister Honest himself; I've never fought anyone on his level before, he's extremely strong and fast; I've- never lost that badly before if it weren't for Sheele and Leone I would've died" Tatsumi replied grimacing at his injury.

"I understand, you have indeed underestimated him that means you will need to plan to be better the next time you face him and train as hard as you can" Ibbin replied.

"I plan to, I'll learn every single fighting style, weapon, tactic, strategy and build my bodies endurance to its limits" Tatsumi replied.

"Then you will need to first focus your learning on your mind; the mind is the greatest of weapons and it can never be underestimated" Ibbin explained. "But for now, you must rest recover from your wound and then begin your training" Ibbin concluded then left along with Sheele. Twenty seconds after they left Seryu popped out from under the sheets.

"Boy Sheele really knows how to show up at the wrong time, I remember when she walked in on Mine masturbating once, I laughed my head off" Seryu commented then she and Tatsumi went back to making love.

That Evening… Esdeath walked into Tatsumi's room and was partly enraged and sad to see him in this state; enraged because Honest had not only managed to do this to him but also because Honest was stronger than she gave him credit for, while she was saddened to see her husband injured, for anything to scar his wonderful body was horrid especially because it ruined his record of victory; he was stronger than he looked but Honest was stronger still. So, she pulled out her trusty knife which she got as soon as she learned to walk and threw it at him, Tatsumi dodged. "Just testing your reflexes; making sure all this rest hasn't softened them" Esdeath explained.

"They haven't not remotely, don't do that again" Tatsumi replied and they both laughed, this was a bit of joke they'd developed during his Jaeger training as reflex testing.

"Tatsu-bunny how are you feeling?" Esdeath asked stepping over to his bed.

"Way better than I have been, I'll be back in action tomorrow I feel it" Tatsumi replied.

"That is wonderful news, here let me join you I have to update with the state of court at the moment" Esdeath explained and sat down in a chair next to him and pulled her knife out of the headboard.

"Alright, what's happened over the past week while I've been in this bed?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well pretty much business as usual, though I've noted a few odd things; first off Honest has a new arm which I have no explanation for as you told me Leone ripped it out of the socket, then there is matter I've not seen any signs of his son Satake either almost if he's just vanished, that is never a good sign if anyone goes missing in the palace and though Satake was a scumbag for him to vanish without a trace is completely unusual; especially given the fact that I've caught him sneaking around the Twins' rooms which has sickened me" Esdeath explained.

"Esdeath I'm surprised Seryu hasn't given the full report she's still trying to make sense of it and so am I; but Honest is- dabbling in black magic, he managed to generate a portal to escape along with his son from our encounter, and somehow he's managed to regrow his arm, that's either black magic or scientific knowhow beyond anyone but Dorothea and we both know she'd never give that scumbag a dose of Renewal" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath was genuinely shocked by that news and scared too which was unusual as he thought nothing scare her.

"Demonic magic, I've- seen it before, seven times and each encounter stranger and more terrifying then the last, Tatsumi you know me and to say that I'm not afraid of anything is true, mostly, there is one thing however I fear: that which is not of this world, in fact there are things that have evoke a primal fear present in all human beings as if a natural predator that is designed specifically to hunt us" Esdeath explained.

"Tell me more, if Honest is dabbling in the occult and making pacts with things not of Eden we should know everything we can" Tatsumi replied.

"My tribe has a history of oral tradition passed down from our leader to leader, the leader is a strongest member of my tribal clan and as such we retain and learn the knowledge of the past. In my tribe we passed down many great stories, those of glorious leaders, victories, foes we defeated, records of our possessions amongst other things; but the most important thing beyond our history is our legends, tales of ages long past but we remembered of great things beyond that in the world today, things both amazing and terrifying" Esdeath explained. "Among our legends are stories of great monsters: Wendigo, Shardhoppers, Cun Annun, Mokta, Yawee, the Great Rocs, and so on, but most terrifying were the stories of the Shadow People and the demons of Sheogh. Stories told us of a great civilization, the first great human Empire, ageless and powerful, it ruled a for centuries until it collapsed due to infighting and corruption leaving a great vacuum and dark age of chaos and conflict. During that age a people of the first Empire called in my tribe's language the Sur Dethal or Shadow People rose to power, at first they were noble and good people interested only in restoring peace to a world riddled by chaos, they unified some of the warring tribes and created first a kingdom from which they traded with all the known world and races of the known world; even the Dwarves and Lizardmen paid homage to them. "Esdeath explained

"However as time went on things changed, amongst the leaders they become interested in exploring the unknown during which they discovered things that no human, dwarf, or any other race was meant to discover and which should have stayed buried and things that should be forgotten; dark secrets, forbidden knowledge, things both bizarre and terrifying, but most of all a dark twisted religion" Esdeath explained. "Over time this new faith began to take hold and with it came dark things the crept in from the deep places of the world and from realms beyond reach; the people began to become more twisted, but the most common thing they brought to the world was Sharn Akul which is to say black stone; a dark stone thicker than granite and blacker then obsidian. The Shadow people built great cities and structures out of this rock which came from an unknown place but they had no shortage of it; with this new faith they forsook the gods of their ancestors and of the old Empire and this new faith changed them, their kingdom grew into an Empire, an empire forged in blood and black stone; ruled by two kings and Priest King, their armies were of a kind not seen since the days of the First Empire and which have no like in the world today; those armies went forth and conquered. My people were among those who brought into their Empire and among those who suffered under the rule, they ruled with an iron grip but a fair hand; but they committed abominations beyond those that even the most demented and insane of the Empire today could ever dream of" Esdeath explained further.

"Their Empire spread far and wide into all the known lands and perhaps far beyond, only the Sky Giants, Lizardmen and Dwarves were unconquered, and not by lack of trying on the part of the Shadow people. The Sky Giants' castles were unbreakable by conventional means and those that fled their oppressors took safe haven and refuge with the Giants and their descendants live there to this day. The Dwarves' Mountain halls of stone proved even harder to take, not to mention their warrior prowess, technology and sheer stubbornness were too great to overcome. And the Lizardmen, well they possess artifacts of elder days that make the Teigus of today look like novelties, also their leaders the great Slaan wield magic that no human being could comprehend and are ancient beyond the first Empire, to put it simply one Slaan could destroy the entire Capital with a single spell if they wanted to, however they hibernate for centuries in deep thought. Overtime however the Shadow Empire became more and more dark, men and women of their ruling class bred and married demons and their children became half-demons that lived for centuries at a time and could mask their presence in illusions, their great pyramids became the sights of mass human sacrifice and blood orgies, dark creatures fought in their armies and the stone itself began to taint the lands around it, twisting the minds and the hearts of any that dwelt near them" Esdeath explained.

"Fortunately for the world many of the people oppressed by the Shadow People rose up in great revolts, greater than those of previous generations and allied with the free races and with their might wiped out the Shadow People to the last; casting their cities into ruin and breaking the shackles of oppression that had lasted for centuries and bringing in another age of chaos, humans went back to fighting amongst themselves, among them forgetting the shadow people even existed let alone who they were, my tribe however has never forgotten them or forgiven in fact we strived for generations to keep anything like them returning to the world: If Honest is making pacts and using dark magic he must be stopped and killed otherwise it would be the end of the world" Esdeath concluded.

"So, you've said you've seen creatures like this before tell me where you encountered them and when" Tatsumi replied.

"When I was three years old and stronger than most of my age I often wandered about from our camps in search of things, I got this knife one day as a gift from my father and in my foolishness decided to wander off into one of the old ruins we had encamped near; the ruins were made of Sharn Akul, they were the size of a small town and well preserved, eerily so, and silent; not even birds sung, and life seemed to avoid it, I saw no insects moving about and the forest stayed a great distance from it, there were no plants either" Esdeath explained. "So I went in; it may have been foreboding but I'm a Patras and we don't cower from anything, so I pressed on, explored the buildings, the stone was greasy to touch it was like mud; but the images disturbed me; they depicted many things that were weird to me at the time and now looking back were abominable; but that was nothing towards what I found when I ran inside, I saw a creature twisted, human like but with a distorted face, chittering and bright red eyes, a long tail and claws, I saw it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I ran like the wind of a hurricane. When I returned to my people I told them what I saw, my father sent some of our warriors to deal with the creature and they slew it, when they returned they told us that it had left no corpse, not even a trace save the smell of Sulphur" Esdeath explained.

"My next encounter with creatures like this didn't happen until years later, at the age of 14 as a young general in the Empire's army, during one of my campaigns we had to encamp in one of those old ruins to keep it from falling into enemy hands; I regret that decision because it cost a lot of lives; the night after we made our camp we began to hear strange sounds, drums pounded in the like of the Southern warrior tribes of the south then came the yelling, shadows grabbed soldiers and yanked them away as portals opened and horned demons charged into the world alongside imps and other vile spawn of Hell itself if not for the power of my Teigu and the sheer resolve of my soldiers we would have been massacred but at the end we are able to fight our way out of that godforsaken ruin we didn't turn or look back, we left behind everything we couldn't carry and everyone who was wounded or couldn't escape; we were desperate for supplies afterwards so I lead a night attack on an enemy position which actually ended up not only resolving our supply problem but turned the entire conflict in our favor" Esdeath continued.

"The most recent encounter I had though was three years ago in the war against the Southern Tribes; this is probably the darkest story I could tell you and I won't think less of you if you don't want to hear it" Esdeath continued.

"No Esdeath, I've got to hear it, you once told me in order to defeat my enemy I must know them, and if Honest is using demons I have to understand how to beat them" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright; but just so you know this very painful to me, I lost a lot of good people in the fight that occurred including someone I had grown close to in fact I even considered him to be the one for me. It was three years ago in the hardest stages of the Southern War, the people of the south were never unified, they were much like my clan as they were tribal, when I say people of the south I mean the far south in the deep jungles of Makulmakhan not people that dwelt in the southern provinces who have a lighter shade of dark skin and are quite civilized and have been part of the Empire for centuries. Anyway that's not the point, my point being the reason why the Southern Lands of Makulmakhan, Bawama and Kretachi were never conquered until recently were due to the many tribes, it wasn't a manner of defeating one ruler like it was when I conquered the North, no it required numerous battles and defeating numerous leaders, against tribes that fought as guerillas and used weaponry and tactics that made them extremely hardy foes" Esdeath explained. "It got even harder when some tribes grouped up, if not for the Lizardmen we would have gotten ourselves hopelessly lost and been picked apart by the natives. Now because we had to take down one tribe at a time we found ourselves taking losses, heavy ones too, also we had to conscript new troops and bring down more reserves, fortunately the Empire was not at war with anyone else at the time so the full might could be brought to bear on the Southern lands; it was like throwing meat into a grinder, people who didn't get used to the conditions died first, then there were the diseases which caused trouble and a good deal of death: Fortunately the Lizardmen priests healed the more serious cases and our medical supplies were kept good, I even went about the process of inoculating myself and my subordinates with the diseases to build up an immunity to them then develop vaccines from the blood of those who'd built up immunity." Esdeath explainded. "The campaign draged on though, it had been months since we first set off from Melitine and gone was the fanfare which I knew was a deceiver to fresh recruits and to even some of newer commanders; but savvier people like myself and Najenda knew it would not be easy and we never realized how much of hell it was. But I'm getting off track again; the encounter began when I took a vanguard of 2000 of my most elite soldiers to southwest, now not all tribes had resisted others submitted to Imperial rule; one of these was the Kandameeki they were a tribe that for centuries had been at war with another tribe, the N'ghai'mavahki, who the Kandameeki requested our aid against" Esdeath explained.

"The N'ghai'mavahki were true savages, now when I say the Southerners were savages, I mean that in the way they chose to fight not in their culture however there were some tribes that were literal savages so savage that the other more civilized tribes feared them. The N'ghai'mavahki were exactly that. they wore light armor made of bronze and bones, they painted their bodies with white woad and had intricate tattoos, their helmets were extremely interesting in design they allowed for full integration of their warmasks which were their most iconic feature: warmasks decorated with imagery that was terrifying to look at; they also wore belts on which they kept the skulls of their enemies. Esdeath explained. "They were extremely brutal, they would raid villages and take captives back to their homes which weren't made of wood like the other tribes no they made their homes inside ruins made of that Black Stone that I found far too familiar, they practiced human sacrifice and cannibalism, their warriors were found of rape, as well as torture of kind they could think of, our first encounters were brief affairs we sent first envoys to request their submission, we found the envoys dead wrapped in thorn bushes their jaws broken open in screams their eyes torn out and flayed alive as well as having their insides cut out and eaten, I've seen many things Tatsumi but having seen soldiers I sent to their deaths tortured like that, it really rivals the loss of my tribe in a way. Then came the fighting, we fought in the jungles as we usually did, their warriors laid ambushes for us I spotted and turn them against them, they blocked paths and scattered booby traps of various and cunning design I send Incineration Squads with Flamethrowers to torch them, as well as the a fair few ambush positions." Esdeath explained

"This lasted for two weeks, Najenda and I did our best to keep the courage up and I rationed our bullets well and kept our baggage trains under 24 hour guards which always rotated; I never slept long and when I woke I found that at least five soldiers had died the night before, and twice that were taken; but we pushed on and arrived at the home of the tribe: the Black City that they called Yeen, it was massive and populated by the tribe, extensively too, it was as if they were the original inhabitants. We didn't bother with a siege because our captives had informed us that anyone they captured was brought back for ritual sacrifice before their bodies were thrown into great thorn bushes after they had been stripped of any choice cuts of meat, if you can consider humans as a food source which they did, and luck was once again on our side as we interrupted a ritual, well I thought luck was on our side as it had all been a trap they wanted us to come so they could offer us all up at once in a bloody battle; well we fought long and hard, things got worst though even though we killed ten of their warriors for every soldier we lost that didn't seem to faze them, above us however on the massive black pyramid their priests sacrificed their remaining captives and summoned demons all of shapes and sizes, those demons attacked us and men and women fighting for me began to lose heart and despair then I heard one scream I wish I hadn't." Esdeath explained. "Najenda was grabbed by one of their savage warriors who began to drag her away, when she resisted and tried to overpower him he cut off her left wrist and hand leaving a stump in its place, I then flung ice shards at him all but one hit their mark killing him but that same attack also hit Najenda with one of those shards in the cross fire; blinding her in one eye" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi frowned and was sullen at this he'd never asked Najenda the specifics of how she had lost her arm and eye and this news hurt him and made him realize how much he had done for Najenda in giving her the Renewal which healed those injuries.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that, anyway as I killed that warrior and then four demons I was nearly killed by a dart, I say nearly because one of my subordinates jumped and took the hit for me; unfortunately it was coated in a deadly toxin that would kill him in an hour; eventually the tribes warriors broke and ran; leaving their woman and children behind; after that defeat we had broken the N'ghai'mavahki and defeat the demons they had summoned; after the battle I held my mortally wounded protector in my hands: he was Spear's brother; Lucian, as he died I admitted my feelings for him and he admitted his for me and he died in my arms; if not for his last request not to take vengeance on the tribe's people I would have, but I granted it then personally took him back to the Capital alongside Najenda who I had treated for her injuries and acquired a prosthetic; Najenda wasn't as great a fighter afterwards and I knew that, she told though that after that war was over and if she was alive she'd retire from military life and personally I agreed with her; a crippled warrior who survives a war is a warrior who shouldn't have to fight again" Esdeath explained "So that's all I know about demons, and having faced them Tatsumi they are truly terrify-ing agh!" Esdeath explained and collapsed, Tatsumi got out of bed to help her.

"What's wrong?!" Tatsumi asked.

"Nothing, I just had an extreme pain in my side also I think the baby just gave me the first kick" Esdeath explained.

"Alright its ok, I'm here for you" Tatsumi comforted.

"I'm glad to hear it" Esdeath replied and kissed him. "Now that I've told you my stories, I think I'm owed a reward, I need you- need your touch" Esdeath explained with lust in her eyes.

"Of course; I know how much you need it" Tatsumi replied and escorted her back to his bed where they both stripped and made passionate love.

That night… Village of Takara, countryside outskirts of Melitine… The night was usually a time feared by people though not those so close to the Capital which even though corruption was commonplace inside the city itself the countryside villages were kept safe from most external threats by frequent patrols from the city guard who were from the outlying villages which doted the countryside near to the city. However, security could only go so far and the guards protecting Takara weren't professional soldiers, though they were decently armed, so when a well-armed and well-trained group of brigands came into to rob the local inhabitants there was little that could be done except fight them off and hope reinforcements arrive.

Of course, groups of brigands that would outright attack a village this close to Melitine itself usually found themselves on the receiving end of Imperial troops who needed the practice so most stayed away from the hamlets, but that didn't help those who weren't inside their homes at night. Such was the case of one unfortunate older woman and her 17-year old Daughter Nea who happened to have been late getting home due to having to carry a decent amount of food home; Nea's father was a merchant and the mayor of the town, and his wife and daughter frequently went to the city to purchase food that couldn't be found in the village as it was devoted to cash crops and had to rely on Melitine for food.

Then it happened; they had barely gotten far when ten well-armed robbers jumped them; to their surprise both mother and daughter were armed and managed to kill three of the robbers with their swords before they realized their mistake; this didn't stand well for the leader who intended to enslave these women, however because they had put up a fight and killed some of his men, and killed three more before he changed his plan proceeded to attack them himself. The leader was no slouch as a swordsman, he wielded a katana and as the last of his men fell to the woman and daughter he attacked and overpowered them; slicing the daughter across her face and causing her to drop to the ground he then grappled with the woman before disarming and overpowering her knocking her out. The leader then looked at the bodies noted the daughter was down and left leaving the corpses in his wake.

Nea woke from her injury noting it was dark; but extremely so, she placed her hand in front of her eyes and realized the extent of what had happened to her. "I'm blind" Nea thought, she then felt around grabbed what she could before heading off. By dumb luck she bumped into one of the night watchmen who responded with "Hey Nea watch it"

"I can't I've been blinded; brigands attacked me and mother; I don't know what happened I think mom's dead: I couldn't see a thing: get me to my father and send a patrol out!" Nea explained urgently. Nea then was lead home and told her father what happened he sent out the patrols to search and found nothing but the bodies of the robbers.

The following morning… Tatsumi was awakened the following morning by Sheele surprise attacking him, he countered with his own body punches and found himself quickly overpowered. "I'm sorry Tatsumi but you've lost; welcome to the first thing you'll be learning as part of my training, being alert at all times and being ready to overpower an attacker should they catch you asleep: By the way it's time for breakfast" Sheele explained.

"Ok Sheele, thanks for the heads up" Tatsumi replied, Sheele then left the room and he dressed in his uniform knowing full well he'd be getting back to work and have a lot of it to catch up on; he then headed downstairs to find Aria sitting down and next to her food was his breakfast made exactly how he liked it. "Good morning my Capital Angel, thanks for getting my food ready" Tatsumi greeted.

"You're welcome; now dig in you have a busy day ahead of you" Aria replied and smiled.

Tatsumi then smelt his food took in the smell of bacon and scrambled eggs and dug in; then he took a drink and spat it out. "What the!?" Tatsumi exclaimed. "This isn't normal OJ, I feel woozy" Tatsumi stated and began to slump over but he fought it.

"Welcome to survival training Tatsumi; I thought it would be useful for you to start building up an immunity to poisons, the trick is simple small minor doses in your food and drink consume them and you'll be immune to it" Aria explained.

"Great next time a bit of forewarning" Tatsumi stated then left to get a different glass of orange juice and dump the poisoned one out before resuming eating his food, after eating he then left with Seryu to head to Jaeger HQ.

Later… "Tatsumi I've got a mission for you, Mez and Seryu, I want you three to patrol the outlying villages near Melitine for any trouble" Esdeath ordered.

"Alright any particular reason why you're having me do it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because Tatsumi I have a bit of ulterior motive; there are people in the countryside that are unaware of the corruption inside the city I want you to begin recruitment for a special military force; I've gotten authority from Makoto to create a new reaction force to deal with brigands and danger beasts in the countryside but also as a foundation for our army: so I need you to recruit some likeminded people to our cause and deal with anything troubling them; also let them know who sent you; it will spread my good name; I'm determined to improve my image; some people are afraid of me and I want to let those in the Empire that do know they shouldn't because they aren't my enemies; only our enemies need fear me. Also, you have a repour with the people they care for you" Esdeath explained.

"Alright I'll do it" Tatsumi replied and left with his partners in tow, he didn't get to far out of the city before Mez and Seryu led him off to the side. "What?" Tatsumi asked.

"So, well this is going to be a dull run, you want to have some fun before we do the boring work of recruiting and checking for signs of trouble?" Mez replied suggestively with a smirk.

"By doing what exactly?" Tatsumi asked annoyed by Mez's vagueness.

"Well why don't you show me those hot springs you're found of; we could go for a soak" Mez teased grinning seductively.

"Yeah come on Tatsumi let loose, even Justice needs a break from time to time" Seryu commented, Koro woofed. "I wasn't asking your opinion Koro" Seryu replied.

"I- well- "Tatsumi stammered, then Mez let a boob slip out of her outfit in a tease. "Ok then why not?" Tatsumi agreed, then they went off to the hot springs near Night Raid HQ, they then stripped off their clothing and eased in.

Mez moaned as Tatsumi entered her and took her left nipple into his mouth; Seryu massaged his shoulders with her breasts. "Oh Tatsumi-kun, I needed this; oh, you're so hung, yes drink my milk suck my nips I love you" Mez moaned as Tatsumi began his thrusts.

Koro woofed. "You can go somewhere else Koro! Sheesh privacy please?" Seryu commented.

Koro woofed again. "What do you mean we're being watched?" Seryu replied, then out of the woods she heard footsteps and turned to see Sheele in a bikini and carrying a towel.

"Well I came here to relax in the hot springs and I find all three of you here of all places" Sheele remarked.

"Yeah, well I thought we could have some fun before we (oh) went on our patrol of the countryside EEAGH!" Mez remarked Tatsumi continuing oblivious to Sheele.

"I see, well mind if I join in? I did come here to relax and sex with Tatsumi is quite relaxing especially if friends are involved" Sheele replied smiling seductively and removing her swimsuit before climbing into the water.

"Nope especially since you invited yourself" Seryu remarked and rolled her eyes and wrapped her legs around Tatsumi who came in Mez and pulled out.

"Now who's next, Sheele or Seryu?" Tatsumi questioned, to which Sheele presented her rear to him.

"Me" Sheele replied and leaned against the rim of the spring; Tatsumi obliged entering her rectum and began to ride her, Sheele moaned cute moans while Mez and Seryu came over to his side Tatsumi drank from Seryu's breasts and Mez played with his nipples and grinded against his rear. Tatsumi kept going and going, and going.

He kept going for about an hour and half until all three girls and himself were satisfied and they soaked in the water. "So Tatsumi you mind if I join in on your patrol? I'm looking for whereabouts of Tanto's band of robbers so I can drive Extase thru his skull" Sheele asked.

"Why not? We could always use another patrol partner for the time being it will allow us to cover more ground" Tatsumi replied. They soaked in water for a time then redressed, Sheele went inside HQ and changed into an Imperial Uniform so as to avert suspicion.

"Tatsumi does this uniform make my butt look big?' Sheele asked and turned around, the uniform was tight on her rear and brought out the curves of her big butt even more than usual.

"Not really, it is a bit tight on you but if makes even more beautiful" Tatsumi replied honestly blushing and giving his trademark grin.

"Thanks for your honesty" Sheele replied and turned around and kissed him on the lips.

"Well we should get going: our first stop is the village of Takara; it's the closest to us right now" Tatsumi explained and they left, taking the side paths and getting back onto the main roads without attracting undo attention. Then they proceeded to Takara where there were guards on more alert positions than usual and a patrol walked in, also notable were the severed heads of men, robbers as the signs beneath indicated, the signs said "Robbers stay out or end up like this."

Tatsumi approached one of the soldiers. "Attention! Major General Tatsumi of the Jaeger Corp!" Mez announced, the soldiers stood at attention and saluted.

"At ease, Sergeant I want to know what happened here? I've been sent by General Esdeath to patrol the countryside and recruit for a new army unit; I'd like to know what happened here" Tatsumi asked.

"Last night a mayor's wife and daughter were attacked by brigands, his wife was taken and his daughter was blinded and left for dead, these brigands here were killed by her and her mother" the Sergeant explained.

"Interesting; I'd like to speak with her, in the meantime put out a call to all able bodied recruits I'm establishing a local militia reinforce this village so you and your men can patrol the countryside and guard other villages, inform the locals they'll be a paid a decent wage and decent equipment" Tatsumi ordered.

"Yes sir!" the Sergeant stated and went about letting the local men and woman know about the new orders. Tatsumi then asked another soldier to lead him to the Mayor's house, or rather his shop so he could speak to him and his daughter, which he arrived at in due time.

Tatsumi noted the shop was quite humble and a general goods store, at the counter was the mayor in merchant's garb, he was middle aged man with black hair and grey eyes, on his face was a fine trimmed beard. To his side sitting in a chair was a beautiful young woman about Tatsumi's age. She had long black hair in braided ponytails. Her attire consisted of a purple sleeveless blouse, black pants and leg wraps and sandals, on her left arm was a bracelet made of polished nickel and strune about her arms were purple arm ribbons, she was curvaceous, she wore a blindfold which had dried blood on it a clear sign of her recent blinding.

"Greetings, what is a General doing out here in our humble village?" the Mayor asked.

"I've come here on a patrol I was here looking for recruits for a new army unit that has been started on orders from Grand Marshal Esdeath, anyway I heard about the brigands and I'd like to know what happened" Tatsumi explained.

"Well I'll try and explain best I can I'm Nea by the way; my mother and I were late coming home as we had gone into the city to buy food that can't be bought in the village, on our way back we were ambushed by brigands, my mother and I are and in her case was a good fighter; and we killed most of them save one man, he was tall and swift, he blinded me and knocked me down, I hit my head on a rock and woke up who knows when but I was left for dead. I made my way back to the village and told one of our night watchmen about it and they took a patrol to investigate, they found only the bodies of the robbers and no signs of my mother; I hate to think what happened to her" Nea explained.

"I'll deal with this personally: Don't worry if your mother is still alive, I'll rescue her" Tatsumi explained, he was serious. It didn't matter that he had just met these people he was happy to help people especially people that were fellow countryfolk, also it helped to enhance his image as a political figure who genuinely cared for the people of the Empire which he did.

"Thank you General, I'm glad to hear that, please rescue my wife and if she's dead brought her home" the Mayor explained.

"Don't worry I'll try my hardest" Tatsumi explained.

Tatsumi then went and gave orders to the local troops to do as ordered and that he would return soon, after he was out of earshot of the guards he sighed. "So Sheele you think these robbers are the ones working for that scumbag you're after?" Tatsumi asked.

"Highly likely, I'll have Chelsea and Aria do some scouting and find their base, if we can do that well they'll be on the receiving end of a Night Raid attack" Sheele replied, then grinned at the possibility.

They continued the patrol and recruitment drive; Tatsumi found no shortage of willing recruits to form local militia garrisons especially since the jobs he gave them were things they had been doing for years only now they received a government salary to do so, it wasn't much in terms of pay but it was more than any of the local peasants could hope for in their daily works.

Tatsumi wondered where all the Empire's money was coming from given the current depression, however Constantine Grundel had explained when he asked that it was blood money and tariffs. Tatsumi speculated that most of the money was plunder taken from the Southern Lands and the North, but given that Imperial soldiers had died to acquire that wealth it was only fair game in customs of the laws of war.

The patrols concluded a few hours after it had begun and Tatsumi was barely warmed up as far as his stamina was concerned so he headed back to Night Raid HQ along with the others.

Later at Night Raid HQ… Tatsumi was practicing his Imperial Fist Rings that had been taught to him by Spear and was now working on how introduce the techniques into his fighting style which in his opinion needed to be altered so as when he next faced Honest, he'd have the advantage. One thing that the fight had taught him was Honest's own fighting style and how Honest used his mastery of Imperial Fist to chain power attacks with rapid strikes and hard counters as well as his two-handed style. In order to counter that Tatsumi would have to chain the techniques into his own style and develop a more agile style that allowed him avoid the power attacks and waste Honest's energy while allowing Tatsumi to spend as little energy as possible before capitalizing on the opening offered.

As he practiced, he was joined in his sword work against the practice dummies by Gin of all people. "Hey Tatsumi what's up?" Gin asked.

"I'm practicing, I've got to alter my fighting style, learn all I can and get stronger if I'm going to beat Honest: he's leagues above me right now and I'll need to learn anything and everything I can to get the advantage" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then it sounds like you need both a sparring partner and a teacher I'm willing to provide both" Gin explained.

"Ok, but what can I learn from you?" Tatsumi asked.

"The finer arts of swordplay also the techniques of the Elite Seven, unlike Akame I'm not averse to sharing the fighting techniques of our group and I'm more than capable of teaching you, besides I like you and it would be a shame for you to get killed by a scumbag like Honest because you didn't know how to use techniques that could have saved you" Gin answered.

"Alright then, let's start with the basics get that sword of yours and get ready" Gin explained and picked up a practice blade. Tatsumi turned to face her and charged, Gin sidestepped and attacked Tatsumi barely blocked, then countered with a series of flurries each of which Gin parried before she sidestepped again and struck even harder and faster causing Tatsumi to lose his grip on the blade, Gin pointed the tip of the practice blade against his throat. "Dead" Gin explained. "Or at least you would have been were this and actual fight; Tatsumi I've seen you perform better on other missions but you and I never had the chance to spar which demonstrates you underestimated me; I'm second best as far as our group of former Elite Seven members are concerned, consider what would happen if you sparred with Akame or Kurome who are above me; you suffer against opponents who are either fast or use powerful strikes to overwhelm your guard" Gin explained.

"Ok so what do I do to change that?" Tatsumi replied.

"First you learn how to dodge, I know you wear heavy armor rather frequently but dodging is better than just blocking an attack because you don't have to worry about heavy power attacks overwhelming your guard and wasting energy; just moving out of the way of an opponent's attack causes them to both waste energy and leave them open for a follow up: we'll start with heavy dodge training, go put on a suit of plate armor and then I'll test your skills at dodging" Gin explained.

Tatsumi did exactly as she asked and began the dodge training, he immediately regretted it as Gin had replaced her sword with a hard-wooden club, which when he failed as he did because she attack she did so without warning and hit hard each time knocking him down. This continued over and over again until he began to get the hang of it, granted Gin didn't give him breaks as she told him no enemy would give him one if he got tired so he dodged and dodged until Gin decided he'd done enough for today.

"Alright Tatsumi you're doing good, but nowhere near my level dodge let alone Akame's which you've got to surpass to even have a chance of beating Honest; next thing you'll need to learn is how to ignore pain; which will take more effort: in the Elite seven training program people had to undergo psychological and physical torture in order to be taught to ignore pain, however since I'm sure Najenda and others wouldn't be keen on you having to be tortured to build up a high pain tolerance; in fact I'm sure Suzuka would be a better source learning how to ignore pain but for now I'll train you on the thorns" Gin explained.

"What do mean train me on the thorns?" Tatsumi asked.

"One of the Southern tribes I fought against in the Southern campaign trained their warriors by having them go thru a rather brutal training program which was similar to the Elite Seven training program where if you didn't make the cut for the Group of Terror at least you'd be killed, anyway that's beside the point, one of their routines required them to run an obstacle course barefoot and the ground they had to walk thru was covered in thorns from the aggressive thorn bushes of the Southlands and trust me those are nasty" Gin explained.

"Not looking forward to that" Tatsumi replied and winced.

"Fortunately for you Tatsumi you don't have to worry about those nasty thorns because they don't grow this far north instead, I'll find a suitable substitute, but that will be for the day after tomorrow. It will take me some time to set up the course and find enough thistles to make a course; also, word of warning; if you step out of the course I'll have to beat the shit out of you for failing, just so you know" Gin explained.

"So, you fought in the Southern Campaign?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes I did, as did the rest of the Elite Seven and some of the members of the Group of Terror, the whole conflict was a nightmare, I still have the scars the worst of which I'd rather not talk about its rather painful for me" Gin explained and frowned rather sullen remembering painful memories.

"Alright we won't talk about it until you feel comfortable about it" Tatsumi replied.

"Good now I'm done with you for today go find something else to do" Gin explained, Tatsumi did exactly that leaving the training center and going back to the city he then headed to the Palace to inform Esdeath of the situation.

Later… Tatsumi noted once again the throne room door was shut then grinned before entering in his usual dramatic fashion interrupting Honest's ranting with a new man Tatsumi had seen before. "I'm certain your opinion on the rebels is an excuse to explain the losses caused on the Western front to maintain a deadlock" Honest shouted.

"How am I expected to come up with a plan to easily destroy Dwarven machinery, I tell you it was bad enough when the Western Armies were the only ones using them but now the rebels are somehow getting their hands on those Dwarven warbots I tell you the conflict on the western border is getting worse" the man responded.

"Then find out how they are getting the machines and stop them I'm not a military genius but I know that if you cut off supply you can eventually whittle down your enemies' numbers" Honest replied.

"Whatever; our guns can't exactly shoot down the Dwarven Zeppelins if we tried, they are extremely armored and any shots we've fired at them are useless, also the unit that tried that had a massive bomb dropped on them, about 3 men of a 200 man unit survived the explosion and two of them died of their injuries afterwards, there certain things our army is capable, fighting the Dwarves isn't one of them" The man replied.

"Which is why you being relieved of command; you have been promoted on his majesty's orders and my personal suggestion to the recently opened rank of Minister of Logistics; I think you are more than qualified for the position General Seigi" Honest explained.

"It's an honor Prime Minister, your Majesty Emperor Makoto I'll live up to expectations" Seigi replied.

"See that you do" Honest replied and Seigi saluted and took his place with the other ministers and advisors, Honest then turned to face Tatsumi who had been watching the whole debate looking for Honest's tell signs and sizing up the new arrival.

"Hello Honest, your majesty; I'm back" Tatsumi greeted walking over to the throne.

"Tatsumi-nii! How have you been? Were you sick what happened?" Makoto asked overly curious.

"Well I took a serious wound in my investigation of random attacks in the city and well I've made a full recovery, bare a scar on my shoulder" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm glad you're ok Tatsumi-nii" Makoto replied. "See I told you Honest-san that Tatsumi-nii was ok and that you were wrong about him being dead, next time don't joke about such things Honest-san" Makoto lectured.

"My apologies your majesty, I was merely suggesting that Tatsumi had been killed in a tragic accident" Honest replied grinning.

"Please I told you Makoto he was full of crap and I was right" Esdeath commented.

"Anyway, Minister Tatsumi have you come here for anything in particular" Honest asked.

"As soon as you are done with this business I'd like to speak with you" Tatsumi replied giving Honest a knowing look of "I know you're working with demons, I don't know how you got your arm back but I know damn well it wasn't thru natural means."

Honest seemed to hurry thru the business as he was clearly eager to debate Tatsumi who was looking forward to the same thing, he enjoyed the fact that he could basically challenge Honest and disrupt his plans without having to worry about Honest being able to really do anything to stop him, the power and influence Tatsumi had in the city and court was deadlock to Honest's own.

Shortly in Honest's office… Tatsumi walked into Honest's office and noted the minister pull out a drumstick of cooked meat which smelled like fried pork, he then took a bite out of it. "Alright! What the hell?! Leone pulled your arm out of your fucking socket and you somehow managed to get a new one; is it a prosthetic? Because if it isn't then you aren't human anymore, you're an abomination" Tatsumi shouted, he noted however Honest's attention wasn't on him.

"She looks nice and beautiful doesn't she even more so next to her half siblings: ah Leone, she isn't a disappointment not at all, she's just disloyal" Honest replied impassively, Tatsumi noted on Honest's desk was a photo of Leone next to a photo of Lillianna and young man who looked like her whom he assumed was Syura. "Children can be both a blessing and a curse, and they require a great amount of patience and attention as well as educating them in the matters of the world: Syura was like this a loyal son who did everything I told him and who shared all my views and I mean all of them, he was like a perfect younger version of myself; until you killed him" Honest stated allowing his expression to change from the caring father to that of the demon.

"I didn't kill Syura, Aria did" Tatsumi replied.

"Does it matter, your group killed him, I don't care who it was that killed him, that Grundel girl, she can be quite deceitful: I'd like to know how he died" Honest replied curious, his expression still demented.

"Only if you tell me how the fuck you got a new arm, I know for a fact that it isn't remotely natural" Tatsumi replied.

"Boy you drive a hard bargain and I'll enlighten you, it's not as if you could kill me if you wanted to; I'm perfectly capable of killing you here and now but that would be dull as I'm actually enjoying this game, you have survived the longest in this game apart from Esdeath and of course Grundel and Chouri. You are correct in assuming my arm isn't natural but you don't know my hand is the same" Honest explained then chomped down on the meat before putting it on a plate and removing his gauntlets.

Tatsumi was shocked by what he was seeing and, on some level, afraid; he thought Honest was evil that he'd do anything he wanted but to know that he'd willing forsake his humanity to become a literal monster was shocking even to him. He was now an abomination, his hands or rather claws were dark burgundy and rough in texture, somewhat rock like, but scaly and demonic. "You see now silly boy that you are dealing with powers beyond your comprehension" Honest explained. "You see Tatsumi you are the first person to see this outside my inner circle of cultist leaders, my chief advisors; this Tatsumi what you consider an abomination to me is a blessing, a boon bestowed on me by my Lord Valtor for sacrifices in his name" Honest explained grinning then took a bite out of the meat once again.

"You're sick; what did you do to get those abominations of arms?" Tatsumi asked fighting back the urge to vomit; he had another thought that had crept into the back of his mind.

"To receive the boons that alter the flesh one must offer a great sacrifice to Lord Valtor, in this case for me an offering of my own blood; and not that within my veins" Honest stated. "Care for bite of this it's quite delicious, it suits my palate perfectly and keeps me strong" Honest offered.

"I'll pass; I get a feeling that whatever your eating is something I don't want to touch, now what did you mean by your own blood? If you aren't sacrificing yourself what are you-"Tatsumi questioned then had a thought that made want to scream in outrage.

"My blood, look behind you sits my Panterra, my new set of armor on a nice armor rack for when I'm not using it" Honest explained Tatsumi looked and saw the black runic breastplate along with the other attachments.

"You killed Satake?" Tatsumi replied.

"No he's become something more: but yes he is as good as dead; I offered him in sacrifice for the new arm: and as to my other hand well; a certain daughter of mine told me how Eugene her older brother recently died from being eaten by a danger beast; no he is very much alive and no longer human he has obtained lesser demon hood thanks to my Lord and master below" Honest replied then finished the meat belched and threw the bone which Tatsumi realized now was a femur. "By the way Tatsumi what I just finished eating is indeed as you suspect human flesh; albeit not my favorite cut; my favorite cut is meat of a woman's womb it has such a great taste that's made even better with saffron and cloves" Honest explained. Tatsumi honestly wanted to vomit and he then looked at Honest right in his venom filled gold eyes.

"You're sick Honest, not just sick you're a monster; a true monster" Tatsumi replied.

"Thank you for your kind words, now that I've told you the story about my arms tell me what happened to Syura" Honest replied.

"Like I said Aria killed him, he was drunk, Aria Sayo and Yami were out shopping and Aria took advantage of his drunkenness to bring him to her house, he thought he was going to get laid, instead he got flayed, and branked, and burned, and quartered and decapitated, Aria then put his head in a basket and carried it back to our base and presented it our boss who then had it put out in the open for the city to see overnight" Tatsumi explained.

"YOU! My son! You assassins! Your group killed him in the prime of his life he had many years ahead of him! He was to be my successor! I loved him! He was a true son unlike his older brother Valdis or that idiot Eugene or any of the bastards I've sired save Saikyuu!" Honest ranted.

"You aren't capable of love, you're heartless, contemptable and have no regard for human life; Syura was a rapist, a liar and a murderer, as well as a cannibal like you! You Honest are the rot that pollutes this city, this Empire no all of Eden is tainted by your evil!" Tatsumi ranted back.

"GET OUT! I'D LOVE TO NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN BUT NO YOU ARE TOO STUBBORN AND SMART TO DIE! I SWEAR THOUGH I WILL MAKE YOU PAY! YOU'LL DIE ALONG WITH EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AND CHERISH; I WILL BREAK YOU AND DEVOUR YOU; NOW LEAVE UNLESS YOU ARE GOING TO GET ME SOME MEAT! YES, FRESH MEAT, FRESH MEAT NICE AND SWEET! GIVE ME A NICE FRESH PIECE OF MEAT! GIVE ME A NICE FRESH PIECE OF MEAT! GIVE ME A NICE FRESH PIECE OF MEAT!" Honest raved; Tatsumi left.

Later that night… Aria approached the brigand hideout with Pais and Chelsea she then looked the place over. The hideout was more like a fortress then a hideaway and it was crawling with armed brigands who were well armed and equipped, there were also cages in which men sat chained up, no sign of women or children. "Time to get a closer look" Aria replied.

"How this place is a fortress I may be the best scout in the Revolutionary army but I'm not an infiltrator" Pais commented.

"That's where we come in Pais, you keep a lookout here and we'll get the lay of the place after we come back, we run back to HQ put a team together and take them out" Chelsea replied, Aria and Chelsea went forward Aria concealed by Noctis wave.

Chelsea thru a rock at one of the guards, the sentry went out into the dark to investigate; the other guard stayed alert. The guard went towards the destination and noted Chelsea's eyes and before he could shout his throat was cut rather swiftly and silently, a kukri stained in blood as he had been stealth Ariaed. Chelsea then used Gaea foundation to assume the guard's identity before returning to the position, she then reassured the other brigand that nothing was up; Aria then kept her shadow up and silently killed the other sentry before going further in silently dispatching guards as she went and making note of the layout of the base which was built into natural cavern not to different from the one Night Raid built their own in. Aria had noted that the strategy here was simple neutralize as many of the brigands quietly as possible before freeing the captives. During the scouting she and Chelsea noted that there were many more beds then men outside and the place was surprisingly empty of robbers which mean that they had gone out on patrol. That meant they could lay an ambush if they were quick enough, they'd need a lot of Night Raid members but if the plan worked, they could take down the brigands inside their own base;

The exploration then took a dark turn as Aria found where they were keeping the female captives and the children, the state of those captives was straight up horrible, they had been tortured and raped; some killed Aria noted a great number of women, men, children hanging on chains as if they were meat in a locker. "This is horrible!" Aria thought to herself then noted there were a few alive, she then broke the chains of these captives and led them outside she and Chelsea then freed the other captives and let them run off before going to Pais.

"Pais we're going back to HQ we'll need to act fast and strike hard with a very big team if we want to maintain the advantage" Aria explained.

Midnight… the teams had been put together 20 of Night Raids finest lead by Najenda herself with one extra, Ibbin Al-Hashiim. The teams were divided into four groups of five: The Elite Five consisted of all five of Night Raid's former Elite Seven operatives: Akame, Gin, Tsukushi, Poney and Cornelia they would eliminate the elite robbers. The Stealth team consisted of Mine, Sheele, her father, Aria, and Seryu, it would be the hammer to take out the leader of the group. The Assault team consisted of Najenda, Bulat, Susanoo, Tatsumi and Cassandra they would be the main attack. The last team was the ambush team which consisted of Lubbock, Yami, Naomi, Sayo and Clementine they would attack the enemy from the flanks.

They managed to beat the robbers back home to the camp and had time to set up an ambush; during this time Tatsumi and Sheele inspected the hideout and the bodies; they didn't find any signs of Nea's mother and didn't recognize the any of the corpses; they then decided to check the one room Aria and Chelsea hadn't been able to search because of a lock, Tatsumi kicked the door down and inside saw something he didn't want to see.

Inside the room were numerous instruments of torture but there in the middle of the room was woman, naked badly tortured, her breasts gone and her skin flayed; and her eyes gone. "If that's you Tanto finish me; I'm done with this world; you killed my Nea and I don't have any reason. any reas-on to- _live_ " the woman clearly Nea's mother stated before.

"It's not him we're with Night Raid" Sheele explained.

"I don't care I've lost all that- that- was good in -this world Nea! I join you now" Nea's mother groaned out.

"She's alive but she's blind" Tatsumi explained.

"Then tell her for me that I loved her; I don't know who you two are but please let her know how much I loved her; that it was what kept me alive, and she's safe now; I can die in peace" she replied getting weaker with each world as she slumped over.

"I'm sorry" Sheele apologized and drew her dagger Tatsumi stopped her, as Nea's mother stopped moving he felt her neck for pulse and found none.

"We were too late; Damn it! She was only taken captive last night! Why?! I hate this world of ours's I hate it; I swear if I ever find out who did this I'll do what they did to her to them" Tatsumi replied then took a hairband she worn in her hair then hurried out alongside Sheele to arrive just in time, the others had set up and Mine had taken a sniper position above the camp in their watch tower.

With Mine…

"Now what have we here, a whole lot of stupid assholes coming here to die" Mine muttered under her breath then looked at the ranks and spotted the leader; he was tall man in his late 30s, he was in good shape and somewhat attractive clad in spint mail armor, on his head in addition to his helmet he wore a black headband his hair was black, at his side was Katana that was extremely ornate and decorated too much so and it seemed to let of a light of its own. Next to him stood two stoat tall and muscular brutes in black chainmail; behind them were the usual mix of ruffians but also a few elite robbers clad in stolen Imperial armor. "Nice and simple first: starting with the leader he's so obvious" Mine muttered and aligned Pumpkin her scope locked in place; "Dead" she muttered and fired.

Tanto noted the pink orb coming towards him and grabbed one of his grunts and dodged behind the man who was melted by the shot. "Night Raid? Men we're under attack charge!" Tanto yelled the ruffians charged towards with Tanto and his two bulky protectors ducking behind the lines.

"Susanoo give them the horns!" Najenda ordered, her Teigu leapt from his position as she and the assault team charged.

(Song: Another on Bites the dust: Queen) To the rear of the robbers came the Elite Five Akame jumping into the ranks yelling "Eliminate!" a cry in which she was joined by her comrades; Tsukushi began to spray the ranks down from the rear alarming the robbers who weren't used to having to deal with heavy firearms much less Prometheus's homing rounds which always hit their mark from guns that never ran out of bullets. Gin hewed down five robbers from the right side as Cornelia pulverized two more with her power fist, Akame and Poney attacked from the left side Muramase's poison dropping every man she so much as scratched and she wasn't even warmed up. Poney rapidly stabbed her glaive using her reach to disarm robbers before decapitating then with a well-placed thrust.

To either side of the enemy Lubbock and his team of ambushers attacked Sayo flew over the robbers with Gabriel and then unleashed volleys of white arrows from Icarus, Yami disarmed and decapitated robber after robber without even so much as glancing at them, Clementine in her brass armor cackled as she smashed enemies with Starcrusher and sliced them in twain with her Estoc, Naomi unleashed her spinning blades from Remnant and used her double-bladed sword to gruesome effect mowing down brigand after brigand.

But the worst damage was coming from the front where the Stealth team and the Assault team charged in; annihilating enemy after enemy. Tatsumi using this fight to test the new adaptation of his style using both Valruost and Smaug in concert while dodging and weaving before chaining flurried strikes into unready enemies; he also had to move to the side as Susanoo activated the spinning blades of his polemace and charged head first like a raging bull into the enemies goring them with his horns, even going so far as to impale a man in his guts and hurl him up words like a bucking bull and sending the man flying resulting in him crashing down amongst the ranks of the robbers of which there were hundreds.

Najenda joined in fighting back to back with Cassandra who spun two blades in front of her while throwing chakrams at her secondary set of arms, Najenda covered her with fire from her desert eagles, briefly holding her fire when two robbers that were charging towards her had their throats sliced in quick succession by a cloaked Aria.

But amidst the chaos and confusion two people were extremely focused and killing with lightning reflexes, faster than even Akame's own killer instinct, Sheele and her adopted father; they fought with speed and agility that was a blur to the robbers who were killed with calls of "I'm sorry" from both father and daughter who killed swiftly and without mercy. Tatsumi then noticed something as did Sheele, the leader of the group and his two stout Lieutenants were escaping into the woods. "HEY THOSE THREE ARE GETTING AWAY!" Tatsumi yelled of the tumult of battle and cut a path thru the robbers; Sheele had already over powered them; Mine was firing off rapid shots toward the escapees but each fell short impacting into trees sending tall timbers falling over and resulting further chaos as combatants on both sides moved to avoid the collapsing logs; Tatsumi and Sheele pressed on undaunted and eventually came out into a large clearing which backed the three robbers against the cliffs.

(Song End)

"Night Raid, I figured at some point you'd show up" Tanto remarked and took a look at Sheele. "Well looks like Night Raid has some beautiful women in its ranks, you'd fetch a fortune" Tanto commented.

"You're Tanto?" Sheele asked as neutral as possible.

"Yes, indeed I am and you two have got to be quite persistent; now I've got some gold I've acquired recently and I'm willing to pay you two for letting me escape" Tanto replied.

"You killed my parents" Sheele replied coldly.

"I've killed lots of people over the years but I don't remember everyone I've killed; much less anyone that could have produced such a rare beauty; I'd never kill anyone like that they'd be breeding stock I wouldn't sell short of a king's ransom" Tanto replied.

"You sold my parents to monsters who killed them; my mother and father were **raped** , repeatedly, my mother was raped so bad that at one point she produced a child with her owner who cut that baby out from her womb and killed it right in front of her! She killed herself because of that, but my father no he had endured days of repeated rape by the mistress of the house who fed him the flesh of infants as food! Then he died of Rubola! You sold them to those monsters! You took them from me when I was only five years old! You find me because my parents had the foresight to hide me in a secret hideaway; I was then sent to horrid orphanage where I spent a year until my adopted father killed the awful head of the Orphanage and took me in; I was trained in the art of assassination from a young age and I am a master of every technique my Order knows! In fact, I haven't even told you who I am! I am Sheele Grandmaster of the Order of the Sorrowful Ones and wielder of Extase and bearer of the Shrouded armor; I've spent the past two years in the Capital trying to kill root of this corruption Prime Minister Honest; I joined Night Raid and all my life I wondered if I'd ever see my parents again. But no, I didn't and won't ever because they were murdered! Murdered because of you: I will kill you and it won't be swift I'm going to make this slow and painful!" Sheele replied and extended Extase in front of her towards him in challenge.

"So that Guildmaster of the Sorrowful Ones; were it not for Extase I wouldn't believe you but I'm humbled to be in your presence Grandmaster or I would be where I still part of the guild: Tanto isn't my real name it's alias I took when first started in the slave trade which I did as soon as the guild threw me out for killing a fellow member! My real name Marshan Zaxos: I'm sure its familiar to you as the name is one of many on the Wall of the Scorned: but I made my fortune; I don't need Extase who needs it: I've found a Teigu that's far more potent and powerful" Tanto now Marshan explained and drew his blade which had a pearl-blue hew to the shine and glew brighter in the light of three moons. "Behold Yue: Moonblade! I stole it from some old merchant I have no idea how he managed to obtain it and I don't care this baby made me my fortune; I've killed plenty of men and woman with this sword both slave and free! But this baby has a potent speed it's even faster of then Extase makes you!" Marshan explained. "But I've grown tired of this Guildmaster let us settle this in the old way: Takar Makar: the duel of the blades; one on one to the death!" Marshen concluded drawing his sword with a flourish; Sheele readied Extase; the two bodyguards attacked Tatsumi who dispatched both with ease as he vaulted over them as they charged and decapitated them as he jumped and landed behind.

"Tatsumi! Stay out of this! This is my battle" Sheele explained.

(Song start: Sleeping Sun: Night Wish)

Sheele and Marshan faced each other waiting for one to make the first move, Marshen then swung Esdeath brought Extase up to counter. "Yue: Speed of Light!" Marshen declared and begin moving at extreme speed and attacking with swift attacks.

"Exstase: Shadow step!" Sheele declared and her movements matched his as she blocked and countered his blows.

"Yue: Moonlight blast" Marshen declared and a blast of energy came from blade which Sheele countered with Exstase, the blade of the scissors deflects the energy harmlessly, but this was a distraction as he launched a series of swift counters.

"This guy is good but I'm better, this is actually quite fun; I've never had the opportunity to fight a fellow guild member in battle before but that is because we don't kill other guild members except for traitors like Marshen here" Sheele thought then used her trump card. "Exstase! Obfuscating Light!" Sheele yelled and Exstase glew a bright light brighter the both suns; Tatsumi averted his eyes however Marshen wasn't remotely lucky, being this close to the light which was magnified by his own Teigu and the three moons was blinded and not temporary his retinas were completely fried and he was just as blind as Nea, then came the follow up as Sheele opened Exstase and snapped off both of Marshen's hands causing his Teigu to fly from the limp hands as he screamed. "It's over" Sheele stated passively and caught Yue with one hand without looking, Marshen fell to the ground yelling.

"I'm Blind! Blind! And my Hands! NO!" Marshen yelled, Sheele drove Exstase into the ground next to her and then drew both of the daggers.

"I'm not one who's fan of torture; that's Aria's specialty and passion when it comes to scum like you: however in this case I think I've already deprived you of the three things you valued most, your hands which used for the whip, your sight and just about now: Your manhood" Sheele replied and gelded him to screams she then stripped him of his clothing especially the sheath for Yue. "Tatsumi hold him in place for me" Sheele instructed. "Take him to the edge of the cliff" she added, Tatsumi picked up Marshen and carried him to the edge and held him to it, Sheele then stepped up and relieve him of his duty.

"Now what are you going to do?" Tatsumi asked.

"Something that should have been done years ago, kill him: but in this case since he's responsible for the deaths of both of my parents I've got something special: tell Marshen how do you think about learning to fly" Sheele replied, she then slashed his hamstrings and kicked him off the cliff.

"(Wilhelm yell)" Marshan screamed as he plummeted to an audible splat in the valley below.

Tatsumi stood next to Sheele. "I've always thought the moons were so beautiful and to have all three be full at the same time and to witness them from this cliffside it's quite romantic don't you think Tatsumi" Sheele remarked.

"I can agree Sheele, let's go back to the others hopefully the other robbers have been cleaned up" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed, they probably have, but when we head back how do you feel about a late night swim in the hot springs?" Sheele replied.

"Not tonight; this fight wore me out, when we get back to HQ, I'm coming down hard on my bed: though I'll be happy to have you with me there" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll be there with you and we'll snuggle" Sheele commented.

Takara Village the Following day…

That night at HQ Tatsumi slept soundly with Sheele pressed up against him and held close; before heading back they had checked the valley below the cliffside and found Marshen's corpse with a notable large hole in his head: Tatsumi had that wrapped in a sack which now rested at the head of his bed. Tatsumi picked up the head and went with Sheele to the village and arrived at the shop.

"You're back General, any news?" the Mayor asked, Nea got up from her seat eager to hear it.

"Yes, both good and bad; the good news is the man who led this robbers is dead along with his men, his head is in this sack; the bad news we were too late to save your wife; he tortured her to death" Tatsumi explained.

"I've never had to feel this way before; you weren't able to save my wife but you did avenge her and the harm he did to my daughter: you also stopped those robbers from continuing to threaten our village and on top of that you killed them all; what you've done for our village is a debt I cannot easily repay, and can only do so with the one thing that I have left that is truly worth to give" The Mayor explained then looked at Nea. "Nea I'd what do you think of him?" the Mayor replied.

"I'm grateful for him that he was willing to personally deal with a matter that other people would think would be beneath him to do, he sounds overall like a selfless and caring person, overall the kind of person anybody could care deeply for" Nea replied.

"Then I give to you General Tatsumi my most prized treasure, my Daughter Nea's hand in marriage if you'll accept and she'll agree" The mayor explained.

"I'll agree father: he sounds like a reasonable guy and you'd be hard pressed to find someone that is that, also a good guy which is also important because I don't want to end up in the hands of some scumbag, now my only question is he hot?" Nea commented.

"He is handsome as can be and the most handsome man in the world" Sheele commented.

Tatsumi thought about it, it was a bit rushed but then he realized that as marriage candidate he was one of the best options in the Empire; especially given his recent engagement to Lila who he'd saved from a terrible fate at Honest's hands, he honestly thought she'd likely not have a better choice in the future. "I'm humbled, I'll accept" Tatsumi replied honestly, then thought "What is it with ladies falling for me, am I that much of a girl magnet?"

"Then we'll arrange the ceremony soon when will you be available?" the Mayor asked.

"Interestingly enough I have set up a ceremony for Tatsumi and myself to marry; we can both marry him at the same time" Sheele suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea" Nea chimed.

"Yes, now we've got to get you a dress Nea; you and I will go shopping for one, Tatsumi you think you can go get a ring for her?" Sheele explained.

"Sure" Tatsumi stated and all three left the village.

Later… Tatsumi had gone to the best jeweler in the city to shop for a ring; or rather two; one for Nea and one for Sheele, for Nea he bought a nice silver ring with sapphires studded on it, it was wire like, for Sheele he bought a gold ring set with amethysts that sparkled like her eyes. "How much for these?" Tatsumi asked the shopkeeper.

"About 20,000 gold pieces for both" the shopkeeper replied, Tatsumi replied by pulling out a rather large bag of gold.

"Will this cover it?" Tatsumi asked, then noted his bracelet, he rarely wore his good luck charm but because he'd be getting married soon, he decided that it would be a good idea to flaunt it. "Hey I'd like you to take a look at this for me, I'm not selling it but it I'd like to have it looked at" Tatsumi added, then took off the bracelet and handed it to the shopkeeper who took one look the bracelet and jolted causing his glasses to jump and he caught them quickly.

"Are you sure you don't want to sell this, never mind, this bracelet is ancient; dwarven made about at least a thousand years old, look at the runes one the intricate wire work and the amazing gem placement, these emeralds are not normal emeralds they are deepstar emeralds, some of the finest stones of dwarven craftsmanship, it's a masterwork of jewelry" the Shopkeeper stated. "Almost as if it's a royal artifact" he added. "Where did you get it?" he asked curious.

"From my village elder, he told me it would bring me good luck, so far it has; I met and married the most beautiful woman in the Empire" Tatsumi replied.

"I've no idea how your elder came by this but this something you should be careful with; it's extremely valuable and some people might mistake it as a stolen royal treasure" the Shopkeeper explained.

"I'll be careful with this, funny thing before I met my wife for the first time I was down on my luck and conned out of my money all I had was this bracelet and I was going to sell it the following morning to make ends meet, but Aria came along and took me in, we fell in love and got married, she's pregnant with our first child, if not for this bracelet's good luck I don't think I'd have survived the night let alone met my Capital Angel" Tatsumi replied then smiled thinking of Aria's smiling face and her in lovely blue dress.

"Well I'm glad that it has brought you good luck, now take your purchases and I wish you good luck on your future endeavors" The Shopkeeper replied, Tatsumi left with the rings in hand, noted his fingers.

"Tenth ring, now which finger am I going to put Nea's on" Tatsumi thought

Later that evening… Tatsumi had gone to the hot springs as planned and was waiting for Sheele, she showed up dressed in a swimsuit and carrying a towel, wordlessly she stripped and joined him in the water. "I'm glad to have this midnight session just like you promised" Sheele commented swimming over to him.

"Anything for you Sheele" Tatsumi stated and hugged her. They kissed a sweet kind loving kiss letting their lips become one for a time, then they broke it. "Sheele before we start, I've got something for you" Tatsumi stated then moved to where his clothes were and opened a box to show her the ring he selected for her.

"Tatsumi- it's wonderful; the gems they match my eyes and my hair" Sheele commented.

"I thought you'd like it: I always get the best for my girls, and you are no exception" Tatsumi replied and put the box next his clothes, they kissed again much more passionately then the first, Sheele's breasts pressed against his chest, they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed passionately for a few moments, then they melded; Tatsumi's length entering her loins. He broke the kiss and took her right nipple in his mouth and drank from it slowly savoring her milk, Sheele moaned as he did so she ran a hand thru his hair stroking his cowlick as he thrusted nice and slow at a comfortable pace his hands caressing her rear as he did so.

"Tatsumi" Sheele moaned and kissed his forehead as he kept drinking, he then stopped and switched to her other nipple and drank not wanting to neglect it. Sheele's milk was so sweet and Tatsumi happily drank the warm milk as Sheele kissed his forehead and caressed his hair with one hand and his back with the other. The light of the three moons now full and at their closest shined on their lovemaking the stars sparkling bright and they were the only witnesses to Tatsumi and Sheele's love that they could see. Sheele looked at the stars and spotted the constellations: The Giant, the Dragon, the Gryphon, and the Hammer, but she searched for one group of stars and found them: the lovers in the outline she saw herself and Tatsumi.

Granted however the stars weren't the only witness to their romance, Ibbin watched from afar and observed with Omar the love Sheele had for Tatsumi. "Omar it reminds me of Khana; the same passion we had for each other, on a night like this, I'm so happy for my Sheele, my little girl has finally grown up and found happiness" Ibbin commented to his monkey who ooked in replied. "Maybe you will find love someday to Omar, I think I could arrange that if you want" Ibbin commented, then left the two to make love in peace.

Momentarily… Tatsumi had come inside Sheele and they had changed positions, he sat on the ridge of springs allowing Sheele to wrap her breasts around his length and massage them, she also took the tip in her mouth and gave him head; she was nice and sweet Tatsumi took a look at her then at the stars and spotted the Lovers constellation and smiled, he then looked at another set of stars and looked at them and saw Sheele's face in them, then another and saw Aria, and another seeing Esdeath, he looked at each set of stars each one he saw the women he loved and not just as stars their faces in his mind's eye. He just let those thoughts relax him as he let Sheele please him to the best of her ability he was so relaxed that when he finally came, he didn't notice, he let out a lot enough that Sheele wasn't able to swallow it all and it bukkaked her breasts and face. "Tatsumi" Sheele commented breaking him out his daze and causing him to realize the mess he made.

"Sheele, I'm sorry I was so relaxed I didn't even realize I came" Tatsumi apologized.

"Don't be; I actually like this; your seed is both sweet and salty making it yummy" Sheele replied. "So, what are you going to do now?" Sheele replied.

"Give you what you love most" Tatsumi replied then moved her over and took her in her ass; Sheele moaned as he pulled her against his chest as he thrust inside her extremely tight cavity, doing so at the same relaxed pace she loved, she turned and kissed him as they passionately made love; the warm water covering them to their shoulders as they loved each other.

Their lovemaking continued for another hour before they dried off and returned to HQ, waving to Gin who had replaced Merraid for the first Night Watch, before retiring to Tatsumi's room for more lovemaking. The following morning, they woke in warm sheets and each other's arms their genitals still merged, they then made love for another half hour before dressing for the day.

That day was big day Tatsumi and Sheele were going to be married, Nea was also going to be married to Tatsumi. That Afternoon in the temple of the Gods Tatsumi waited at the alter next to Ieyasu, Lubbock and Bulat in their best suits. "Bro you are lucky I never thought I'd see the day Sheele got married, didn't think we'd live that long" Bulat commented.

"Don't worry Bro I'm glad this a good day, I'm not going to worry about the war or politics or any problems; today is a special day; I'm getting married to my tenth and eleventh wives and I'm happy about it" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad for you too, granted ladies aren't my type but I'm happy all the same that you've found love" Bulat added.

"Yeah today's good day Tatsumi, this is a great occasion" Ieyasu commented.

"Yeah it is, and to think none of this would have happened if you hadn't gotten the idea to try and strike it rich in the Capital" Tatsumi replied.

"Hey it may have been a dangerous journey to get here and we have to fight to keep the happiness and wealth we've earned but I have no regrets for making that decision" Ieyesu agreed.

"I'm happy for you all the same Tatsumi, granted I've got my Yami and I don't think any other woman apart from her and Najenda could fill my heart and I'm happy for you and Najenda" Lubbock commented.

The Organ then played here comes the bride as two brides stepped forward. Sheele wore a lovely purple gown which was a mixture of the Chong-san she usually wore and a gown in the southern style, the purples were shades of deep royal purple, lavender, lilac and fuchsia, she wore a fine vail which was also in the southern style and wore her hair in fine bun. Nea on the other hand wore a dark indigo and lime green gown that was decorated with dragonflies, she also wore a set of dragonfly wings and a dragonfly headdress, the gown made her look radiant her hair was still as it normally was and Tatsumi noted her pale eyes, she may have been blind and probably would be that way unless Dorothea could come up with some brilliant science, bar that happening though she'd probably never see his face; he hoped that in the next life they'd meet again and she could see him. Their coat tails were carried by three bridesmaids each, Sheele's being carried by Mine Seryu and Cosmina, while three of Tatsumi's concubines carried Nea's. Air, Fal and Luna thru flowers in their path before taking their seats next to Aria, Angela and Constantine, Tatsumi was happy to see them as a happy family, he noted also his other friends, his teammates from Night Raid who still had concealed identities, the Jaegers, Esdeath, his concubines, and a number of other people he'd helped over his time in the Capital.

Tatsumi was glad to see Sayo and Clementine among them, in fact he was amazed at how many people he could call either friends or family, the diverse mix of people from various walks of life and families all here to witness a ceremony that would grow his large family even bigger. "I've always wanted to have a family, a real one, I never knew my parents but I hope they are happy looking down on this from heaven" Tatsumi thought as Sheele and Nea arrived next to him, the Bridesmaids and Men of honor moved aside to allow Tatsumi to take his place, Tatsumi then put the rings on both of their fingers and they put theirs on his pinky which was unadorned, the priest then recited the prayers and then the vows for them Tatsumi and his brides recited them, then said "I do" and then Tatsumi found himself bombarded by Kisses from both Nea and Sheele, he had to admit for someone who'd never kissed someone before Nea was a good kisser and Sheele; well she was Sheele the Grandmaster of the Guild of the Sorrowful Ones, member of Night Raid, his mentor and lover, and now his wife.

That Night came the honeymoon… Tatsumi let Sheele and Nea remove his clothes then they removed their underwear, it was the first time he'd seen Nea naked and her figure showed ample D-cups and a small but cute rear; Sheele let her go first. "Tatsumi be gentle" Nea requested

"Don't worry I will, this will hurt at first but after it's an amazing experience, and even better when we do it in the future it won't hurt" Tatsumi explained, Nea came forward to him, she looked at his length, remembered she couldn't see and touched it and felt it.

"It's so big I'm not sure it will fit" Nea replied after examining the length and noting it felt rather long.

"Don't worry, you won't know unless you try" Tatsumi replied, Nea hesitated then crawled over to him, Sheele then held it in place for her and Nea put it in; it went halfway in before arriving at her barrier, she then closed her eyes even though she couldn't see then allowed herself to come all the way down, shattering the barrier, blood flowed as she began to go up and down, Tatsumi sat up and pulled her back and kissed her; Nea moaned into the kiss, he caressed her rear with his hands, then broke the kiss and laid back to allow Sheele to set on him so he could please her too with his tongue, Nea bounced up and down moaning cute moans Sheele moaned then kissed Nea to her surprise and held her tight.

"Don't worry Nea, it hurt me too at first (ugh) but it gets better Tatsumi knows where to find your happy spots" Sheele comforted and hugged her as they continued to enjoy Tatsumi's tongue and dick; both finding and giving their special places in their womanhoods absolute bliss. Tatsumi kept going for about 10 minutes before he came filling Nea with his seed, not knowing he had gotten her pregnant. She climbed off, Tatsumi then held it in front of Nea's face. "Suck it, it's amazing" Sheele commented, Nea felt it and then took his whole length in her mouth without thinking, it pushed pretty far back too ignoring her gag-reflex, she then sucked it and licked it, Tatsumi leaned back and she continued then taking it inside her going up and down, she then pulled out and wrapped her breasts around it before continuing, Sheele returned to Tatsumi's face and kissed him before letting him drink from her breasts.

Nea kept stimulating him and soon Tatsumi came again, she swallowed the whole load without even tasting it because it she had completely deepthroated him at the time she then pulled out, Tatsumi then took her anally and Nea moaned as her black cherry was popped, he held her pigtails as he did so, gently though as he felt her blue-black hair and kept riding her, Sheele kissed him as he did so, eventually coming inside her. Nea passed out from a lack of stamina.

Tatsumi then took Sheele and the two kissed after wrapping Nea in a blanket, which they themselves rolled under, they were sweaty but that didn't matter Tatsumi drank once more from Sheele's breasts as he entered her. "Tatsumi-kun; you are the only man for me and I don't think I'd ever find anyone better; you are my green eyed Angel and I'm your purple eyed goddess; I'm not sorry for this; no regrets; though I wish Mine hadn't cried her eyes out after the ceremony because I beat her to him, well I think we can fix that; and I'll let her wear as much pink as she wants" Sheele thought as they kept banging.

Meanwhile… A noble man loyal to Honest named Karl Figanhof was enjoying his favorite hobby; making a young ten-year-old girl his plaything as he sheathed himself in her, he also watched as his servents raped three woman he'd gotten off the streets as payment for them providing the girl. His thoughts were interrupted as something appeared, a portal, out of which stepped a figure in polished white armor made of an alloy he'd never seen before or would ever see again, for this was one of the last things he saw as a white bladed sword was drawn, the knight as his armor suggested moved quick and ruthlessly dispatched the 20 men who were busy raping the woman before turning to Karl who used the girl as a shield, hoping that would protect him, it didn't the Knight vanished and appeared behind him and decapitated him, the girl looked at him in awe.

"You're free now little girl you and the others, you won't have to undergo this horrible man's actions ever again, I've killed all his guards and I will take you and the women somewhere safe" The Knight explained then handed clothes to the girl and women, and escorted them thru the portal leaving the bodies in his wake.

Akame then arrived with her mission team at the manor of Figanhof only to find the entire place strewn with Corpses.


	35. Author's Note: I need your help!

**Author's Note: I need your help**

 **Alright we are getting close to Chapter 30, I've started writing it and I've hit a block; I need help with regards to the two character sub-plots which are happening in this chapter. Specifically I need help with Martha; she is a character who as you all know by the harem list is part of the harem, her backstory in the story so far is that she is Akame's Childhood friend who also was taken along with Akame and Kurome to join the Elite Seven, while she didn't make the cut she did rank second in the Group of Terror and became the group's leader after Kurome was promoted to be a member of the Elite Seven. However beyond that her character is mostly a blank slate, I've got no idea how her personality is, her motives for fighting, her fighting style, the weapons she uses and most importantly her reason for falling in love with Tatsumi.**

 **As such I need your help, you guys have given me so much amazing support and would really appriecate your help in suggestions for Martha's character, also I want to develop Remus, Womyn and Bullock they are former group of terror just like Martha and were her teammates; I need your help with them as well: the things I need for them are the same as Martha's, only with an addition of their backstories, but beyond that their personalities need fleshing out as well as their fighting styles, weaponry, motives for fighting and their reason for falling in love with Tatsumi.**

 **This next chapter will mark the addition of a character that is both new and old at the same time; I'm not giving you any clues beyond that this new character is one who's seeking redemption for his past crimes and has been given a second chance to do so. After this next chapter will come a special focus chapter revolving on Tatsumi and his friends from his home village, then will come Gin's focus chapter which will mark the first of the Elite Seven focus chapters, then beyond that I'm still thinking, Najenda will get a focus chapter at some point, and Yami is overdue for one where she will get her Teigu, then there are the Twins who need one, as does Gil and Chelsea needs a solo chapter. The last three focus chapters though when we get to them will be: Makoto with Fal, Air and Luna, then Doya and finally Kurome. Then with the focus chapters completed will come the actual war.**

 **As before thank you my readers for this story becoming as popular as it is and for all your support, along with giving me a drive to do what I've done; offer any and every suggestion you guys have in the reviews or PM me ideas: Thanks to all of you. Nathan.**


	36. Omake 4

Omake 4: Beauties and the Beach

Seryu: "Hello everybody and welcome once more to another Empire's End Omake, with me your lovely host Seryu Ubiquitous! We've got a special one today as the girls of our story face off in a swimsuit competition! The Entire harem minus the palace girls will be here alongside the love interests of our two lucky guys Lubbock and Ieyasu."

Seryu stands ready in a green sexy bikini with a double strap bottom and strapless top, in between Sheele in a lovely purple bikini and Mine in a pink bikini. "Now presenting our judges for the competition! Ieyasu! Lubbock! And Tatsumi!" Seryu commented.

"Seryu who are you talking to?" Sheele asked.

"The readers Sheele the people who read this story and the omakes as well as making all this possible: and here is a special thanks to our fans especially you Deadpool, you wanted an Omake here is the obligatory beach episode that all Manga and Anime have" Seryu explained.

"Enough let us present our contestants!" Fal commented from the sidelines. "Now mommy said we couldn't participate because we aren't old enough so in light of that fact, we are hosting this competition so Seryu shut up! We're running the show this chapter!" Fal added. "So, to keep things simple we will run off our contestants by first name in alphabetical order!" Fal explained.

"First and foremost: our mommy Angela!" Luna introduced, Angela wore a revealing and romantic fuchsia bikini.

"Our big sis Aria!" Luna introduced. Aria wore a sweet blue and white bikini with a white wrap around her waist in addition to her hairband.

"Next is Akame our series' namesake and mascot as well as the best assassin in all of Eden and former member of the Elite Seven" Luna introduced, Akame wore and Red and Black Bikini that resembled her usual assassin outfit.

"Next and last of the A's is Amuria of the Sabatini show" Luna introduced, Amuria wore a yellow bikini with decorated with white flowers.

"Next is Balluck formally of the group of Terror" Luna introduced, Balluck waved, she wore gold one-piece bikini.

"Next we have a blonde-haired mother who's had a tough life; Catherine!" Luna introduced. Catherine wore a leopard print bikini that as she walked cause her boobs to giggle a lot

"Next we have Cassandra of the Oarburgh clan, in a special swimsuit" Luna introduced. Cassandra wore a sunset multicolored strapless bikini which was specially tailored to accommodate her second set of arms.

"Next we have Chelsea, Night Raid's resident spy and lollipop addict" Luna introduced, Chelsea wore and auburn bikini which was strapless and tight against her breasts.

"Next we have Clair the city sweetheart of Tatsumi!" Luna introduced; Clair wore a lime green one-piece bikini.

"Next up is Clementine, Tatsumi's childhood sweetheart, an Elite assassin and torture enthusiast!" Luna introduced; Clementine wore a revealing orange patterned bikini that matched her eyes.

"Up next is Cornelia, second of our Elite Seven contestants and a bit shy but also very sweet" Luna introduced, Cornelia wore a lavender bikini and a white sarong.

"Coming in we have the Queen of Song and Beauty herself Cosmina!" Luna introduced, Cosmina wore a very revealing dark purple bikini that left little to the imagination with little rabbits on the top in addition to a rabbit tail attached to the back and two wrapped sashes that acted as coattails topped off by her usual rabbit eared headband she looked like a Playboy Bunny.

"Up next is our favorite scientist and vampire Dr. Dorothea!" Luna introduced. Dorothea wore a blue bikini with orange medical crosses decorating it.

"Next we have our gunner girl who rocks the cowboy hat well: Doya!" Luna introduced. Doya was dressed in orange bikini cut like a cowgirl's get up.

"Next is the Empire's finest, the Iciest of Icy Queens, General Esdeath herself!" Luna explained, Esdeath wore a lovely snow-white bikini that barely contained her breasts and allowed the mark of her Teigu to be seen in full view

"Then we have our third Elite seven girl, the blademaster Gin!" Luna introduced, Gin wore a blue bikini that complemented her hair which she wore in two ponytails for the moment.

"Next is our next Oarburgh girl, Gilberda!" Luna introduced. Gilberda wore a lovely teal string bikini.

"Now for our big sis's fiery haired friend, the fiery Henrietta" Luna introduced. Henrietta wore a lime green bikini and fiery orange hip-wrap.

"Up next hoping to step out of her big sister's shadow is the cute yet creepy Kurome!" Luna introduced. Kurome wore black and bloody red bikini with the images of a skull on either breast, a warning to anyone who dared touch them apart from Tatsumi.

"Next we proceed right to the letter L for the first of Ls: the goddess of curves and Lioness herself Leone!" Luna introduced. Leone wore a golden bikini that matched her eyes perfectly, she had assumed Lionelle's form to make her even more sexy as a Nekomimi.

"Now for the first of our Li's, the lovely Lila, the widow of a good man and new mother" Luna introduced. Lila wore a red bikini which was in contrast to her green hair and brown skin,.

"Now for the daughter of Honest-Baka, the lovely and sweet Lillianna" Luna introduced. Lillianna wore a white and pink bikini.

"Now for the survivor and victim, but a pink haired beauty Linsie!" Luna introduced. Linsie wore a blue-green bikini.

"I'm the better Pinkette then your Mine!" Linsie challenged.

"Are not!" Mine replied.

"HEY! No name calling!" Air interjected.

"I'll show you name calling Air, you little bratty bitch!" Mine yelled and was grabbed by both Seryu and Sheele and dragged to Angela who shoved a bar of soup in Mine's mouth albeit with much struggle and putting her in the corner.

"Wait for your name to be called Mine and Mommy will take the soap out" Fal commented.

"Anyway where were we people? Oh yeah time for the Twins the last of our L's and first of our M's we have Loris and Meela!" Luna introduced, the twins wore matching red white and blue bikinis and did a little dance when their names were called.

"Hey people" Both twins stated.

"Now mommy you can take the soup out; because its time for everyone's favorite Tsundere to take the stage in her perfect pink: Mine!" Luna introduced. Mine wore a Hot pink bikini that screamed pink! Pink! Pink! Her hair was let down to its full length.

"Yes its me and I'm sorry for insulting Air hopefully that won't affect our judges picks" Mine apologized.

"Now for the other M's that we've missed Martha, Mashiro, Mez, Merraid and Mimi!" Luna introduced. Martha wore a lovely blue and black bikini. Mashiro wore an amber bikini that matched her eyes. Mez wore her favorite white swimsuit which matched her usual outfit. Mimi wore a purple and orange bikini that was oriental in design. Merraid's was the most stand out was it was rainbow colored bikini with a set of butterfly wings.

"Now come our N's Najenda, Naomi, Natalia and Nea!" Luna introduced. Najenda wore a lavender bikini that matched her eyes and a silver wrap around her waist and black water gloves. Naomi wore and orange and blue bikini and her usual glasses. Natalia wore a ravishing black thong bikini that flaunted her breasts. Nea wore a conservative indigo bikini that kept her looking cute and lovely.

"Now for Pais the lovely scout who's the best in the Revolutionary Army" Luna introduced. Pais wore a pink and green flowery bikini.

"Up next is our R's for the day, Remus and Riji, one a former assassin, the other a sweet maid turned spy for Tatsumi; neither a girl you want to be on the bad side of" Luna introduced. Remus wore a grey wolfskin bikini and Riji wore a white and black bikini that resembled a maid's uniform.

"Now for our S's and we have a lot of them; Saraya, Sayo, Sheele, Spear, Seryu and Suzuka!" Luna introduced. Saraya wore a lovely black bikini, Sayo wore a sweet white bikini with the images of butterflies decorating it, Sheele a simple purple bikini, Seryu her green bikini, and Suzuka, a black and blue bikini with her usual one breast covered armor piece.

"Up next is our sole T; the lovely Tsukushi!" Luna introduced, Tsukushi wore a lovely orange and purple bikini that allowed her ample curves to become more accented.

"Now for our only U and only Dwarf, I mean an actual dwarf not a someone with dwarfism, our oldest candidate at 240 years of age: Umber!" Luna introduced. Umber was the shortest contestant and wore a brass bikini made out of actual brass.

"Now for our V; the gem of the Southern lands the lovely Vatima" Luna introduced, Vatima wore a crimson swimsuit in the same vain as that worn by Shantae the Half-genie hero.

"Our second to last girl and only W, is Womyn, which I think is a silly name why name a girl Womyn, aren't grown up girls called women? Never mind come up" Luna introduced, Womyn wore a dark purple bikini.

"Now for our last but certainly not least contestant the lovely Yami" Luna introduced. Yami wore a blue and orange bikini with clothes attached to it that made her look like a dancer.

"Now that all our contestants are introduced we'll have to give our judges time to deliberate and choose their picks; in the meantime our contestants will flaunt their beauty to help sway a decision, while me and my sisters go take an ice cream break See ya!" Fal explained and ran off with Air and Luna, leaving the judges in the decision time.

Angela smiled at Ieyasu, who blushed and wrote her name on a piece of paper and held it up, the fact it was that easy wasn't a surprise to Tatsumi who was getting really worried.

"Oh Lubbock" Yami teased and then began dancing swaying romantically, Lubbock's eyes became hearts and he jumped out of his chair and his clothes and pulled of Yami's swimsuit and dived into the water with her.

"Great that was easy for him too" Tatsumi thought and then looked at his harem; looking for his choice; it wasn't easy as he was contemplating what the others would do to him if he chose poorly; he considered which of the options would be most painful and what the likelihood of the others hurting him if he chose right. "Now what would be the most painful thing any of my lovely ladies could do to me- yep that's the worst" Tatsumi thought, then took a paper and wrote down the name of the winner. "Esdeath" Tatsumi admitted, considering the fact she looked the 'hottest' of all the girls with best figure of them all and the fact she had extremely creative ways of causing pain should he not choose her, chief fear being her freezing his dick off. There was a mixture of aghs and aw and in the case of Mine a string of obscenities which was quickly silenced by Angela with the soap bar.

"Oh Tatsu-bunny that's so sweet of you" Esdeath commented and came and hugged him pulling his face into her breasts.

"If it means anything he loves you all equally" Seryu commented.

And that's a wrap. Don't worry chapter 30 will come soon as I can figure stuff out, offer suggestions on the Author's note before this Omake.


	37. Chapter 30

Chapter 30: The White Knight

Figanhof Manor the following morning… Tatsumi was shocked, considering the state of the place, but even more so by the news Aria had given him about this. "Seryu is Koro able to pick up a scent?" Tatsumi asked, noted his partner and wife looking over a fresh corpse of a dead man.

"No: the only scents here are scents of the dead: wow whoever did this was moving lightning fast" Seryu explained.

"I can't believe someone beat Night Raid to the punch; I mean look you'd think that they'd done this but nope; they found the place like this" Mez remarked.

"I have no idea; I'm completely stumped, either we've got people who are being inspired to this of their own volition, or Honest is behind this and is trying to cause more trouble; I'm not sure who did this but I'd like to have a word with them; more attacks like this could easily make our jobs both day and night much more difficult" Tatsumi explained after thinking it over.

"Well there's nothing left here except bodies; the weird thing though is the wounds are done with the same weapon each strike is precise and even the armor is shredded like it was paper; whoever did this was wielding a Teigu" Mez explained looking over the bodies further.

"Great there is a Teigu user at large too" Tatsumi thought, they then left; Tatsumi had to report his findings to Esdeath who was at the palace for a council meeting.

Later at the Palace… Tatsumi was now searching for Esdeath as the council meeting she was at had concluded just as he arrived, he asked Makoto where she was and found out she was in the room of the twin princesses. Tatsumi however wasn't prepared for what he saw next. Esdeath sitting down on a comfortable chair with her gown down and both princesses sitting on her lap nursing from her breasts. "Hello Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted.

"Hi Esdeath-chan, what are you doing?" Tatsumi asked blushing like cherry.

"Nursing the princesses, ever since I got pregnant I've been lactating up a storm; so I decide to nurse them like I did when they were infants, in addition to being the Guardian and Educator of the royal children I was also their wet nurse" Esdeath explained as both Koko and Lin drank their fill as Esdeath wrapped her arms around both girls like a caring mother. "So, what do want to talk to me about" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi did the only thing he could do in the situation and that was to take a seat next to Esdeath and ignore the fact she was nursing the girls. "I'm not the only who does this by the way, they love Mez's milk and Mez has been their dedicated wet-nurse for years now" Esdeath explained.

"Any particular reason why they are still nursing at this age?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because they love milk, and I'm worried that if they drink any milk brought to them a certain scheming scumbag minister will try to poison them; so to keep them safe from that danger I nurse both them and Makoto with my own milk, so do Mez and Suzuka by the way" Esdeath explained, the fact that she cared about the three royal children as much as she would for the child in her womb was something Tatsumi admired her and loved her for; that she cared for them his much was proof enough that the Empire's Finest was not as evil as the Revolutionary army and others thought she was; she was doing everything she could to keep them safe and would do whatever takes to protect them; if that meant massacring entire cities and razing them to the ground she'd do that; but overall though he was sure that him being around her had changed her.

"I'm glad you care that much for them, this world of ours is way too cruel for children, as Champ demonstrated, anyway I came here to talk about business; I investigated the place like you ordered and it gave new meaning to the word trashed the only issue is that Night Raid had nothing to do with it" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh really, how do you know that?" Esdeath asked.

"By the wounds; each one was done with the same weapon, Night Raid as you know has a network of various weapon users with few using the same weapon" Tatsumi explained.

"That is very unusual, any ideas on what to do next" Esdeath replied, trying to keep things as cryptic as possible so as to avoid letting the twins know about their secrets.

"Wait and see what happens next; note that his was one of Honest's supporters so if the next target that dies is the same type of person, we have a pattern" Tatsumi explained.

Meanwhile as Tatsumi and Esdeath discussed things something else happened, in another manor belonging to another ally of Honest a brutal daylight strike happened, the White Knight showed up out of nowhere and began brutally eliminating each sentry without mercy, then eliminating each servant he knew was guilty, then removing the head of the noble lord, his wife and his sons before freeing capitives held in a torture dungeon under the manor, he then proceeded the hang the corpse of the nobles from the high fences before vanishing and moving on to his next targets which he eliminated before retiring to rest in the countryside.

Later that day… "Alright this definitely isn't Night Raid's doing" Tatsumi replied looking over the fresh corpses of Lord Bann and his family.

"I can tell, Night Raid never operates in broad daylight" Seryu agreed

"Yeah whoever did this isn't afraid, also again the same strikes too" Mez replied.

"I'd like to know who's doing this and get them on our team" Tatsumi replied.

"Same here, whoever's doing this is going to cause security to be on the up and would probably stop us from being able to do missions for a quite a while" Seryu agreed.

"Najenda will most likely want to have us lie low anyway; in fact we better tell her about it, the most we can do is hope to be able to catch the perp in the act so we can ask questions" Tatsumi replied, they then left and went thru routines of a patrol before heading out of the city and doubling out into the countryside.

When they arrived at HQ, they heard the call of an Air Manta and looked up to see one; what surprised them though was that Merraid was riding it and a couple other mantas were following the one she rode. "Yeah! I knew it would work!" Merraid shouted to herself before landing in front of Tatsumi and his partners.

"Merraid what are you doing? Last I checked Air Mantas were a class AA danger beast; highly dangerous" Tatsumi replied.

"Only to trees, they really aren't that dangerous other then they can breed quickly and they attract other danger beasts that prey on them, anyway I was taking a stroll in the countryside when I came by our old base, apparently Air Mantas have moved into since we left and well seeing them fly gave me an idea: if I used my ability to control Danger Beast on these Air Mantas we could have a means to fly in and out of the city at night and strike targets without warning" Merraid replied.

"Well that sounds like a dangerous idea, what would we hold onto? Also, wouldn't we need to craft platforms of a sort to ride on?" Tatsumi replied skeptical.

"Tatsumi-kun, don't worry I've thought this out and all we need to do is craft some saddles and we can ride on their backs, and I might add they are rather easy to tame" Merraid replied then came over and hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Now what brings you here?" Merraid asked.

"I came to talk to Najenda, you here about the mission last night where our target was taken out?" Tatsumi asked.

"Here about it? I was there, and yes I was pretty shocked by the precision of whoever did this, I've got no idea who did this and I'm pretty sure whoever did this hates Honest and we have copycats following in our example" Merraid replied.

"It gets crazier, first off we studied the scene in detail and found that the same weapon was used in the killings, secondly another attack happened while we were at the palace in broad daylight" Tatsumi explained.

"Looks like our copycats are ballsy" Merraid commented.

"Anyway, I need to let Najenda know about this whole thing, the fact we have a copycat or copycats doing our job means the city's going to be on bigger alerts; which means we need to lie low" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I won't stop you, in fact I'll come with you because I'd like to talk with Najenda about my new idea" Merraid explained.

Shortly… Najenda rubbed her belly as Tatsumi and Merraid walked into her office. "Ah Tatsumi have you looked into the handiwork of our unknown competitors?" Najenda asked.

"Yep and we had another attack: in broad daylight" Tatsumi replied, Najenda jolted in surprise.

"A broad daylight attack? Great not only do we have a rogue group taking out our targets they are also willing to take out our targets in broad daylight, Tatsumi look into this, the meantime all Night Raid Ops are on complete hold, whoever is doing this will attract a lot of attention and we don't need that; also there is the fact whoever is doing this is willing to attack in daylight which means things are going to get even crazier" Najenda replied after thinking over the information.

"Boss I have an idea of something to do in the meantime it may open up some interesting options for future missions" Merraid replied.

"Well then Merraid you'll have to show me, Tatsumi investigate this matter further; we have a rather extensive list of Honest's allies as they are clear the targets: we have mystery on our hands and I need you to look into it" Najenda explained.

"I personally would like to know the answers; in the meantime, though I'm going to use the time I've been given to train harder with Gin and Sheele" Tatsumi explained.

"Was Honest really that dangerous an opponent" Najenda asked regretted it, Tatsumi made an expression of noticeable pain. "I'm sorry about it; it's just I can't believe that monster is such a skilled and dangerous fighter: I'm such an idiot for bringing that up" Najenda apologized getting out of her chair and hugging him.

"It's not that, it's- well I thought I was stronger than actually am, I let my hatred for Honest make me underestimate him; I'm not going to do that in the future; I'm going to whatever it takes to be able to beat him, if that means I'm going to have to learn every weapon, fighting style, and strategy on the face of Eden and push my body beyond its limits I'll do it" Tatsumi replied hugging her back. "Especially when I have something much greater then Honest's desire for power to drive me: a family, something I've always wanted and that I now have; I'll fight to my last breath to protect my new family; especially you Najenda and our child that grows in your womb; and you too Merraid and any children we have; I will fight and Honest will fall" Tatsumi explained and promised, Merraid came over and hugged his back pressing her breasts against his back.

"I know you will, Tatsumi-kun and if it helps I'll teach you techniques that have never been taught to any man; you are my husband to be and as matriarch of the Oarburgh Clan I'm willing to train you in the arts of our clan" Merraid explained.

"Thanks, Merra, I'll need everything I can get" Tatsumi replied, both of them kissed him; Tatsumi was led off to Najenda's room who locked the door behind them; they then stripped themselves of all their clothing apart from Merra's and Najenda's stockings. Tatsumi thought that Najenda was made even more beautiful by her pregnancy, yes, she had gained weight but her breasts had increased in size and her curves were just neat as before; the belly though that great as he could caress their unborn child as he rode her rear reverse cowgirl.

Having Merraid join in was a new experience for Najenda; given the fact that the lesbian turned bi-sexual was a complete tiger in bed and she knew how to please a woman. They started the threesome out with Najenda sitting on Tatsumi's face so he could please her with his tongue while Merraid took his entire length inside her folds and moaned as she bounced up and down. "You know he's the best partner I've ever had Najenda" Merraid explained.

"He's the only one for me Merraid, you know there was one other guy that could have been worthy of my love but well I was never drawn to him, he may have been to me and but you know how things goes I waited and then Tatsumi-ugh! Came into my life and well I felt very strongly for him; he's young brave, bold, and well just downright handsome; and he reminds me of myself when I first left Joyou and began my carrier in the military, in fact he tried to do that first thing when he arrived in this city- OOH! My g-spot!" Najenda explained and moaned, Merraid silenced her moans with a kiss and pressed her breasts against her. Najenda relaxed and let Merraid kiss her and explore her mouth, she enjoyed the pressing of her breasts against hers, did she have any feelings for Merraid, not in the way she had for Tatsumi, she did feel love of a sort for her, but more of a sister to her then anything else, in fact they were pretty much sisters in all but actual blood and at the moment marriage.

Speaking of marriage Merraid has some ideas for that but those required Akame to be able to get in and out of the city in the day without being recognized by Kurome or anyone else that would recognize her but especially Kurome. In the meantime however she had already seen to getting prepartions made for her gown and Akame's: for her own Merraid had decided to go with that of a butterfly patterned gown with wings stitched to it, as for Akame's Merraid has opted to let her decide on that; Merraid also had another thing that kept her from marrying Tatsumi and that was she wanted her other lovers to marry him at the same time which meant she'd either have to wait until the war ended or if by some miracle she managed to get them all in the same place.

Meanwhile at an unknown location… "Spider that weaves the webs of souls I thank thee for thy blessing and for giving me a second chance at life. I'm pleased to report that I've been able to do much damage over the past few days since my arrival: I ask thee to give me further boons and allow me to carry out my goal for redemption" The White Knight prayed then concluded his prayer and looked at a picture of certain white haired beauty. "I'm glad you're happy; also glad to take the work load off of your husband; just know I'll be there for you sister" the Knight commented to himself then looked out of the window of the abandoned flat that he had taken as his base in the city and noted he had much to do.

Back at Night Raid HQ… "Hey Tatsumi" Tsukushi greeted coming up to Tatsumi.

"Hey Tsukushi; how are you doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty good; hey I've heard from Seryu that you needed some help learning how to handle a gun" Tsukushi commented.

"Oh really? I did mention that to her; you'll teach me, right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Gladly Tatsumi, I'm the best pistol marksmen in the Empire; I can nail a target from 100 yards away with Prometheus; I'll gladly teach you some pointers" Tsukushi replied. "So Tatsumi how have you been doing?" Tsukushi asked smiling and trying to be friendly.

"Personally I've been a bit sullen, losing to Honest and knowing that I'm not yet strong enough to face him is a hard thing for me; personally Tsukushi I'm worried, worried I won't be strong enough to face him when the time for our final battle comes and worried for the people I love and care for; most of all though my children" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; well you could use some cheering up, why don't we head to the hot springs and talk there; I feel I can cheer you up" Tsukushi replied suggestively. "Especially since you could use it before Gin and Sheele put you thru the grinder with the training they've got planned for you" Tsukushi commented. To Tatsumi's surprise she held his hands and gave him a peck on the cheek, they then left.

Shortly at the Hot springs… Tsukushi leaned against Tatsumi's shoulder pressing her breasts against him, they were both naked and relaxed against the side, Tsukushi's boobs were F-cups the biggest of any Elite Seven member and they rivaled Esdeath's in size, in fact they were bigger. "So Tatsumi here we are; alone, I'm ready to tell you how I feel" Tsukushi commented.

"How do you feel and what do you mean?" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, remember your first mission after you killed Zank the Beheader and the few after that, we were both on those teams" Tsukushi replied.

"Yeah I do, killing that scumbag Belkath Baggor, he was a merchant fond of using young boys for his own sick sexual needs, my first encounter with a pedophile, and the first time I saw Aria torture someone to death; I remember the fluster of emotions I felt, wondering whether or not I was on the right side" Tatsumi replied.

"And you remember that guard you killed who managed to take me by surprise?" Tsukushi asked.

"Oh yeah, that guy, he had overpowered you with a surprise attack and was in the process of taking off your blouse before I cleaved him in two" Tatsumi replied.

"I take that dearly; I don't forget someone who saved my life; then on our next mission you made sure to help the captives we liberated from a opium den that masqueraded as an illegal slave brothel; you helped them get new clothing and made sure to comfort the children who'd been abused: I loved that you were so caring" Tsukushi replied. "Then there was Mako Incident; when we saved a bunch of people from a mass rape by corrupt guards; you made sure to help every single victim and carry the injured women to Aria for medical attention" Tsukushi added. "The point being Tatsumi is your extremely selfless, then there was that incident where you sparred some maids that were in a targets estates, you went with your gut and found out they had been drugged; you saved me from having to kill innocent people; not only that you are able to take the fact that having seen all this corruption and still be an optimist who sees hope in the world" Tsukushi added, then stopped.

"Tsukushi?" Tatsumi asked, then was kissed on the lips.

"Tatsumi my point being I love you; I love you for your courage, your selfness, your optimism, the fact that you care dearly for others and the fact that you put your family and friends first before your own life; also the fact that you've gone from being a farm boy to the most influential person in the whole Empire; and that you've managed to make Akame smile which I've never seen her do on a daily basis" Tsukushi explained then kissed him again, he kissed back and wrapped his arms around her.

"Tsukushi- I- I'm not surprised, it seems everyone is drawn to me now a days, I don't know what I've done to deserve the love of so many women but I'm going to try my damndest to prove worthy of your love and everyone else's and to protect the new family I have" Tatsumi replied after breaking the kiss.

"Thank you Tatsumi now let's make love; I know you've always been eyeing my boobs, I'm going to put them to use; their yours now" Tsukushi explained, Tatsumi sat on the ridge exposing his erection to full view.

"Wow I knew you were hung from what Cornelia and Akame told me but damn that's a huge dick, well I'm a virgin but I'm going to in your words try my damndest" Tsukushi commented then wrapped her breasts around his length, the soft mounds were heavenly in their embrace. Tsukushi started slow and steady letting her breasts go up and down, she kisses the tip as she did this and then licked it while intensifying her movements. She then controlled her breasts lifting one up and pushing one down making it far more stimulating, going faster. Tatsumi smiled and moaned as she did her thing then moaned louder when Tsukushi took his length in her mouth and began blowing him along with massaging him.

"Tsukushi" Tatsumi moaned. "So good" he moaned and stroked his hand thru her soft hair with one hand and used the other to fondle her left breast and twirl it to increase his pleasure.

"This is good; I'm enjoying this; and the best part nobody is going to crash this" Tsukushi thought then used her hands to caress Tatsumi's nipples causing Tatsumi to giggle and moan. "Akame you were right; he loves that" Tsukushi thought, Tatsumi reciprocating by playing with her nipples caressing the areolas with a finger before massaging her boobs as she continued to embrace his loins in the valley of her cleavage. "The best part is nobody knows about this" Tsukushi replied.

Above the springs in a nearby tree… "Tsukushi, finally you've made your moves, damn it; I should have- no I can't as much as I want to; I love Tatsumi but- I- the pain of my past; even if I did have sex with him the trauma. No he has to love me and prove it to me: I'll show him my love for him but first he's going thru the training, and because Tsukushi got to him first well her training will have to wait until I'm done with him" Gin thought and continued watching; it was perverted of her, but she didn't care she wanted to see Tatsumi do this, to know that he wasn't abusive that he was truly caring; she knew her friends sang his praises but she wanted to see; to know that he wouldn't treat her like that monster did before. "I'm so sad if only- my maidenhood, it should've been his and shouldn't have been taken by that monster, Kurome's too she was only 14 when that monster molested her; and the worst part I- my gut tells me that monster is still alive and on the lose: that Southern savage" Gin thought, then cried.

Back with Tatsumi… Tsukushi was now deepthroating him well as much as she could with his length still in between her breasts; Tatsumi had a feeling that she loved his length in between her boobs so much that she was trying her hardest to avoid letting it out from the warmth of that valley: Tatsumi of course wasn't going to try and have her stop, but he was going to release she had done so good that he couldn't hold in any longer. "Tsukushi I'm cumming!" Tatsumi yelled, she popped out his length and got blasted with his seed, planting a bukkake on her face and breasts.

Tsukushi licked it off. "Yum, spicy and salty: now Tatsumi what are you going to do next?" Tsukushi commented, Tatsumi had to the think, he climbed into the water, he was still hard. Tsukushi had so many good features; her boobs which she'd given him the most attention with already; but she had such a cute ass which while not as big as her breasts still was ample.

"I think your ass needs my attention" Tatsumi commented then turned her around; and spread her butt cheeks, then entered her, pulling her against him as they lowered themselves into the water.

"EEEEEEE!" Tsukushi moaned as he entered her, Tatsumi then leaned on her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek and began thrusting slowly in and out of her, then he caressed her boobs moving them around. "Oh! Oh!" Tsukushi moaned repeatedly; Tatsumi smiled as she blushed and moaned, he caressed her boobs. He was looking forward to drinking her milk and couldn't wait; so, he turned her around still keeping his length inside her rear and began drinking.

"So sweet; her milk its- its better than Esdeath's man she's been blessed with the best breasts in the world; heck they're even better- yeah don't mention that to Esdeath ever" Tatsumi thought as he drank; the milk flowed into his mouth it was sweet; in fact it tasted like the finest of ice cream to him a drink unrivaled by anything else he'd ever drank. "So good" Tatsumi thought as Tsukushi moaned and wrapped her arms around him and he around her.

Considering the fact that Tatsumi had expected this to happen he hadn't considered really how much fun it was. "I'm going to make her happy; we'll have such great children; I'm going to try my hardest to protect her, I know she'd able to fend for herself but I'm still going to help in any way I can" Tatsumi thought then switched nipples; he then drank more milk he pressed his forehead against her breast and Tsukushi giggled as he used a handle to caress her other nipple. "We both like having our nipples fingered" Tatsumi thought then he came inside her suddenly filling her anus, he then pulled out and entered her snapping her barrier without so much as thinking about it, the warm water and his drinking caused Tsukushi not so much as feel any pain though she noticed he had entered her; his length was up tight near the entrance to her womb.

"Tatsumi-kun, Tatsumi-kun, drink my milk, I can tell you love it" Tsukushi moaned she loved the feeling, oh this was paradise and both of them had forgotten their troubles; Tsukushi her fears of rejection and Tatsumi his fears of failing against Honest, they were now just two people in love and passion, not letting anything detract from the moment.

10 minutes later Tatsumi filled her womb as he was locked in a kiss; the water was still warm from the geo-thermal vents and Tatsumi was inclined to stay here with her.

Two hours passed and both Tatsumi and Tsukushi finished their love making in the springs then they returned to base and enjoyed more passion; the day had grown late, and Tatsumi was inclined to rest. Overall the troubles of the world were forgotten by him; even more so when Cornelia and Akame who had put Tsukushi up to this and told her that it would be best to show him her feelings joined in on the fun. As night fell Tatsumi smelt of sweat and sex with Akame and Cornelia on either side of him and Tsukushi snug inside him as she slept atop him with her arms wrapped around him while Akame and Cornelia held either one of his arms in their embrace.

Meanwhile…. Lillianna was having trouble sleeping; she had woken again and ran to the bathroom to once again lose her dinner. "Man I knew being pregnant would be trouble from what my ladies in waiting told me but this is just painful; ugh this acid burns" Lillianna said to herself then went to lie back down and hugged her stuffed panda Chao Chao and her stuffed Earth Dragon Lornbettle. As she went to tuck herself in a figure appeared at her bed side and did so, she was about to scream when white arm clad had covered her mouth.

"Don't yell sister; I'm just visiting hoping to wish you a good night like I always did" the White Knight stated.

"That voice, you can't be- you're dead" Lillianna replied, the knight removed his helm revealing a crisp clean face that resembled her own but as a man, his eyes the same as hers, she knew her twin anywhere.

"I was; but now I'm back" Syura explained.

"But how why? This isn't a dream is it?" Lillianna replied.

"It is if you want it to be; I can't stay here for long I just came here to see if you were ok" Syura the White explained.

"Please don't go; wait though you died and did horrible things when you were alive" Lillianna replied.

"I did; I regret every single one of them, but I received a second chance; I serve the Phoenix Queen now, as her enforcer; she offered me a chance at redemption which she will grant me but I have to correct the wrongs of our family to deal with father's servents" Syura explained.

"So you're the one that's been doing Night Raid's job; you shouldn't do it so brazenly; I know you love to constantly be in action but you risk putting others in danger by attracting so much attention" Lillianna replied.

"I do what I have to Lily; I will bring down this rotten corrupt cabal of father's and remove the black mark on our family; but remember sis this is all just a dream" Syura stated then whispered in her ear and she passed out. He then listened at her chest. "Hello my future niece or nephew" he whispered then disappeared.

The next morning Lillianna awoke in her warm sheets wondering if last night's encounter was a dream "No it had to be; Syura is dead; dead people don't come back at least not evil ones" Lillianna thought trying to convince herself, her door opened and Tatsumi walked in.

"Morning Lillianna, Aria sent me to get you for breakfast, how are you feeling today?" Tatsumi greeted, Lillianna got out of bed and hugged him.

"I had a crazy dream last night" Lillianna replied.

"Tell me about it" Tatsumi asked as he turned around to allow her to dress; granted he had seen her naked but he wasn't pervert, he'd let the women he loved dress without him seeing them do it.

"You wouldn't believe it, I dreamt I woke up to go vomit because of pregnancy reasons, so I did that and came and laid back down; but as I went to tuck myself in a masked white armored warrior appeared at my bedside and tucked me in; I tried to scream but he spoke to me; a voice I knew and when he removed his helmet I saw my twin brother Syura; alive; he told me he had been sent back to redeem himself and- it was nuts; I'm sure it was a dream, because I'd hate for that to been real because well I'm thinking I may be crazy" Lillianna explained as she dressed. "I'm done changing what do you think?" Lillianna commented, Tatsumi turned to face her; she wore a lovely pink gown with a white corset and long sleeves.

"You look like an angel Lillianna" Tatsumi commented and walked over to hug her and hold tight, she did the same.

"Thank you for your love Tatsumi; I'm glad I chose you for my husband; I know it was rushed but you know my father pushed me into a corner and you saved my life a debt that I had nothing else to repay you with" Lillianna stated.

"That sounds like an interesting dream: well today I'm going to spend time with you Lily, my extensive training starts tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to it; but it's worth it if I'll be able to defeat your father and ensure peace in the Empire" Tatsumi commented.

"Good then I'll enjoy it: a day with you and your lovely bodyguards" Lillianna commented. "They are pretty nice-looking girls not that I'm jealous I'm glad that you have earned as much love as you have; you deserve it for all the effort you put in day in and day out" Lillianna commented.

They broke the hug and headed downstairs where breakfast had just finished; Tatsumi sat next Aria and Lillianna sat next to him; they then took their usual morning meals and began eating. Around the table everyone who was usually there was there; Constantine of course looking at the newspaper. "This is quite concerning; more of Honest's allies were found dead this morning; three separate mansions were cleaned out and purged of them; as a result, the local patrols are on the up and up at night" Constantine replied.

"Seriously whoever's doing this has got to get on page; I wonder whether or not Honest is doing this on purpose to try and draw us into a trap" Tatsumi commented.

"That's duplicitous even for him" Constantine replied.

"Well we'll figure this mystery out at some point right guys?" Sheele commented.

"Probably but I don't think anytime soon" Tatsumi replied; then continued eating; other than that things at the table were normal with the only obvious difference being that Fal, Air and Luna were surprisingly quiet, which meant something. "Why are you three so quiet all of a sudden?" Tatsumi asked curious.

"That's a private personal matter; we really do not want to talk about" Fal replied.

"I'm going to say it; its been a number of years since my dad, my birth dad was killed by bad people and today marks the anniversary of his death" Luna replied honestly, then sat up and laid in Angela's lap.

After that the mood around the table was rather somber, everyone ate their food and left. Tatsumi took Lillianna to a carriage alongside Aria, Fal, Air Luna, and his bodyguards. They headed first to the shopping district. "Alright today is an important day; tomorrow is my parent's anniversary so I want us all to get them a present for it: both of them by the way so get one for my mom and one for my dad" Aria explained; Tatsumi was surprised by the news and had to think on what to get.

Shortly… Shopping in a large market plaza offered many benefits and disadvantages the chief benefits being many things were on offer and many merchants were selling the same product so you could get whatever you wanted to buy and get it at a good price. The main disadvantage however was it made you a target for a number of people who were out to get your money; some being merchants that were shifty in their goods whether they were legitimately acquired and tampered with or stolen with the merchant wanting blame you, others being pickpockets and cutpurses wanting relieve you of your money.

But worst off all in the City of Melitine were people who trafficked in death-work thugs and assassins out for blood; mainly hired by those wanting to deal with a political rival or three. Of course, the assassins in this case weren't even hired killers but, in this case, crazed religious fanatics. Tatsumi saw the robed figures in their burgundy robes with the mark of Valtor on them before they saw him. "Great trouble's coming" Tatsumi whispered to Lillianna, who turned to notice the assassins; who were armed to the teeth under their robes. "Lord Valtor we offer the souls of this market and our own in your name: Attack!" the Leader of the cultists declared and they threw off their robes revealing the fact they were clad in the same burgundy painted armor they always wore.

Tatsumi drew his sword and Lillianna screamed; the first of the assassins charged at her with blades but before Tatsumi could even swing Valruost in his direction the assassin was cut clean in two by white blade; Tatsumi noted the figure clad in white armor; polished crisp and made out an alloy that was completely alien to him not Teigu armor but something way stronger. The Armor itself was multilayered with interlocking plate rings covering armor which Tatsumi could see the rings of chain beneath; each layer was crisp and the alloy was polished to a shine; the blade the warrior wielded wasn't even remotely dirtied by the blood of the man he had just killed; but armor wasn't without heraldry; in the center was the symbol of a crown topped by a grand bird of radiant glory under which a spider lay in a web; the helmet was a salet that was covered by warmask; atop the helm was a crest of white feathers attached to the statue of a spider topped by a bird; the helmet also had noticeable wings and a laurel was carved into the helmet. The Legs were covered from knee up by a plated skirt; a white sash was wrapped around the chest and waist: on the skirt the imagery of the spider and bird was apparent; the legs were guarded by ornate plate boots and greaves; in fact, the armor didn't have any gaps Tatsumi could notice. And if the armor wasn't enough the warrior had a large aspis shield with the image of the spider on it.

"What?" Tatsumi stated, then Lillianna pulled him aside to save him from being killed by another assassin who was trying to take advantage of his hesitation, Tatsumi managed to dodge the attack and replied by decapitating the assassin whose head rolled away. Then came something that shocked Tatsumi; moving faster than he could the Knight jumped into the midst of the assassins and sliced down a few of them then vanished suddenly and appeared elsewhere killing other attackers; the Knight did this so many times that Tatsumi stood there gaping Lillianna clinging to him.

Aria shoved her rapier into the face of one of the assassins and drove a kukri into the throat of another; one came at her from behind but he was bisected to Aria's surprise by the White Knight who then moved on to kill an attacker who held Fal in his grip, said attacker was quickly bifurcated. "Whoa" was all Aria had to say as she pulled her kukri and rapier out of her newest kills, before killing two more assassins who were hassling Guarry and who in turn saved her from another assassin by shoving his longsword thru the face of the attacker; Aria moved to the side as Guarry followed up the momentum to hack another assassin in half before taking down four more hired killers and grabbing Luna out of the path of a falling stall pole cut loose by a straw dagger that had been thrown by a dying assassin as he bled out.

"For Valtor!" An axe wielding Assassin yelled as he swung wildly at Guarry who parried the blow and struck him in the face with the pommel his blade knocking him over; the man's throat was then cut by Luna who drew her dagger and ruthlessly stabbed him repeatedly in the neck before driving the blade into his forehead for good measure.

"Nice work Luna; you remind of Aria when she was your age" Guarry commented.

"Thanks that's high praise; Look out!" Luna replied and flung her knife into the face of an assassin who was about to slice Guarry in half; the blade didn't kill him but it did cause him to lose momentum and sight in one eye; his head was then removed by Guarry who grabbed the blade out handed it to Luna; who simply picked up a nearby sword from a fallen enemy charged yelling towards the nearest assassin cut of man's hands as he tried to block her attacks, and decapitated him as he was screaming.

On the other side of the Market place the guards from the city were being killed by another group of assassins who were joining the fray; the Knight blocked their path and held out his hands. "Net of Amantyk!" he yelled and nets of pure light entangled the assassins completely immobilizing them he then glared behind his helmet and yelled "Blades of Light!" Shine bright blades descended from the sky and stabbed every single assassin into the ground which dragged them up and flung them up into the air causing gravity to draw them down.

The fight concluded shortly after the market was bloodied by corpses most of them assassins but others were those of city guards, the merchants who were selling goods and saddest of all ordinary shoppers who lay dead in pools of blood. Tatsumi studied the scene and noted the fallen body of mother and her child who had been brutally killed by the attackers. The man that killed them lay about a foot away; his severed head being kicked around by Air whose eyes were filled with tears. "WHY?!" Air screamed; angry at the world. Tatsumi came over to her; his sister cried into his chest. "I tried to save them but I- I- couldn't- waaaaaaahhhhh!" Air cried, Lillianna came over and comforted her, Tatsumi sheathed Valruost and picked Air up patting her on the back as he allowed her to cry into his shoulder, he rocked her about.

Shortly… The White Knight simply looked at the carnage from atop a nearby building. "Damn it! I kept her safe when I should've focused on keeping other people safe!" the Knight thought; he opened his helmet and looked down seeing the scene that had happened. The bodies were many; he didn't care for those of the assassins he cared for the innocent people who'd been caught up in the massacre; this had happened. "At least your safe Lily at least you're safe" He thought then looked at Aria tending to the injured. "She's such a caring soul, but inside her heart is that of an avenger; she's so good at deception; but I had it coming for a long time and I was stupid drunk and just plain stupid" He continued thinking, then noticed Tatsumi carrying and comforting Air. "You're a good soul Tatsumi; you are probably the best chance this world has; you are the one" he thought, then considered how to approach this; the mix of things, he really didn't want to join Night Raid out of a desire to avoid a chain of command and not wanting to alarm Aria but he couldn't really justify his constant attacks that drew attention to them; considering the state of things though he was likely going to have to; especially after seeing the selflessness of Tatsumi and Aria, and what with Lillianna's advice.

"Lily you're right I can't keep up the attacks; there is only one thing for it; I'll have to meet with them and earn their trust; but how to do it? Since they've likely moved their base since I found out about it I'll need to find it; but that's trouble in itself; no what I need is for them to actually cross paths with me but how" The Knight thought to himself then considered it and came up with a plan: the plan was simple, wait for the heat to die down and for Night Raid to make a strike: how to do that? Simple mark the target and send it in via their contacts.

Later… Tatsumi was busy playing with Air and by playing he meant teaching her the finer arts of swordsmanship. "Lunge, parry, slash" Tatsumi repeated as Air followed up with the movements; she had changed out of her dress to an outfit suited for training.

"En Garde!" Air shouted and unleashed an onslaught of attacks Tatsumi countered with ease; they were using wooden blades and he restrained himself from putting too much strength into his attacks as he was teaching a 12 year old girl how to use a sword. "Thanks, Tatsumi-nii for showing me how to sword fight, this is just the way to cheer me up" Air commented as she slashed at him.

"You're welcome Air; how are you feeling?" Tatsumi asked at this point playing with her more than training her.

"Better; much better, Tatsumi-nii I want to you to know that I really regret not being able to save that woman and her child; if I had been just a bit faster, I could have" Air replied.

"If I hadn't stood still for a the first few seconds in awe at the White Knight I would've too; but we can't change the past; we can however prepare for the future which as far as I'm concerned well you just have to face it" Tatsumi replied stopping with the training. "Air feel free to whack me for a bit I'm trying to toughen myself so that may help a bit" Tatsumi replied and put down the sword and parked himself in a comfy chair. "No hitting me in between the knees I need that part of my body" Tatsumi added before she began to whack him, she really wasn't trying to hurt him and it really didn't faze him remotely. "Never mind Air; just sit on my lap" Tatsumi commented after a few minutes; Air panted and put down the sword and sat on his lap.

"So Tatsumi-nii what are you going to do now?" Air asked, he hugged her and patted her on the head.

"What I'm going to do now is talk; Air what do you want to be when you grow up?" Tatsumi asked.

"An Assassin like Aria-nii! I want to go and kill the bad guys like I'm doing now" Air replied.

"Really? Suppose Air that a year from now Honest is defeated and the Empire is at peace would you still want to do that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well there would probably still be bad guys after that so yeah" Air replied. "Why are you asking me?" Air asked.

"Because I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be; I've done so much in such a short time; I've gone from being a farm boy to noble married to three of the most powerful women in the Empire along with a few others and having a big harem; and in year I'll be father and you an aunt, I'm rich, famous, powerful: but all that has come with people who want to take that from me and all that could be at a moment's notice" Tatsumi replied.

"So, you are still trying to figure out what you want to be? I know why don't you be who you are" Air replied.

"You're right I should be, but I don't know who I really am; all my life I've never known who I truly was because I never knew my parents, hell for all I know my name may not even be Tatsumi" Tatsumi replied.

"So, what happened to your parents?" Air asked.

"I don't know and I really want to; what I do know is they were important people I've seen my father's ghost Air; he was man of great power and influence and a great warrior but other than that I know nothing; in fact the most I've got is hope I can find out who they are" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then you don't have anything else to do at the moment why don't you go look around and see if you can find out" Air suggested.

"You're right I should do something; perhaps there is a way to find out; I'm going to have to find someone who's good with books though" Tatsumi responded then left he then entered one of the many hallways of Grundewick manor before bumping into Seryu and Koro.

"Hey Tatsumi" Seryu greeted and kissed him on the lips, embracing him in a hug. After breaking the kiss, she looked at him "What's up?" she asked.

"Seryu I'm going to try and find out who my parents were; this is too much of a question that honestly determines who I am and I'm going to try my hardest to find out who they were" Tatsumi explained.

"Well then Tatsumi you'll need an expert then; first things first lets go bug my bookish brother and see if he can find something out" Seryu commented, Tatsumi then followed her holding her hand; he liked the lovely shortsleeved frilly green blouse she wore it suited her for when she wasn't a Capital Police officer in the service of Justice.

They arrived at Damian's room Seryu knocked on the door. "Who is it?" Damian asked.

"Your Big Nii-san Seryu" Seryu replied, Damian groaned, then came and opened the door.

"Sis if you are coming to ask me to play with Koro, I'm not in the mood right now" Damian explained, adjusting his glasses.

"That's not what I'm here for; I'm enlisting you for helping me with a personal research project and a murder case" Seryu explained.

"Great; at least its something interesting come in" Damian explained, Seryu and Tatsumi entered and sat down; Damian took a drink from a cup of Hot Chocolate brought to him by Angela a few minutes ago and then turned to them. "Alright lets start out with the specifics of the case; when did it happen who are the victims and what was the cause of death" Damian asked.

"Tatsumi's parents, when did happen about 17 years ago, and the cause of death homicide" Seryu explained.

"Oh great; a really cold case; probably colder then Esdeath; anyway I'm not sure how much of a help I can be" Damian replied.

"Well I have an idea" Tatsumi commented, this surprised Seryu. "What if there was a way to see the past?" Tatsumi suggested.

"A way to see the past? That's an interesting proposition, normally I'd think it impossible but given we live in world where Teigus are capable of doing things others would regard as impossible there might be something that can do that; a Teigu that can see the past" Damian replied.

"You think one may exist?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I have a few books on the subject of Imperial Arms granted none of them talk about their construction other then that the means to do so was lost centuries ago also that the only people capable of creating them now a days are the dwarves and good luck getting them to even talk to you" Damian replied then got up and searched the shelves, he came back with a book titled "The History of Imperial Arms and a list of those that are known" he then handed it to Tatsumi who looked eagerly thru it.

The subjects to Tatsumi's disappointment didn't offer any idea as to the status of Teigu but they did offer the names of some of them more renowned Arms and their abilities; after going thru the book he found the thing he was looking for. The name of the Teigu was Kronos: Mirror of Time; it allowed the user to see the past and to an extent the future; Tatsumi noted that the book didn't go into detail beyond the ability of it and some famed owners; as for the status of the artifact no clue. "Thanks Damian; I'm going to now talk to an expert on Teigus to see if she has any ideas" Tatsumi replied and left; Seryu followed him.

Shortly at Dorothea's lab… Tatsumi walked into the room and got immediately glomped by Cosmina who showered him in kisses. "Hey Cosmina; I need to talk to Dorothea" Tatsumi interrupted after he noticed the doctor was not in the room.

"Sure thing Tatsu-kitty; I'll take you right to her" Cosmina replied and led Tatsumi to a nearby room where Dorothea, clad in her scientific garb and set of protective googles, was currently in the process of looking over several bottles and beakers filled with chemicals unidentifiable to Tatsumi her focus being on one bottle which she held in her hand and held a small syringe with another chemical inside.

"Stop: I need to be absolutely careful with this mixture it is highly volatile, one drop more than needed and the results will be explosive" Dorothea cautioned, she then proceeded and dropped in the exact amount and sat the bottle down carefully. "There: Nitroglycerin is extremely volatile to a point that Cosmina stays out of the room every time" Dorothea explained and turned to Tatsumi. "So, what do I owe this visit Tatsumi-kun, business or pleasure; because I'd love the later" Dorothea asked and teased.

"Both if you want; mainly business though: your field of expertise is Teigus and I need your help in well finding one and acquiring it" Tatsumi replied.

"Ooh, my favorite thing apart from you Teigus, I'll gladly help, I'm knowledgeable about the subject and I know more about it than anyone else in the Empire" Dorothea explained. "Now what Teigu are you interested in?" Dorothea asked.

"Kronos: Mirror of Time" Tatsumi explained.

"And why may I ask does it interest you?" Dorothea asked.

"Because I want to use it to see the past I want to know who my parents were" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh, well that is a noble goal; well I've got good news and bad: the good news is I know where the Teigu in question is in fact I rediscovered it; the bad news is I don't have it; I sold it to a collector a year back and Cosmina used her take for an expensive night" Dorothea explained.

"Does this collector still have it?" Tatsumi asked.

"He wasn't a conventional collector he was person who purchased Teigus and then sold them to other bidders; personally, I don't know who he sold it to originally but somehow its now in the hands of the Empire" Dorothea explained.

"Where?" Tatsumi asked.

"In the Imperial Treasury; no way of acquiring it short of breaking in which is near impossible, and only the Emperor and a few top advisors have access to that treasury" Dorothea explained.

"Shit; well that's making things complicated; you think somebody has been given it by Honest?" Tatsumi asked.

"They'd have to be high-ranked, also a Teigu can't have more than one user at a time and even then, the User has to be compatible; so in order to use it Tatsumi you'd have to kill the active user and then find someone who's capable of using it" Dorothea explained.

"I think I'll check if it's in the treasury if it is well, I'll come up with some way to steal it: I hate taking advantage of Makoto's trust like this but this is the only way to find out who my parents were" Tatsumi explained.

"Well that seems bold of you; however, I'd advise against it for the time being; what with the random attacks going on the security is tightening in the city" Dorothea replied. "Now is that all you need Tatsumi" Dorothea asked and came closer to him.

"For now, yeah" Tatsumi replied, Dorothea hugged him, he kissed her. "Let's get to the pleasure part of my visit" Tatsumi suggested he picked Dorothea up and carried her to her Room, Seryu and Cosmina left them alone.

Tatsumi removed Dorothea's lab coat and her dress; then stopped to remove his clothing down to his undergarments which Dorothea deprived him of before pulling him onto her bed with impressive strength, Tatsumi unhooked her bra and pulled it off and cupped her butt cheeks as they made out, her tongue locked with his; Tatsumi allowed Dorothea to explore his mouth and then wrapped his around hers before giving her bum a slap and removing her panties leaving them both naked, he then inserted his length inside Dorothea who broke the kiss to moan audibly as he entered her. Tatsumi then pulled her towards him and drank from her breast taking the perky nipple in his mouth to more moans from Dorothea as he fondled her buttcheeks.

"Tatsumi-kun" Dorothea moaned as he sped up his thrusts, she kissed his forehead as he swapped breasts drinking more from her. As Dorothea and Tatsumi made love Cosmina and Seryu played a game of backgammon.

"I win again" Seryu proclaimed.

"Yes, you do, let's play a different game Seryu-chan" Cosmina suggested, she then went to the other board games and brought up a chess board.

"You play chess?" Seryu asked surprised.

"Yes, I do and I find it an even more addicting then sex with Tatsu-kitty; boy I wish Dorothea let me join in more" Cosmina said opening the board and setting up the pieces. "White or Black?" Cosmina asked.

"White: I prefer to move first" Seryu replied, Cosmina smirked as she had Seryu just where she wanted her.

An hour later… Tatsumi came out from Dorothea's room where said docter had passed out from his lovemaking, that and the fatigue from too much work before he showed up. He was surprised by the sight in front of him Cosmina and Seryu playing chess. "Checkmate" Cosmina commented, Tatsumi grinned and had to suppress a laugh; Cosmina had decimated Seryu easily; she had most of Seryu's pieces while Seryu had only managed to take three pawns and knight.

"Dang you win again; you are way better then I gave you credit for" Seryu replied.

"Well looks can be deceiving" Cosmina replied. "Hey Tatsu-kitty want to a play a game?" Cosmina asked.

"If it involves getting my ass handed to me in chess I'm not looking forward to it" Tatsumi replied, remembering when about a three weeks ago Cosmina first played the game with him, it had been a near one-side game; and he had the advantage of defense; the then played again with reverse pieces and again lost, Tatsumi thought it would be funny if Cosmina played a chess game with Honest at some point.

"No silly Tatsu-kitty; I've got another game in mind" Cosmina replied and flashed him with one of her breasts. Tatsumi nodded in silent agreement and Cosmina lead him off to her room. He then spent two hours 'playing a game' game with her; said game involved Cosmina roleplaying as a princess complete with the proper costume and him as her loyal knight; said game had led to him riding Cosmina doggy style while she kept the princess hat on the whole time along with stockings and the shoulder puffies. When he finally came to Seryu he found her and Koro playing. "You're next?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; but not now; when we head back to the manor though, you me and Aria are going to have one fun night" Seryu suggested.

That night… Tatsumi had to agree that Seryu's idea was quite fun, Aria at the moment was being eaten out by Seryu as Tatsumi rode her ass doggy style; Seryu kissed him. Considering that he'd only had a threesome with the two friends only once he was glad to know that this was just as pleasant. He changed positions and entered Seryu vaginally as she sat up, Aria then sat on his face and he got to work. "Oh Tatsumi-kun: yeah that's the spot; give your angel your sweet tongue! OH! OH! AH!" Aria moaned.

"Ah this is amazing (Ogh) Aria, I'm right where I enjoy it the second most" Seryu commented.

"Oh, really where do you like it the most?" Aria asked.

"In my ass; Tatsumi loves it and I love it more; his hands in my soft hair and tongue in my mouth; ahh that's the life Aria; we've chosen an amazing husband; so, have you given thought to what you're- Ugh- going to call your baby?" Seryu replied as Tatsumi hit her g-spot.

"We've decided that if it's a boy we'll name him Constantine after my father and if its girl we'll name her Angelica" Aria replied.

"Angelica? And he's going to call her his 'little angel' like he calls you his 'Captial Angel'?" Seryu asked.

"Probably; has he given you a nick name yet? as I'm quite fond of mine" Aria replied.

"Oh not yet; but I'd like to ask him? Could you move for a moment so I can" Seryu request, Aria moved over. "So Tatsumi, you got a nickname for me?" Seryu asked.

Tatsumi smiled. "How does Justice Queen sound?" Tatsumi suggested.

"I like it! I'm not just a warrior for Justice anymore but its Queen" Seryu replied, Aria sat once more on Tatsumi who resumed eating her out; Aria hugged Seryu as Tatsumi came inside Seryu. This lasted for another hour till all three passed out in each others arms.

Lillianna looked out the window. "Brother if you are really alive and that wasn't a dream I hope you know that regardless of what you did I still love you; you were always there for me even though we didn't exactly always get along you were still there and not afraid to care for me" Lillianna said to herself; then noted a glint of a white figure jumping from rooftop to roof top. "Be safe: I don't want you to die again and this time for good" Lillianna added.

Later at Makdoru estate… The White Knight scouted the place out and infiltrated he manor, avoiding any security and looking for signs of trouble. Now he was making sure the target was not in the usual zone of operation being on the less patrolled north side of town which a deal of nobles lived in with well-guarded estates; not all of the people who lived there were upstanding citizens however. This was the case of Makdoru family; after some shenanigans with teleporting he found the lords quarters; Lord Makdoru was in a flagrant with his daughter molesting her along with a few of her friends and a few girls he'd taken off the streets: those girls he'd taken off the streets he kept blindfolded with metal blindfolds that required a key to remove. He had tired of conventional extravagance years ago and his wife had passed recently do to an 'accident' leaving him with 10 lovely daughters who to the surprise of many of the local nobles hadn't been married off; the reason he desired the companionship of his daughters for his own sick sexual desires, and if that wasn't enough he'd take their friends as well as any other woman he could; even little girls and their mothers he kidnapped from off the street. The way he was able to keep this private; bribery and blackmail; the local Capital Police Captain was in his back pocket and he had blackmailed the local committee and a few other local nobles with secretive information.

The most important thing about Lord Makdoru was that he had no ties with Honest other then he recognized Honest's rule, in fact the White Knight had do take a good amount of time finding out about this guy only by chance hearing from a kidnapper hired by Lord Makdoru about him; hearing being in the case of when the guy confessed before the Knight ripped his throat out. As much as he wanted to stop the horrible things, he was seeing he couldn't not yet anyway; Night Raid had to be the one to stop them so he could join them; so now all he had to do was get an informant to give that evidence to them. That of course would take a few days; both for them to actually get the information and for them to plan a hit when the heat had died down but considering that only a matter of time he had to think of something else to do till then; so he'd tell a Revolutionary army officer who'd pass it down the chain of command and relax in another city taking a break and when Night Raid had gotten the information he'd come back and watch the place until the time came to strike. He then turned to the white bat like creature that had perched on his shoulder. "Carax its your time to shine; keep an eye on the place for a while until Night Raid shows up and call me" the Knight stated, the Faceless replied back to him over the mentel link in the positive and took a position assuming the guise of squirrel and observed from the rooftops as the Knight teleported. "Now to go let the Revolutionary army know about this scumbag, Night Raid will show up and I'll be there to join them; but in between that time well I'll find some companionship: female though and I'll be kind to them" the White Knight thought; even though he had been resurrected he still had his needs and desires however he was not going to do anything evil he wasn't going to force himself on people like he had in his previous life but that didn't mean he was going to abstain from the comforts of the flesh.

That left him to ponder his resurrection which I give an account of here from his first hand; personally I wish Asha had told me about her meddling instead of me having to find out about it after the fact, but in this case my Queen made the right call and I'm glad my fine craftsmanship went to good use.

Ashen, Homeworld of the Phoenixes: Palace of Eternity, a month prior: year of the Magic Dimension 13,565,891,650 PR (Phoenix Reckoning) (1650 AD for Earth Readers) …

The soul threads are weaved eternally by Asha; Eternity Queen, Greater Phoenix of Order, The Spider Goddess and creator of all Humans, Undead, Spiders, Arachnids and Dragon Ogres within the Magic Dimension as well as the Goddess of Time. "My threads hold many great souls; all those born in my multiverse are judged by me; some I favor and those favored souls may earn immortality; some souls will go to Heaven in all of its glories, others however will head to Hell in the grips of the Devil and his angel, the God of Heaven and Devil have no power in my domain however it is mine the souls however are any deities for the taking: All Mother Ateria, mother to the Great Dragon Sharukanaath and the Eternal Phoenix his sister Avadrasenii, the creators of me and my fellow greater phoenixes and the Elder races of Dragon, Phoenix and Faceless give me the strength to see the souls that need me the most" Asha declared, the Phoenix Queen towered a massive 10-feet in her true height she had the figure of the goddess and the beauty of one; unrivaled by any save those born of her flesh, clad in a gown of green starsilk and black midnight starsilk her attire worthy of a queen toped of by her crown: the Eternity Crown; the most powerful of artifacts in the Entire Magic Dimension, made of Star-silver, Relix, and studded with Tears of All Mother herself the most prized of all gems the crown covered her head allowing her long Orange hair to flow back, her caramel skin contrasting. "Now lets see what I can find" Asha said to herself, then looked for souls.

In Hell Syura was currently being tormented by a demoness and her fellow demonesses who were constantly raping him; it made things worst was that they did all sorts of abusive things to his body: all this while a certain Arch-Demon and his chief Torturer watched. Valtor smirked at the state of Syura; the foolish boy had died before he would have been inducted into his ranks which meant he was faced with the punishments crafted by King of Darkness himself; his Satanic Majesty Lucifer King of demons, the Fallen Angel and Emperor of Hell in all its realms had been given punishments outlined by God himself. Though the Devil absolutely despised his father and his brother who had been chosen over him the preexistence he none the less took pleasure in the torment of any the 2/3rds of heavens souls who had sinned greatly in life; even more so when other those of every universe ended up here; all out his own envy and desire to make misery all those who had not squandered their first estate as he had and been give the chance of a body and the chance to return home to the father he couldn't return to, the father that loved him in spite of all his evil but could not permit him to return because of his evil.

In the case of Syura his greatest crimes were those of rape and murder, while he had been guilty of other sins, the sins of Rape and Murder were the most abominable of all crimes, with the sexual sins such as rape being worse than murder in the sight of god and second only to the denial of the Holy Ghost. As such the devil's punishment for rapists varied depending on the severity of the crimes; but they had one thing in common, those who committed rape in life were to raped eternally by demons in death.

The enforcers of these punishments depended on the realms in the domain a given demon Sovereign, as the Devil organized his Empire with numerous Arch-demons serving Arch-demon Sovereigns who were kings in their own right but bowed to him; these consisted mainly of his most loyal followers from the war in Heaven but also of Damned, Phoenixes who were cast into Hell by Asha at the end of the Third Phoenix War and who had pledged to his service, the highest of these Sovereign Kha-Belleth Abaddon who was Valtor's father. Syura had as result of his birth been born in the Multiverse ruled by the All-Mother Ateria a deity equivalent in power to the Father of the Devil himself: as result his soul was subject to the realm of Sheogh and in this case the Arch-Demoness Delab the Demented, the most feared of all of Hell's Tormenters for her ingenuity of crafting more and more cunning torments for sinners. In Syura's case he was subject to being gangbanged by Succubi Tormenters; the most savage of Succubi, who's body's were covered with barbed skin and who's loins were fiery furnaces that bred powerful demons: in short Syura was nothing more then a sex slave to these demonesses that not only tormented him non-stop but used his seed to breed more of their race; the girls becoming tormenters themselves and boys becoming Demon battlemasters. "EAAGAGH!" Syura screamed.

"How is he doing today Delab?" Valtor asked his demon mate.

"At the moment he's screaming louder then usual; any particular reason why you keep an eye this one person? I've never known you to get attached to mortals my beloved Valtor" Delab commented, she was a beautiful demoness who radiated a terrifying beauty, her hair was long and crimson crowned with a crown of bloody thorns, she wore a blood scaled gown which made her beauty even more phenomenal but was made from the scales that were shed by her failed servents and her wings were crimson dragon like wings that she usually wrapped around her to conceal her F-cup Breasts. Valtor himself had taken a more human-like form with that of a fair man's face his eyes being blue as he was born of Phoenix and Demon blood with long shoulder length brown hair.

"Because my dear Delab this one was Honest's favorite son: the idea that his favorite son rots here in undying torment while his father will become one of the Mightiest Arch-Demons in the whole of Hell itself is a case of cosmic irony, and a case of a warning to him should he displease his majesty Emperor Lucifer himself" Valtor replied, then noted something unusual happening; a white portal opened and the Succubi stopped their torments.

"What's going on?" Syura asked.

"It seems you may be in luck Syura; perhaps you aren't going to rot in here forever; which is a fucking shame because I was looking forward to keeping you here as a reminder to your father and brother: a shame easy come easy go, but she may judge unworthy of a second chance and if that's the case Delab come up with a more arduous torture then this" Valtor explained and ordered, Delab smirked as great white spider came in, or rather half a spider and half a woman of extreme beauty clad in white armor who picked Syura up whispered some words into his ears which caused him to close his eyes and carried him over her back his worst hurts healed into the portal.

When Syura next opened his eyes he found himself looking into the face of a beautiful woman surrounded by many armored warriors who were mix of races. "Greetings Syura, son of Valdis who is otherwise known as Honest; I am Asha the Eternity Queen; Greater Phoenix of Order and goddess of the Magic Dimension and its associated universe; you have been chosen by me for a purpose first though I must know do you know the severity of your sins?" Asha questioned.

"Yes I do; I've seen what I've done thru my memories and those demons they tormented me, raped me constantly without rest since I died every hour every minute there was one of those demons engulfing my loins and violated every hole and crevasse of my body and who tormented me with horrid tortures: I sinned greatly why have you taken me from that place?" Syura asked, covering his nakedness ashamed; one of the guards wrapped a cloth around him.

"To give you a second chance; many souls fall into the clutches of the Devil, some also into the hands of Four Great Gods of Chaos in the Warp, others still go to heaven and others end up in the paradises of the many other deities though they pale in comparison to the highest Celestial Glory of the High God. However, there are those who come to me, I am the weaver of the web of souls, many souls end up here, depending on their deeds are sorted however some I choose for immortality and rebirth in my own Dimension some becoming immortal but always going thru the cycle. However the worst souls end up the embrace of the Devil thru his favored servents in house Abaddon; some souls however while wicked and end up in his embrace are not lost forever, some I from time to time give the option to be reborn in a new body to take up their old name and service to me, to right their wrongs and atone for their sins that they may be forgiven for them; this I give only to those I deem worthy and those whom Hell has shown the error of their ways; you Syura are one such person; and you are a special case; because my intervention isn't just because I believe your soul can be saved by being given a second chance but because of the prayers of your Twin sister. She prays daily for your soul Syura and I've decided to answer those prayers if you are willing to accept my conditions" Asha explained.

"What do you want of me? Whatever you ask is surely way less arduous and painful then torments I underwent in Hell itself; I'll do anything you need of me oh fairest of all goddesses and Weaver of Souls especially if my sweet little Lily my sister wants me to redeem myself" Syura replied.

"I'm glad you are willing to accept, there haven't been many who have rejected my offers; I grant to you a new body but it will resemble the one you had and like it will be human; however I will gift you lore of Light Magic, and with a long life-span; as well as other gifts however you have a task to redeem yourself: Syura your father has committed many crimes over his years since he made a pact with the Arch-Demon Valtor Abaddon; the demon lord who desires to rule my dimension as his own and a son of the traitor who betrayed my race and me; your father's greatest sins however are those made in pacts with Valtor and not just those he makes but has others make too, your brother Eugene was turned into a demon as part of a blood pact with Valtor and many of the noble lords have made similar pacts, all being his allies: your father's greatest sin however is that he has forsaken his humanity for demonic form; he no longer just desires to rule the Empire of your world or indeed your world itself he wants to ascend to demonhood and allow your world to be ruled by demons as it was in the past and by Valtor; this time however if he is not stopped all living on your world will be wiped out by demons or enslaved to them." Asha explained. "For your redemption your quest will be to right the wrongs of your father; you will are to slay his allies and those who abuse the people of Empire and take advantage of this corruption; however you are not to face him for two reasons; the first being that you will not be strong enough to face him on your own and the second being his is not your life to take; that belongs to another one who's rightful family and life he stole from by murder and corruption and one whom he overlooked, one who currently is his greatest rival" Asha explained, she then showed him a sphere the image of Tatsumi appeared in it.

"Him, what does he have to do with all this? He looks like some guy from the countryside" Syura commented.

"He is the one who will save your world he is the one whom you will protect and aid thru all means; he is the one who your father has wronged the most and strives to destroy the most: his future isn't yet certain though his past is and I won't permit you to see it less you tell him about it; All you are permitted to do is aid him however you can; in return I hold you the laws of my religion; you are now my justiciar; a servents of me; you will fight for me and fulfill the task which you have been given and you must survive; should you fall in the battle on your quest for redemption before you father is slain and sent to hell I will not be able to remit your sins and the Devil will take you once more" Asha explained. "But if you succeed you will be rewarded with the gift of rebirth and be reborn in my realm immortal alongside your sister; you will also be given to wife Andijia on of my Arachnae Heralds and the one who brought you to me for is she not the most beautiful of women you have seen apart from me of course also her union with you will carry on into your next life and you and your sister will be reborn on Magix in the service of my Husband the Eternity King and Greater Phoenix of Balance, in addition any other maiden you love and care for will be yours in the next life as well" Asha explained. Syura considered the reward and looked at Andijia who was behind him.

"She is the fairest of all beings; even if she is half-spider, she is still beautiful" Syura thought. "I will do as you command my Queen" Syura replied and knelt before her, she then took him and put him into a fresh new body that looked exactly like his original one only this one was fresh and new without any scars, not even the scars that marred his face originally, his hair was short and he was clad in a white robe. Asha lifted him out of the mold in which she had made his new body and had him clothed in the armor of one of her servents.

The next month he spent training learning magic and relearning all of his old fighting techniques, in this time Asha's greatest smith forged for him armor, a shield and sword, which were imbued with powerful runes and enchantments that made them stronger still, they were crafted out of Relix the strongest of all metals save Dragon-Star Steel which Asha didn't have time to equip and forge as it took a year for an Elder Dragon to forge a custom set. During this time, he also relaxed Asha allowed him to rejoice and enjoy her boons, the food of her larder, the drinks of her cellars, and a taste of Andijia's loving embrace as well as those of a few other maids of Asha who tended to him. Asha wanted him to be as prepared as possible and as happy as possible with great courage that was needed for the journey ahead: having had Andijia's love Syura had purpose to fight not just to redeem himself from his past crimes no he was fighting for love, that of his promised bride, that he had for his sister whom he knew his father now despised and wanted to kill and eat, the love for his brother Valdis who was uncorrupted by his father's deeds and whom he wanted to survive the war and understand the wrongs, and of course the love for his Mother who he had saddened with his sins and he wanted to correct. But there was also that love he had for the Empire itself and the people of it people who were subjected to horrible atrocities by invaders but also by their own people, those who abused power; people he had in the past abused whom he now wanted protect.

"They aren't cattle they never were! I'm not just going to fight for my redemption I'm going to fight for those who have to suffer under my Father's tyrannical rule" Syura proclaimed.

Three days earlier… "Syura the time as come, you have learned as much as you need; I must now send you on your quest, back to your world, you've been trained in the ways magic and in the ways of my people in the matters of war; you've consummated your union with Andijia and thus have linked her soul to yours know that should you fail she will have to suffer your fate: I tell you this to give your more resolve and even more of a reason to fight: you have been given armor forged by my Brood-mate and Consort; I clad you in white to be a light against Darkness; and I knight you" Asha explained, then drew a blade which was made of Dragon-star Steel and shined like a rainbow, Syura knelt and she tapped both shoulders. "Arise Sir Syura, Knight of Eternal throne and White Knight of Order; go forth and slay those whom I have decreed your enemies: aid the one who your father has wronged the most and restore your Empire to its former glory to a new age of Golden Joy and Prosperity Go forth my knight on the road; for on it you shall find your redemption" Asha explained, then opened a portal. "One more thing on your journey I give to you a companion" Asha explained and white clad being appeared his face mask-like and having wings like those of an angel but no feet to be seen. "This is Carax, he is a Faceless one of the Children of Avadresanii, he is one of my most faithful warriors, he will be your squire and your aid in your adventures Asha explained

"I'm glad to have him with me" Syura replied, Carax to the form of a bat like creature and landed on Syura shoulder.

"Go now and find your redemption Syura: and good luck to you" Asha explained.

Melitine: Grundewick Manor… Tatsumi woke up to an empty bed which surprised him; what surprised him more was the fact that he hadn't been woken up Aria or Seryu; which meant something was up. He barely began getting up when the closet of his room opened and out it came pouncing cat or thing case cat-girl completely naked. "Leone?! What the Hell!?" Tatsumi asked.

"Good morning Tatsumi; I'm in the heat or rather Lionelle is and well I've been keeping her in line for a while now and well you know I've got to tend to her needs as me being with you has made the cat this belt was made from horny as all hell; I let Aria and Seryu know about this and she locked me in this room with you, so I waited for you to wake up and now here you are wide awake" Leone explained. Tatsumi was completely bamboozled, two things were noticed by him immediately, the fact Leone was in Lionelle's combat from without the claws out and thus had cat ears and a fluffy cat-tail her hair was also like a lions mane in that he couldn't see her neck in the sea of blonde gold, but there was the second thing; her boobs were now as big as Esdeath's or Tsukushi's and the big one being she was completely naked. "Now let's get this horny cat out of the heat by fucking her silly Tatsumi" Leone replied commented pulling the blanket of him.

Tatsumi obliged entering her causing Leone to meow. "MEOWOWOW!" Leone moaned absurdly loudly thus beginning Tatsumi's tumbling of Lionelle; he had to get this under control and he was going to do it so that he didn't have to put up with it later in the day. Lionelle was a different persona then Leone herself in that Lionelle loved it rough and hard; whereas Leone preferred a moderate rate when it came to sex. "Meow! Tatsumi-kun Kitty loves this: Lionelle loves you" Lionelle stated taking full control over Leone; at this point she kissed him hard and wrapped her tail around him; he sucked from her breasts drinking the milk which had some interesting properties in that it increased his regenerative powers; also Lionelle has an interesting effect on his seed too; the altering affect inside Leone's womb affected two of the three eggs currently in her womb adding Danger Beast blood from Lionelle itself into their DNA at the currently still forming state.

Tatsumi released inside Lionelle, then took the horny catgirl who was currently overriding his Wife in complete control in the rear hard and rough kissing her ears as he did so and groping her breasts hard. The moans produced by Lionelle were cat-like whereas Leone's weren't, he found it pretty appealing; and wondered if he managed to find a human-danger beast hybrid girl, a natural one, what the results might be; also the milk he had drank was pretty appealing to, not as great as Tsukushi's but still impressive. Pounding hard her ass and groping her breasts aggressively Lionelle moaned primal moans that were extremely loud. They easily essentially muted the moans Tatsumi himself was making and honestly were probably annoying anybody on the current floor; as well as annoying any local wildlife outside, especially birds, into relocating. Then he came again and the time came for a primal boobjob and blowjob mix; the bigger boobs were impressive but the jaw of Lionelle was even more so, he felt some pain as she blowed him because of cat-like teeth that had been added as a result of the Teigu but her jaw allowed her to take his entire length inside something nobody else was able to do. Tatsumi made a mental note as he was being blown and he ate Lionelle's pussy out that this was an epic experience he'd like to have more of in the future.

He spent the next hour and half giving Leone the full treatment using every position he knew of and caressing that warm mane and soft bushy tail. During this time Fal, Air and Luna who had finished breakfast listened at the door trying to make sense of the noises.

"What's that noise?" Fal commented.

"It sounds like a Leone but it also sounds like a kitty" Luna commented.

"Maybe it Leone-nii-san's cat part but why is she making those noises I hope shes ok" Air commented, the noise stopped and the three waited by the door to ambush whoever was inside; Tatsumi came out along with Leone who wore one of Aria's dresses, in fact her favorite and Tatsumi's favorite, and had stylied her hair in hairband that resembled Aria's with her extra locks tied in two buns on either side of her head.

"Hey Tatsumi-nii, Aria-nii what was that noise?" Luna asked.

"Luna you are silly; that's not Aria-nii that Leone-nii in one of Aria's dresses and one of her hairbands that resembles Noctis Wave; you can tell because her hair is longer and she's bigger and taller than Aria-nii and her eyes are different, Aria-nii's eyes are blue not gold" Fal replied.

"Fine you're right it is Leone-nii but what was that noise?" Luna replied.

"That Luna was sound of a cat in the Heat" Leone replied, Tatsumi facepalmed because Leone was that honest.

"What's the Heat and when did we get a cat?" Luna asked.

"Well heat is-"Leone was about to explain when Tatsumi covered her mouth.

"Something that happens to animals; and apparent Teigu users who's Teigu was made from a specific animal that happens to go meow but is a giant Danger Beast that is fond of eating anything it can catch; now this heat carried over to Leone who herself was in the heat until I cured her of being in the heat" Tatsumi explained.

"What did you do to cure her?" Air asked.

"I'll tell you when your older; I will say though this is exhausting and enjoyable, also not the way I intended to spend the past hour and half which I'd rather have spent having breakfast and investigating that Knight and a few other projects" Tatsumi replied uncovering Leone's mouth.

"Yeah you'll find out when you're older" Leone replied to groans of disappointment by all three girls.

"Question Leone-nii why are dressed like Aria-nii and in one of Aria-nii's dresses?" Fal asked.

"Because I felt like it; and because Aria picked out the clothes for me to wear after I was- de-heated or whatever you'd call copious amounts of-"Leone explained and Tatsumi silenced her again, she pulled his hand off. "treatment" Leone explained trying to keep this as kid-friendly as possible; but she loved to be blunt, also she had intended to say an eight-letter word beginning with F that would have resulted in Angela Grundel shoving a bar of soap in her mouth for and more confused questions from the three girls. "Never mind I'm just going to try to nail the Aria look: I can't believe she loaned me her favorite dress by the way" Leone replied.

Tatsumi then walked to the dining room where some food was still on the table, granted not as much as there would have been had he actually been there along with another plate for Leone; Angela and Ieyasu sat across from the table at them. "Hey Tatsumi I don't envy you today" Ieyasu remarked.

"Why's that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh, Sheele and Gin mentioned you'd be going thru the grinder today and I'm glad not to be in your shoes; speaking off Sheele may or may not be waiting to ambush you by the front door with a pair of knives: fair warning" Ieyasu explained, Tatsumi frowned and ate.

"Hi Aria you look great" Ieyasu commented, Leone and Angela laughed, he was joking of course but he couldn't resist.

"Very funny Ieyasu" Tatsumi commented not really having the patience for humor; considering the fact he was in for a rough day.

"Hey Tatsumi lighten up" Ieyasu commented.

"What's there to lighten up about, I spent the past hour and half trying to deal with a cat-girl in the heat and on top of that I've got to undergo two brutal training regiments; in fact I'm going to have to undergo more training than usual because I'm going to be the best" Tatsumi commented annoyed.

"Well when you put it that way you have a pretty good reason to be grumpy, but you got to admit that joke I made was pretty funny" Ieyasu replied.

"Not as funny as Luna's reaction to seeing Leone in the dress; she actually thought Leone was Aria" Tatsumi replied.

"Wait she actually thought that? (Laughs uncontrollably) I can't believe it AHAHAHAAHA!" Ieyasu commented and laughed uncontrollably until Angela punched him in the shoulder. "Ouch" Ieyasu remarked.

"Please Ieyasu I love you, but it really wasn't that funny; besides were you laughing at or with Luna?" Angela replied.

"Both, because I can't be sure whether Tatsumi is trying to be funny by saying she was serious" Ieyasu replied, Tatsumi rapidly finished eating took his plate to the Kitchen and left his friend to his own duties.

Tatsumi had entered the main hall and immediately having been forewarned by Ieyasu overpowered Sheele as she ambushed him snatching both daggers. "Really a sneak attack? Well I guess that's a start; are you really a master assassin because that was sloppy Sheele" Tatsumi replied.

"That wasn't even me trying, if I had been your head would've been on the floor before you could react, also I told Ieyasu to warn you; this was me being generous next time you won't be warned and I will be trying to kill you" Sheele informed.

"You're serious about the killing right? Sheele you know that I'm your husband remember" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes indeed but among the Sorrowful Ones for an adult's training you have to be prepared for anything; failure to anticipate anything will result in death; people are expected to die at some point from something they hadn't predicted and that carries over to our training; I told you the punishment for failure was death here and I meant it" Sheele explained completely serious and with an emotionless tone that Akame usually would have given him.

"Alright ok then treat everything you do as if you are attempting to kill me in this training, right?" Tatsumi explained.

"Exactly; even when I say you aren't undergoing the active training you will still have to be prepared to anticipate me trying to kill you; even during sex" Sheele explained, that last part scared him, he was now going to have to worry about Sheele trying to kill him during his most vulnerable which meant he'd have to go out of his way to essentially fight her and when they did have sex basically do in a way where she couldn't improvise any weapons; to do that he decided any sex he had with her would be with him standing up and holding her at angle that she couldn't reach his neck, which meant he was limited to vaginal and anal until she deemed his training complete; which meant no attention to her breasts out of concern she may actually smooth him with them. In fact, he had to consider his surroundings at all times and be alert; also lock his door every night until he finished training.

Later at Night Raid HQ… Sheele had been serious about trying to kill him during the training and tried four more surprise attacks on the way to base each with a different technique and each more intense than the previous. As he arrived in the base, he noted that Gin was waiting for him; the two then led him to undisclosed location thru a cavern network that ran thru their base; at this location two rather extensive training grounds had been constructed each different from the other and each looking unpleasant.

"First things first Tatsumi strip" Gin explained, Sheele nodded in agreement.

"What?!" Tatsumi replied shocked.

"As part of the training you will not have any form protection whatsoever, no articles of clothing and no weaponry beyond what you will acquire in these grounds during the training; you will be expected to leave anything else out here" Sheele explained.

"You two collaborated on this?" Tatsumi asked.

"Please not exactly, we did coordinate our training programs to cover all our bases and come up with ways to make it way harder for you but no we didn't share techniques; however we both agreed on the point that this is hardcore survival; you will have to survive and expect hardship" Gin explained.

"So how long do you think I'll take till you have nothing left to teach me?" Tatsumi asked.

"If you really push yourself weeks, and this will happen daily; three hours with each of us; Sheele has informed Najenda and Esdeath about this training via Seryu and as a result nothing will interfere; you will be expected to arrive at 8 in the morning every day; arrive late and you be punished by being beaten hard with wooden rods: not lethally but extremely painfully; failure in tasks will also result in more pain for you: you will have to learn to ignore pain otherwise you die in this training" Gin explained; the brutality of this training regiment was extreme but Tatsumi knew for a fact that if he didn't subject himself to this he'd never be able to beat Honest.

"Alright" Tatsumi replied and removed his clothing every article and left his blades on the ground.

"I'll take the first three hours, Sheele will take the second; successes will be rewarded and no not with more training; also after the training you will then spend another two hours in sparing practice with Martha; she volunteered to be your sparring partner" Gin explained, that last part surprised him.

Tatsumi for his time with Night Raid apart from passing conversation not interacted with Martha much, he hadn't even gone on a mission with her, however she had been assigned as his sparring partner by Gin and his mission partner for the immediate future by Najenda. "I've got learn more about Martha" Tatsumi thought; then immediately found himself being led by Gin inside her training ground.

The obstacle course was the most prominent feature of this training ground, in fact Gin seemed to have an unhealth obsession with sharp pointy objects as wooden spikes menaced a number of the various obstacles, the course itself also had thorns spread all over the ground and he was going to walk over all of the ground barefoot. Then were the other things: a big pit inside which an angry bear was caged up; as to how Gin managed to capture and hold that thing was beyond him but he guessed it hadn't been fed for a bit. Then there were multiple training dummies with real weapons, as well as a couple to his surprise grunts from Dorothea; granted those had been Stylish's originally but Dorothea had actually modified an number of former death row inmates in the same way for the exact same purpose. "Ouch" Tatsumi thought having seen everything.

Gin went over to a nearby weapon rack and grabbed a basket filled with throwing axes. "Tatsumi your first test will be to undergo what is known as a finger dance; the goal of this is to catch the throwing axes out of the air: I'm aware of your regeneration so I'm not too concerned if you lose a limb or two; so Tatsumi catch!" Gin explained and flung the first of many Axes, Tatsumi caught it quickly having hardened his reflexes with Esdeath doing something similar with her dagger on occasion the big difference being these were large projectiles. Thus, this continued until Gin had exhausted the axes which lay in a pile near Tatsumi. "Good job; now for a little bit of pain" Gin replied and grabbed a metal set of what looked like underwear, Gin then locked it onto him. "This is what's called a chastity belt, usually its worn by noblewomen married or otherwise who are fond of spreading their legs for other men, in this case I'm using it to cause hard pressure to your groin" Gin explained.

"How are you going to go about that exactly? I'm not hard" Tatsumi replied, Gin then took off all her clothes. "By being naked for the rest of this training regimen that way you are in constant pain down there" Gin explained, Tatsumi realized that and cursed the fact he was easily aroused as the tight under garment hurt him; Gin then grabbed a bucket that Tatsumi realized was full of hot tar which she dumped on him for extreme pain. "Now you will run the obstacle course; be aware any thorns you step on will stick to you; also, one more thing" Gin explained and took a small cloth and blindfolded him. "Without seeing" she added.

The next three hours were absolute pain for Tatsumi, to a point where he began to start shoving the pain out of his senses; when he finished the obstacle course Gin poured boiling water on him to wash off the tar and everything else. It hurt badly though not as much as the sheer amount of thistles that pierced his poor feet or fact his erection was repeatedly grinding against the metal garment which made him realize why Chasity belts were never worn by men, for a woman it was punishment but for a man it was torture. Then he was flung into the bear pit and had to wrestle an angry black bear; which hurt extremely bad but his regeneration and the fact that he did this sort of thing for sport in his village allowed him to take the abuse and overpower the bear. Then came wore finger dancing only this time he was blindfolded and he had to completely really on instinct and other sense to catch the axes. After that came the obstacle course again but this time, he had run it blindfolded, covered in tar and while hauling a bag of bricks on his back.

After the hell that was Gin's training Tatsumi expect Sheele's training to be worse; fortunately for him it wasn't as bad as Sheele's training field didn't even have an obstacle course, what it did have however were a number of flasks which were clearly filled with poison or acid, which meant it was Kurome's drinks of death game all over again. There were also a few other things; a cluster of bamboo plants with a set of daggers and a shortsword hanging nearby; he figured he was going to have use those weapons to cut thru the bamboo which meant that was his strength test, then was a deep large hole filled with water and with a careful glance a fully grown alligator. Lastly were a number of scrolls and puzzle boxes; and in the dead center a bed made of wood with a roof, and a deal of blankets. "Tatsumi unlike Gin I won't be forcing you to wear a chastity belt you'll need your dick for the final test because it's something you are going to have to get used to frequently at night; and don't think a locked door is going to stop me and I've informed everyone about this so yeah you wanted to submitted to my training it will be unpleasant" Sheele explained.

"For your first test you will have to drink one of those flasks, inside each is a poisoness substance; you will have to drink the least dangerous of those poisons to pass the test; note you will have 10 minutes to decide which is safest; also the poisons will change daily; and you can expect some of them to wind up in your food whenever myself, Angela or Aria are involved in order for you to build up an immunity to the poisons" Sheele explained and Tatsumi began.

Because of Aria's in depth lessons on poisons he had taken long before this test it was the easiest test which was the reason it was first: after smelling each poison he dumped out the most dangerous of poisons and eliminated it down to one, that one in question happened to be one that caused a nasty case of food poisoning, fortunately Tatsumi had long since emptied his body and refused to eat Gin's offered lunch in case of this exact scenario.

Then came the next test which was the strength test; cutting the bamboo, Sheele explained one of these blades would do the job perfectly because it was made of a material that was extremely sharp, but he could only choose one of the blades and he had to cut every single stalk of Bamboo. Tatsumi having had experience as a Blacksmith's assistant from his day's in the village (Mainly to spend time with Clementine who was the Blacksmith's daughter who he was trying to court) he had frequently been put in charge of testing finished blades; to which Horst (Clementine's father and the blacksmith) had a large garden of bamboo for the exact type of test; Tatsumi knew if the blade chose was flawed it would snap which meant two things the first being he'd have to avoid the shattered blade fragments and second being Sheele would consider it a failure and would result in punishment; which actually proved an interesting question, did Sheele expect him take her punishment or fight back?

Regardless Tatsumi wasn't going to fail and considered the weapons; the two daggers were of different design and length, the shortsword was longer then both; he took a hard look at the blades looking for any signs of damage or flaws in the craft also to check the quality of the material and look for signs of which was made of the alloy that would do the job; this required more thinking and examination; however in the end he decided to go with the short sword; it may have been obvious but knowing Sheele she was extremely crafty and when she loved to play mind games in that she'd actually make the obvious be the right answer by tricking you into thinking it wasn't. His choice was right, when he took the first swing it chopped clean thru first bamboo cluster, then he swung again until each cluster was cut down, Sheele applauded.

"Good decision Tatsumi; tell me how did you figure out that the obvious was the correct choice?" Sheele asked.

"If you tell me what this sword is made of" Tatsumi explained and she nodded. "Because Sheele I know you, even though you are great at mind games sometimes you are too good at them: in this case you wanted me to think the obvious wasn't the answer when it was the answer; some people would think that the obvious would be well not the answer but they don't know like I do; mainly because you subvert expectations by making a person expect them to be subverted when you aren't actually subverting them at all" Tatsumi replied.

"Correct which is exactly why that sword will be yours for rest of your training: granted you will have to chop thru harder objects with it as it progresses but it won't brake; it's made of Dwarven Rune-forged Mithril which means it will never break not even if you heated up and wacked it with a Warhammer, the hammer would break before this was even scratched" Sheele explained.

"Where did you get a dwarven made weapon?" Tatsumi asked surprised.

"From a Dwarven merchant as a reward for a contract; the target in question was the king of Western Kingdom who had been putting harsh tariffs on the Dwarven merchants so they hired the guild to remove him and in favor of his son who was against the tariffs" Sheele explained.

"How did you manage to pull that off?" Tatsumi asked.

"By seducing him into dropping his guard, once he did I drove a blade into his throat before he even noticed it was there; after words I vanished into the night; now for next test, I recently purchase an Alligator as a pet; I've named her Mine after our friend because her bite is as bad as her bark: you are going to wrestle her" Sheele explained then overpowered Tatsumi and flung him into the pool.

Tatsumi wrested the gator like he did her namesake during intercourse granted without said intercourse and overpowered the gator knocking her out before climbing out of the pit. "Good job Tatsumi" Sheele complimented then led him to the puzzle boxes and scrolls, the scrolls were for reading and the boxes for figuring out how to open, he was told that he would be dealing with one today and the other the following day and in this case, he picked the order. The choice for him was the scrolls as reading was his favorite pass time apart from anything war related and of course sex.

He was allowed one hour of reading after which he turned to Sheele who was completely naked. "Now Tatsumi is a case of resisting rape; this was something I made sure to always get done correct and always succeeded in; the goal here is to try and overpower me and avoid being raped; succeed and in this case I'll submit to you for the rest of our time; if not well I'll enjoy the fun against your will, granted I'm sure its win-win either way for you because I'm not actually raping you it's a case you resisting it; fail to and well rough sex, succeed and you have full control" Sheele explained.

"And you won't try and kill me during this?" Tatsumi responded.

"Not if you win" Sheele replied and immediately tackled him after she had led him to the bed forcing him onto it, now came a case him fighting in wrestling while trying to avoid Sheele smothering him with anything on the bed or her breasts; eventually though he succeed in overpowering her and she stopped resisting and kissed him tenderly he also used his tongue to catch the cyanide capsule she tried to slip in his mouth and fling it away. "Really Sheele? When we're kissing too?" Tatsumi asked after breaking the kiss.

"Dang you're good at this; yes and you beat the kiss of death which I've actually killed a good number of my targets with: very good" Sheele commented "Now I'm yours; you reward for your hard work Tatsumi; now use the remaining hour we have to bang me silly; I need it after all the work I went thru training you, also just so you know Tatsumi as tempted as I am to attempt to kill you again not fun or worth it. You are a good student and by the way this will be your reward every time you finish training so the faster you complete it the more time we'll have together." Sheele explained.

Tatsumi entered her and kissed her; running his hands thru her hair before breaking the kiss to drink from her breasts as he built up one hell of a thirst from the training; Sheele was true to her words. "Tatsumi-kun-oh- Tatsumi-kun, drink as much as you need- oh- I- you know I'm not going to try and kill you during sex outside here; you're too good and I'm not that kind of person" Sheele moaned; she meant it, she was happy to have her husband please her she wrapped the blanket over them and let him continue to drink and thrust giving her a relaxing pleasurable experience.

Later… Sheele had send they'd spend an hour, they spent two because she was pent up horny after going three days without him and it really showed. Tatsumi went inside with her holding onto him still lovingly and just lying on his shoulder, in fact she began to drift off and Tatsumi picked her up as she passed out tired and carried her to her room, he had worn her out. The afternoon had faded into evening and so he headed to the training hall where he found Martha practicing; he noted her get up as she wore a set of interlocking plate armor that he recognized as being worn by the Imperial Kataphracts of Hansha on the Eastern Borderlands without her helmet and instead her hair was tied in a series of braided buns behind her head, she wielded a spear in her hand but at her side was pair short swords Gladii, and on her back a Two-handed rounded ball mace in addition to a Composite Longbow.

Martha knocked over the practice dummy and stabbed it repeatedly with her spear then noticed Tatsumi. "Ah Tatsumi, there you are finally you're an hour late Sheele said you'd be here sooner but I guess she got distracted or you did" Martha replied in a sweet voice; granted she was the same age as him but she had such a motherly tone or big sister tone.

"We distracted each other; my reward for finishing my daily training well it went into overtime" Tatsumi explained, Martha knew exactly what he was talking about, they were married and married people did have sex from time to time and in Tatsumi's case he had it a lot.

"Interesting; well lets get to training; you ever heard of the Kataphracts Tatsumi?" Martha asked.

"They're an elite cavalry unit from the Eastern Provinces who are masters of different weapons, hit the enemy hard and fast pull out and then barrage them with arrows as they retreat" Tatsumi replied.

"Well you are right; though not entirely; it actually a military unit that we took in design from the easterners; my Father was an Officer in their unit before he retired" Martha explained.

"That's interesting but what does that have to do with my training?" Tatsumi asked.

"The Kataphracts fight with a variety of weapons as you can see, I have 4 different weapons; this is going to be your first lesson to learn the fighting techniques of the Group of Terror" Martha explained.

"Alright but I thought Gin was teaching me the techniques of the Elite Seven?" Tatsumi asked, Martha laughed as if he was joking.

"Tatsumi, Tatsumi, Tatsumi, what Gin put you thru today was conditioning not the actual techniques of the Elite Seven; in order for you to learn those you'll need to learn the techniques of the Group of Terror; which are hard enough in their own right, if Gin were to teach you the techniques of the Elite Seven right away you would die from those without knowing their roots: so what you have gone thru today is conditioning, now for the start of your actual training" Martha explained.

"So, what is a difference between the Elite Seven and the Group of Terror?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well that is an interesting question, you see the big difference is that the Elite Seven are just the most elite members of the Group of Terror who in addition to techniques taught to members of the Group of Terror are taught further techniques: these are extremely advanced: Now training usually begins at the age of seven; however because of your age and well overall experience you've been saved years of training; however further conditioning is still required" Martha explained. "Now membership in the group of Terror is usually a case of price for non-payment of taxes or just for profit; in my case I volunteered which is extremely rare, I did so to be with my friends Akame and Kurome but also out of a pursuit for family glory. It was the hardest training regimen; you had to learn how to fend for yourself from the very start; failure to do so could result in torture, rape, and very often death, only the best survived. I managed to do so without undergoing the latter two but I was tortured; sleep deprivation, water boarding, whipping, having my baby teeth yanked out and bone broken; however, I still persisted also killing instructors was also encouraged. Everything was considered an option to survive; anything was a weapon; I once beat a man twice my age when I was ten with a rock before driving his own sword thru his skull, I also had to kill anyone that tried to abuse my friends which I made a good deal of." Martha explained further. "Another thing that was encouraged was the formation of teams; groups of children banded together for survival using their own skills to best instructors, beasts that were thrown into, other gangs with the same goal in mind, to steal resources; in the case it was all survival of the fittest, if you didn't make the cut natural selection took care of the rest and you died, hell some kids were drugged with strength enhancers and experimental drugs to make them tougher" Martha added.

"That's awful! What kind of madman came up with this insanity; offing people in training, child soldiers, torture, rape, murder! If I ever manage to get into a position to change things this kind of shit is the first thing I'll stop" Tatsumi ranted, Martha giggled.

"I'm glad to see you hated my explanation, it wasn't all bad though I managed to keep every member of our group alive during training and all seven Elite Seven members came from our group" Martha explained.

"So why didn't you make the cut for the Elite Seven? You're a genius and came up with so many skills?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because I refused to take the final test that separates the Elite Seven from the rest: In order to become an Elite Seven, you must kill your past, and by doing that kill your parents" Martha explained, Tatsumi winced and remembered what Akame had told him about killing her parents.

"You couldn't bring yourself to do that: shit, this makes the whole training even more fucked up; to become a true Elite you had to kill those who brought you into the world: this shit is horrible definitely going to be the first thing that goes if I ever get into the position to do this, it's worse than a corruption at the heart of Empire itself" Tatsumi replied.

"Not just I couldn't do it I refused and killed the person who asked me to do that; after that they never pushed the issue again but I was such a good operative they couldn't have me killed for that act of defiance I was too valuable; they did try to punish me, tried to have me raped, I just killed those people they sent to do it; and that was ok by them: when you were member of our group you had the license to kill anyone without fear of retaliation with the exception of the Emperor but nobody could pull that one off or tried to. Besides my parents were extremely influential and they pulled strings to keep me out of any trouble; Kurome however got seniority to me because she went thru with the mission which left her in the position of being group leader in name though I was really running the show; basically she didn't make the cut because Akame was better and they already had six members; then Najasho died and well Kurome took his place." Martha explained. "Anyway, enough about the past, let's start with the present: strip" Martha ordered.

"Again?! The third time today!" Tatsumi replied.

"If it's any conciliation I'll be naked too: look first rule of our group anything is a weapon, when you started off training you had nothing but the skin on your body and your fists and feet to fight with plus whatever you could improvise into a weapon. However unlike with actual Group of Terror training you and me won't be trying to kill each other, or torture or rape each other" Martha explained. Tatsumi stripped reluctantly; it felt somewhat embarrassing; Martha did the same not even leaving her bandana on, the sight of her made him aroused. "By Saint Mykyr! Akame wasn't kidding when she said he was an absolute stud; man, that would be: perfect for a virgin like- no Martha focus you're his teacher- then again there is still the choice of a reward and he is a nice person overall look at him he's embarrassed" Martha thought.

"Alright now what?" Tatsumi replied, Martha then leapt at him, he barely managed to overpower the momentum and keep from blacking out; then began wrestling with her; it was pretty hard too. Granted he had wrested Black bears for sport and they were stronger and bulkier than a human, but Martha she was something more than that; the training she underwent allowed her to basically hurt him in anyway and made her extremely slick to tackle or grapple and gave her near superhuman strength and reflexes. "She's holding back and she's still kicking my ass" Tatsumi thought, he then had an idea; he rubbed his erection against Martha's stomach which caused her to hesitate, using the hesitation he kissed her and while doing that grabbed a nearby wooden blade and wacked her repeatedly until she knocked of him and he pinned her down.

"Stop! Well done Tatsumi; you've learned the first lesson pretty well granted I've never had somebody try and using their loins as a weapon but considering I learned that lesson at seven nobody ever got the chance; you're done for today" Martha explained, and noted he was still aroused, the kiss he gave her though, that was her first kiss and well she loved it; the way he felt against her- that- that- well fuck it, or rather fuck him.

Martha tackled Tatsumi and kissed him to his shock, which allowed her simply exploit his gaping jaw with her tongue. "Martha" Tatsumi stated after she broke her kiss.

"Sorry Tatsumi but I need this; you're just too good to pass up, I've been a virgin since I was born never gotten the chance with anyone; Merraid tried but I'm not into girls; Akame is partially but the fact that she's been talking about you and well I originally thought she was exaggerating but well she wasn't you're a stud and so hung; I'm not passing this shot up beside you know you want it; I want it; let's make love" Martha explained, she may have been coy and restrained but all those years of pent up stress and well the fact Tatsumi had been the first person to best her in sparring apart from Akame well that was another plus, and well she was so built up in repressed hormones and- well just couldn't resist.

Tatsumi frowned. "How do you feel about me; as a person, look I don't want this to be something you rush into and regret Martha" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm sure about it; Tatsumi Akame is my best friend and if she says you're the best man a woman can have I believe her; plus you managed to turn Merraid fucking Oarburgh Bi, that's a feat nobody has accomplished, and the fact that you took that girl Vatima in when you found out she was with your child and you married a widow to keep her safe from Honest that shows you don't run away from your duties as a father; in fact you're just the most brave son-of-bitch I've ever seen; you're smart, handsome, caring and more of a stallion then my horse Lightningstroke; I've never been more sure about anything in my life; so just relax and fuck me; make me yours and make me your wife, concubine whatever but above all make me a mother; give me a reason to keep fighting and give yourself one too that way when you train you have an even greater reason to fight" Martha explained then kissed him again, Tatsumi realized how serious she was and kissed back.

"Let's do this somewhere private; last thing I want is somebody walking in on us having sex" Tatsumi stated after breaking the kiss.

"Gladly, let's go somewhere secluded like your room" Martha replied, the two redressed, Martha without her armor though, in this case she wore a set of clothes that were clearly meant for a either a duelist or a riding; she then led him to her room. Martha's room was rather flashy and well-decorated; also, a fair number of things; she was girly when it came to her decorations as the walls were decorated with flashy wallpaper that was pink and covered with white flowers; she also had a wardrobe full of frilly dresses. "This is my room Tatsumi I hope you like it; I may be a warrior but I'm also well a girl and like to be in touch with my feminine side off the battlefield; which means fashion, make up, my collections of stuff, but especially my frilly dresses; Tatsumi you would not believe some the things I've done when it comes to those; I even managed to get Akame to let loose and wear a few; honestly if she wore them more and could style her hair to be more girl she'd be able to get out more but no in spite of my ability to get Akame to come out of her shell and be a bit more carefree she'd always so serious which is good but it really can make her frustrating at times" Martha explained as she locked the door behind them.

"Wait you managed to get Akame to dress in a frilly dress?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; as well as few other more girly things, but she's such a tomboy and such gloomy person that I can't really get her to do much beyond things; who knows maybe one day when this war is over she'll settle down and get in touch with her feminine side more" Martha replied then removed her shirt and removed all of Tatsumi's clothes and stripped down to pair of pink panties. "You get the honor of taking these off" Martha explained; Tatsumi picked her up and carried her to the bed and examined her fully; ample DD-cup breasts on par with Akame and Najenda's, a cute bum; curves in all the right places.

"Martha lets start things off with those wonderful breasts of yours wrap them around my dick and massage it" Tatsumi explained and laid back on the bed, Martha took the length into the valley of her breasts and began to slowly suck the tip; while she may have been a virgin Akame had told her all about the things Tatsumi and her would do.

"Perfect; I've been wanting to do this for a while: Akame you were right this is amazing" Martha thought to herself, and simply sucked it licking the tip as she massaged it taking the half-mast into her will the other half was warmed in between her breasts. To Tatsumi this was just as good as if he had been inside her bum; he then indicated to turn around; he moved her panties to the side and began both fingering and licking her loins. "Oom" Martha moaned; she then removed the length from her breasts and it fully into her mouth; 2/3rds of the way first then after suppressing her gave reflex all the way balls deep; she then sucked it soothingly. Tatsumi continued licking her out and removed her panties and put them to the side before turning his tongue to her other hole giving her a rimjob; that caused Martha to jolt out of the blowjob sit up all the way and moan in extreme pleasure before returning to his loins which she returned to slurping it.

The room itself was pretty noise resistant so the moans being made didn't alert anyone to what was going on; not that there was anyone nearby to be alerted; the other members of Night Raid were in the process of doing other things mainly doing an inventory of supplies and gear, bathing in the springs, reading, or in Sheele's case napping off Tatsumi's reward. If anything, nobody would disturb their romance; almost nobody but the one person listening in was waiting to jump Tatsumi and drag him off to her room, as well as masturbating.

Tatsumi and Martha soon came, though Martha came first to Tatsumi's delight, and they covered themselves in their mutual juices, Martha got off of him. "So now what are you going to do Tatsumi" Martha asked, Tatsumi removed her panties spread her legs and entered her anally. Martha moaned as loudly as she did when he gave her the rimjob. "Anal definitely anal: I love that cute moan" Tatsumi thought to himself he then fondled her soft breasts as Martha moaned" Tatsumi-kun" over and over in between cries of bliss or a string of "Fuck me harder Tatsumi-kun" or "Fuck me deeper Tatsumi-kun" the thing was she was surprisingly loose the passage felt more like a vagina then an anus and overall was nice and comfy. The pounding Martha was receiving as Tatsumi rode her doggy style was extremely satisfying. "Oh Martha you have gotten yourself a keep nobody would be better than him; so looking forward to having his kids I wonder if they'll have my eyes or his, I'd love to see a sweet little brown haired green-eyed girl born that grows up to look like him" Martha mused to herself; she had dreams of a family and he was going to fulfill those dreams. Starting from the next 10 seconds, because that was how long it was before he came again; he pulled out and she readied herself.

"You ready?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not exactly I'd like to have you take me from a special angle" Martha explained; so Tatsumi refreshed his memory from Vatima's lessons on that subject and decided on Shahkari Scissor; he had Martha spread her legs putting an arm to either side of her as if he was putting her sides in, then had her put one leg behind her back, he then put his right leg under her leg that that wasn't behind his back wrapped his right arm around her and put his other leg over her leg; then leaned his head on her shoulder as he entered her; he went in snapping her barrier, however this didn't cause Martha any discomfort she just smiled and wrapped her arms around his back and kissed him on ear.

"Tatsumi- Oh, its amazing" Martha moaned, Tatsumi noted he was balls deep and still it was tight.

"I'm glad you enjoy it; this is fourth time I've used this position for someone" Tatsumi explained.

"Ooh so who were the other three lucky girls and save the first for last" Martha asked interested in all the juicy gossip.

"Well there was Constance she's the most recent, she's my favorite concubine mainly because she reminds me a lot of Sayo; heck the two could be twins" Tatsumi explained. "Then I did it with Suzuka; that girl is extremely kinky; heck she is a super masochist; but she does love me and is perfectly fine with me being gentle" Tatsumi explained. "And the first person well that one was Aria on our wedding night; after Spear had passed out" Tatsumi explained.

"Glad to hear you're honest now how do I stand? You know for my first time" Martha asked.

"Can't make that call yet, we aren't done, when we next have sex, I'll give you the answer" Tatsumi explained.

"Glad to hear it; I love a man who waits for all the information before he makes a call" Martha replied and kissed him as he upped his thrusts then contorted himself to allow him to drink from her breasts; Martha blushed as he did that; even harder when she realized that he wasn't just going to play with them but actually drink; but considering the training he'd been thru earlier he was clearly still thirsty.

A few minutes later Tatsumi was at his limit but he wasn't going to pull out; Martha could tell and she was eager to have his kids so he was going to let her have it; he came inside her and unleashed his seed; then showed her other positions until they both passed out.

Tatsumi left only to be overpowered and dragged off by a surprise attacker to her room; when Tatsumi came to Mine was riding him her pink hair let down from her usual twin-tails. "Shut it; don't want to you to talk just fuck me and give me the fun" Mine explained Tatsumi basically shrugged grabbed Mine, pulled her down and kissed her aggressively and fondled her bum; which was his favorite feature. "Ah Mine" Tatsumi thought then flipped over pulled out and entered her rear to Mine's shock and enjoyment; all pent up but she loved taking it from behind; the Tsundere may have been proud and stubborn to a falt in public but when he was in bed with her and giving it to her from behind she just relaxed enjoying the pleasure and smiled as he gave it to her with all his heart and gusto to her relaxed pleasure to her sex with him was as relaxing as a massage, more so in fact Mine didn't have to think about anything, just the bliss she got from Tatsumi pleasuring her.

In fact, she liked to be quite so she could just hear him moaning and pleasing her. So, when Tatsumi changed positions again it wasn't a surprise to her; he climbed under her, took one of her nipples in his mouth and drank as he entered her. Mine smiled and wrapped her arms around him; she may not have the biggest boobs but they were enough to please him and her milk was sweet in contrast to her bitter personality. "Stay with me Tatsumi, all night; I'm yours and you are well the best" Mine whispered; the fact that it was night had escaped him but he was more then happy to oblidge Mine needed him and he was going to let her have him to herself; besides the pink blankets on her bed were extremely warm.

The Following afternoon at Melitine's Grand Temple… Tatsumi stood at the altar, the day had come for him and Lila to marry; the preparations had been made and Lila's parents were eager to meet him, of course they were also eager to make sure that their daughter's new husband was worthy of the match and after he explained their reasons for the marriage both her parents hugged him and expressed their thanks for keeping their daughter out of Honest's vile hands. A Wedding was nice change of pace for him; he didn't have to worry about any assassins trying to kill him or any of the other nonsense in the Capital, heck he'd gone the extra mile and made sure every single precaution was taken to keep that stuff from interfering. It was also nice that the White Knight whoever he was hadn't carried out any attacks the previous night; which meant he'd either taken a break or had gone elsewhere.

None of that mattered though at the moment as he saw Lila step up, a lovely gown of bright yellow and orange fabric; her soft dark-brown caramel skin glistened; her eyes shining behind her vail; her lovely lime green hair. Even though this was an arranged marriage he had spent some time getting to know her whenever he had free time; a couple hours at a time; time he also spent with his namesake son which while it wasn't his was going to be his. "This is something that is so sweet and- well to think that if I hadn't come to this city she'd likely have been Honest's meal; hell Spear would be dead, a few people I know of would be dead but- no don't think about what could have been but what is Tatsumi; what will be if I never give up, don't let all the evil around as bad as it to overwhelm and break my spirit; I've got too many people who need me" Tatsumi thought as Lila climbed the stairs and stood next to him. "You look like the image of a goddess" Tatsumi complimented.

"Thank you: you know I wasn't sure about remarrying so soon after Syoi died but- I've warmed up to you and you'll be great father" Lila replied and held his hands; while in the audience in front Aria held baby Tatsumi in her hands; the baby boy was sleeping peacefully and Aria was smiling. The priest then did his duty and read the vows; Tatsumi and Lila repeated them they held hands and then exchanged rings; Tatsumi noted she wore Syoi's wedding ring still, she then slipped the twelfth of his bridal rings onto his left index finger. Then came the magic words.

"You may kiss the bride" The Priest said and Tatsumi kissed Lila eagerly, she returned the kiss and he carried her.

Then came a rather long and enjoyable wedding feast; Tatsumi left accompanied by Mine, Aria, Lila, Lilianna and the other bridesmaids as they went outside into the temple's indoor greenhouse. Tatsumi then noted something off.

A group of priests coming towards him and he noted they walked with a familiar stride, the kind he'd seen a lot of times recently, the notable difference was that they didn't where their flashy robes but he could tell by the fact that one of men putting his hand his robe beginning to draw a blade immediately that they were Cultists of Valtor. Tatsumi immediately pulled Lila to on side of him out of reach of the cultists who blocked the exit. "Lord Valtor we offer these souls to you; our souls are yours we resolve to die in your service that we may attain demonhood" The leading preist stated and they drew daggers and swords; Tatsumi not having any of his swords because of the wedding reception had to improvise.

Lila and Lilianna screamed in shock as Aria handed the infant to Lila and drew her concealed blades; tossing Tatsumi one of her kukris before vanishing; Mine let out a tirade of insults that surprised the cultists however she used that surprise to take Pumpkin, concealed as a light pistol, out of her dress before firing away blowing off faces; Tatsumi used the loaned blade to cut down the first of many assassins then snapped the wrist of another before grabbing the sword the man dropped and driving it into his heart. As Tatsumi did this another cultist behind him who was going to attack him had his throat cut Tatsumi lobbed the Kukri to Aria who caught it then killed two more cultists; one by slicing his throat the other by driving the blade into his eye.

Still there were many more of them; The cultists however were focused on the unarmed Lila and her bridesmaids (Including Lilianna) then out of nowhere as Lilianna screamed the White Knight appeared then before any of the three Night Raid members noticed his arrival killed the five cultists who'd managed to outmanuvear them; he then joined in killing every single cultists that remained, then stood there.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked.

"You'll know soon enough; however, for now enjoy your relaxation I'm enjoying mine" The knight explained.

"Wait; how did you know we were in danger?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've been watching you Tatsumi; my goddess watches you; you are the key the key to redemption, both that of the Empire and myself" The Knight explained and vanished.

Later… Tatsumi wasn' too eager to jump right into the honeymoon he wanted to spend time with the baby named after him and his new bride. To that end he was making funny faces for Tatsumi; which considering the circumstances Tatsumi never expected to be interacting with a baby that had his name. He held him in his grip. "Neh" Tatsumi teased and made a face that Ieyasu had once made at an angry Mountain Bear to distract it from a sneak attack by Sayo and himself. The baby giggled, he then made another face and still giggles. "You're full of energy; one day you'll grow nice and strong, and you'll never have to put up with all the stuff I had to growing up or the monsters I deal with now on a daily basis; you are a Tatsumi that is destined to live in a world at peace; granted you may have been born in horrible time to live in but its people like you I'm fighting for my son: yes you are my son; even if I'm not your birth father; to me you'll grow up as my baby" Tatsumi explained and Lila entered the room; she was dressed in more casual attire.

"How's he doing?" Lila asked.

"Being adorable as ever; also, I told him how I feel about him; you Tatsumi Jr. are my son" Tatsumi replied to more happy sighs from the baby boy.

"Yes he's your son; you know honestly he may be Syoi's child but I'd rather not ever trouble him with the truth about his father; it would be too painful for him; considering how he died; I'd rather he just have the one father: you, his namesake" Lila explained.

"I won't tell him if you don't I really don't want him to know I had to mercy kill his father to keep him from being drawn and quartered by Honest" Tatsumi agreed, Lila winced. "You know though this little guy; he's given me the most reason I have to hope. He's the future, he'll live in an age of peace and the gods willing will hopefully never have to know war and he'll live a long life and move on peacefully; but he'll never have that if Honest is allowed to stay in power, I'm going to try my hardest to take him down so he can have a bright future with no monsters to plague him be they human or Danger Beast." Tatsumi explained, he then handed Tatsumi Jr. to Lila who pulled up her shirt and undid her bra so to nurse him.

"Look at him; he's so sweet" Lila commented holding her son against her breast as the baby drank sweetly.

"You mind if I join him" Tatsumi asked, Lila nodded and Tatsumi moved her bra down to drink from the other breast; Lila moaned as he did this but smiled.

"Two Tatsumi's like father like son" Lila commented, a couple minutes later both had taken their fill, Lila and Tatsumi moved to a couch in the den and sat next to each other; Tatsumi wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned on her.

"You know I I think this is a good experience for me; I'm learning how to become a father first hand; its going to be hectic though I'm going to have so many kids its going to be hard to keep track of them" Tatsumi commented.

"Indeed, in fact you should stay with me the next few days so we can learn how to parent together; after all like you said he's the future" Lila agreed, they kissed a loving kiss that a husband and wife could.

They spent the rest of the day caring for their son, Tatsumi and Lila considered him their son even though he was Syoi's son from her first marriage Tatsumi had helped deliver him even though he passed out on seeing the birth, during this time Tatsumi was extremely happy; his worries out of his mind. Then the time came to put him to bed,Tatsumi wrapped a warm blanket over the two-week old baby and gave him a kiss Lila did the same and they left the room. Lila then led him to their shared room. "Well the time has come for our honeymoon my dear husband" Lila commented, Tatsumi nodded and kissed her.

They then stripped each other and went to the bed, Tatsumi looked at her; she was recovering quickly from the excess fat of pregnancy but regardless she was still beautiful her breasts nice and soft. "Tatsumi, I'm ready for you; take me" Lila invited spreading her legs, Tatsumi entered her slowly getting used to her folds she moaned as he entered her taking his time so both of them could get used to each other then he began his thrusts.

Lila moaned sweetly; Tatsumi drank from her left breast as he thrusted into her; she fondled his bum, he blushed, she smiled as he thrusted deeper into her. Tatsumi then switched breasts and kept going, Lila was happy with this. "He's better then Syoi, forgive me for thinking that but I actually care deeply for him more then I ever did for you" Lila thought, they had married for political reasons granted not that she hadn't for Tatsumi but Tatsumi had done so selflessly Syoi did it for gain and well their relationship had been somewhat a case of more political then romantic, there wasn't that much love between them granted that may have grown after their child was born but that never happened because of his death. Tatsumi however he- he was special and she genuinely loved him, granted he had done so out of political reasons but very good ones as he kept her from falling into the twisted sick hands of Honest, plus she had to admit Tatsumi was extremely good at what he was doing and he was more endowed then Syoi and he did so with more passion.

Tatsumi eventually gave the signal that he was about cum. "Lila I'm going to- "Tatsumi tried to say but Lila kissed him.

"It's ok Tatsumi my love, you're my husband we'll have another child and this one hopefully will be a sweet little girl who looks a lot like her father" Lila replied, then smiled Tatsumi released giving his signature goofy grin Lila giggled and wrapped her arms around him; Lila would have her wish in nine month's time but for now Tatsumi had more to do. He took his length and laid back, Lila wrapped her breasts around it and sucked it, she did so with gusto and joy, Tatsumi guessed this was her go to position. They continued into the night and soon passed out in their embrace.

One Week later… The rest of the week proved to rather routine for Tatsumi, more exhausting training from Sheele and Gin, more practice from Martha, Merraid had said she'd teach him in the Oarburgh techniques but told him that if he tried learning three extensive fighting styles at the same time, he'd likely kill himself with the effort.

Not that he wasn't in danger of doing it, his body suffered extreme pain and abuse from the training, Aria was angry at him for pushing himself so hard and into such dangerous training but relented whenever he told her that it was for their child and that he needed to do so if he was going to defeat Honest. Granted that didn't stop Aria from chewing him out and Tatsumi wished she had been with him during his fight with Honest so she could understand fully the danger he posed, hell if she had she may have ended Honest with a surprise attack but that was wishfull thinking.

When he wasn't training he spent his free time with Lila and Tatsumi Jr. he also spent time at court making sure to keep Honest under some semblance of control with his influence and Esdeath's he managed to convince some of the newer councilers, those Honest hadn't managed to influence, into backing him allowing him to block some of Honest's more dangerous policies. He also spent time with Makoto, overall to Tatsumi Makoto was like the little brother he never had in fact he felt like family to him; his sisters were the same to him.

Overall however Tatsumi was genuinely relaxed, granted there were the occasional assassins sent by Honest to kill him, as well as couple of other rivals Tatsumi had made; in particular a Lord Colmand Lorch who with Tatsumi's more firmer enforcement of Justice then the previous minister had lost a couple of his business partners due to corruption charges. In fact he also had the Jaegers to aid in that type of work; granted his efforts could only do so much for Melitine but he figured that with more time and if he killed Honest and replaced him as Prime Minister which was his new goal he'd be able to rid the Captial completely of corruption, also the economy was improving to as the depression had become a recession with his influence and that of his father in law Constantine Grundel.

That being said Tatsumi was looking forward to his next Night Raid mission. So when he came to HQ he was quite happy to receive the news from Najenda. "Tonight Tatsumi we're back in the game; I'm sending you on a mission to a Mansion on the north-side of the city, you'll be taking Martha, the Twins, Mine, Aria, Sheele, and Jervis on a mission to kill a specific noble" Najenda explained and handed him the file; it had come from Revolutionary Army Command and was provided by an anomynous informant. Usually those targets that High Command gave were hit or miss; some were people Tatsumi already had either eliminated or had planned as targets via other methods, there were others that they disregarded like one particular call on Esdeath they had refused that on a grounds that it would be a suicide mission when of course there was a secret that she had become a double agent for Tatsumi himself.

"You know at some point I'm going to have to meet with the people in charge of the Revolutionary Army I've got hard questions for them" Tatsumi commented.

Najenda giggled. "That could be arranged granted I'd have to go with you to make sure you didn't say something that would get you killed but yeah I think we can arrange it" Najenda commented. Tatsumi looked over the target and was digusted by the information; Najenda noted that. "I nearly threw up myself when I read that; our next target is a digusting loathsome individual" Najenda commented.

"I'll let Aria deal with him; he deserves it" Tatsumi commented, Najenda winced she let Aria do her thing on missions but that didn't mean she agreed with her methods simply on moral grounds but didn't do anything to stop her as Aria was someone who had suffered abuse in the past and had been using her methods before Night Raid even existed.

That night… Tatsumi stood on the back of the newly trained Air Manta which had been named Sky Shadow, the manta was one of 10 trained and tamed by Merraid to transport them, it also made it easy to get in and out of the city now and wondered how it took Merraid so long to come up with the idea in the first place. The Twins stood to either side of him; they had their Teigus on, Meela had Eolis: Wind God, which allowed her to manipulate and bend air itself to a number of interesting effects and it took the form of a gold bracelet with blue studded gems and intricated runes. Loris had Odyseus: Trickster's charm which looked like a scrunchie and allowed her to create rather lifelike illusions that terrified the living crap out of people and allowed for easy kills.

Overall the compond surrounding the manner was heavily guarded, thus requiring the larger team then normal. "More spines for Pandora tonight" Jervis commented.

"Yes indeed; only do me a favor Jervis, don't rip them out until after the fighting is a done" Tatsumi commented, Tatsumi wondered why they invited that madman to join Night Raid but as long as he was only a threat to evil people Tatsumi didn't care.

The target Lord Makdoru was someone who absolutely disgusted him, this scumbag used his daughters and their friends and any girl he could get as his sex-toys, which Tatsumi was just sicked by, overall Aria was eager to make him squeal when he gave her the news she almost jumped for joy at the chance to torture this scumbag. "Sheesh I thought Honest was the only person who'd stupe this low but nope, turns out the Empire is full of scumbags, why am I surprised anyway with all the crazy shit I've seen so far I shouldn't be surprised by anything" Tatsumi thought.

The Manta dropped Mine off on a nearby Roof top to allow Night Raid's resident goddess sniper to get ready to do her thing, then they flew to the rooftop of nearby building and left the Manta there to go and begin the attack.

The attack began in typical fashion, the guards at the gate were Ariaed from stealth, then they stormed the gates, and went to work after Mine began her sniper fire; the guards who were completely blindsided by the sniper fire stood no chance against the ground attack, some crapped themselves on seeing Jervis with the Gatling-guns attached to his arms. However during this fighting the White Knight arrived cutting down the last of guards outside before stopping in front Tatsumi, Sheele, Aria, and the Twins.

"We meet again" Tatsumi greeted.

"Yes indeed we do Tatsumi, and I'm here to join you if you'll have me" the Knight explained.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked. "I don't want to have someone join our group unless I know I can trust you, I know you've saved my life and those of my friends and family before: but I don't know your motives" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright Tatsumi; and yes I know your names; just so you know though my story is complicated and well best discussed after we finish this mission" the Knight explained.

"Alright then; lets do that and we'll discuss this at HQ" Tatsumi explained.

"Grundewick Manor Tatsumi; I'm not going to go to your base until I've been allowed to join" The Knight explained.

"Ok then" Tatsumi agreed, the rest of the mission proved simple, kill the guards, kill any guilty parties, free captives, and have Lord Makru Ariaed; Tatsumi noted that Aria had gotten even more creative then usual and the guy lasted for about an hour before she killed him; then they flew to the clock-tower where Aria hung the body of their target which was now a mess of bloody and muscle from one of the many spikes that served as railings to allow for maintance of the clock itself. Then the group split up between those welcome in the city and those who'd have to stay at HQ before returning to Grundewick manor.

Tatsumi noted that the White Knight's armor was remarkable clean in spite of the blood; there was something about the armor that well was supernatural. Regardless Tatsumi and the others had to clean up, Tatsumi changed into warm pajamas and put on a housecoat before meeting up with the others. They then went into the den where Lillianna, Ieyesu, Sayo and Aria's parents were discussing the days events. "You're back-" Angela began to say and gapped at seeing the White Knight as did everyone else.

"Don't worry he's on our side" Tatsumi explained. "And he'll now explain who he is and what his motives are and where the hell he came from" Tatsumi added. Everyone sat down save the Knight who considered where to sit before taking a spot in the center of the room next to the coffee table.

"Alright well this is where I tell you my story; but first I better show you who I am, just to let you know I'm not who I was, I've seen the otherside of what's beyond death but was brought back in a new body with a new purpose, I did horrible things in my past life but now I seek redemption having seen and endured Hell's torments for my sins: I'm a changed man" the Knight explained.

"What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"I think you remember who I was Aria Grundel, after all you were the one who killed me and allowed me to know truly how much of a monster I was" The Knight replied then removed his helmet, setting it down on the table showing his face. The dark brown skin, white hair, and gold eyes his handsome features however unscarred by a mark that he once bore.

"Syura?!" Aria replied shocked as was everyone in the room.

"Yes that's me, or rather who I was, and while I still call my name mine that's not who I am anymore" Syura explained then turned to Lilianna. "I am a changed man; in fact I'm not sure I'm well what I was I've been changed for the better by my new goddess the weaver of souls, the Eternity Queen, Greatest of the Greater Phoenixes, Asha the Pheonix Queen and Greater Phoenix of Order" Syura explained and told them his story not leaving out any details; the torments he underwent for his sins; the cruelties of Valtor and everything the had learned about the Demon; how Valtor would often come to watch his torments how he and his Tormenter the Arch-Demoness Delab would commit acts of sodemy as Syura received them from the succubi who tormented his soul, how Asha came and brought his soul out and give him the chance for redemption and why she did. "Lily your love for me in spite of my sins and your prayers to any diety who would give me a second chance saved me and gave me this second chance; my goal is to right the wrongs my father has inflicted on this world: he's done so much evil, my brother turned into demon, his abuses, cruelties, all those people! For my redemption he has to die, only by that will I be able to make my amends and along this road find my redemption" Syura explained, then told them about his abilities how he no longer needed his Teigu teleport, that he wore armor made out an alloy stronger then that used to make Teigus how he had access to Light Magic.

"All this is a lot to take in" Tatsumi replied. "What do you all think?" Tatsumi asked, there was much deliberation and considering what Syura had done before Aria had killed him, Aria herself didn't trust him but was willing to give him a chance to see if he had truly changed for the better, but after much deliberation they decided he would be given a chance to redeem himself however he had to take orders and not defy the ones give to him by either Najenda, Cassandra or Tatsumi.

"Thank you for your kindness: Lily can I speak with you?" Syura asked, she nodded Syura hugged her and caressed her belly. "You're with child I can sense it; hopefully he or she will grow up in a world of peace; I'm thankful you never gave up on me, regardless of how much of a scumbag I was" Syura commented.

"You're my brother; family means a lot; even though you may have been evil, everyone deserves a second chance at redemption" Lilianna explained. "Granted though you're going to have to keep a low profile, just like me" Lillianna added, they laughed.


	38. Omake 5

Omake 5: Blood Clan and Deadpool plus Q&A and Asha's corner

"Hello Readers and welcome again to another Empire's End Omake with your lovely host and Queen of Justice Seryu Ubiquitous; today we have a few special guests; include the Leader of Blood Clan who once again joins our panel, as well as two new comers: Asha the Eternity Queen and Greater Phoenix of order and you all know him and enjoy him; everyone's favorite X-man apart from Wolverine: the Merc with a mouth Deadpool!"

"Hey everyone its me Deadpool; yeah you are probably wondering what I'm doing here, well Palps once again kicked me out of the Villain Pub for not being a villain; so I thought that yeah I'll show up because I'm Deadpool and that's what I do: Side note how am I not your favorite X-man Seryu?" Deadpool greeted.

"Well because you don't have claws that carve thru anything and you aren't the poster child of the franchise; plus you know you kind of are a hodgepodge of other heroes; look your mask is Spiderman's in terms of the eyes, you have Wolverine's powers of Regeneration and you have Snake Eye's choice of weapons; on top of it you are a parody of Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke" Seryu explained.

"Oh of course well then I have request can Leone do that Baku Baku Nyan and the Nyan, Nyan, Nyan Nui?" Deadpool requested.

"Sure but I'll have to let Lionelle do it" Leone replied and turned into Lionelle who then proceeded to do both while Cosmina sang in the background.

"Thank you now that that's out of the way can Tatsumi join us on the panel?" Deadpool requested taking a seat.

"Sure: besides he's always on the panel" Seryu replied and Tatsumi took his seat.

"So Tatsumi lets introduce you to our guests; apart from Deadpool; this Asha the Eternity Queen, Greater Phoenix of Order and well ruler and protector of the Entire Magic Dimension. And this is the leader of the Blood Clan" Seryu introduced.

"Hi" Tatsumi greeted.

"Hello nice to meet you; I've heard good things about you from my dear Erasiel, your story is an amazing read" Asha commented

"Wait you read it? I told him he wasn't allowed to publish it in his home realm till I was reincarnated!" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry he hasn't done that yet; I'm his editor and proof-reader; now let my old friend the leader of the blood Clan Alex Mercer introduce himself" Asha replied.

"Yeah that's me, and boy this is awkward, that Merc with mouth had a big mouth and booked me for this which is an annoyance; well Tatsumi I'm not going to beat about the bush I am your great (30x) grandfather" Mercer explained, to Tatsumi's jaw-dropping.

"Which side of my family by the way? Also our readers have no idea who my parents are yet so please don't spoil that" Tatsumi asked.

"Mother's side; pretty crazy anyway how that happened; some Oarburgh girl way back when she was so nice and sweet well there you go; Oarburgh blood is in your veins along with mine not that the Oarburgh blood being there is any surprise because your ancestor the Dragon Emperor was an Oarburgh by birth" Mercer explained. "Now ordinarily you'd have some pretty impressive powers by being my decedent but those are well pretty water-down by about 30 generations of breeding so the most you've got are the higher then average reflexes, the highly adaptive mind, and the fact that you're taller then average along with being able to take way more abuse then most people also you have some regen but most of that is Valruost's doing; by the way that sword nothing of my doing; that's all your Golden Emperor ancestor's doing not mine; though the abilities are damn similar" Mercer explained.

"Wow that's a lot to digest; is my ancestor well dead?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not really, a side effect of being my wife is she's immortal but our kids weren't because they gave it up; though when any of my descendants die they and any relatives wind up with me in fresh new immortal bodies; so hey one of these day's you'll join me" Mercer explained.

"Won't happen; I made a deal with Asha; being reborn in the Magic Dimension sounds like way more fun; plus it comes with me having a normal childhood and I get to be a badass battle mage and get my harem and all my friend with me too; also I get to see all the interesting things the Magic Dimension offers and Cosmina gets to be a fairy out of the deal and Sheele's sister too" Tatsumi explained.

"Yeah he worked that out with my broodmate, which is what a husband is for my species but its way more then simple marriage its way more complex and we more of a commitment then marriage; I personally I'm so interested in Tatsumi's life and since I cut my deal with Syura and his sister well I'm not going have him separated from sweet Lillianna" Asha explained.

"Well that's fine by me, as long as I can still visit him right?" Mercer replied.

"Yep, you can; just don't worry about the Flood, we Phoenixes are immune because we are literally gods" Asha explained. "Also we are more then capable of destroying it with ease" Asha added.

"Now for our Q&A our questions are from our reviews, which now are over 100, also we are now past 25,000 readers which is huge milestone for us and the author: so lets begin" Seryu interjected. "First we have a question for Jon Snow who didn't actually leave a question in his review but it has fanscinated us and the author whether his comment is good or bad: and I quote "At least I know the difference between a good story and a bad one. At least I know that" to which we ask is this story good or bad; please elaborate why on either front so that the author may improve the story for the better" Seryu explained. "Next our question is from Neo Byzantium the co-author for the story who has questions about Eden the first being why if our planet has two suns it isn't hotter and more desert like, the answer to that question is that Eden is in a sweet spot so that its climate can support a diverse environment like Earth; it is also three times the size of Earth so it has a lot of room to work with in terms of biospheres" Seryu explained. "Also he asked about whether or not a broader human civilization exists in our galaxy as a whole; the answer to that is I have no idea; personally don't know so I'd direct this question to the goddess in the room" Seryu explained.

"And I can answer that question in the positive, the human civilization in question was intergalactic in scale and spans numerous galaxies; the galaxy that Eden is in is in the Virgo Galaxy cluster which is millions of lightyears from this universes equivalent of Earth; as to humans as whole they are not related to that civilization, they were created by a race known as the Old Ones who also created the Lizardmen, the Dwarves, and the other races on the world of Eden" Asha explained.

"Our next question is rather patched from a review by Iwata4ever; in this case he's wondering in the case of giving nameless girls a face, in this case I'd like to clarify regarding one of those girls, the prostitute, well her design is now that of Constance, the favoured of Tatsumi's concubines; she was never a prostitute and was one of the woman liberated by Esdeath during a military campaign and thus incoperated into the harem she had created for the purposes of her future husband's use; overall she is in important for Tatsumi's advise" Seryu explained. "Also there is the matter of the drugged girls, they were in chapter 5 the same brothel as Vatima; however the madame was unrelated at the gang of thugs Tatsumi killed were responsible for that state of things; four of these girls relieved Ieyasu of his virginity" Seryu added. "As to the case of Hinowa Ga Crush characters the Author knows little about he sequel series, safe to say they get added to Tatsumi's harem a few years post the end of this story which we will not spoil suffice to say though it has a happy ending much better then a certain pair of Manga and Anime that shall not be named or most of the fanfics about this series; don't worry though this story as you know so far isn't all sunshine and puppies this is still a dark gritty fantasy universe with more emphasis on Fantasy by the addition of new races to flesh out a fantasy setting. Now onto other questions" Seryu concluded.

"Now for a more serious topic; as to our only bad review by Revan the Edge Lord the writer has taken your criticisms to heart and improved grammar and formatting including breaking up the first two chapters, he has however disregarded your suggestion to delete this story as the author refuses to let his work die and give up; he will finish his work; also as to your dislike of the overall premise it is a vast improvement over the 'canon' works and overall something that hasn't been done before on this site and honestly needs to be done; I'm tired of me and Aria dying in every fanfic because people lack the imagination to change the story and adhere to the horribly written source material" Seryu explained. "And a bit of a rant on that subject how unrealistic even by fictional standards is that plot twist at the beginning of the story regarding Aria and her family it is completely unrealistic via the circumstances it is something that should have been done over a multi-chapter arc not one chapter, also Aria has no reason to break her alibi even after Ieyasu's explanation she still has the benefit of the doubt she can still claim she knew nothing about the whole thing and break down in tears about the whole thing after all she at this point had done nothing to disprove her alibi. Also there is the matter of people who write fanfics in this setting keeping that in; this does not strengthen Tatsumi as a character in fact it ruins him as one because it causes him not to be capable of mercy; the same can be said of Bulat and Sheele's deaths, especially the latter as you can tell I have a bias because it really screws me over more often then not; they do not strengthen Tatsumi as a character in fact they make him less of good protagonist because of his lack of remorse for killing; also we all know that he should have ended up with either Sheele or Esdeath; Mine is not the best choice of a love interest" Seryu ranted.

"HEY!" Mine interjected.

"Outside a harem of course" Seryu replied.

"Really?! I'm perfectly a capable love interest!" Mine replied.

"You spent most of the time denying your feelings and insulting Tatsumi repeatedly, Sheele and Esdeath did none of those things and treated him with kindness" Seryu explained. "Which is why you don't work as a solo love interest" Seryu concluded. "Anyway recently our author had to deal with the unfortunate reading of an insulting comment on another site, I won't name names or recite the comment as it is why too horrible to repeat as the person advocated for two crimes against humanity in his comment, specifically because his hatred for a certain blue-haired general: to this person you are what is wrong with the real world, people like you who've lost faith in humanity and give no chance for redemption are the worst of our race and should be reported for their insulting comments especially if they are willing to advocate for horrid things on fictional characters what is to stop them from wanting to harm real people; you don't advocate for that kind of stuff in real life don't advocate for it writing; also this person posted these kind of comments on the pages of multiple people which can be considered bullying and harassment which should not be tolerated as this kind of behavior could lead to a person who has depression to take their own life" Seryu explained. "Now this concludes our questions for today, send more via reviews for our story; thanks for reading it" Seryu explained.

"Now I must be going I have demons to fight in the warp, regardless of how many the blood Clan kill more come back in their place" Mercer replied and stood up.

"Just so you know the demons in the warp you kill are actually more then likely the same because you can't actually kill something from the warp permanently; thank you for your efforts in fighting the Chaos Gods however as I'm sure your helping other universes with your actions" Asha added, Mercer leaves.

"Well that was fun people hey any chance in me showing up in the actual story?" Deadpool asked.

"Nope; this isn't a Marvel fanfic Deadpool, this is Akame Ga Kill or Tatsumi Ga Kill as it should be call because it is really his story not hers" Seryu replied

"Oh come on I'm capable of fitting into every setting" Deadpool lamented.

"Yeah you are, but there are a few girls in this story who would want to castrate you for flirting with them; hint, hint Aria" Seryu replied.

"Yeah you're right, besides who'd want to put up with the Mega-Bitch pink haired sniper on a daily basis" Deadpool replied.

"HEY! I'm not a Mega-b- oh nice try: Angela Deadpool is swearing!" Mine replied, Angela Grundel enters with a Bar of Soap.

"Yipe! I'm out! Bye for now folks and at least I got to see Leone do my requests" Deadpool commented and vanished.

"That's all for this Omake Readers; thanks for your questions and continued support for this story; keep up the support and the reviews, also don't hesitate to suggest ideas for future chapters the writer may just decide to put them in" Seryu replied. "Until then though; THAT'S A WRAP


	39. Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Country Blood

Melitine Royal Palace two days later… Honest tossed aside the core of an apple he had just finished eating to continued his ditride, Esdeath was slouching in annoyance and Makoto was playing with his fidget spinder. "Now your majesty comes a matter of serious concern, the Village of Saiyuuka near the Captial by about a day's march has ceased the payment of taxes and drivin out the local garrison in uprising; I propose we deal with this here and now" Honest explained, Makoto nodded half-heartedly; he was thinking about someone, a certain blonde girl his age who he had developed feelings for.

"And what are you suggesting" Makoto asked boredly thinking about Fal, and Air, and Luna; and how much he would rather be playing with them instead of listening to the rather boring Honest.

"I suggest sending General Esdeath and Jaegers to deal with this uprising and crush it" Honest remarked.

"WHAT?!" Esdeath stated coming to full attention. "No! Absolutly not! I'm not going to waste my time on such menial tasks" Esdeath added.

"You're refusing an order?" Honest replied.

"It's not a matter of something as simple as concern for the people living there it's the fact you suggested that me the Empire's Finest General and my elite unit of Teigu users take care of your dirty work is insulting; fighting peasents who don't know which way to hold their pitchforks is a waste of my time and expertise, its not war it would be a slaughter hardly worth my time or that of soldiers; send someone else to do this; trust me minister a corporal and a battlion of troops could handle this: I view this as a waste of time" Esdeath replied. "Also that is the final say on the matter; and don't assume to command me Minister, after all I don't need waste my time on your problems right your majesty?" Esdeath added.

"Right Esdeath-nii, Honest-san doesn't get to boss you around; if Esdeath doesn't want to do it Honest san find someone else" Makoto replied, Honest seethed.

"Alright then I will do just that; I don't have anything else for today so as far as I'm concerned this meeting is over" Honest replied.

"And good thing too; also next time you want dirty work done ask your buttboy Teketh to do it for you're sorry ass" Esdeath added, Honest winced.

"Teketh is not my buttboy if anything he's one of the Empire's finest generals who knows his place; unlike you" Honest replied as he stormed out, slamming open the large doors of the throne room and stomping off past a confused Tatsumi whom Honest didn't even bother glancing at.

Tatsumi sighed and walked into the room; the general's uniform for all its grandeur was a bit stiff as far as clothing was concerned for his taste and really if anything he hated having to dress so formally to get into the palace but that wasn't a problem, he was followed in by his bodyguards, Aria, and to Makoto's joy: Fal, Air, and Luna who caused the Emperor to sit up and rush to hug them and they hugged him.

Tatsumi walked forward to go to Esdeath whom he noted seething in annoyance. "Hey Esdeath" Tatsumi greeted, the General smiled and pulled him into a bear hug; face first into her breasts.

"Tatsu-Bunny, good to see my one and only loving husband; just the person I needed too" Esdeath commented, Tatsumi mumbled into her breasts. "What?" Esdeath asked loosening her grip and allowing him to pop out red as a strawberry.

"I was saying you were suffocating me, never mind I came here to see how things are going; did I miss the meeting or did Honest storm off midway" Tatsumi asked.

"Both; he called an end and stormed off after I told him that I would not being wasting my time on the task he offered me and suggested he should pester his pet general Teketh about it" Esdeath replied annoyed, not by Tatsumi but by Honest.

"Ouch; what did he ask you to do?" Tatsumi asked.

"He had the nerve to suggest that me and my Jaegers should waste our time crushing a peasant uprising; the nerve of that man: I'm the Empires finest general and he suggested I do work that's suited to junior officer, hell not only junior officer a corporal; he had nerve to suggest I waste my time and that of my elite soldiers on such menial tasks; what kind of a person does he take me for? I'm a General that you throw at impossible tasks I don't waste my time on such easy things, it would be a slaughter and what would it do for my image? I have a reputation I'm the Empire's Finest General I fight and destroy armies of foreigners or worthy opponents I'm not about to tarnish it by taking orders from Honest and massacring people who don't have a chance! It's disgusting and beneath me" Esdeath ranted, Tatsumi was surprised by this development.

"An uprising? Where?" Tatsumi asked.

"Some villiage less then a day from the Capital, I have no idea what idiot thought that 'maybe it would be a good idea to rebel, it's not like the Capitial with ten army divisions garrisoning it isn't within a less then a days march from here.' Seriously Tatsumi; people like you and your friends are the sort of people that can be relied on to not make dumb decisions like that, but seriously though Tatsumi there are a number of people in the countryside who can qualify as being tremendously stupid" Esdeath replied.

"Yeah I know but where specifically? I'd like to know if you catch my drift" Tatsumi asked with wink.

"Ah I see, well I could tell you but that would require some scratching of an itch I have before I give you that little detail" Esdeath replied suggestively with a smirk, Tatsumi nodded.

"Alright then we'll discuss the matter in private" Tatsumi replied and was kissed. The other councilers in the room had gotten used to this behavior from the two, their relationship was a matter of public knowledge and the fact that they were husband and wife also was to their benefit.

"Tatsumi I can tell you the information" Constantine commented, Tatsumi gave him a look of 'thanks but I'd rather her tell me' and he left the room with Esdeath.

Aria came over to her father. "Aria what brings you here my dear daughter?" Constantine asked.

"Fal, Air, and Luna; they were rather annoyed when you left without them this morning, they woke up for breakfast and you weren't there, what brought you here so early?" Aria asked.

"Ah that; well that's a matter of sensitive detail" Constantine dodged, the information he had with regards to that subject was classified, meaning he couldn't discuss the matter within earshot of the prying eyes and ears of the court, a court which had as many people who hated him as agreed with him; and even some of the people who agreed with him didn't always see eye to eye with him on certain things; mainly the matter of certain economic policies he'd implemented since taking the position as minister of the treasury.

"Oh, that's fine father; I'm just concerned that's all; anything I can help with?" Aria replied.

"Yes there is something you can help me with; I've noted your husband's escapades and well I'm concerned for his safety" Constantine replied with genuine concern in his eyes.

"How is he in danger?" Aria asked.

"Just trust me when I say there are people at court some in this very room would rather not see you continue being married to him" Constantine answered, Aria frowned then turned to the other coucilers.

Aria then took a deep breath, visualized the pain, and showed it on her face. "ALRIGHT! I'M ONLY GOING TO SAY THIS ONCE! I'VE HEARD THAT SOME OF YOU MAY NOT AGREE WITH MY CHOICE OF HUSBAND; WELL LET ME TELL YOU WHAT I THINK OF YOU PEOPLE WHO LOOK DOWN HIM. TATSUMI IS THE BEST HUSBAND A WOMAN COULD EVER HAVE, HE'S THE FATHER TO THE BABY THAT RESIDES IN MY WOMB AND I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT ANY OF YOU ELITIST SNOBS, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, THINK ABOUT ME HAVING MARRIED A FARMBOY! HE'S THE BEST MAN IN THE WORLD AND HAS WAY MORE GUTS THEN ANYONE HERE IN THIS ROOM; EVEN MORE THEN ME! SO IF ANY OF YOU SNOBS THINK YOU CAN ARRANGE AN 'ACCIDENT' AND CAUSE ME TO BECOME A WIDOW YOU'LL BE HORRIBLY DISAPPOINTED I'LL KILL MYSELF BEFORE I MARRY ANOTHER MAN MUCH LESS SOME NOBLE'S SON WHO THINKS HIMSELF ABOVE OTHER PEOPLE BY HIS BIRTH; AND CONTRORY TO WHAT YOU PEOPLE WHO THINK YOUR CLASS MEANS YOU'RE ABOVE OTHER PEOPLE YOU'RE NOT YOU'RE HUMAN! THE SAME RACE AS HIM AND ME! AND DON'T EVER ASSUME I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!" Aria ranted with her full demonic face on, half the councilers crapped themselves and fanted at this rant the other half ran around in circles before crashing into each other. "Good I'm glad you all got the message" Aria replied and hugged her father before turning to leave the room and follow Tatsumi's path.

"Wow" Makoto commented having just seen the whole thing.

"Yeah Aria-nii has a temper that you don't push or well that happens" Fal commented.

"She's cool! What I'd give to have a sister like her; she's as great as Esdeath-nii at scaring people" Makoto replied.

Meanwhile in Honest's office… Honest sat down fuming, Esdeath was the one person who apart from Tatsumi he hated the most; and the worst thing about it was that she was a genius that was another level then him; he had never gotten along with the icy general, from the day she first became Grand Marshel at 15 Honest hated her specifically because he couldn't control her. Try as he might nothing worked on the General, and the worst thing was she was impossible to remove short of her being a battlefield casualty which was never going to happen with her skill and powers, she had as much influence over Makoto as he did if not more so because she litterally nursed the boy and his sisters and was as protective as mother bear about them. In fact the influence was so good Honest never tried to fabricate treason charges or any other minor nonsence to remove her because Makoto would never believe his sweet "Esdeath-Nii" would betray him, the woman who had carried for him since he was six and who was as much of a mother as- well his birth mother whom Honest hated.

"His mother" Honest thought, then smiled at the memories, she had been the most deliciously fun woman he'd ever had the chance to 'play with' he cherished the screams and her blood and remembered her face as he pulled Makoto's unborn sibling from her womb and at the fetus in front of her: he had done things so brutal to her that he had taken very effective effort to make sure her corpse was never seen by her son. "That low-born filth should have never become empress, should have never been allowed to sire those weaklings, and her son; oh he'd be fun to play with more so then his mother; and the fact I managed to kill his parents in the walls of this very palace and he has never found out that's just the most satisfying thing ever much less he looks up to me like his own father! HA!" Honest thought and mused.

Teketh walked into the room clad for battle. "Good you're hear and on time" Honest greeted.

"I've never been one for being late; what do you need of me Prime minister; if its crushing weaklings and grinding them into the ground I'm all for it" Teketh explained.

"Yes, there is the matter of a Village, Saiyuuka, it has ceased payment of taxes and thrown out the garrison; I want you to make an example of them; kill the men; the women and children are your's to do with as you please; I'd like to if their avalible make this a field test of your new soldiers" Honest explained.

"I can do that bar using my new troops, they aren't yet ready for actual conflict I haven't robbed them of their weakening traits so to speak just yet; I'd like to requisition troops good at making examples" Teketh replied.

"Very well, I'll put the Captial Inceneration Squad under your command, raze that shit-heap of a village to the ground, burn it all, kill any who resist and take your spoils and I'll see to you being rewarded for this" Honest replied.

"A reward for such menial work?" Teketh questioned.

"It's not just the fact I'm having you set an example Teketh it's a matter of pride; Esdeath thinks herself superior to you because she see's this type of work as beneath her, it will allow me to premote you to a higher rank and besides this also will serve as a test of a certain someone whom I shall name's resolve!" Honest replied.

"Of course: I'll see to it personally any requests from the spoils?" Teketh asked.

"Only you bring me some fresh virgins children and women for my own needs, about a score's worth" Honest replied.

"That can be arranged; I'll be sure to save some for you; none from my personal spoils" Teketh commented; the General's loyalty to Honest only went so far; he'd not give Honest the fairest of virgins no those would be his for his own harem: granted he'd be willing to part with a few but none that were red-headed or green eyed or fit his personal standerds. The general left the room and dawned his helmet.

"Soon now, soon, I'll play his game for as long as it takes for him to slip up, but until then I'm his loyal servent" Teketh thought unaware that Honest was capable of reading it from his posture.

"Yes play my game you shall, however Teketh you aren't really an actual player but a bishop or a knight on my chess board useful as a blunt instrument and enforcer and who thinks himself smarter then me; well he's a fool I look forward to the day he tries to betray me I'll slice his head off myself" Honest thought then locked his office door and went to his private dungeon where his newest playthings had just been brought to him, the torchlight became blood light as he shut the door behind and saited for a time his appetites.

Later that night… Peony had been sent with a scouting team to Saiyuuki she Pais, Chelsea, Tatsumi, Aria, and Akame looked over the town which was on fire; they noted the large column of troops which at the moment were too numerous and well equipped for an ambush by four Night Raid operatives; even when they were all Teigu users and had thousands of kills to their names between the four of them. "We'll have to wait until the column passes, way too many for us to deal with" Peony observed.

"Look though" Tatsumi stated and looked at the people being dragged along in shackles, all of them women and children, with the occasional man mixed they from the looks of things wore rags if they had anything; also notable was at the back of the column an elite unit of soldiers guarded some other captives and their commander who towered over the rest of the army. "It's Teketh" Tatsumi remarked.

"Yep and it is a damn shame we didn't bring Mine along to snipe him" Pais remarked.

"That wouldn't have been a guaranteed shot even for her" Chelsea countered.

"Quiet they are moving closer" Akame commented and they shut up allowing the armored soldiers to pass by, Tatsumi noted however there were a number of soldiers in non-conventianly uniforms, in fact they dress remarkably similer to Bols which to Tatsumi's credit he attributed as them being members of the Capital's Incineration Squad.

They waited until the last of the soldiers had passed before proceeding to the villiage which was still a flame. They then saw the aftermath of the massacre; Tatsumi winced in horror; granted he'd seen terrible things happen in the Capitail but nothing on such a grand scale. He didn't stand still for long though he searched all around using Smaug's ability to protect him against the hazards fire unleashed in all forms and looked thru every ruin for survivors, the others did likewise. Tatsumi came to a room that was on fire and found a grim sight, a man dead, his wife on a bed strangled after being violated and little girl about twelve years, naked, but with another girl still alive and struggling to breath. "Please! Kyoko-Nii don't die! You're still breathing get up! The bad man did horrible things to you but you can still get up! Please I'm not leaving you here!" the little five year old girl screamed in between coughs; Tatsumi didn't hesistated for a moment picked both girls up and carried them out of the burning building; he then carried them to a place where the smoke wasn't a threat; he found Akame waiting for him.

"Akame Thank goodness this girl she need's help!" Tatsumi yelled putting the unconscious Kyoko down on the ground.

"I'll help her" Akame said and drew Muramase; Tatsumi reacted quickly and blocked the blade with Valruost.

"Are you Fucking Insane!? She's still alive barely but still alive find Aria; I'll try my best to help her while you do that since you clearly can't be trusted to be left alone with her!" Tatsumi rebuked, Akame winced sheathed Muramase and took off at a run. Tatsumi got on his knees next to Kyoko, the girl had dark brown hair in two braided pigtails, her body was scared and she had been clearly raped; Tatsumi began mouth to mouth recitation and CPR trying to make sure she didn't die from lack of oxygen; he then took Valruost and held the flat of the blade against the most severe wounds. "Valruost: Azuna Maka Val" Tatsumi declared controlling the blood flow and driving out the dioxide to keep the heart pumping all the while constantly mentally praying that the girl wouldn't die and comforting her. Aria arrived soon after along with the other members of the group.

"Tatsumi! Here move aside let me help" Aria ordered and readied her medical kit, getting out a container of emergency oxygen and a breathing mask which she then promptly gave to Kyoko, then listened at her heart to note the blood flow was normal before giving a thankful glance at Tatsumi; she then wraped the girl in an emergency blanket before turning to silent five year old who had similer features to her sister but with shorter hair which was blonde.

Aria then studied her for any injuries and was glad to note she was unscathed apart from some bruises. "Ok who are you?" Aria asked.

"Mishi, my sister is Kyoko-nii my mommy and daddy they- didn't make it; they told me to hide under their bed, when the soldiers came, they did horrible things and set the house on fire; they made Kyoko-nii scream which she's never did because she's brave; why though? Why did these soldiers do these things? Is Kyoko-nii ok?" The girl asked.

"She'll live, I'll need to get her to a proper medical bay but she'll pull thru; I'm a doctor by the way; Dr. Aria at your service: now don't tell me what happened I don't want to put you thru anymore trauma" Aria explained.

"Thank you, Mrs. Aria, if it hadn't been for this nice man here we'd have died, also that black haired girl is a meany; she tried to kill Kyoko-nii" Mishi explained, Aria glared daggers at Akame.

"I've told you before Akame no mercy-kills as you call them when I'm around" Aria lectured, Akame frowned and teared up, Tatsumi sat down next to Mishi.

"Thank you Mister, you save me and Kyoko-nii, mister can you be our new daddy? We need someone to take care of us" Mishi begged, Tatsumi looked at the cute girl and kissed her forehead.

"Sure; I know what it's like to lose my parents I've got the means to take care of you two and I'll do that" Tatsumi stated and looked her in the eyes, sweet orange eyes that reminded him of a certain someone; he then hugged her and held her close to him. He then looked at the unconscious Kyoko who had dark brown hair and slung her over his shoulder and held Mishi with the other.

"Thank you for offering to become our daddy; I asked because you look a lot like him" Mishi thanked. Tatsumi and the others went a good distance from the village and Chelsea blew a horn; which signaled to their Air Manta Komac to come to them; it landed and they got on the back Tatsumi had Mishi hold onto him and held the unconscious Kyoko and they took off; they headed for Grundewick Manor however instead of Night Raid HQ because the Grundel's had a proper medical care room that Angela and Aria used for taking care of their household servents who suffered injury or were ill.

The manta landed in the backyard of the manor near the statue of the first Grundel and they entered the house via the backdoor and ran into Angela who was waiting for them. "You're back Aria; what happened oh these poor girls we must get them medical attention" Angela exclaimed; Tatsumi handed them off to the motherly Angela and went upstairs with Aria and them, the other Night Raid members dispersed to do their own things; with Akame getting the short straw and being dragged of Peony to report to Najenda.

Shortly… Angela laid the blanket wrapped Kyoko down as Aria explained the injuries and how Tatsumi had found her and her sister. "She's in bad shape; her legs are broken; and well she's had to suffer things no girl her age should have to; she'll pull thru though Aria; you did a good job stabilizing her" Angela explained after looking her over. "Tatsumi could you do me a favor? Get me one of Fal, Air or Luna's night gowns and bring it here along with some blankets and other clothes also a stuffed animal or two wouldn't go amiss; also get some for her sweet sister to" Angela requested turning to Tatsumi.

"Sure anything for my new adopted daughters" Tatsumi explained, Angela was surprised by this detail but Mishi was giddy about the whole thing and talked to Angela about it as she went over her and examined her. Tatsumi stepped out, went the shared room of the three sisters interrupting a pillow fight, hugged and kissed all three of them before explaining that he needed to borrow some things. All three sisters were more then happy to help him in that task.

Shortly… "Mommy we brought the things you need" Fal shouted running into the room, she then looked at Kyoko who was hooked up to an IV and breathing from an oxygen tank to get the carbon mynoxide out of her system; Angela also was cleaning her and taking a blood test to see how it was doing, essentially Angela was a one woman ER at the moment and was doing everything her medical training offered to make sure that Kyoko survived, Aria was tending to the needs of Mishi, including vaccinating her for diseases much to the pain and fear of Mishi. Tatsumi was ok with that simply because Aria had given him his not long after he joined Night Raid, to that end he went over to Mishi and comforted her holding her hand. Within an hour Angela had given both girls all the treatment needed and had made the med center as comfortable as possible.

"I'll stay here with you two; and sleep in here with you to make sure you know I'll be there for you" Tatsumi explained, he then took a seat in a comfortable armchair and pulled out a book that he had snagged from his room on the way here and wrapped himself in a spare blanket and read. Mishi fell asleep before he did and when she did he closed his eyes and dreamt.

Tatsumi dreamnt of a countryside farmstead where he, Clementine and Sayo lived a simple life the one he had originally intended to live but now wouldn't in his dream he noted the sweet children that moved around the place all his, though it was easy to tell which mother each belonged to. Tatsumi woke up the next morning to both Sayo and Clementine waking him up. "Hey Tatsumi! Tatsumi wake up!" Clementine shouted, Tatsumi woke up, noted both girls; both of which were dressed in well ladylike attire; which was odd in his experience because Clementine never struck him as the girl to wear frilly dresses as she was a more practical woman; but seeing her in orange frilly dress similar to Aria's was a surprise in his his book. Sayo wore the red gown she wore when he first arrived in the city and found her in the care of the Grundel's it was a nice to see her wear it as he loved that dress because of the importance of that reunion.

"Yeah Tatsumi wake up" Sayo added and shook him around a bit.

"Morning" Tatsumi greeted then brushed the sleepies out of his eyes and turned to them. He sat up immediately though on remembering the last night's events and turned immediately to his newly adopted daughters who still slept peacefully. "Shh, keep your voices down they're sleeping; they are nice and sweet. The older one is Kyoko and the younger is Mishi; I saved them from a burning house last night when their village was razed by Teketh; Mishi asked if I could adopt them and I'm doing that" Tatsumi explained then stepped over and gave a kiss to both sleeping girls. "Rest well my little angels you have a new life ahead of you and I'm going to try my best to care for both of you as if you were my own kids" Tatsumi whispered and then turned to Sayo and Clementine. "Lets leave and let them rest" Tatsumi explained and they left the room as Aria came in to check on them.

"So we heard what happened last night from Peony and when well we heard what you chose to do we just had to come here and check on you" Sayo explained.

"That and we want to spend some time with you and Ieyasu just like the good old days" Clementine added then held his hand. "We have so much catching up to do" Clementine teased leaning on his shoulder; Tatsumi stoped and kissed her on the forehead.

"We can do that and we'll do that; but first I want to make sure both of those sweet little girls of mine are nice and safe; plus Kyoko hasn't woken up yet so I need to explain the situation to her" Tatsumi replied.

"Gladly; you know they look an awful lot like me and you Tatsumi" Clementine commented.

"Really what gave you that idea?" Tatsumi asked.

"They have the same hair colors as we have" Clementine commented.

"That's a bit of a stretch; besides they are my daughters now, well not officially yet but for the time being I'll take care of them; they need it and I'm not going to drop them off in an orphanage after all the effort I spent rescuing, besides if I didn't I'd be giving my responsibillty to someone else who I can't exactly rely on to take care of them so I'll do that" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm not surprised you decided on that; just though Tatsumi in the future don't adopt every orphan you see" Sayo commented.

"I'll do what ever I please on this subject if there is a child in need I'll help them" Tatsumi explained, Clementine smiled.

"That's our Tatsumi for you" Clementine commented.

They went down stairs and sat down at the table in the dinning room to eat breakfast; Aria wasn't there obviously as she had been sent to watch the two girls. Tatsumi sat down, Clementine and Sayo sat on either side of him and they dug into their breakfast. Overall breakfast proved to be enjoyable though Tatsumi's thoughts were focused on the two little girls that were soon to be his adoptive daughters; he then finished breakfast and went back upstairs with some extra food for Mishi and, if she had woken up, Kyoko.

Tatsumi walked into the room just as he heard a grown from Kyoko; he handed Mishi a nice breakfast and she eagerly dug in after saying "Thanks Daddy" then Tatsumi placed Kyoko's on a bed tray; and looked at her as she opened her green eyes.

"Where am I? Who are you? And where's Mommy?" Kyoko asked looking at Tatsumi.

"You're in a private Medical ward inside my In-law's home; don't worry your safe; you were badly hurt and you were barely alive when I found you, Mishi didn't give up on you though" Tatsumi explained.

"I hurt; my pee-part hurts my legs hurt; my chest hurts, I just am hurt; what happened to me and where are mommy and daddy?" Kyoko asked, Tatsumi frowned.

"They didn't make it, they were gone when I found you and Mishi; there were bad men that killed them, did bad things to your mommy before killing her, they did awful things to you, Mishi hid under the bed the whole time" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh right; it's coming back to me! Those bad men; they- they- killed daddy, put their things in mommy and did horrible things to her before killing her; then; a big fat bad man put his pee-pee in my pee-part, another put his in my bum, and and two more made me suck on theirs it was awful; they played with me; touched me in ways that were wrong; my boobs they sucked them; they- I- Why? Why did they kill my mommy and daddy, why did they do such awful things to me!? Why?" Kyoko recalled, sitting up and pulling off the oxygen mask as she did so, Tatsumi came over and comforted her.

"There,there, don't worry don't let the bad things trouble your mind; your safe now; I'm Tatsumi and well I'm going to be your new daddy" Tatsumi explained.

"My new daddy? Why?" Kyoko asked confused.

"Because I asked him to Kyoko-nii; he's nice and kind and he looks like our daddy; he saved me and you from the fire and then from a mean lady that wanted to kill you; I don't know why she wanted to, he took us to this nice place; and his wife is the sweet doctor who saved your life and took you here to her mommy and daddy's home, and this is a big home" Mishi explained.

"Well I'm not sure about this, why are you doing this though?" Kyoko asked.

"Because I saved you two, because well your my responsibility now; I'm not going to shirk my responsibilities I'm not going to send you to some orphanage and hope you get adopted by a loving family, because I know for a fact that's too much to hope for in this rotten, evil twisted world of ours, so I'm doing this to keep you safe from bad men; and don't worry about those bad men; I'll find them and take them down for what they did to you Kyoko and to your parents" Tatsumi explained.

"Thank you Tatsumi-san, I'd be glad to call you daddy; you'll take care me and my nii-san?" Kyoko asked.

"I will, I'm already a father, a little baby boy named after me, and I've got more little ones on the way; I'm fighting for my family and I will do what ever it takes to keep them safe; including you two" Tatsumi explained, Kyoko sat up and hugged him. "I brought you breakfast by the way; Eggs, toast, sausages, nice crispy bacon, orange juice, and for when you're done with that my mother-in-law's peanut butter cookies; they are the best thing you could ever want to eat" Tatsumi explained; Kyoko smiled at the food and began eating. Sayo and Clementine walked into the room.

"There you are Tatsumi, she's awake" Clementine remarked.

"Who are you? And why do you look like my mommy?" Kyoko asked, Clementine was surprised, but came over.

"My name is Clementine; I'm Tatsumi's girlfriend and future 13th wife, I know 13 is bad luck but the bad luck is on bad people. I've been his friend since we were very little" Clementine explained.

"And I'm Sayo, I'll be one of your new mommies I'm married to Tatsumi-kun, don't worry I help take care of you two" Sayo explained.

"I'm Kyoko, it's nice to meet you, I'm glad to have a new daddy, especially since he didn't have to do this for me and Mishi-nii I'm feeling sore but I'm feeling better overall" Kyoko replied.

"Well that will have to be seen, I'm going to go get Angela-san and have her look you two over" Sayo explained.

"No need" Angela replied walking in the room with Aria at her side. "I'm Angela Grundel, your doctor, this is my daughter Aria who's also a doctor; I'm sure you already met my son-in-law Tatsumi" Angela introduced, she then came over and did some check ups, checking her heartbeat, her breathing, her blood pressure, and other things. "How are you feeling?" Angela asked.

"Sore; bad men did bad things to me" Kyoko explained, then went into detail like she did with Tatsumi; Angela grimmiced, then felt both sadness and rage, but tempered both emotions; she then examined Kyoko further for injuries, and found sadly as she had last night that she had been tormented violated and suffered hardships no child especially one so young should have to suffer: in fact it reminded her of the damage Champ and later on Enshin had done.

"I'm sorry Kyoko-nii, you've gone thru so much; you had to undergo things that no one your age should have to have go thru; you had bad people do things that are the things of adults, special things that they abused and used as a weapon to torment those that should **never** have to be endured by a child" Angela explained and then hugged her giving her a motherly embrace.

"Thanks for your kind words Dr. Grundel and thanks for taking care of me, and thank you to my new Daddy for taking me in and protecting me" Kyoko thanked.

"Kyoko, call me Grandma; because that's what I am to you now" Angela replied, Kyoko cried tears of joy into her dress. Angela did more through testing and explained to Kyoko that the torment she had undergone was rape; what that was and that it was an abuse of the thing that was used to create children, explained that there might be side-effects as a result of the rape; that she may become pregnant and that if that happened there was nothing that could be done about it. **(AN: Abortion isn't legal in the Empire or something Angela Grundel would practice mainly because of the abuse of practice done by corrupt nobles of the Empire and Honest's fondness for using it as a demented practice to allow him to cannabilize unborn infants, also the process for doing so is highly dangerous: point being in the Empire Abortations are frowned upon and not something widely practiced nor something that Angela or Aria know how to do nor would they do as a result of their moral standard that prevents them from killing children much less infants, also while they'd be willing to kill evil women they would not be willing to kill one that was pregnant because they hold the belief that an infant isn't guilty of the crimes of their parents)** Kyoko was saddened by this news but hoped that she wouldn't get pregnant but promised if she did she'd take care of her baby.

Tatsumi himself grimaced at this knowledge and that worried him deeply especially considering that he'd encountered this kind of crime quite often, in fact he was in love Leone's mother Catherine who had undergone this abuse and had a child as a result. What terrified him even more was if something like that happened to Fal, Air or Luna; or even wore Logue or the Emperor's sisters. "What kind of monster thinks its justified to do these horrible things to children; I will find the people who did this and they will pay: I will give them a full taste of what Hell has on offer for them and well in the Empire of the future I'll wipe this out" Tatsumi thought to himself.

Shortly… Both girls were confined to bed rest until Angela had made sure they had made a full recovery, granted Mishi hadn't sustained any severe external injuries but she still had to recover from the effect of carbon manoxide poisoning from the fire; granted she hadn't gotten it as bad as Kyoko but still both had to recover. Tatsumi then decided on what to do for the day. "Alright Clem, Sayo, I'm going to have to get things ready for these two, in short I'm going to buy stuff for them: new clothes, blankets, toys, all the things they need to make sure they are happy and supported" Tatsumi explained.

"Right and what about rooms and beds, where exactly will they be staying?" Sayo asked, that was a tough question as Tatsumi had a few options: there was here at Grundewick Manor, at Spear's manor, the new manor he and Aria had bought that formally belonged to Gamul, and there was also Lila's manor. In between the four it really depended on them having someone to be there with them; the process of moving things into his and Aria's personal manor put it out of the running as they were still in the process of moving things into it and throwing out Gamul's things mainly his personal effects. That left either Grundewick, Chouri, or Lila's Manor; considering the three Grundewick Manor was by far the best at the moment simply because of Angela being there with Ieyasu to help care for them.

"I've got that figured out: they'll have rooms at all four places; simply because I tend to stay at any of them; they'll spend most time though here and at Lila's place because Lila needs the parenting experience and Angela is always here" Tatsumi explained having figured it out. "Also they'll go with me when I stay at the Palace; which reminds me as soon as they're doing better I'll present them to the court; I'd like to introduce them to Esdeath" Tatsumi added.

"Wait you can get into the Palace; that gives me some ideas" Clementine commented conspiritorilly.

"Like what?" Tatsumi asked, curious, he hadn't exactly touched on this part of his job with Clementine mainly due to them not having the real chance to spend time together.

"Well we could end the war; get me in there and I could kill the Prime Minister, the top generals and The Emperor at the same time" Clementine replied.

"Whoa! Whoa! That is a terrible plan for a few reasons; A. Honest is extremely hard to to kill I've tried and I got this scar on my shoulder. B. The top Generals aren't all in the city; most of them are fighting on military fronts or governing project: those that are here are too risky to make an attempt on; Teketh for one, also Esdeath is not a target she's on our side. And C. the Emperor has to survive this conflict at all cost; he's not a problem, Honest, Teketh, all the opportunistic and corrupt polictions and Generals are the problem" Tatsumi rebuked.

"You're right I wasn't thinking, way too brazen, but a few questions; A. What the hell?! Since when is it so important to keep the Emperor alive, last I checked the Empire was our enemy in case you haven't noticed, B How the hell did Honest manage to kick your ass? Tatsumi you are a beast of a fighter and C. Since when was Esdeath on our side?" Clementine replied, Sayo frowned, Tatsumi face palmed.

"Sayo I can't believe you didn't get her up to date on things; whatever; first things first Esdeath changed sides not too long after I started banging her; by the way that was something that surprised me and also she knew I was Night Raid from the beginning yet not only do we end up marrying each other she made me her second in command; also she marked numerous targets for us to kill and I've managed to get a number of the Jaegers to change sides" Tatsumi explained. "Secondly as to how Honest kicked my butt Clem, he's not human, not anymore, he's made pacts with a demon named Valtor and it has given abominable powers he even sacrificed two of his sons one for demonic power and the other for a new arm; also the guy is a triple Tiegu user, he was double one when I fought him and now he's got a Third Teigu: don't ask me how the hell that is possible I'm still trying to figure it out" Tatsumi explained. "Lastly and this is most important thing, the Emperor has no real power in the Empire most of the power he has is for things in his immediate control; Honest has total control; you know what Clem I'm so pissed off by that suggestion to kill him that I'll take you to meet him; see if you can bring yourself to do it after meeting him" Tatsumi explained, Clementine frowned, she was conflicted.

"Tatsumi why? Why are you fighting for the Revolutionary Army if you don't agree with the principles-" Clementine started.

"Because I'm not with Revolutionary Army any more, neither is Night Raid; Cassandra will find that out rather soon; trust me on this, I'm not with Honest's Empire either, I'm for the True Empire, the Empire of the past that wasn't this corrupt or demented; I'm going to change this world so are you with me?" Tatsumi explained.

"Tatsumi; well yes, but you said you'd show me the Emperor let me know why though you are willing to go against the Revolutionary Army leadership over this?" Clementine requested.

"I'll show you: now Clem lets talk about some other things what's happened to you since you left the Village" Tatsumi asked.

"Yeah I'd like to know where you got those crazy ideas in your head" Sayo replied.

"You're with him on this- never mind Sayo I will be with him but I'm conflicted as all hell on this whole thing: like Tatsumi said lets focus on things" Clementine explained, during their discussion they had arrived at Tatsumi's room. Tatsumi went inside changed into his military uniform and grabbed his non-Teigu sword strapping it to his back and then grabbed a large bag and filled it with silver Dukars from his safe and then another bag too and strapped both to his side he also grabbed something important to him his bracelet. He'd given some thought to the bracelet something was important about it; the Elder Gramps as he called him had told him another thing about it that it in addition to bringing him good luck was something important for the future. Granted he thought at the time it would be a last resort for money but in now thinking about it he thought it rather odd that such a thing would be given to him especially if it was village treasure; but it wasn't as he hadn't seen the thing until the day it was given him and the village was fond of display its relics and idols publically. Then there was also the fact that jeweler he had look at it told him that it was Dwarven craftmenship and looked like a royal treasure.

"Now why would a village elder have a royal treasure and why would he give it to me?" Tatsumi thought to himself then looked at again. "This thing is important, perhaps maybe- nah could it be? That would be be nuts" Tatsumi thought.

"Tatsumi are you done yet?" Clementine asked bringing him out of his thought.

"Yeah" Tatsumi replied and came out of the room.

"You look like a big-shot" Clementine remarked.

"He's a Major-General Clem, they tend to look like bigshots" Sayo replied.

"Nice sword by the way Tatsumi; hey whatever happened to the one I gave you for your 15th birthday?" Clementine asked.

"Oh, this is it" Tatsumi explained and drew the blade, she took it from him.

"Really, it doesn't look like it did when I gave it to you, the hilt is completely different and well the blade is way more polished" Clementine commented.

"It's the same sword, I had it reforged after I broke it during my fight with Dr. Stylish" Tatsumi explained.

"Wait you broke your blade in a fight with Dr. Stylish, Damn I thought I forged that thing to last" Clementine replied.

"Well Stylish was a formidable opponent and on top of that it took a beating from a stone alter during the fight; granted it did save my life after it broke I stunned Stylish with it and got both Valruost and Smaug from inside the alter and killed him with them: I then got all the pieces and the day after marrying Spear and Aria I had the blade reforged; new hilt; the blade itself is the same but it was reinforced by more material to strengthen it" Tatsumi explained.

"Yep this actually is my work, I knew it was the sword because of the fact the engraving of our loving promise was still on the base of the blade; it's been polished but it's still there" Clementine replied after taking a closer look at the sword and confirming that the engraving was still there she then handed it back to Tatsumi who sheaved it. "You know you've changed a lot in two years but its definitely for the better; you're still the same man I fell in love with; the sweet boy that played with me from when I was 3, we went all sorts of adventures, the same young man who when he wanted to start courting me became a blacksmith's apprentice even though you couldn't forge anything beyond farm tools and knives; I still have the one you gave me" Clementine explained.

"Speaking off I still have the one you gave me before we left; its in my room; I kept it in my bag on the way here" Tatsumi explained then got it from the room.

"Yep that's it alright, which reminds me I have something I've been meaning to give you for a while; I brought it with me from the base" Clementine explained then pulled out a dagger from under the hem of her dress and handed to him; the blade was surprisingly ornate; decorated with gold on the guard and studded with emeralds. "I made that for you after I killed my first General; pretty interesting mission you'd be surprised what idiots will do when a girl plays nice with them and offers herself; he was easy; that was of course way before I dragged out my targets deaths he had a dagger but the steel was shoddy so I forge a new blade and tang, then used the guard from the old blade and decorated with gold I melted down from his medals and gems from his necklace" Clementine explained.

"How have your skills as a blacksmith come along?" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty good, in fact I tend to keep trophys from my kills, take some of the smaller metel objects and melt them down into decorative things as well as my many stilettos" Clementine explained.

"So you aren't out of practice?" Tatsumi asked, she laughed kissed him and giggled.

"That has got to be funniest thing you've said today; I'm not remotely out of practice; in fact I can make you something to prove it; though I don't know what that would be as you seem to have everything you need" Clementine replied.

"Well you could make me a wedding ring" Tatsumi suggested.

"That's actually a good idea, but I want you to get me something special nothing too flashy but special I want you to put all the effort you can into making sure that comes from your heart; as to whether I'll marry you of course I will Tatsumi you bear of a man; I've been wanting to do that for years now" Clementine explained.

"Well there's another thing I'll have to plan for; anything special on that front?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well for the sheer laughes and because I know you can pull it off lets have it in the palace and lets go completely all out on everything; I know for a fact if you are that close to the Emperor he'd do that" Clementine replied, Tatsumi nodded knowing all too well Makoto would love to host a wedding feast for them just for the fun of it and the change of his daily monotony of being a ruler.

They soon left Tatsumi had Clementine change into a more flashy dress to flaunt her beauty and impress the court he determined that as soon as they finished shopping he would have a group take the cart back to the manor and they'd go to the palace. Tatsumi made sure to get a large cart but opted for a normal carriage, they then went to the marketplace and Tatsumi bought pretty much everything that he thought the girls would like and made sure to grab other things as well; once he had filled the cart he then got into the carriage and had his driver take him with Clementine and Sayo to the palace.

Meanwhile at Grundewick Manor… Ieyasu was currently having a good time as he was enjoying his favorite drink "Mommy's Milk" Angela moaned as he drank from her and thrusted into her; granted they had been doing this sort of thing rather frequently; even more so as Angela had been going thru mood-swings. "Oh Ieyasu; keep going" Angela moaned, then moaned out in pain as she felt twisting pains that cause Ieyasu to stop.

"Angela are you ok?" Ieyasu asked and held her tight.

"Yeah; I'm fine; Ieyasu I think; I think I'm pregnant, I need to test it but my gut says yes" Angela explained.

"That's amazing!" Ieyasu exclaimed and blushed bright red and smiled like he was on cloud nine.

"I'm glad too: Ieyasu I have a question though; I hate to ask this but be honest with me; was I your first? Because overall your prowess was pretty good when we first did this and you've gotten quite better" Angela asked, Ieyasu frowned.

"I have to to be honest; no: you know I really wish my first time had been with you; I actually spent my first time on four prostitutes; Tasha, Lydia, Cara and Zanda; Leone gave me money to do stuff while they had their first time with Vatima; then there were the six girls: Misty, Chloe, Miyuki, Sera, Renka, and Louise they were some farm girls I saved from robbers; they gave me their first time as a reward" Ieyasu explained honestly. "Also those weren't one night stands I still keep in touch with them when I'm not here and the prostitutes have taught me some of the positions I used; I'm sorry I haven't been as honest and faithful as I should have been" Ieyasu added and apologized.

"Don't be: Ieyasu, I'm fine with it; you didn't lie to me about it when I asked and well you've become better then you would have been and saved me the trouble of giving sex-ed, my only question though is have you been seeing them since you and I started well our relationship" Angela replied.

"Yes; and I still am seeing all of them; I'll stop though if you want me to" Ieyasu replied.

"No don't do that; in fact what you should do is bring them here; they can live here with us; they'll be your secondary wives; especially if you've gotten them pregnant you need to take care of them" Angela explained.

"Well then Angela let's go and get them and bring them here: we've got time and don't have anything else to do today" Ieyasu explained.

"Good idea; but first we should drop Fal, Air and Luna off to play with Makoto; I don't want them with us when we go out; I'm not against them meeting your lovers but I don't want to risk endangering them when we go into the slums and the countryside" Angela explained.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had arrived in the palace and was allowed in without so much as a second glance which surprised Clementine; she was also surprised at how the inside of the palace looked compared to well anywhere she had been before: the grandeour of the the interior with marble columns that were fine polished, decorated with shining silver. paintings that were masterworks of art depicting scenes from the Empire's history of great battles fought, feasts held, victories, of great leaders and all manner of things. Also there were fine statues of great leaders, mighty warriors, danger beasts of the rarely or never scene in the world today; also there were grand maps on some walls depiciting the Empire as its borders were in the past but also of places that had since fallen into ruin or were renamed into other things. The sheer amount of the Empire's history and culture that was preserved into the Imperial Palace of Melitine was absolutely astonishing to Clementine, while she wasn't a student of history per see she was fascinated by the subject and seeing all this she worried what would happen to it all if the city fell into the hands of the Revolutionary Army.

Tatsumi showed Clementine the various sights of interest on the way to the throne room finally arriving in the hall of rulers which was outside the throne room: Tatsumi noted however a look at the most recent emperors: Valkorian the Stern, Galadof the Stout, Isshin IV the Lost, and Makoto's father Emperor Yoritomo the Diplomat. Of these portraits two interested Tatsumi, Isshin and Yoritomo; mainly because these two had been Emperors when he was alive; of the two he could see a resemblance between Yoritomo and Makoto; their eyes being the same color and their smile and face being the same as well; Ishinn looked distinct; he had dark brown hair and a trimmed ordierly beard with deep blue eyes; his brow was crisp however he was relatively young by Tatsumi's assumption about a two or three years older then him. "I wonder why he's called the lost?" Tatsumi thought.

"Hey Tatsumi; Tatsumi; hey you can appreciate history later" Sayo commented tugging at his shoulder.

"Right sorry Sayo; just I was well thinking about the most recent Emperors before Makoto they died pretty young; I mean look at Ishinn's portrait he's not that much older then me, and Makoto's father he's well young" Tatsumi pointed out.

"Right now Tatsumi can you please introduced me to Emperor Makoto now" Clementine asked.

"Yes; but don't even think about killing anyone; best behavior" Tatsumi explained, Clementine frowned, she was tempted to slap him for thinking she wasn't but considering the fact he was making sure she didn't blow her cover she was going to let that slide. "That reminds me I bought this for a reason" Tatsumi commented and looked in a bag that he secured once more after checking to see that his gift hadn't fallen out. Tatsumi listened at the main door as the approached hearing Honest in the middle of a monologue on the current status of the influx in the price of cakes or some such nonsene when he entered the door in true Tatsumi fashion; by slamming it open.

Honest turned to notice the opened door. "Hello there" Tatsumi greeted then strode up with a firm swagger in his step and with Clementine and Sayo holding either one of his hands. Makoto looked up from his current focus that being a fidget spinner that Tatsumi had gotten him a while back and yelled "Tatsumi-nii!" then jumped up off his throne to come and hug Tatsumi who returned the hug. "Yeah that's me; I brought you something Makoto" Tatsumi explained and grabbed the bag Makoto opened it and inside was a plush royal gryphon.

"A Royal gryphon! That's just what I wanted; thank you Tatsumi-nii" Makoto thanked hugging his new plushie, Esdeath walked over to them.

"Makoto-san I'm glad you enjoy your new present" Tatsumi commented.

"I love it, I'm going to name him Larry and I'll have him play with Manny the Manticore and Leon the Leodragus" Makoto explained; Esdeath arrived.

"Hello Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greated and kissed Tatsumi on the lips.

"Tatsu-bunny" Clementine questioned and then broke down laughing. "Really?! Ha!" Clementine laughed; Esdeath wasn't annoyed and waited for her to calm down.

"Hello honey; I brought someone I want to introduce to everyone at the court; this is Clementine she's well my fiancé from my home village she's been traveling and arrived in the Capitial a while ago; I'd like to announce our betrothal and ask his majesty if it would be ok to host a wedding feast here and the Palace" Tatsumi explained.

"I'd love to do that Tatsumi-nii I love weddings; we'll invite everyone! And we'll have all the presents, cakes, I'll throw out all the stocks and it will be fun" Makoto agreed, Honest winced he considered trying to cancel the thing but given that it was best to just let his puppet have the feast and have him ask unnessecary questions well it was best to just let him have his fun.

"By the way Clementine let me introduce you to who's who right now: Clementine this is his Imperial Majesty Makoto the first; Makoto-san this Clementine-chan" Tatsumi introduce.

"Nice to meet you Clementine-nii how are you doing?" Makoto introduced.

"Well surprised, I was well- expecting the Emperor to be well-"Clementine stuttered, embarrassed.

"Don't worry I get that a lot from people who haven't met me; yeah I'm still kid which is fun because I don't have to really do anything I just the Council run things Esdeath-nii runs the army and well she's sort of my big sister who takes care of me and teaches me fun stuff; and Honest-san well he's pretty much in-charge of all the boring day to day stuff" Makoto replied.

"And this Clementine is Grand Marshal Esdeath of Emperor's Army and my wife" Tatsumi introduced to Clementine who had ignored the blue-haired woman after the nickname and was still surprised by how young the Emperor was.

"Hello" Clementine replied looking at Esdeath and remembering she was a one who called Tatsumi Tatsu-bunny; and while the nickname was funny it wasn't the sort of thing that should be laughed at it the Empire's finest who towered over her and wasn't renowned for her sense of humor had said it.

"Hello and yes I am the Esdeath the Empire's Finest and the devoted wife of my beloved Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted.

"Esdeath." Clementine shivered out and realized she had laughed at a nickname given to Tatsumi by the most terrifying woman in the world; having relized this she did the only thing she could do in the situation, she fainted falling over.

"Clementine-san?" Makoto asked and began poking her.

"I was going to tell her not to tell Ieyasu about the nickname; was it something I said?" Esdeath replied.

"Its probably the fact that she realized that she laughed her head off at the Empire's finest" Sayo remarked.

"Oh" Esdeath replied. "I can see why she'd do that then; she thought I was going to kill her; no, no, no I'd never kill someone over a joke, much less someone so close to my beloved Tatsumi" Esdeath commented, Clementine reopened her eyes.

"I'm I still alive?" Clementine commented getting back up.

"Yep; you aren't dreaming either" Sayo commented helping her up.

"Ok I laughed at something Esdeath, the Esdeath the Empire Finest's, said and didn't get my head chopped off?" Clementine commented.

"Please I have a sense of humor; by the way don't tell Ieyasu about the nickname; I'd have to kill him just not to be constantly annoyed by it" Esdeath commented.

"She's serious on that part and I wouldn't stop her if she tried" Sayo added.

"So wait you two are friends?" Clementine asked looking like a fool.

"I think it's best if we discuss this in private: also as to a day for the wedding next Wednesday that's when we'll have it" Tatsumi explained making sure that he had a good 10 days for that, Makoto nodded.

"Sure I'll begin preperations right away: Honest-san!" Makoto assured and ordered.

"Yes your majesty?" Honest asked.

"Make sure to have the decorations for the biggest Ballroom I'm pulling out all the stops for this" Makoto ordered as Fal, Air and Luna walked in and went running towards him. "Fal-Chan! Air-Chan! Luna-Chan!" Makoto greeted and ran up and all four of them joined in a group hug, to Honest's disdain; he hated the three girls mainly because Makoto was in love with them and them with him and as a result of this he ended up being the butt of their jokes that came from Makoto's childhood playmates who were honestly in his opinion an attempt by Constantine Grundel to steal his job as regent by betrothing them to Makoto.

"Makoto-san!" All three cheered, Angela and Ieyasu stood in the doorway.

"Thought I'd bring them over to play; I've got some business that needs tending to" Angela commented to Tatsumi and Esdeath.

"What about Aria?" Tatsumi asked.

"She's busy with other things" Angela replied, Tatsumi realized that this was a case of Angela and Ieyasu wanting to spend more time with each other and as such they needed to get the girls out of the house; also Aria was busy with medical care of Kyoko and Mishi so Angela did have an out on that case.

"Alright then; well you to have fun" Sayo teased.

"We intend to you: do you guys have anything planned?" Ieyasu asked.

"At the moment I think we'll stick around court for the rest of this meeting then well I'm going to give Clementine the full tour" Tatsumi explained.

"Well have fun your three" Ieyasu commented.

"What about Esdeath?" Tatsumi added, as Ieyasu was clearly ignored the Ice Queen in front of him.

"What about me; well Tatsu- Tatsumi I'll be with you for your whole visit also we have something to discuss" Esdeath commented and rubbed her belly at the last part, Tatsumi got her meaning; it had been a month since he had got her pregnant on their wedding night and well that meant she was concerned about their child, she also stoped herself from saying "Tatsu-Bunny" to save herself from having to kill Ieyasu.

Ieyasu and Angela left; as they left a towering mass of muscle and armor walked into the room with medals and a sash worn over it; General Teketh Tsunami entered the room.

"General Teketh" Esdeath commented neutrally, keeping her personal disdain hidden beneath the surface.

"Grand Marshal Patras; I'm here to make my report" Teketh stated and strode in past them; Tatsumi kept a keen eye on the man and was looking for any tells or signs of how the general regarded him; also how exactly this guy stood out when it came to court politics.

"General Tsunami; you've returned" Honest greeted, Makoto and the trio of trouble and cuteness now sat on the throne.

"Yes I have Prime Minister; Your majesty I report to you that the rebellious village near the capital has been punished the weaklings of it crushed and they will no longer challenge your rule" Teketh explained; Tatsumi noted that he was rather relaxed about the whole thing; considering the man had been responbile for the razing of a village of his own people and the mass rape and mass murder that had followed as a result of said massacre.

"That's good news General Tsunami; for your effort's Honest-san will reward you; no wait; that's not his job; all stuff that's military stuff is Esdeath's thing so she'll reward you" Makoto replied, Teketh turned to Esdeath who glared at him.

"Beyond a minor compensation, dealing with rebellious farmers is not worthy in my opinion of anything; I consider it beneath a military commander to bother fighting unworthy opponents it is a waste of energy and doesn't strengthen a commander in any regard, so for your effort's Teketh, 50 silver dukars" Esdeath explained and grabbed a small bag from Honest's side and handed to him.

"Hey!" Honest replied.

"You're the paymaster for him; he's on your payrole so its only fiting he receive your money; and if you think he deserves more pay out of your own pocket" Esdeath explained.

"I find this insulting" Teketh remarked.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Esdeath countered summoning some Ice darts and twirling them in the palm of her hand.

"I- well I'm going to fill my report" Teketh replied, as strong as he thought himself he remembered two things; first that Esdeath was his superior in both command and combat, and second that he was in a royal throne room and he was not going fight the Empire's Finest in front of the Emperor himself; while Teketh thought the boy was weak he could still be molded into his way of thinking and into something stronger.

Teketh left the room; Tatsumi had noted all the things he needed to understand Teketh; the man was clearly a brute at first glance but was very smart however he had a pretty big ego and considered anything he did in the destruction of those he deemed 'weak' as enjoyable work and that he absolutely hated Esdeath which that by itself was reason enough for Tatsumi to dislike him as hating and wanting to kill his wife put someone firmly on his 'shit list' however the fact Esdeath made sure that anything Teketh had done was all Honest's orders was impressive as she had essentially detached him from military command and, by the looks of things, payroll.

They Council meeting concluded not to long after Tatsumi was lead off along with Sayo and Clementine by Esdeath to her room; that of course led to them explaining everything to her.

"Esdeath? Later can you stay at Grundewick Manor with me?" Tatsumi asked.  
"Of course Tatsu-bunny, any reason why though?" Esdeath explained.

"I've got to introduce you to two people: I- well it's a bit personal" Tatsumi explained.

"They aren't more friends of your's who've arrived in the city?" Esdeath asked teasing him.

"No- its painful, last night: well I went out on a scouting mission to the village Teketh and his troops attacked, we arrived just as they left; then we searched the ruins; we found only two survivors or rather I found both of them; two girls one twelve and the other five: Kyoko and Mishi; I've decided to adopt them; I couldn't guarantee they'd get a loving family otherwise; but that's not the half of it; Kyoko she-" Tatsumi explained and started weeping into her shoulder; Esdeath hugged him.

"Don't worry get it all out" Esdeath comforted.

"Kyoko was raped" Tatsumi explained; Esdeath was infuriated. "By several men: I don't know who did it but I'd like to find thme all and kill them! Along with everyone else responsible for that senseless murder and rape!" Tatsumi explained.

"Gladly Tatsumi; gladly; now I think you could conceivably take out the entire battlelion: I know the regiment Teketh took with him; You'll also have to eliminate the Incineration Squad I'm sure you heard of them?" Esdeath explained.

"Yes I've heard of them; now is there one in particular I should focus on?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh yes; I'm sure your familier with him by the way: Vulcus Magnus, the commander of the Incineration squad. 20 year veteran of the unit, pyromaniac and hater of anyone and anything not from the city; he has it in that head of his that people born in this city are superior to anyone else in the world as a result of his upbringing here; the man was a discipline issue the moment I assumed marshal power in the city: I've gotten all sorts of complaints from other officers; however because he's actually competent at his job I ignored them: now he's your top priority target" Esdeath explained.

"What about Teketh" Tatsumi asked, noting the general's involvement.

"He's nowhere near easy to eliminate; he man lives here when he's not in the field as he's Honest's direct military enforcer; essentially if you wanted to kill him you'd either have to do so on a battlefield or here in the Palace" Esdeath explained.

"I'll tell Najenda about this plan, you got any files I can use for this" Tatsumi asked.

"In my file cabinent in my office; it contains the membership of active regiments stationed here; also if you are planning on taking them out I'm sure I can arrange an ambush of sorts; send that particular regiment into your neck of the woods and Night Raid can wipe them out" Esdeath explained.

"How would you go about pulling that off?" Tatsumi asked.

"By giving you and your Jaeger girls command of them and say for example you know the location of the Night Raid base; have them go out and come back as the survivors of an ambush; I'll publicly chastise you and them for your 'failure' and we pretend the whole thing never happened and cover it up" Esdeath replied. "Oh and for good measure and just to make sure they don't think were too soft I'll have Suzuka whipped publically" Esdeath added.

"Sounds like a solid plan for me; not a big fan of the Suzuka whipping thing though" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry I'll go easy on her besides she's a masochist she'll enjoy it, though granted I'll be be easy; if she wasn't pregnant though this would be less trouble" Esdeath replied.

"Just don't hit her near the baby ok?" Tatsumi commented.

"Don't worry I won't; as for the Incineration Squad I'll leave that to you; I'm sure you can handle a dozen guys with flamethrowers much less when they aren't expecting it" Esdeath reassured, Tatsumi nodded. "I'll make the orders in advanced and have you take them to the regiment tomorrow; I want you to take them a good distance away from the Capital; make this nice and neat; you'll inform Najenda of the ambush plan and then commence with the fireworks: also remember try and make it convincing; make sure you come back drenched in the blood of those soldiers that way you can come up with the albi that they left you for dead" Esdeath explained. "Now that we're done with that I wonder Tatsumi how far are you when it comes to your 'relationship' with Clementine?" Esdeath asked suggestively.

"I'm not a virgin anymore thanks to him; if your suggesting what I'm thinking you are Esdeath, kinky" Clementine commented and smirked lustfully.

"Yep I know where this is going, Sayo will you lock the door?" Tatsumi commented.

"Gladly can't have anyone interrupting our 'fun' now can we?" Sayo replied and locked the door to Esdeath's room; Tatsumi smirked as all three girls came over to him; two of his wives and his new fiancé releaved him of his clothes and he did the same to them; before going over to the bed.

Tatsumi noted the three woman crawling towards them and compared breast size, Sayo had D-cups, Clementine E-Cups and Esdeath her massive F-cups. "Now what shall we do first?" Clementine pondered.

"I think it would be good to warm him up, triple titjob" Esdeath replied, all three grinned and Tatsumi blushed; all three wrapped their warm breasts around his length, their warmth enveloping it as they comfortable massaged it; Sayo took the head in the mouth and began sucking it; Clementine and Esdeath licked the sides that were still exposed, granted not much was; then Sayo allowed them to have their turns; Clementine turned herself onto Tatsumi's face and Tatsumi began to lick her loins; during their first time he hadn't gotten the chance to probe these folds but now he found every spot that Clementine enjoyed. Sayo and Esdeath kissed as they continued rubbing their breasts up and down then both licked the exposed tip of Tatsumi's cock before Sayo took the still exposed 1/3 of it into her mouth; Sayo actually enjoyed giving Tatsumi blowjobs loved the way his length felt in her mouths; if not for the fact that she was in the middle of a triple paizuri she'd deepthroat him.

However for the moment she'd have to be satisfied for the 20 seconds she sucked the third she had to work with before allowing Clementine to do the same Clementine released and moved to allow Tatsumi to please Esdeath who then took her turn blowing him. "Man this is such an amazing experience" Clementine commented.

"I felt the same why with my first foursome" Sayo commented while Esdeath sucked Tatsumi off.

"When was that?" Clementine asked curious.

"On our wedding night; shame you weren't here at the time then the four of us could have gotten married to Tatsumi at the same time and gave him a fivesome" Sayo commented.

"Who else married Tatsumi in that wedding" Clementine asked.

"Me and Najenda" Esdeath commented stoping blowing Tatsumi and allowing Sayo to take her place.

"Wow that must have been heck of a honeymoon" Clementine remarked.

"Completely; by the way Sayo and Najenda are surprising good with their tongues" Esdeath commented, Sayo perked up and let Clementine have her turn.

"I can show how good I am with it now; Merraid has taught me a few tricks during our threesomes with Tatsumi" Sayo replied. Esdeath blushed.

"Demonstrate for me then" Esdeath stated removing her breasts along with Sayo much to Tatsumi's disappointment, however not before he came and creamed all three of them, both Sayo and Esdeath rolled over to one side of Tatsumi as Clementine dismounted Tatsumi and invited him.

"Now Clem I'll let those two have fun what hole should I take?" Tatsumi asked.

"Fuck my ass: it needs your loving" Clementine replied, Tatsumi oblidged and rode it doggy style, while fondling her ample breasts to Clementine moaning sweetly.

"I'll lick that cream of you" Sayo replied, Esdeath replied by doing that to her and pushing her back with Esdeath on top of her and grinding her loins against Sayo's.

"I'm in control Sayo and you know it" Esdeath replied. "Now show me how you've improved" Esdeath commented. Sayo oblidged first by licking off Tatsumi's cum then by kissing Esdeath her tongue overpowered Esdeath much to the latter's surprise then pressed her breasts against her's grinding glady as Sayo groped her rear to Esdeath's joy; before pushing Esdeath of and kissing down her body first to her breasts which she drank from to Esdeath's delight as they were lactating as a result of her pregnancy, as she drink she moved her tongue around licking the nipple as she used her fingers to finger Esdeath's loins. "OH! Sayo! Ugh! So good!" Esdeath moaned; Sayo then switched breasts and did the same before coming down to Esdeath's loins and putting her tongue to work. Sayo surprised Esdeath as she was nearly on Tatsumi's level with this. Speaking off to the side Tatsumi came then came over and mounted Sayo from behind entering her loins, Sayo moaned as he did this and rode her doggy style; Clementine came and sat on Esdeath's face Esdeath then ate her out to Clementine's moans before Tatsumi silenced her with a kiss.

Outside the room a certain maid who was bringing Esdeath stuff that she had requested with regards to new cosmetics and clothing was masturbating. Her name was Riji and she operated as one of Esdeath's spies as well as being one of Constantine Grundel's informants on the side; granted since the general and Grundel patriarch shared similer political goals those being to keep Honest in check and the Empire stable and the fact that Grundel's arms company Kreigswaffen sold the most of their products to her for a discount Riji's double loyalty was tolerated by Esdeath she also had been the one who got the information that saved Minister Chuori and his daughter Spear from the Three Beasts which was something she was glad she had done. Riji was a young woman with purple eyes and short blue hair with locks hanging freely from either side the back of which was held back in a scrunchie, she was beautiful and ordinarily she would wear the attire of a palace maid which while similer to that of a French maid's uniform was pink and light blue instead of black and white; at the moment she wore only the head part and the stockings along with her bra and thong which were moved to the side as she was currently masturbating on the couch of Esdeath's office to the lovemaking in the other room. "Tatsumi-kun" she moaned to herself, Riji was quite in love with the General's husband especially since he was always kind to her whenever he saw her; this also wasn't the first time she did this sort of thing granted Esdeath hadn't caught her yet; but she had a feeling that the general would soon enough and worried about it; considering the fact Esdeath could be unpredictable and while she had worked for Esdeath for about three years now not that long after she took the job in the Palace she wasn't sure that would guarantee she wouldn't lose her head.

Then Riji had an idea; well she was a virgin and Tatsumi clearly had no shortage of concubines why not become one. "Well then Riji you've outdone yourself" she thought then decided might as well risk it then double checked the lock on Esdeath's office noting it was secure then went to the door to her room which was locked unsurprisingly. "One of these days it won't be" she thought then had another idea why not risk the general's wrath and ask to join in; so she banged on the door to surprise of all four who hadn't really changed their position as Esdeath was enjoying her current position of being eaten out by Sayo while doing the same to Clementine, Tatsumi was now nursing from Clementine instead of kissing her while still banging Sayo's pussy. "Hey let me in! I want in on that action!" Riji shouted, still in her current state of dress.

Esdeath was in two minds with Riji's interruption, half was to beat her and send her away with a death threat other half being let her join in and see how long she lasted with her Tatsu-bunny fucking her as she obviously wanted it. "Fuck it" Esdeath thought, then pushed Clementine off. "Let her in Clementine then lock the door, Tatsu-bunny come in Sayo and then give Riji a good fucking; see how long she lasts" Esdeath ordered, Tatsumi did as ordered as he couldn't hold back filling Sayo with his seed and hitting three eggs in her womb getting her pregnant; Sayo continued eating Esdeath out much to her enjoyment while Clementine opened the door.

"Boy are you a cute thing; perfect for Tatsumi-kun" Clementine complimented stroking Riji's hair; Riji blushed.

"Thank you" Riji thanked then noted Tatsumi removed her thong and ran to him pushing him down and impaling herself on his dick; it hurt as he snapped her barrier but she ignored the pain due to adrenilane and kissing Tatsumi to his surprise with the new addition to his harem; Clementine shut and locked the door then climbed back on the bed as Riji went up and down on Tatsumi, she then mounted his face and let him go to work as she played with Riji and kissed herr.

"There cutie, you need it; you know girls are fun; especially her oh Gilberda you are wearing off on me especially since you tend to my needs when Tatsumi isn't around; granted the three of us need to have a threesome sometime soon" Clementine thought as she invaded Riji's mouth and fondled her rear and held her tight; Sayo and Esdeath to the side were still enjoying the lesbian action as she was now on top of Esdeath and making out with the Empire's finest while grinding her loins against hers aggressively and pressing her breasts against her.

"Man Esdeath you are quite submissive; oh Merraid you are so going to be jealous when I tell you about this little session; you know next time Tatsumi and I go to the palace I'll bring you along so you can finally fulfill that dream of yours" Sayo thought. "Man she is such a beauty; Sayo don't distract your self she's your sister; granted by marriage but still- you know what she loves this I love it we love Tatsumi I think she and I should do this way more often especially since when Tatsumi's not around she'll need someone to care for her 'needs'" Sayo continued thinking. Esdeath was thinking similer thoughts but not romantically inclined granted she loved this but it wasn't going to turn her bi like Sayo was now at the moment. The two came while Riji came, Tatsumi still had while to go; Clementine came but was too distracted sucking Riji's boobs to notice; she then had Riji do the same for her as Tatsumi continued to pound Riji.

Meanwhile… Ieyasu and Angela didn't have to go too far to find the brothel where the four girls worked; granted however the place was now under new management: Guarry, Lionel, and three of Angela's other Elite guards stood at full alert, Guarry being the head of security had insisted on coming with Angela he was devoted to the Grundels as they had helped him when he was a soldier who was out of a job and from the same army division that Constantine served in during his army days. "Lady Grundel this looks like trouble brewing" Guarry remarked, they were out of earshot of the guards who were clearly sour faced and men of a murderous disposition.

"I'm aware of that Guarry which is why I brought you and the others along; don't worry Ieyasu and I can take care of ourselves as you well know" Angela commented the matriarch hinting at the concealed krises she had with the hem of her dress in addition the arsenal of other blades, she had chosen for the poison in a compartment of her krises Red Widowmaker spider venom, the Red Widowmaker spider was A class Danger beast a menace to heavily forested areas of the Empire along with other breeds of spiders and goblins that venerated them; goblins were the ones who provided the venom as Angela managed to hire a group of tamers to keep a red widowmaker under control in an underground complex that was bellow her training center.

"These guys are trouble; they didn't cause me so much trouble because I was a paying customer; but they may think that you'd be a good addition to their staff Angela" Ieyasu replied serious; his happy go lucky comedic persona was now at the side as this was a serious mission to rescue four woman he had feelings for from a life of sexual slavery.

"Don't worry they get any ideas and they'll lose their favorite body parts" Angela replied; so they approached the armed guards gave wolf-whistles Angela's way; Ieyasu ignored the urge to punch them in the face, while Guarry and the other guards restrained the urge to kill them for daring to be lecherous towards their liege lady.

"What do you want?" the lead Bouncer asked.

"To visit some lady friends of mine; I brought my wife along for the fun" Ieyasu lied.

"What's the password?" he asked.

"Honest's a waste of space" Ieyasu replied, the guard nodded and let them through stopping the guards. "They're with me; also they are far better then you guys are at fighting" Ieyasu added, the guards let Guarry and the others pass.

Entering the brothel Ieyasu noted that a man was hassling a girl who wasn't accepting his offered payment as he didn't pay enough; the man drew a dagger; Ieyasu took one of the two axes that compress Belvaac and flung it; cleaving the guy's head in half before flying back to Ieyasu's hand. "Good throw, more blood for the blood god" Belvaac complemented over their mental link, two bouncers came over to him annoyed.

"That guy was going to knife her" Ieyasu explained; the two men still were eager to throw him out; Guarry and the other Grundel armsmen came over with their blades ready to be drawn; the bouncers backed off. Ieyasu came over to the woman who he recognized as the dark-skinned southern girl Zanda who came over and hugged him.

"Hey Ieyasu-chan, still a stud, who's this?" Zanda thanked looking at Angela.

"My betrothed Angela; she's going to marry me after her husband dies; he's given me permission to court her" Ieyasu replied. "Look Zanda; I'll need to get the others; I'm getting you three out of here to live with us and marry me" Ieyasu explained.

"You'd do that for me? Ieyasu I'm a whore, a slut who sleeps with men for money and you're willing to take me and the others with you to live with you as your wives?" Zanda replied.

"Yep; I have interesting tastes I know" Ieyasu replied.

"That you do; I'd love to though; anything beats spending most of my day on my ass looking at the ceiling as I'm fucked by men for pay; granted though you are the best and well I am quite attracted to you" Zanda replied. "Well if your serious you'll find Cara and Lydia will be upstairs; new management upped their prices I doubt they'll be busy; you'll have to wait on Tasha though; a squad of soldiers from the 81st regiment of 6th Legion are fucking her at the moment" Zanda explained.

"6th Legion? That's Teketh's force right?" Ieyasu asked Angela, knowing that this may be trouble; he had heard about what Teketh had done last night to Saikyuu and worried some of the culprits from the mass rape were sullying his lovely Tasha.

"Yes and according Constantine he took the 81st regiment to the village of Saikyuu last night" Angela replied confirming Ieyasu's fears and he took off upstairs briefly stoping to inform Lydia and Cara about their new situation to their joy, before running to Tasha's room which he kicked down the door to; finding her being gangbanged with three cocks in her mouth while being double penetrated while massaging two other cocks in her E-cups, her brown hair was covered in seman.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of the soldiers commented.

"Times up; she's mine now" Ieyasu replied, bluffing.

"We just came in here 20 minutes ago" one of the soldiers commented.

"Well management said they upped the price by another 50 dukars for 20 minutes in gangbangs" Ieyasu added, the men were disappointed, pulling out and leaving a cream covered Tasha on her bed.

"Damn it; those managers are making a killing on this, that peasent trash girl from Saikyuu was way more fun then her and she was 14 and free to fuck and she squelled like little pig before we killed her" One of the soldiers commented, the others said yeah in agreement; last words as Ieyasu flung both halves of Belvaac; the blades spinning around severing the heads from the necks of all 12 men with speed that killed all of them before they even realized Ieyasu had flung the axes; Spectator allowed him to do so with ease. Belvaac yelled "Blood for the Blood God" as the axes cut down all of the men and flew back to Ieyasu's hands. Tasha was dazed and confused by the whole thing Ieyasu kissed her bringing her back to reliaty.

"Ieyasu?! What the fuck did you just do killing my clients?" Tasha shouted at him.

"Shh, they were rapists; I'm not going to just let them walk away; clean yourself off, get yourself dressed grab your things we're leaving you me, Cara, Zanda and Lydia we'll get married and live in this huge mansion" Ieyasu explained seriously, Tasha smirked, granted she had just seen Ieyasu slaughter her clientele but the fact they were rapists allowed her to put that out of her mind also the fact she wouldn't have to slave away on her ass for the rest of her days to make her living was too good to pass up, she got dressed and Ieyasu and her left after she packed up he came downstairs to the main bar where all three girls were with Angela; they turned to leave as a number of armed guards surrounded them.

"You aren't leaving: we want this blonde for our operation people will pay a fortune to be with her" the lead guard stated.

"Over my dead body" Guarry replied, Ieyasu simply popped his neck into place looked into Spectator for the best plan of attack and drew both axes and flung them; Belvaac tore down seven of the guards before flying back to him; then the fight commenced in earnest; the lead guard was killed by Angela with her krises, which she stabbed thru the cracks of his armor injecting him with the venom on them which caused every blood vessel inside his lungs to rupture killing him instantly; the next two guards were killed by Guarry; Lionel killed three more and Ieyasu and Angela finished off the rest; they then left with the girls following them behind Ieyasu killing the bouncers out front who didn't notice the internal slaughter of the guards before going back to their carriage and riding off for the countryside.

Back at the palace… Tatsumi was smirking happily; as four woman were passed out on top and to the sides of him; he had endured and exhausted all four of them. "Man that training has really helped" Tatsumi thought and then remembered he was supposed to report at 8:30 to HQ everyday for his training the knew now he was in deep shit for forgetting about it. "Well this was worth whatever beatdown Gin and Sheele can give me" Tatsumi replied, then redressed he wrote a note and put it on the bed for when the others came to; he smiled at Esdeath wraped in Sayo's arms and legs. "Man those two enjoyed their fun before and after I gave them the five rounds then another six after banging Riji and Clementine" Tatsumi thought, then smiled in amusement that his childhood friend Sayo who he never took for being Bi was now in love with Empire's finest in addition to being in love with him as he did so he redressed and prepared himself mentally and physically for any beatdown before leaving the palace then the city both of which he did so without incident.

Then when he arrived at HQ he was jumped by a surprise attack by both Sheele and Gin both notably pissed off and using their Teigus to attack him, Tatsumi dodged the attacks and replied with a series of parries from Valroust and Smaug that allotted him time to plan a swift counter attack which allowed him to harmless disarm both woman and point his blades' tips at the throat of either. "Nice try; but I expected that" Tatsumi replied and grinned.

"You are late; we will be punishing you" Sheele replied, Gin grinned.

"And do you expect me to take it?" Tatsumi replied wondering if that had occurred to them.

"That's encouraged" Gin replied and they led him off to their training ground, Tatsumi took a brief stop to inform Najenda of their new targets explaining to her that they would talk more after his training for the day.

Said training was another six hours of hell from both women, Tatsumi overpowered both of them when they tried to punish him allowing him to get off of that punishment before being subjected to an even more arduous regiment then usual with new additions to his course which tested him harder; granted he adapted quickly and powered thru the courses in quick timing; Gin during her course taught him how to ignore pain and absorb blows delt to him; a training skill that would be usefull, he then after completing Sheele's course in half-an-hour proceeded use to remain 2 hours and 30 minutes to bang his purple-haired wife silly testing out some other positions on her. After the training he then went to Najenda and talked to her about the planned mission to wipe out an entire regiment; something which considering they had wiped out a division during their mission against the Path of Peace was considered easy but still a threat; Najenda then added that it would be a good idea in the battle report to exaggerate the numbers Night Raid had to put fear into Honest and justify Esdeath's continued focus on the group.

Tatsumi then returned to the city and to the palace where he collected the drafted orders from Esdeath before taking her and the others to Grundwick manor. Tatsumi went to the medical room to check on both of his girls to see if they were recovering; he found them in good shape while Aria was checking their vitals. "How are they doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Their vitals are improving, their breathing is doing better which means their lungs are healing, Kyoko's still got a few dislocated bones but nothing broken; give her a few days; but I think by tomorrow Mishi will be up ready to go" Aria explained, Tatsumi had brought somethings for them.

"Here girls I bought you some things to play with; I've taken the effort to get things ready for you; I've got the servents setting up rooms for you to stay in; I hope you like them" Tatsumi explained and handed to Kyoko a plush lion and cute doll; he gave Mishi a plush earth dragon and polor bear.

"Thank you daddy" Mishi thanked hugging her new toys; "You're the best" she added, Tatsumi kissed her on the forehead.

"Your welcome, I love you two; get better if your feeling better next week I'll take you to the palace" Tatsumi replied, he then turned to Kyoko.

"Kyoko I have questions' I know it may be painful but I want you tell me what each of the bad men who did those evil things to you looked like: I'm going to kill them all" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"I'll try and remember Daddy; I know you don't have to do this for me but thank you for doing this anyway; those people deserve to die for what they did to me and my mommy" Kyoko replied and gave a description of each person Tatsumi having quite an active imagination and a keen eye for detail much less a room to remember target descriptions noted down all seven of the men who were responsible; one of which he knew personally. "Teketh" Tatsumi thought his blood boiled, Esdeath walked in she wore a blue and yellow dress with her hair in pig-tails in addition to wearing a few decorative ribbons and hairclips.

"Hello" Esdeath greeted.

"Esdeath-chan; girls this Esdeath-chan she'll be one of your new mommies and she'll be there to help keep you safe" Tatsumi introduced. Esdeath studied the two girls, then did something Tatsumi had never seen her do before.

"AW! How Cute!" Esdeath shouted with a kawaii face and being temparilly chibified for the moment "They are so adorable; I'm Esdeath, I'm looking so forward to loving you, and holding you and telling bed time stories and helping you grow big and strong to survive in this world of ours" Esdeath commented and came over and gave a kiss to each girl, Tatsumi noted the blue lipstick on their foreheads as a result.

"Nice to meet you Esdeath-san" Kyoko stated.

"Please call me mother girls" Esdeath stated and Mishi got up to hug her Esdeath picked her up and hugged and pampered her. "This is what I've always wanted; children to call me own; very soon you'll have a baby brother or sister because I've got one on the way" Esdeath explained.

"Thank you mommy" Mishi said.

"I'll stay here with them tonight Tatsumi, you go have fun; I'll spend all the time I can with these sweet little angels" Esdeath replied and sat on Mishi's bed and began chatting away.

Tatsumi smiled, he never figured Esdeath for being such a kind and caring person when it came to children; and he doubted anyone in the public would ever imagine that. "I've got all the more reason keep on fighting; for my children" Tatsumi thought then walked pass Ieyasu's rooms where he heard the moans of Angela and few other women; Tatsumi was not going to intrude on his best friends private time; let Ieyasu have his fun; he deserved it and well he'd see to it he got off his butt for his mission. "Yeah incineration Squad we're coming for you; Me, Clementine, Ieyasu, Sayo, and well I'll hope to bring Chelsea or Sheele along for the ride; preferably Chelsea we'll need an infiltrator to get us inside their base" Tatsumi thought.

The rest of his day proved to be a mixture of planning, reading, sex, playing with his new girls and generally normal things; he then had his dinner which Aria had laced with Hemclover as part of her planning to make sure he built up an immunity; he stayed awake enough to finish his meal before passing out; he woke up the next morning in his bed with Aria laying on top of him sleeping, he kissed her on the forehead waking her up. "Really Aria you put that much hemclover in my food?" Tatsumi replied remembering that.

"Well you lasted about five minutes which is good because you're starting to build up the immunity; give it about three more weeks and you'll be able to stay awake from the stuff" Aria commented as the two got up.

"How's the baby doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Good; I've stopped having moonblood and the cravings have stopped so yeah I think the baby is doing fine" Aria explained, Tatsumi rubbed her tummy noting the noticeable bump.

"Just think about it Aria you'll be a mother in less then a year; our baby will be living in peace time I know it because we'll win this war before you give birth" Tatsumi replied.

"I wish I had your optimism Tatsumi; I worry though that we'll take to long and our baby will decide it is a good time to be born in the middle of a battle" Aria replied.

"Then we'll try and prevent that" Tatsumi replied reassuring her, Aria still felt unease. "Hey don't worry I'm here for you and I'm too stubborn to die" Tatsumi added, Aria smiled again. "Now get dressed, we'll have breakfast and inform Najenda that it's time to set up the ambush; I'll do my part in that plan" Tatsumi stated.

Breakfest was filling and allowed Tatsumi to be refreshed and ready; Aria hadn't bothered putting any poison in the food for obvious reasons, he and Sery then left and stopped at Spear's place Spear had dressed in her full military get up. "I hope this plan works" Spear commented, she was part of the operation; as a Jaeger and Esdeath's chief of staff her job was to guarantee the official status of the paperwork. They then met up with the team Esdeath had picked which consisted of Wave, Run, Cosmina, Suzuka, Dorothea, and Team Dorothea; the objective of the mission.

Shortly… "Attention! Field Marshal Spear and Major General Tatsumi of the Jaeger corp arriving for an urgent mission: All troops fall out!" Seryu yelled using a megaphone, the entire regiment came out and lined up. "Attention! Major General Tatsumi!" Seryu replied, the soldiers saluted.

"At Ease" Tatsumi ordered. "I've got orders from Grand Marshal Esdeath, the 81st regiment is being put under our command for an urgent mission. Information from our spies has given a lead to the potential location of Night Raid's base; you have been selected to assist us in our mission" Tatsumi explained.

"Sir: Captain Jile Porter of the 51st regiment requesting permission to speak" a soldier shouted.

"Granted step forward" Tatsumi ordered, he noticed the man matching the exact description of one of the men Kyoko described.

"Sir we are under the command of General Tsunami; may I see the orders?" the Captain asked.

"Glady; I'll present them to you" Spear replied digging in her handback and pulling out the paperwork. "I'm General Esdeath's chief of staff any orders from are usually given to me; I'm in command of this regiment and you follow my orders!" Spear explained showing the Captain the paperwork, he noted it looking over Esdeath's signature and the fact it was stamped with the Imperial Seal and nodded.

"Men you heard the general get yourselves armed up; we're moving out!" the Captain ordered. The regiment went inside and readied their equipment and came back out ready for battle.

"Forward March! Follow us" Spear ordered and the regiment followed them out of the city. During this time Tatsumi had the other Jaegers ask questions about the soldiers most recent mission; Tatsumi was able to identify each and every one of the rapists bar Teketh; he then made sure to note other targets. The marched a good twenty miles before veering off into the forest; Tatsumi and Spear were making sure while they marched to make an effort of a search then make sure that they led them to the location. The Ambush spot was a thick area of forest with no clearings; overall the base according to the 'intel' was hidden in a underground compond not far from the location when in reality they were miles away from the real base.

Lubbock noted the movement in his strings and gave a signal; Mine readied her scope aiming for targets. "Make ready" Najenda ordered with hand signals before readying her Desert Eagles.

Tatsumi heard the sound of a particular bird the kind that was the agreed upon signal, he nodded mentally his other allies noted this and they faded out of the line leaving him, Seryu and Spear at the back of the front of the column. "That's far enough" Tatsumi stated cryptically, the Captain stoped in confusion as did the other soldiers.

"The woods are too thick here; ready your axes we're going to make a path through" Tatsumi ordered, this was deliberate making sure they didn't have any fire arms ready the axes were not balanced for fighting and weren't suited for the woods. He then had them go to work cutting trees; then moved to the side having readying his blades. He sidestepped Mine's first shot which while it hadn't been aimed at him came awfully close; Seryu shouted "Koro: Beserker form!" and the Teigu grew to his full size; then the ambush began in fulness. three ambush teams of five teigu users who were ready for action came in from each flank while the Jaeger surprise attacked from rear. Tatsumi smirked and looked at six rapists whom he had brought to the front of the column. "Valruost: Bloodfreeze!" Tatsumi declared and froze all six soldier stiff to their shock then dawned Smaug and jumped over the frozen troops and killed the men behind them reaping sweeps from his blades. The battle raged as Night Raid attacked, Cosmina sent out sonic attacks the crushed in the brains of troops, Najenda's bullets blew away targets, Leone ripped soldiers in half, Bulat unleashed Incursio's wrath on them, Aria's daggers shredded targets as Sayo and Mine continued barrages of the rounds while a number of other troops were shredded by Cassandra in a onslaught of spinning blades of the kind General Grevious would be proud of.

But of all the members Tatsumi's killings were the most brutal as he used Valruost to nightmarish effect activating his trump card "Valruost: Blood fusion weapons!" Tatsumi declared in that moment he and the sword were one person as a onslaught slaughtered attack and killed ever enemy unfortunate to be in his way and didn't just kill them but butchered them like a butcher would a carcess ripping out chunks of the enemy's body and leaving little but mulch. Were he not wearing Smaug his physical appearance would be that of a demented blood god of murder; his skin blood red and his hair dark burgundy his eyes crimson and his handsome features looking demented as the Hindu Goddess Kali did in battle, the blade drank the blood of the fallen.

Tatsumi had to keep utter control in this moment; if he faltered Valruost's bloodthirst would become too much and sword would take control slaughtering everyone in his path. "Not today Valruost" Tatsumi though taking back control as the last enemy fell and the blood rage subsided to the calmed world around him. Tatsumi noted the slaughter; in under a manner of minutes Night Raid had managed to without taking any losses on their side wipe out a 200 men battlion of Imperial soldiers nearly to the last; as six stood still alive. "Mission successful" Tatsumi commented.

"Not so fast there are six guys still alive" Mine remarked. "Also for what ever reason Pumpkin didn't allow me to shoot at them" Mine added.

"That's part of Valruost's ability these guys won't die just yet; I've got something in mind for these scumbags; strip them and nail them to a nearby tree" Tatsumi ordered and explained, Tatsumi had brought nails in his pack; Seryu and the other Jaegers did as instructed.

"Tatsumi what is this about?" Najenda asked.

"Those men did something unforgivable; them and one other man; they raped a twelve year old girl, girl I rescued and took in as my own; as part of my first duty of fatherhood I'll see them die but before that I want them to suffer" Tatsumi explained removing the Dragon Armor, Aria grinned at the prospect, Najenda winced but nodded her approval. "Aria stay back; these ones are mine I've got something special in mind: Valruost and I have taked things over and well we've come up with some ideas" Tatsumi ordered.

"Right; ok as much as I'd love to torture these SOBs I'll let you do it; only want you to make sure they stay alive for me to have some fun" Aria commented.

"And me too" Clementine added with a devilish smirk; Najenda and the others left them be apart from Seryu, Naomi and few others who wanted to watch the punishment; Team Dorothea nailed them to the trees and Tatsumi walked over.

"Valruost release" Tatsumi declare and the men could move again and struggled. "Don't bother; those nails are pretty good; I made sure that they were placed in at an angle to hold you up and not bleed to death; granted you will be on the receiving end of much bleeding very soon" Tatsumi explained.

"You Traitor!" The Captain shouted.

"Silence; the only traitors are the six men I see in front of me; men who commited crimes against the laws of war and against humanity; now I want you to tell me; what justicification do you think justifies what you did to my daughter" Tatsumi responded.

"Daugther? What fucking daughter?" a man stated Tatsumi grabbed a staff with an iron-claw on the end of it and pressed his face back.

"Her name is Kyoko; I pulled her and her sister out of the fiery ruination that was consuming her home; you killed her father; raped and murdered her mother then used her as a sex toy and left her for dead; if it hadn't be her sister and my search for survivors not to long after your ransacking she would have died! I don't think you understand the gravity of your crimes" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh that little brown haired girl with green eyes; yeah she was fun to fuck, her mother was even more fun the General and us played with them; I loved driving my sword into her dad's face and then fucking his wife before the general snapped her neck; but her; that little morsel I've not had more fun since I fucked my sister when she turned 13 before I ran away!" one of the soldiers, a man named Trench commented.

"You monsters! You thought what you did was justified worse ok! How many other girls did you rape that night, how many mothers do you violate before force them to watch as you used their daughters for your sick desires; they weren't sex toys or paid harlots what you did was rape, they were human beings I don't know if one of you monsters got my little Kyoko pregnant or not but I will care for that child, something you'll never get to see" Tatsumi explained. Trench then recounted the things they did that night in graphic detail, Tatsumi grew angrier with each revelation and detail as did his teammates. "Enough: Its clear you are all guilty of the most grevious sin imaginable; the rape of a child, not just one though dozens of them and not just rape you tortured them, murdered them did all sorts of depraved things to them. You're as evil as Champ the Butcher of Joyou and you know what happened to him? Well he was tortured for his crime reduced to a husk then drawn and quartered; then I took the choice cuts from his body and made pie and fed him to Honest; you scumbags aren't going to be made into pies but I will gladly torture you: my Teigu allows me to do things to you that are absolute agony and all without killing you; then when I'm done I'll leave you to my Angel of Death to do to you as she pleases; after that you die and there will be no bodies behind; you wont need them were your going! But first things first I will make you squeal!" Tatsumi sentenced.

Tatsumi then grabbed one of Aria's kukris and gelded each man savoring their screams as he castrated them; he then took the chunks of their dismembered members and force fed them to them; he then knelt and took Valruost laying the blade flat on his arms then began chanting; the blood inside the mens bodies then began to flow and move about in unusualy patterns causing agony as their flesh distorted by blood moving about; Spear added him in this by moving the water in their bodies too; their features twisted and mottled; Tatsumi inflamed the blood in their gums extremely badly loosing their teeth before partially filling and emptying their lungs with blood; their bodily fluids twisted about Spear emptied their bladders and their bowels onto the ground beneath it then filled their bladders back up with the acid again. This torment lasted for a matter of minutes but to those being tortured it felt like hours; when Tatsumi and Spear stopped their bodies were aching in agony.

"Aria; your turn" Tatsumi explained.

"Gladly" Aria stated letting her demonic smile shine; Clementine did the same.

"Let me show how to draw out their suffering longer Aria" Clementine added; then began the Ariaing; Aria used every torture method in her arsenal: Nail yanking, bone breaking, teeth pulling, shaving them, acid solutions and toxins that ruined their insides without killing them, electrical shocks, whipping, brandings, flaying and other methods of torture that Aria could think of. Clementine helped her draw out the suffering she also used her extra stilletos to pierce non-vital organs. Aria then began a new diabolical technique, 'surgery' and began to cut them open removing non essential organs and flinging them to Koro who ate them, particular enjoyments for her were apandictemy and the removal of excesse fat along with yanking out their tonsels.

When Aria was done the men were all shadows of their former glory, Tatsumi then cut of their non essential limbs causing them to fall back Tatsumi lifted them up. "Any final words? I'm going to cut out your tongues before you face your deaths so you better save them" Tatsumi explained.

"You're just as bad as Empire you think is tyrannical traitor!" The captain said.

"They put me up to this! I didn't want to rape the young girl!" One man stammered.

"I'll see you in Hell!" Another man commented.

"I don't have words for you traitor" one, said, the second to last said nothing and last came Trench.

"I don't regret everything I did; it was fun, my only regret was I didn't fuck the other girl who was hiding from us" Trench replied, Tatsumi cut his tongue out first then the others, before turning to Koro and Seryu.

"Deliver Ultimate Justice Seryu" Tatsumi ordered and smiled.

"HEKETONICHIRES: ULTIMATE JUSTICE!" Seryu yelled her face now absolutely demented; Koro grew to his full size and devoured every single one of the offenders, slowly though one at time, so that the others coud see their doom granted to each person; last came Trench who having seen the doom of his comrades simple glared venom at Tatsumi who didn't so much as bat him a glance as he was dropped into the maw of Koro and disintergrated.

"We're done here, Jaegers cover yourselves in blood; we will then take an a different route back to the city and inform them of the 'disaster' happened here also be sure to fudge the numbers to make it look like there were a lot more Night Raid attackers there really were" Tatsumi ordered; they then covered and stained their clothes in the blood of the dead men then began the very long journey back arriving in late afternoon exhausted before the city gates with a spattering of Danger beast blood added from trouble on the way back. The gate guards were shocked by the arrival of a Military General and a handful of survivors at the main gate. "Get me to and the others to General Esdeath; now!" Tatsumi ordered.

Later at Esdeath's HQ… "And that is the full account of what happened; we barely survived that ambush, if we hadn't been left for dead well we would have been goners" Spear explained adlibbing as much drama as possible for Makoto's benifet.

"I see; how many attackers were there?" Esdeath asked.

"Hundreds! They were way more numerous then us" Spear explained.

"Good: now we just need to repeat the performance in front of Honest, Makoto and Council: also have you told Suzuka the news?" Esdeath replied.

"She's ready for her punishment right now Esdeath" Spear answered.

"Good I'll see to it; now Tatsumi I need you to set up your mission; tomorrow night the Incineration Squad will die" Esdeath explained.

"I'd do it tonight but yeah I need the rest; I've already picked out the team for the mission you'll be expecting the results soon" Tatsumi explained.

"Good now we'll go put on our show for Makoto-san" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi and Spear had changed into crisp clean uniforms and were ready for meeting.

Shortly… "Are you sure that they have been suitable punished for their failure General Esdeath?" Honest asked.

"Honest-san knock it off: If Esdeath-nii says they were punished then they were punished which is fine by me" Makoto replied.

"I'll want the through report on the casualties" Teketh commented, Tatsumi still had to restrain himself from trying to kill the man.

"Soon Teketh soon" Tatsumi thought, "One day you'll be held account for your crimes but I want that to be at the end of this war: along with all the other cronies of Honest who survive it" Tatsumi thought.

"If that is all you need of me you majesty I will take my leave" Tatsumi explained and left, Spear followed him and they went to Tatsumi's private harem where Spear and his concubines tended to his needs after that exhausting battle.

The following night… Tatsumi had picked his team specifically for this mission; the main target hated people from the countryside so he'd show them what having country blood truly meant. "Are you sure we have to kill the guy immediately? can't we well take him alive and draw his death out extremely long?" Clementine asked.

"No, those flamethrowers they have are way too much of a hazard to risk a prolonged fight; heres the plan Chelsea will get inside and open the gates then we'll sneak in and kill them before they can wake up" Tatsumi explained.

"What if they wake up in advance?" Clementine asked.

"Please at 2 AM what kind of person wakes up at 2 AM for anything" Ieyasu commented. "Also why did you bring me along?" Ieyasu asked.

"To teach this guy where your from and born doesn't matter; also its poetic justice if a guy who hates us 'country hicks' was killed by a bunch of them" Tatsumi explained.

"Well I'll take to the sky now, Chelsea you're up" Sayo commented, dawning Gabriel and taking off circiling above the ground with Icarus drawn. Chelsea climbed down from their roof top perch and disguised herself as a sentry then approached the guards.

"What's up" One of the Guards asked, Chelsea didn't say anything she drew her rapier and decapited both men before they could react. Then she stepped forward; Sayo above noted that a man was coming out of the barracks with his tank on and fired an arrow at him; the arrow missed hiting the tank and lighting up the sky; Tatsumi, Clementine and Ieyasu rushed; men came out of the barracks hastily equipped with flamethrowers, Tatsumi dawned Smaug and charged the flamethrowers hit his armor absorbed the fire while Ieyasu and Clementine flanked to either side.

Clementine, having dawned Taurox swung her flail Starcrusher, the flail hit exactly where she wanted it to turning her target's head into a mulch he then fell down; before she advanced slicing and crushing the men; Ieyasu at the same time killed two men before they could turn to face him with Belvaac; but the leader turned and unleashed the fire.

Ieyasu's clothes ignited as did his legs and ran off yelled; Tatsumi used Smaug to absorb the flames back to him along with the napalm, but his friends legs were badly burned with second degree burns with third degree burns across his abdomen. The leader their target cackled but was blind to Sayo coming down and firing an angelic energy arrow into his skull, the arrow traveled thru the skull down his body and into the ground; behind him Chelsea and Clementine had finished off the rest of the Incineration squad.

"EAGH! OW! OW!" Ieyasu screamed as Tatsumi came over to him Tatsumi gagged him.

"I know your in pain but I don't want you waking up the whole neighborhood: Sayo take him back to the manor; get him to Angela, we'll catch up" Tatsumi ordered, Sayo nodded and slung Ieyasu over her back before flying back to Grundewick manor.

Shortly in a private medical room… "Ow; they hurt!" Ieyasu moaned, Angela slapped him.

"I'm aware of that! Gods Ieyasu; this is the worst I've ever seen, these will heal fortunately, you're the first person to survive getting his with a flamethrower; now let me do my job!" Angela rebuked she then took a series of salves and spread them over his body. "These will sooth the pain and help the healing process; granted it will hurt for a moment but the pain will subside; boy Ieyasu you are in for a rough time; I've only treated burn wounds this bad during my war years and never from a flamethrower" Angela explained.

"Is my thing ok?" Ieyasu asked.

"Fortuntely unscathed, your clothes took the most of the fire and the skin around the burns are scattered; don't worry you'll get better and I'll take care of you: I've been there Ieyasu remember" Angela replied for a moment flashing him with her burn scar. "Look on the bright side, you'll live, but now I want you to make a promise; no more missions you're now my permenant bodyguard for the rest of this war and your life" Angela explained and smiled.

"Thanks Angela; you're right you need, me the girls need me to keep them safe, I can't be so reckless I'll stay here and won't ever endanger myself like that again or be that stupid" Ieyasu replied.

"Thank you Ieyasu, well we're even more like each other now we both survived fires, granted you survived a flamethrower and me a blazing fire that destroyed my home but we're both survivors" Angela replied and kissed him.

"You know the pain has subsided, can you check to make sure my thing still works" Ieyasu teased suggestively, Angela smiled and giggled.

"There's the Ieyasu I know and love; well I'll do that; just if you are suffering any pain we stop alright?" Angela replied, then locked the door and removed her clothes she then mounted him and kissed him tenderly.

Ieyasu did feel some discomfort but the salves also were mixed with numbing gells which neutralized any pain, he held Angela against her and kissed her tenderly rubbing one hand thru her long hair and the other massaging her buttcheeks, the kiss lasted as Angela sat up and moaned as she bounced up and down, Ieyasu was relaxed and he still had his Angela.

In Tatsumi's room Clementine, Chelsea and Sayo had relieved him of his clothes and now had him in bed, Sayo was giving him a blowjob while Tatsumi alternated between Clementine and Chelsea's breasts drinking from them while fingering both girls who moaned as he did both. Tatsumi was quite happy with this new experience; bringing Chelsea was easy enough; he had suggested the three of them celebrate and they were now doing just that. He then came in Sayo's mouth and had Chelsea mount him in her place, Sayo sat on his face allowing Tatsumi to put his tongue to work pleasing her way better then anyone else could, Clementine made out with Sayo as he did and Chelsea moaned in pleasure. "Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi-Kun!" Chelsea moaned and turned her music on so she could rock out as Tatsumi rocked her.

Chelsea continued with him for another three rounds before Tatsumi tended to Sayo then finally Clementine. "I'm looking forward to our wedding next week" Clementine commented.

"Wedding? I'm going to marry him too" Chelsea added.

"Well then join; you are quite an interesting girl Chelsea" Clementine replied as Tatsumi pounded her insides going all the way to her core. "Yep this is going exactly as I wanted; killing scumbags, banging Tatsumi and hopefully I'll get pregnant with his kids, next week is my wedding and well I'm looking forward to it" Clementine commented as Tatsumi came and passed out.

"Wow" Chelsea remarked before falling asleep. Clementine laughed before yawning and sleeping

Meanwhile... A man screamed as his eyes were burned out. "How do like that; I love it; love burning scumbags like you! People like you think its fun to take people of the streats and torment them; well who's being tormented now!" A red-headed girl yelled and cackled; "Yes scream! Scream! I love this dungeon of mine; all your captives freed and people like you are knocked out and dragged me and last requests before I show you my flamethrower!" the Girl added.

"Just one thing, who the hell are you?" the man asked.

"The name's Henrietta and you're going to burn fucker burn!" Henrietta commented and lit the man up laughing her head off as he screamed.


	40. Omake 6

Omake 6: Leader vs Asha

"Welcome once again everyone to Omake time! Here I am once again everyone's stunning hostess the lovely Queen of Justice: Seryu Ubiquitous!" Seryu introduced. "Once again we have an Omake request from Deadpool, note not that actual Deadpool" Seryu explained.

"What? You're going to have Deadpool suggestion without the real Deadpool?!" the Real Deadpool yells.

"Yep: now do me a favor and get out of here Deadpool!" Seryu replied.

"Ah man you're worse then Palps!" Deadpool remarked.

"Yeah I get that a lot; and no I'm not; Honest is; anyway we have today our guests: Erasiel Darkar, the author of Empire's End, Asha the Eternity Queen and Greater Phoenix of Order also Erasiel's broodmate, and our man of the hour the Leader of the Blood Clan who's real name is not known but we will refer to him as Alex Mercer, also Deadpool of the Blood Clan" Seryu introduced.

"Hey everybody!" Deadpool of the Blood Clan greated.

"You're still not the real Deadpool!" the Real Deadpool yelled.

"I told you to get out of here Deadpool; ugh, Security!" Seryu yelled, Koro in his Berserker form yanks up Deadpool and throws him out of the building. "Now Deadpool of the Blood Clan thought it would be a good idea to see who'd when in a fight, Alex Mercer or Asha" Seryu explained, Erasiel and the author break down laughing.

"What's so funny?" Deadpool of the Blood Clan asked.

"It's funny because it would be a lopsided battle" Asha remarked.

"Oh really then prove it, Alex you can't truly die and neither can you Asha so let's settle this and see how much of a Goddess you are" Deadpool of the Blood Clan commented. "Also by the way has anyone ever told you how much of a hottie you are Asha" Deadpool attempted to flirt. Asha rolled her eyes, grabbed the scepter of Eternity and launched him thru the roof and 100 feet into the air, to a Wilhelm yell and a crash.

"Then we will prove it: Alex I'm sure you're up for a bit of friendly fight one v one?" Asha asked.

"Ergh- I'm not liking this but I'll do it: Deadpool! Regardless of how this turns out this whole thing was your stupid fucking idea! So you'll be cleaning all the toilets in our base for the next 500 years!" Mercer yelled

"Agh really?" Deadpool commented.

"That's what happens when you try and steal the real Deadpool's thunder" the Real Deadpool commented.

"Get out of here Deadpool! Security!" Seryu yelled, Koro and Susanoo pick him up and launch him.

"You can't a have a Deadpool Omake without the real Deadpool!" the Real Deadpool screamed as he goes flying.

"Now lets have this fight; however because we don't want our studio smashed in this battle of the Titans we'll host it somewhere on Neutral ground; both combatants are allowed to bring their full arsenal with no restrictions" Seryu explains.

"I'll help with that follow me" Asha explained.

"Setting change!"

A massive empty white plain with endless white going off in every direction is shown off. "Welcome to a pocket sub-dimension I've created specifically for this battle; for the safety of our audience, film crew and hosts I will be putting them inside a proctective magical bubble; this warding is as strong as the Armor and Crown of Eternity's wards themselves which will allow full protection from my magical abilities" Asha explains, everyone bar her and Mercer sit behind a protective bubble; Mercer gulps as Asha, who is at her true height of 10 feet, summons the Armor of Eternity suiting up in a suit of what appeals to be the brightest of pure silver but is actually made of Dragonstar Steel, the armor itself is decorated with gems pure beauty that emit a light of their own along with runes of the Phoenix Language and a number of other beautiful aesthetic features, Asha's eyes are glowing bright purple.

"Great well let's do this! Leroy Jenkins!" Alex Mercer yells and turns into a battle form and charges at Asha only to be stopped by an invisible wall that he proceeds to wail on to no effect. (Song Begin: Is All of Me: Crush 40)

"Well here it begins Mercer has unleashed a frenzied storm of attacks to no effect on Asha's wards; now what will Asha do in response!" Seryu commented.

"Watch this, what she'll do next will be amusing" Erasiel commented. Asha yawns at Mercer's efforts then the Star of Great Dragon and the Shadow Phoenix in the center of the Scepter (Staff) of Eternity glowed an even more radiant orange and purple then usual. Two platforms of pure Relix appear, Asha yawns.

"Lets begin the fun" Asha commented, Mercer finds himself lifted up into the air. "Imparna Ecardana Vacta!" Asha casts, and shakes Mercer around to the rag doll to screams and yells of surprise, Asha does this for a bit before moving him in between the Relix platforms and slamming him up and down into the platforms to yells of "OW! OW!" from Mercer. Asha then materialized a giant pinball course and sends Mercer flying about, above the course is a screen depicting Asha's score which rapidly increases to 8000 points and then even higher.

"Release me!" Mercer yells.

"Sure" Asha commented and flings him about 500 yards away. Mercer comes charging again into Asha's wards to no effect. "You know that my wards are impenetrable, and even if you managed to break thru them the Armor and Crown of Eternity offer me absolute protection from any attacks" Asha explains. "Alright as fun as this has been time to end this" Asha comments then summons a massive hammer that slams Mercer into the ground flattening him into a pancake. "Now that you can't move time for my biggest trump card, well that's safe for this audience" Asha commented then the scepter of Eternity glows even brighter. "Overcast!" Asha yells and giant winds of raw magic blow around her in a massive tornado at the peak of which she hovers over. "Ruination of Worlds!" Asha casts, a massive explosion equivalent to a supernova rocks the entire pocket dimension shattering the white walls and creating a blackhole in the epicenter to which Asha closes with bare hands, Mercer is no where to be scene and the entire cast bar Erasiel have their jaws dropped at what they see.

(Song End)

"I told you guys it would be a lopsided stomp" Asha comments before teleporting everyone back into the studio where Mercer sits in a fresh new body.

"DEADPOOL!" Mercer yells and grabs Blood Clan Deadpool by the ears. "Next time you suggest I fight a Literal Goddess I'll fling you into a Blackhole!" Mercer rebukes.

"Sorry Boss I thought- "Blood Clan Deadpool commented.

"You Thought wrong! Now start cleaning those toilets! MARCH!" Mercer replied and flung Deadpool into a portal. "Idiot! Never doing that again ever! By the way any idiots who thinks invading her dimension is a good idea let that be an example not happening ever!" Mercer replied.

"By the way I wasn't even going all out, also that wasn't my most powerful spell" Asha commented.

"You won fair and square; you are truly a Goddess" Mercer replied.

"That I am, and not the even the most powerful one in my universe so let that sink in" Asha replied. "Come on Erasiel let's go home all that fighting has made me horny and you know how much I need you" Asha replied suggestively.

"Gladly, oh you know how much I love to please you my Queen" Erasiel commented as both enter a portal.

"Well people that was an amazing Omake, thank you Deadpool for this suggestion" Seryu replied.

"Did someone say Deadpool" the Real Deadpool comments, Seryu rolls her eyes then goes full Justice rage.

"Bye for now; I'm going to go pulverize a pest! KORO its Justice Time!" Seryu yells and Koro enters his Berserker form and chases off Deadpool.

"AND THAT'S A WRAP!"


	41. Omake 7

Omake 7: Asha vs Leader Round 2 (and get this thru your head Asha is not beatable by anyone!)

"Welcome once again to our studio audience; today we will answer more questions from-" Seryu begins, Tatsumi whispers into her ear and hands her the latest comment. "That wasn't even the real Blood Clan Leader?! Bullshit, time for a rematch and this time we'll see how it really goes!" Seryu replied to the cheers from the audience. Asha enters stage right.

"Alright I've dealt with all the annoyances sent my way by the Blood Clan Leader and you know what I'm sick of it; We're settling this here and now: I'll be creating another sub dimension and you will observe via a spell that will show the battle; I warn you all though I'm super pissed off at this point I will deal with this personally; and if I have to I'll throw this blood clan leader into the Oblivion Dimension from which there is no escape" Asha explained, Erasiel appears at her side all happy and covered in kisses, as well as their eldest child Misty, a orange haired beauty with the blue Darkar eyes which had skipped a generation, like her parents she is clad in Eternity Armor and wearing an Eternity crown. "I'm also bringing my husband and my oldest daughter along for the fun; be warned I have over 13 billion years of experience as I was created withen the first year of the creation of my home universe; so be forewarned" Asha explained, then opened a portal and went in with Erasiel and Misty.

"Alright everyone get ready to rumble!" Seryu remarked.

Sub-dimension a pocket dimension created by Asha for the purposes of this battle… Asha waits patiently alongside her husband and daughter waiting for the arrival of the Leader of the Blood Clan; the leader arrives in the towering form of a bloody armored 50 foot colossus wielding two twisted umbral swords. "Welcome to round two; I'm not surprised you showed up properly this time" Asha greeted.

"I trust my clone proved to be a worthy waste of your time, along with Grave Mind and SCP 682" Leader replied readying himself for battle.

"Didn't even break a sweat just had my dear Erasiel kill both of them; not even a challenge worthy of a 30% of his power; just so you know that wasn't my max power and if you thought I was some easy deity your could kill, well you forget two things, one I'm a phoenix and we always rise from the flames, the other you don't understand how powerful I truly am; especially when I use the full power of the Eternity Scepter" Asha explained then Erasiel and Misty stepped aside, Asha summoned a protective barrier for them while the two summoned floating chairs to sit in and large amount of popcorn to eat.

"This will be amusing, hey Dad how long to you think it will take for mother to wreck him?" Misty asked.

"Depends; she'll play with him for a few minutes to show how powerful she really is and then she'll wreak him, as for how long the wrecking will take; about five seconds if she's feeling generous and a whole minute if your mother is mega pissed" Erasiel commented.

"Enough the time has come for me to destroy you Asha and take your dimension for the Blood Clan! Fear my might and tremble" Leader yells, Asha yawns.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, monologue time; go ahead hit me with your full power won't even remotely hurt me" Asha replied then summoned a cup of tea and drank it.

"Very well face annihilation!" Leader yells and hits Asha with maximum power: a massive blast of energy rocks the entire sub-dimension, causing the audience to close their eyes to avoid being blinded. After the Energy fades Asha stands there complete unscathed not a scratch or hair out of place drinking her tea and finishing it.

"Was that really your best" Asha asked, Leader gets super angry and attacks her with every single attack he can think of not even cracking her barrier, Asha yawns as he did this and took a cat nap as he kept attempting to break her wards, not a single crack. Asha woke from her cat nap to find Leader still attacking her barrier yawned and giggled. "Really this all you have? Please I've seen better; my husband once punched the Devil himself in the face and got away with it, I kneed the Devil in the balls and flung him halfway across Hell when I first decided to offer souls chances at redemption; please don't make this more painful then this is; leave now and I will spare your life and keep what you have, if not well you will face my true power and behold my true form" Asha replied, Erasiel and Misty put on their sunglasses.

"Never! Your world will be mine!" Leader yells, Asha yawns casts a spell and flings him from one side of the Dimension to another before bringing him to a screeching halt.

"Now witness my true power!" Asha declared grinned and changed form; she was no longer the giant beauty but a terrifying white fiery bird the size of three mountains. "You consider yourself a god!? Ha! You have no idea what that word means; also to all the people who thought he'd win my apologies for disappointing you, but when I told you that this would be a lopsided stomp I meant it" Asha explained. "Now face oblivion! ARCANE UNFORGING SUPREMUS!" Asha casted, Leader shrieked in agony as his body was literally rips apart, flesh unknitting, bones cracking blood flowing as the Leader assumed his true form and was ripped to shreds and twisted, Asha changed back to her normal form. "Now I bid you farewell" Asha remarked and held up her hand which was clad in an all too familiar gauntlet, then snapped, the leader dissolved as he was infinity snapped out of existence turning into dust which then ceased to exist. "Also, your clones and everything you could use to make a return are gone" Asha added and snapped again destroying the Blood Clan. "Ok people that's it; Leader of the Blood Clan versus me; its over and done with" Asha commented. "Also Tatsumi doesn't count" Asha added.

"KO! What a shocking fight! But really were any of expecting anything other then that, because if you were well you were foolish in doing so" Seryu commented. "And THAT'S A WRAP! GOOD BYE FOR NOW EVERYONE!"


	42. Author's Note Please Read!

Author's Note Blood Clan.

Alright I'm fed up with it; Now here I'm going to level with you guys Blood Clan stuff? NON-CANON! I'm the person telling this story; also you may think your OC is the most overpowered thing ever; he's not Asha is way more powerful then him and she wasn't even going full power there. Now that's enough said on the matter. Next Week will come Gin's Focus Chapter with all the baggage that entails. For the people who are Blood Clan in the chat I mean no offense when I say this but your story has nothing to do with mine; and while I've humored it's not the story I'm telling; the Story I'm telling is the one I want to tell; one that is a way better alternative to its canon source and if you want that kind of story read away but if not well don't try and impose your views on my story and muck with the canon.


	43. Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Elite Seven

All stories have their characters who are have a dark past and as a writer I am unfortunately having to tell you the backstory of one such person but to truly do this we must go back three years before this story begins; and to a place far from Melitine where the savagery and monsters are worse and produce a type of monster that is far too familiar.

Three Years prior to the events of Empire's End; Southern lands Makulmakhan jungles… The jungles humidity was deep and hot, sweat filled Gin's brow as she and Kurome stood watch; while guard duty may have been something that was not typical of the members of the Elite Seven it was something that was both needed and required by the circumstances. They served under General Najenda who was second to Grand Marshal Esdeath, the head of the military and the leader of this dark expedition, it had only been six months since they had arrived but the conflict had been ongoing for three years before the Grand Marshal took formal control of the operation and the conditions were abysmal.

"I wonder how many people have died since we first got here?" Kurome pondered aloud.

"Too many; here we are doing the duty of people that have already died; this war is well hell I think this is worse than training" Gin commented back, both laughed at that assertion as the Elite Seven's training regime would break anyone else in the army outside their group and Esdeath of course. "Still though I can't believe we are on guard duty; all this jungle looks the same to me and on top of it this heat is so intense" Gin commented.

"Yep; but that's the least of our worries; those savages from the N-Mekhi- Navga- how the hell do you say it? Whatever they're what we should be worrying about Gin; remember what happened to our diplomats and what has been happening every night for the past three weeks; oh, the savagery" Kurome remarked.

"Yep, though notice the only people in terms of bodies that have been found are men; no woman or girls, I wonder what happened to them?" Gin replied.

"Personally, I don't want to find out; I don't think it's worth thinking about if we want to keep our resolve up. Even then I shudder to think about it" Kurome replied, they kept their eyes sharp, Kurome checked her watch. "01:21 just an hour left till we turn things over to the next watch; overall I'm sure not going to be sleeping well" Kurome added.

"It's not right you know Kurome; what are you 14? I'm 15 a year old and we are soldiers fighting a war against savages in place far away from home, nothing that kids our age should be doing; in fact, I hate the soldier's life" Gin commented.

"14 and a half Gin, yeah I know; but I don't have a home to return to neither do you either; Akame's the only family I've got" Kurome replied.

"You have me, and Cornelia, and Poney, and Tsukushi and of course Natula" Gin replied.

"Yeah you are right on that; still though I'd rather have had a normal childhood and grown to adulthood properly" Kurome commented.

"Well maybe you can have Natula with you on the next watch I'm sure he'd love to have you keep him company" Gin teased.

"Stop it; he's my brother Gin" Kurome replied.

"Really and here you were saying Akame was your only family you really need to take to him; you love him it's obvious" Gin teased, and begin to giggle.

"Really Gin? Really? We're going there? Maybe someday after this war and when well I'm older" Kurome replied.

"Yep and then you'll have a family; how's Akame been doing?" Gin asked.

"Not well since Green was killed last week; he was a good friend and well they were starting have feelings; but she's become more cold and shut off than normal" Kurome replied and shed a solemn tear at the fate of a fallen comrade; Green had been a contender among the Group of Terror for becoming at Elite Seven early on in training but he had lost his chance when he refused to kill his parents; when Tajasho died he was passed over in favor of Kurome; since then he had been staple of the Group of Terror until well recently when his body was found surrounded by the corpses of over fifty tribal warriors that he had killed, while he may not have been an Elite Seven member he died a death worthy of one.

Suddenly they heard movement in the bushes; Gin drew her sword and Kurome drew Yatsufsa; her puppets were guarding the other side of camp as a constant guard because the undead needed no sleep thus they were alone two versus whatever monster man or beast was in the bushes; they went into the brush hewing thru sharp thistle ridden vines and went into the woods noting that the source of movement was a large impala that had woken from its slumber. "Let's get back to our post, just an Impala" Gin commented, both were unaware of the danger they were in and had no chance to respond when both of them felt a rapid hard hit to their skulls which caused things to blur before fading to black.

An hour later they awoke in what was clearly a prison of sorts; bond by strong vines something which was typical of the warriors of the N'ghai'mavahki, the vines bound their hands and they were each tied to a bed post without any clothing. Looming over them was a dark skinned man his black hair in afro and his skin painted with white woad and belt of skulls worn around his waist which was the only garb of clothing leaving him naked with his long muscled member in the open, his eyes were as yellow as rotten teeth which to their surprise he didn't have they were white and filled to points. "Good you are awake I've been waiting for you to do so; after all I'm looking forward to making you mine in more ways than one" the Man stated, he had at his side a bowl in which was blood; fresh human blood. "I'm Jamo and you are now mine in customs of my tribe now I mark you with my blood and you will forget your names and receive new ones" He explained both of them spat towards him, he laughed a laugh that was both jolly and demented.

"You don't understand your predicament; you're as good as dead to your people; none that encounter our warriors leave or live to tell the tale" Jamo intimidated.

"You don't get it; we're from the Elite Seven and as soon as we are untied we'll rip you apart" Gin taunted, he laughed and dipped his right hand in the blood then touched them; he painted a tear shaped mark on her forehead then painted three long curved lines going in different directions, then did the same for Kurome. After doing this he painted marks that resembled more tears on their breasts before painting a circular mark around her their areolas, Kurome gasped in terror as he did this. Finally, he painted another symbol above their loins in blood this being that of flower of the kind that grew in this part of in the jungle.

"Makdi Vakan Davahka Empro Retci Makta" Jamo chanted then chanted more things they didn't understand. "Lord Father Bellow I thank thee for thy bounty in this jungle and will strive to prove worth of these young brides you have given me; they will bare me children and hopefully grant my line further strength Makdi Magna Vanta" Jamo prayed. "Amo" he ended, then looked at them.

"Don't please- let us go!" Kurome begged knowing that look.

"I will do no such thing, you're mine now both of you and you will bare me children; the time has come for me to consummate our union the question is which one of you will I do so with first?" Jamo explained and grinned.

"Not her not Kurome!" Gin protested.

"I see you want to be first?" Jamo replied.

"NO, I don't want to be, I don't want to be at all" Gin replied.

"I see, then Kurome is it, you will be first" Jamo remarked and looked at her perky b-cups and took a nipple in his mouth, Kurome screamed as he did this. "So young and such good milk you will make a fine mother to our children" Jamo explained.

"Don't do this I'm just a kid I'm only 14 years old!" Kurome screamed in fear, she had never been so terrified.

"14? You're no child you're old enough to breed and thus old enough to bleed" Jamo replied and took his member and shoved all 9 inches into her snapping her barrier causing Kurome to scream in both pain and fear, Gin screamed.

"You monster you filth you'll-" Gin yelled but found her words silenced by greasy lips and a tongue invaded her mouth she tried to resist but couldn't he fondled her one of breast with one hand and one of Kurome's other while the skulls pressed against Kurome's body and she screamed and screamed and begged for help and for him to stop but he did neither and kept violating her. "NO! NO!" Gin yelled, as she watched her friend get violated and repeatedly over and over again until Jamo released and Kurome shrieked, he then flipped her over and violated her anally and repeatedly until Kurome passed out, Gin looked horrified as he turned to her and held his member at her loins which he had been fingering the whole time: Gin herself had been trying to escape the binds but they only tightened.

"You are mine now" Jamo stated grinning dementedly; Gin screamed and yelled as he raped her, then she fainted from terror.

The next two days were more of the same while Kurome and Gin schemed to escape; the longer they were held though the more likely the camp was to move on without them: then came a good night; a quite one; while Jamo was outside relieving himself, Gin had been struggling to free herself. She had been enduring this for too long and the fact that he'd rape Kurome first made it all the worse for her having to watch a young girl be violated by a man older than her by at least a decade; it was too painful. Speaking of Kurome had become rather sullen and grim, her expression was dominated by a frown and she hated the fact that this man had done this to her and to Gin's eyes he may have broken her.

That thought granted her strength beyond her normal level and allowed her snap the binds and free Kurome they then grabbed their clothes and weapons and fought their way out of village.

Three days later… "We'll move further into the territory tomorrow double the guard even more so; I can't believe this" Esdeath ordered and commented as she looked over a map, she then looked at Najenda who was still rather sullen. "I know you take this personally I'm hoping they're still alive but I shudder to think what's happened to them" Esdeath comforted.

"I know it's even worse considering they were some our best" Najenda replied, they left the tent and inspected the guard positions suddenly out of the woods came Gin with Kurome unconscious and slung over her shoulder, both were badly injured.

"General; medic" Gin breathed out before passing out.

Three years later… Gin was still sleeping but the nightmares were tormenting her she woke up to the door being opened. "YEAGH!" Gin yelled and tackled the intruder and who fought back.

"Gin! It's me Tatsumi-eee!" Tatsumi yelled as Gin pinned him in a Nelson. Gin stopped.

"Sorry Tatsumi; reflexes I'm- tense I had a nightmare old wounds" Gin apologized.

"I've had nightmares too; what wounds though?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've got scars you can't see; most are mental but a number are internal; but worse is well on my back" Gin explained and turned around and lifted up her shirt; Tatsumi noted the carved tattoo of a serpent coiled around a spear.

"That's a tattoo" Tatsumi commented.

"It's not just that it's a scar; I didn't want this it was well forced on me by a monster; a monster who did things I'd rather not talk about to me" Gin replied and began weeping at the memories.

"Gin don't worry that happened in the past; if there is anything, I can do let me know" Tatsumi replied.

"Not much you can do I'm afraid, in fact I don't feel like teaching you today no training from me today; if you want to have training have Tsukushi or Peony teach you; also, glad you made it on time" Gin replied.

"I'll talk to them; I hope you feel better" Tatsumi replied and hugged her; there are things you can't fix with a hug but it comforts those who need it, Gin hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll try to; hey Tatsumi just well I need you to talk to Kurome she'll be rather sullen today and I think she'll need cheering up" Gin explained. "Today is well a bad day in my memory its well- not something I want to talk about and don't ask about it I'll do it when I feel better" Gin explained, Tatsumi agreed with what she said but wondered what was it she went thru to make a person who was usually up beat and happy so bleak and sad.

"Whatever she went thru it must have been bad, also I'm guessing Kurome went thru it too" Tatsumi thought. "Maybe that's why Kurome is so sullen I thought that was mainly because of Akame but I'm not so sure on that" he thought as he left; he decided to only take Sheele's regiment today the last night was an absolutely exhausting mission which really pushed him harder than usual mainly because their target was way more resilient then they expected.

Later that day… Tatsumi relaxed in the Hot Springs; Sheele pushed him harder than usual and really made it more harsh on him than normal but that was because according to her he was moving into the phase where the real training would begin; that was not comforting as he wondered how more strenuous it would be. Like it or not his thoughts were still focused on Gin; wondering how bad it was for her; he was tempted to ask others about it but he didn't want to go behind her back much less when it was something that personal; granted he'd have to ask Kurome about it but that was something he'd rather not do considering her feelings for him.

His thoughts were interrupted by giggles he knew well as the twins Meela and Loris slipped into the water with him along with Taeko and Chelsea; this meant he was in for some fun. As both twins held his arms. "Hey Tatsu-kun" Meela greeted seductively.

"Hey Meela, Loris, Chelsea, Taeko I bet you four are here for more than a relaxing session in the springs, right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; I've decided Tatsumi that well you need it after all this training you've gone thru" Chelsea explained.

"And I'm still not pregnant yet, neither are the twins" Taeko added, Loris slipped his length into her and moaned cutely and kissed his lips; Taeko and Chelsea swam next to him and kissed his cheeks while Meela played with his nipples.

"Oh girls" Tatsumi moaned. "This is my life; another day in it; granted after last night's mission, Gin kicking my ass and Sheele pushing me harder than usual I need this; even with Sheele's rewards; besides Loris looks so cute when she and I are well one" Tatsumi thought and began drinking from Chelsea's breast while still be kissed by Taeko and Meela the latter of which fingered his rear. The springs let out more steam from geysers the steam surrounded them as they made love; Tatsumi gave each girl what they wanted and he got what wanted in return; granted the best part was definitely the quadruple paizuri, plus Chelsea's blowjobs, riding Loris doggy style, giving Taeko a good eating out and Meela's constantly tight pussy; about 30 rounds later and he had gotten all three of the of Oarburgh girls who weren't pregnant enough loads to make sure they would be.

Tatsumi then headed in town noted the general good mood as the grand festival to celebrate Empire day was underway; it marked the Empire's founding and well inspired a great deal of patriotism and pride in the accomplishments it also caused prices to be lowered in honor of the occasion allowing for some interesting deals and in this case interesting people out and about.

Tatsumi stopped at shop buying fabric for Sayo to make blankets for both Mishi and Kyoko; both girls had improved in moods and well Esdeath loved to come over and play with them; granted Kyoko's legs were still recovering and required him or anyone else to carry her around. "Their such sweet angels I'm glad I saved them and I don't regret adopting them; I'm even happier that Champ and Enshin are dead so I don't have worry about either of those scumbags hurting them" Tatsumi thought; then noted somebody come up.

That somebody was a woman the same age as Aria and like Aria beautiful; she had lovely green eyes that sparkled like peridots and well where a lot like his own, however she had flame red-orange hair which was long but tied in a pair buns on either side of her head but still her hair was about shoulder length, she also wore a lovely fire shaped pendent in her hair and a hairband similar to Aria's but it was more like a diadem then a hair band was made of polished copper, she wore necklace that sparked with rubies. Her dress was Lime-green with emerald green highlights and was similar to Aria's in design but it was more Elizabethan as opposed to the Victorian style Aria usually wore; she also wore two golden bracelets on either arm; at her side was a Rapier with a crisp polished gold inlayed hilt which had and number of rubies; her shoes were a set of smooth comfortable shoes that were similar to high-heels but had no heels. She was about 3 inches taller than Aria and the same height as him; her figure however was more curvaceous and well she had breasts that were slightly bigger than Leones and while he couldn't see it because of her gown the best ass in the world.

"Good morning" she greeted, her accent was fine crisp and well British.

"Good morning: I'm Tatsumi and you are?" Tatsumi asked.

"Henrietta Lucia Williams; nice to meet you, by the way I'm familiar with your name; you aren't by chance Aria's husband, are you?" Henrietta explained and asked.

"Yep; you know her?" Tatsumi replied.

"Know her? She's my best friend; boy did she choose the right husband you are quite the catch" Henrietta replied. "So, you want to spend some time with me; I'd like to know more about you" Henrietta asked.

"Sure, why not; I've got nothing better to do I'm buying fabric and stuffing though" Tatsumi explained.

"What for?" Henrietta asked.

"Blankets I'm planning on making the quilts for my two new adopted daughters Kyoko and Mishi" Tatsumi explained.

"You've adopted kids?" Henrietta asked surprised.

"Yep; I saved them from a fire and well I couldn't rely on them getting loving parents if I took them to an orphanage plus Mishi got attached to me and well that settled things I'll try and be the best father for them; also I'll get some more for making baby blankets; I've got some on the way also I've got a little one at home with Lila; she's a widow I married to keep her from Honest's hands and well she was pregnant when I met her and gave birth within about an hour after that" Tatsumi explained.

"You're such a kind and caring person; Aria really chose the right husband; I think my parents might be interested in matching us up" Henrietta replied and teased.

"I get it; well I'm fine with that if you want to" Tatsumi replied; any friend of Aria's was a friend of his and if they were a girl likely a future wife. They then strolled around Tatsumi bought even more fabric and stuffing in addition to buying an alligator plushie which Mishi asked him to get for her. Henrietta led him to her carriage and had him sit next to her.

"So tell me about yourself Tatsumi I'm interested in you; don't worry if you got secrets let's just say I'm good at keeping them; Aria and I don't and never have kept secrets between us" Henrietta asked, she was implying she knew about his secret identity as a Night Raid assassin and she shared the same views as Aria.

"Well let's put it this way I'm a farmboy from a remote village you probably never heard of who came to the Capital seeking to make my fortune, I have had extremely good luck in everything I've done here and well made some enemies; but I have all the reason to fight for and I've gotten what I wanted most in life: a family to love and cherish and have left a legacy that if I retired here and now would go down in history but I'm going to follow thru to the end of this rotten war and try to make our world a better place" Tatsumi summarized; then told her his story so far however while trying to make it as exciting as possible Henrietta grinned at what he told her however she got positively giddy and asked more questions when it came to Champ and Enshin's demises; Aria apparently had a big impact on Henrietta's private life.

After finishing his story Henrietta told him a bit about herself and well her story was similar to Aria's in terms of her private life, she also had a similar secret hobby only difference is she was pyromaniac and fire-obsessed and coming up with new ways to make fire even more terrifying then before. She also dropped a note she was a Teigu user and her sword was actually the Teigu in question; the name of said blade was Udun: Flame of the Underworld and had the ability to ignite itself in flame but it was a flame that wouldn't harm the user or anything the user wore; it also was able to manipulate fire temperature to allow it to become hotter.

The carriage came to a stop at a manner that to Tatsumi's surprise was literally next door to his and Lila's manor and across the street from the newly christened Harthhome manor which was the name he and Aria decided on for their new home which was currently being renovated to Aria's specifications mainly to add in a secret underground complex which was to serve as both compound for Aria's personal uses and as a secondary Night Raid base in the city; mainly to act as a new main base that was unknown to anybody and to throw a spanner in any plans to search the countryside for their base officially it was to serve as a sub-basement for storage of food and other supplies in case of a siege of the Capital.

Henrietta's home was rather stunning with all the splendor of Grundewick manor and more; the servents were rather regimented and did their tasks with disciplined effort, on his arrival they immediately hung up his overcoat and shined his boots along with making sure everything he had was in order. "Man, you've got some dedicated servents Henrietta" Tatsumi commented.

"Of course we do, our house motto is 'do it right and make sure you take care of those who rely on you' so people who work for us are rather dedicated and we are pretty enthusiastic ourselves" Henrietta explained, then held his hand and showed him around the place and introduced him to her family.

Henrietta had four younger sisters who were all quadruplets and year or so younger than her, in addition to having two younger brothers. the names of the sisters were Keline, Ylana, Sophie and Elizabeth, while the names of her brothers were George and Oliver; all four of the sisters shared the green eyes Henrietta had but their hair was different colored two were black haired and the other two had the same flame colored hair as their older sister, her brothers however had blue eyes and the flame colored hairs.

Her parents were two people of good heritage her father had the same hair as Henrietta and the same eyes as well while her mother had blue eyes and black hair. Her father was about 10 years younger than Constantine while her mother was the same age as Angela though about a few months older; their names were Peter and Marlitta both sat in comfortable chairs in front of Tatsumi which were near a roaring fireplace. "So this the famous Tatsumi; I've seen you at court but we never had the opportunity to talk; I'm Peter Williams the Minister for Labor, a position that my family has held for 200 years as result of our skills with getting work done both with the best possible quality and making our workers both happy and love work" Peter introduced himself.

"Good to finally meet you; I'm glad to meet someone I can trust on that council I find that it's hard to do" Tatsumi explained.

"Indeed, and I'm quite interested in your rise to prominence and suspect that after the war you'd make an excellent Prime Minister" Peter explained. "To that note there are many families that are well in favor of seeing the current one out of his job; and making sure the Emperor has the best person possible in that position; but in order to do that and convince the more neutral noble families to support him it will require that person to have a strong pedigree and well ties to some of the most influential families if you catch my drift" Peter explained.

"Yes, I do, I'm the person you want in that job, right? Well I'm in agreement that I'm probably the best person for it but I really don't want that much responsibility; I don't know much about governance" Tatsumi replied.

"Which is where the council come is to help you in that task; anyway I've got a deal for you; the Revolutionary Army is well how shall we put it a wildcard in the whole thing but as there are other ones too; there are the other nations whom the Empire is at war with the Eastern kingdoms and Western Kingdoms who are interested in seeing the Empire make amends for well conflicts and the Revolutionary army has ties with them; there are also the various neutral leaders in the Empire to factor in." Peter explained. "As a result you'll need to get yourself into the ruling class to garner respect and well more influence; you've already married into the Chouri and Grundel families who while influential are only two of many dozens of powerful noble families our is one such family and as Minister for Labor I have a lot of power; thus its only right that well you have my support; I have five daughters each are of marrying age and while it may be prudent to use them to ally with other families I'm more interested in having you on my side as such I offer a marriage contract of all five of my daughters to you; my wife and I are still able to have more children and my sons have matches made for them already I'll pay for the wedding and provide rather generous dowries for all five of my daughter and grant you my political aid; I only ask for you consent and that after the war is over you will help to guarantee my family keeps its job as we have done some of the best work for the Empire over the past two centuries" Peter offered.

Tatsumi was surprised by the generosity of the offer considering that this was somebody he had just met but who had been watching him closely for three and half months now; it sounded too good to be true. "You want more out of this don't you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, in fact I do, however those are things that well are rather personal; my brother was killed by another noble after the noble cut off my sisters' ear in an argument. I'd like to see him dead for these cruel things he's done to my family the only caveat is that this noble is well a supporter of the Revolutionary army; I just want him removed leave his family out of this and do it in a way that is legal" Peter explained.

"I see well I'm ok with that; the guy sounds like bad news if he's willing to cut your sister's ear off; honestly the fact he's with the Revolutionary army isn't a concern to me I've got plans and goals of my own that don't exactly line up with their goals especially regarding Emperor" Tatsumi agreed. "As for the marriage contract, I accept but only if your daughters are willing to do so of their own free will" Tatsumi added.

"I see; they are willing; they've heard of your exploits both on the battlefield and in the bedroom along with your political actions and well decisions on other matters; as such they are quite enamored with you if you haven't noticed" Peter explained, Tatsumi noted that, Henrietta had been teasing him constantly and she really liked him, and her sisters who had a similar figure and beauty to her well they had been following him like fangirls since he arrived.

"I see well I'll do it; when will the ceremony be held?" Tatsumi asked.

"Today in fact I've made preparations for everything all that remains to book a temple and priest; don't worry though you're in good hands; for now though I'll send you on your way and send a messenger to find you when its time; also invite your friends and family to it; and wear your best outfit" Peter added.

"Have fun" Marlitta commented and smiled at him.

Tatsumi left and headed to his Manor where Sayo was waiting for him. "There you are Tatsumi, did you bring the things I asked for?" Sayo greeted.

"Yep all the fabric and stuffing; also, I met someone and well one thing led to another and well I'm in a marriage contract" Tatsumi explained Sayo gasped as that, then recovered her composure.

"Well that's interesting who with and how?" Sayo asked.

"A friend of Aria's Henrietta; her father wanted to make a political alliance with me; very badly I might add as he is marrying me not just to Henrietta but all four of his quadruplets" Tatsumi explained, Sayo laughed.

"Leave it to you Tatsumi to get more girls falling for you; you are one smooth operator, even for a guy who can be stupid sometime" Sayo commented. "So, when is the wedding?" Sayo asked.

"Today, can you let the others know about it?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"Yep bar the Jaegers I'll let you handle that; also let the sexy goddess of war Esdeath know I said hi" Sayo commented.

"I'll do that, wait why did you call Esdeath a sexy goddess?" Tatsumi asked.

"Let's just say I'm Bi for her; granted we're both married to you I'll just give her someone to play with when you're busy; speaking of Esdeath made me a Jaeger" Sayo explained and flashed her badge as proof.

"Well welcome, how did you manage that though?" Tatsumi asked.

"I can be rather persuasive and Esdeath was willing to make an exception for your childhood friend and girlfriend; also it gives her a good reason to keep me around with her so whenever you're not around and she's horny well I'll give those tits of hers and her pussy all the love and attention they need and she can do the same for me; by the way I think we should bring Merraid in on our next threesome make it a foursome and give Merraid the chance to fulfill her dream" Sayo explained. "Speaking off horny you have an hour to spare?" Sayo asked seductively flashing her breasts.

"For you always; considering you're my first; well first kiss and would have been my first actual partner if we hadn't been interrupted by Ieyasu in that barn two years ago" Tatsumi replied.

"Good I need it you love it and then when we're done I'll get to work on those quilts" Sayo commented, they then put all the things Tatsumi bought on the dining room table where Sayo had a sewing supplies ready, then they went upstairs to the master bedroom, Sayo gave him a playful slap on his ass and they entered the room where they eagerly stripped down to their skin before climbing onto the bed.

Sayo got to work immediately and began blowing him; she loved giving him head and sucking that unrivaled cock with gusto in addition to taste of his semen which to her tasted like fine cream. Tatsumi smiled and moaned as she slurped and sucked as well as licked and caressed giving him head before deepthroating him then alternated back to sucking and then licking before wrapping her breasts around it and sucking it more. Tatsumi loved the look in Sayo's grey eyes and her lovely black hair which felt like soft silk to his hands caressed. It got even better when Sayo sat on his face and he gave her a rimjob; Sayo's ass was extremely sensitive; more so then her pussy and she loved anything in it be it his fingers, his tongue and she loved it most his cock.

The oral experience was enjoyable by both partners Tatsumi fingered her belly button as he slapped to her pussy and put his fingers into her ass; Sayo wasn't able to contain herself and came all over him. Tatsumi licked up the juices and continued eating Sayo out; he hadn't yet gotten to the half-way mark for his orgasm and Sayo came three more times before he did and gave her the creamy gift she loved and climbed off.

"Alright Tatsumi you know what I want and love the most apart from giving you blowjobs" Sayo teased, smiled a sweet grin and winked; Tatsumi came down on her ass like metal to a magnet; full bore and locked in; as he rode Sayo doggy style; "Oh Tatsumi-kun my husband! Fuck me! Fuck my ass like no tomorrow fuck it as much as you want to and how you like to" Sayo moaned Tatsumi placed his head on her shoulder and kissed her as he kept going; his hands fondled her breast and he pulled her back spooning her anally as his tongue wrapped around hers and their lips locked tight before changing back to doggy style; he stretched her anus to its limits and Sayo came on the bed sheets before he unloaded filling her with his seed before pulling out.

They didn't change positions Tatsumi just changed holes entering her loins; Sayo loved doggy style it was her go to position apart from oral which in Tatsumi's opinion she was the best at and had dethroned Cosmina's top spot about a week ago; in fact she had learned to do things with her tongue that allowed her to well to do things no one else was able to do with their own. But that was only rivaled by Sayo's naturally tight pussy; regardless of the fact that for a full two months they had been in a relationship and how many rounds he gave her it just did not lose its tightness and so he found himself snug up tight taking Sayo at a middle of the road pace to which Sayo relaxed to putting her head on a pillow moaning as he did his work. Then after about a round in doggy style he took her in his go to position, Missionary, while he drank from her breasts to Sayo's bliss.

The hour passed and Tatsumi lamented that he couldn't continue mentally kissed Sayo goodbye and went to Jaeger HQ.

The bored receptionist yawned as Tatsumi entered, Tatsumi then went to the mess hall and ate a refreshing lunch before heading to the practice field; he noted Seryu with a cart of Watermelons who was throwing them at Kurome for reflex testing; Doya was watching the whole thing while Bols was doing some sit-ups and push-ups to the side. "Hey Tatsumi-kun" Seryu greeted waving at him before throwing the next watermelon which Kurome cleanly cut in half.

"Tatsu-Kitty!" Tatsumi heard and as grabbed from behind and tackled by a flying glomp by Cosmina. "There you are you're two hours early what's up?" Cosmina asked, it was only 11:45 Tatsumi had shown up at the base as 7:30 to beat his usual arrival time and start an hour early he hadn't expected to finish training by 9:45 and the whole time he spent with Henrietta and Sayo had been decently long.

"Just finished training early today" Tatsumi explained as Kurome came over to him.

"And whatever you've been doing isn't going to get you out of practice Tatsumi!" Kurome yelled coming over after slicing the last of Seryu's thrown watermelons.

"I know that; just I need all the training I can get" Tatsumi explained.

"You are probably the determined man in the world; well time for our sparring practice" Kurome explained, sparring practice a word that was loose in its meaning as Kurome actively tried to kill him during it; he never understood why though it was she did what was it that made Kurome so- abrasive to him where she was fine with the other members of the group. "Before we do that, I need one of my cookies" Kurome added then dug in her candybag and found it was empty. "I'll be back" Kurome explained, Tatsumi went with her.

Kurome noted Tatsumi following her. "Why are you following me?" Kurome asked annoyed at him.

"I just want to talk with you" Tatsumi asked.

"Why?" Kurome asked still irritated by him.

"Because we haven't had the opportunity to know each other beyond sparring, your training regimen and telling me not to touch your cookies and candies every time" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright; fine; if you want to know I'll tell you; I'm just well someone who has a difficult time trusting people; especially people that emerge from out of nowhere like you Tatsumi" Kurome explained.

"Well then why is that?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've had a bad experience with people that come out of nowhere, also I've had worst ones with those who have been my enemies; personally I operate on a system of test a person at all times if you are suspicious of them; I've been betrayed more than once; and well let's just say I know things that I shouldn't and wish I didn't" Kurome explained, then lead him into her room she then kneeled down and crawled under her bed; Tatsumi got a peak up her skirt as he did so. "I know you're staring at my ass; even though it's cute knock it the fuck off pervert" Kurome commented as she grabbed a bag, Tatsumi turned away and she crawled back out. "Now did you stare at my ass?" Kurome asked.

"No, I peeked on accident but no I didn't stare" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Good you're honest; you're a pervert but your honest" Kurome replied then to his surprised dashed to lock her door before tackling him onto her bed, then ate a cookie before stripping down a red tank top and black panties.

"What the hell?!" Tatsumi exclaimed.

"Shut it; I need it; I'm in the mood to fuck you Tatsumi; I need sex; I've actually had to have it for the past 3 years now; these stupid chemicals in my body they well have some interesting affects they well make my needs way more than anyone else my age; I learned this the hard way; usually I have my puppet Natula to tend to those 'needs' but on occasion I splurge on a couple of high class prostitutes; but that's few and far between; you Tatsumi though I've heard about you and well I've heard you can do things to a woman that's truly amazing to experience" Kurome explained climbing on top of him.

"I'm not sure about this" Tatsumi replied.

"Please I need it; Ugh! OWH!" Kurome replied and moaned in pain and convulsed like she was having a seizure; she was like this for a few seconds before stopping. "Ugh I hate it when I get that kick; these aren't normal cookies Tatsumi I don't tell people not to eat them just because they are mine but because they are well drugged" Kurome explained, Tatsumi was shocked. "When I first was inducted into the Group of Terror Tatsumi I was one of those chosen to test a new drug it gave me and the others who took it super human speed but overtime they took a toll, they made me stronger in the short term but in the long term did some things to my body; in fact when I turned 14 I stopped growing; they must have stunted my growth and I've had convulsions, along with spasms, and I turned fifteen extreme periods of heat; I also think this stuff sterilized me and did any number of side effects" Kurome explained Tatsumi winced.

"That's horrible! What kind of person would do this sort of thing to anyone!?" Tatsumi replied angered by the whole thing.

"The kind of person who wanted me to be a soldier to never have a childhood, a family, or any obligations just a soldier paid in these drugs that I was forced to take and need to take to survive: I hate the Empire Tatsumi I hate it for allowing the abuse I suffered, who's commanders pay me in these drugs they've addicted me to survive, the fact that as I got older needed them more I was forced to prostitute myself to my superior officers for a simple bag of the cookies the drug was baked into and I hate the fact I'll probably die at a young age!" Kurome ranted. "Now speaking of my needs, I need you to fuck me and with gusto!" Kurome replied and removed her tank top allowing her perky C-cups breasts to be displayed in all their glory.

"Kurome; I'll do it if you need it I'll do it; I'm your friend and well if you need this better I give it to you then some stranger you don't know" Tatsumi replied and Kurome removed his clothes showing him to her in all his glory.

"Oh yeah this is what need and you're- huge!" Kurome commented after removing his clothes. "How the hell did you manage to keep that hidden sheesh I thought Cosmina was exaggerating but man Tatsumi Esdeath chose a proper stud" Kurome explained and removed her panties before mounted him; Tatsumi went in deep. "OHHHH! Yes that's big" Kurome moaned Tatsumi hugged her and kissed her; she kissed him hard her tongue dominated his and she asserted control as he looked into her jet black eyes giving it Kurome nice and steady he groped her buttcheeks and he then broke the kiss and drink from her breasts; the milk was sweet and tasted like Akame's so whatever effects the drug had it didn't affect her breast milk. "Ugh, ugh, ugh" Kurome moaned and kissed Tatsumi's forehead and he pushed her back taking her missionary style.

Tatsumi kept going for another five minutes before he came inside Kurome who didn't let him pull out. "I'm sterile Tatsumi I don't think you need to worry about that" Kurome replied bluntly as he came, he then pulled out and she flipped over. "You were looking at my cute little ass well fuck it like you mean it" Kurome demanded; Tatsumi entered it but did so at an even pace he noted though something that shocked him: she had the same tattoo that Gin had on her back; this wasn't by any means a coincidence however it wasn't the symbol of the Elite Seven also none of the other members apart from Gin and Kurome had this kind tattoo and he knew that for a fact; Cornelia didn't have any because she was terrified of needles, Akame had a tattoo but that was more a mark from Muramase, Tsukushi didn't have any tattoos he couldn't say Peony didn't have any but her outfits allowed him to see her back more often than not and this tattoo went the whole length stopping on the left butt cheek.

"Kurome?" Tatsumi asked as he kept going and she kept moaning.

"Yes Tatsumi? If you have questions ask them later but yes oh this is the best sex, I've ever had boy you and I are friends with benefits now" Kurome commented in between moans.

"Can we be more than that?" Tatsumi asked ignoring his actual question as he didn't want to offend her mid sex.

"Well that's a tough one, we'll go on a couple dates Casanova if it works out perhaps we can be more and I can join your harem as a wife or concubine which ever works for you; if not we'll just stay friends with benefits but I'm not ever going to ditch you Tatsumi you are the best partner I've had and granted I've only had about 6 real partners before you and I do count Natula in spite of him being well a Wight" Kurome replied.

"What's your relationship with him?" Tatsumi asked as he caressed her breasts with his hands.

"He- well was the only boy I've ever truly loved; when he was alive; it's complicated but he was my teammate and well he had to go thru the same shit I had to as an Elite Seven; he died in the final battle of the war and he was my first and still to degree is granted he doesn't speak anymore nor does he actually perform as well as he did when he was alive but it's enough to get me by when I'm in the heat badly I couldn't let him go and brought him back with my Teigu granted he's well a Wight but it's better than him being dead in my opinion" Kurome explained.

"So, you literally brought your boyfriend back from the dead to bang you; Kurome you're a necrophile" Tatsumi commented.

"It's not like that Tatsumi; he's not fully dead nor alive; he's in a form of limbo not rotting or going thru anything a body does and he's warm to the touch, call me a necrophile but corpses usually don't fuck back he does" Kurome replied. "Speaking of" Kurome pondered then noted the fact that he was sleeping in her adjacent bunk; well sleeping was a loose term considering Natula's state of mind. "You ever shared a girl with another guy before Tatsumi?" Kurome asked.

"No" Tatsumi replied, the thought had never occurred to him.

"Then this will a new experience if you don't like it I'll never do it again" Kurome replied and summoned Natula over to her the unliving man stripped and was in a state of arousal which creeped Tatsumi out considered the dead didn't usually do that but he was even more creeped out when the corpse lifted Kurome up and entered her from the front Kurome was now be Double penetrated and Tatsumi didn't like it remotely.

Tatsumi kept going however in spite of his dislike which came from jealousy that he couldn't please a woman enough that she needed two men for pleasure. Granted Kurome noted his unhappy expression and had Natula pull out, redress and go back to his bed and rest. "I take it you didn't enjoy it; I didn't either; you're too good Tatsumi I barely noticed Natula's efforts at all and usually he's quite fun; but nope you're definitely the only guy for me" Kurome replied.

"Promise me this though; if I die please don't bring me back to serve you like him" Tatsumi requested.

"Can't guarantee that" Kurome replied he dropped it and kept going for another hour before she was satisfied.

"Kurome I've got a question" Tatsumi asked.

"Ask away and I'll answer it's the least I can do after you gave me the best sex in my life" Kurome replied.

"Where did you get the tattoo on your back?" Tatsumi asked Kurome winced then frowned.

"That's painful; but I made a promise and I'll always live up to them; remember how I said Natula was my first true partner; well-meant true as in a caring partner and the only person I loved but he wasn't my first; my first time and my purity was stolen from me and I think that with the deprivation from my cookies caused my current 'needs' but Tatsumi I was for about a week a sex slave; during the war against the southerners me and Gin one of my teammates were taken captive by a man who ambushed us; his name was Jamo; the guy claimed us as his trophy wives and well raped us; stole our first times; and well he half broke me; if it wasn't for Gin staying stalwart and freeing me and herself from that scumbag we'd probably be dead" Kurome answered. "I really hate that man and worst thing is he was out hunting the night we escaped he tattooed his warriors mark on our backs to mark us as his property and because he was some highly regarded warrior none of the other man touched us. well we escaped and well I became colder; then Natula dying well I've lost faith in humanity beyond those I know I can trust. I don't begrudge my sister for deserting or joining Night Raid, if I wasn't dependent on these rotten drugs I'd have left myself but now no even if I was by some miracle able to get off these drugs I'd never fight for the Revolutionary army they may have some good people among their ranks but those saints made of gold in a faction of terrorists and criminals; there those in their ranks as bad as some of the worst in the Empire and some even worse. I hate both sides of this war Tatsumi on one side you have Honest the worst monster the Empire has on offer and his subordinates who are just as bag and on the other you have war criminals, deserters, robbers, people who want to just profit from mayhem and bedlam and of course scumbag politicians who claim to have the people's best interests at heart but are only interested in their own gains and will do anything to fulfill their dreams including kill innocent children" Kurome explained cynically.

Kurome leaned over on Tatsumi and wept; Tatsumi held her and hugged her she slid his length back in her folds to some semblance of pleasure and happiness. "I hate this world of ours" Tatsumi thought. "I've got to stop this madness; new goals; first find out more about this demented person behind this drug and kill him; then I'll try and see if I can help come up with a cure; but above all I'm going to find the man who raped Kurome and bring him here for Justice; and if that monster is in the Capital he's made a fatal mistake" Tatsumi thought hardened and gave Kurome a slow paced ride of his length as she wept into his shoulder; her personally hated that some scumbag had abused a poor girl no not on scumbag but many of them; Kurome probably didn't count the men who used her sexually as partners: him, Natula and whoever else she did consensually yes but them no; what made it worse that even though she was an adult under imperial law she still looked like a 15 year old girl which made sex seem somewhat wrong.

"Tatsumi-kun" Kurome moaned softly and held him tight as he took her slowly and gently and did so until he came and she cheered up. "Keep this private; alright? I'm ok with the other Jaegers knowing but anyone outside them keep it quiet and don't even mention my issue; just say we're in a relationship and we'll see where its goes" Kurome stated after they finished and redressed.

"Kurome is it ok if I try and help you find a cure for damage to your body and help you get off of this drug?" Tatsumi asked, Kurome kissed him roughly.

"Fucking yes! Do whatever it takes! I want freedom from this rotten disease" Kurome stated and handed him a bag of her Cookies. "Take these to Dorothea and see if she can do something" Kurome explained. "Also, I'll see about setting you up with Doya too Tatsumi she's really lonely and could use someone like you; also, she's a virgin" Kurome added.

Tatsumi blushed dressed and left her room and bumped into Esdeath. "Tatsu-bunny!" Esdeath greeted and hugged him.

"Esdeath-chan please you're crushing me" Tatsumi explained.

"Sorry; wait what were you doing in Kurome's room? And why do you have some of her cookies those are extremely dangerous" Esdeath asked, Tatsumi explained. "Oh Tatsu-bunny, you Casanova, you've really done it now: new orders treat Kurome as you would me! All the time alright!" Esdeath ordered.

"Yes Esdeath!" Tatsumi replied.

"Good now take those Cookies to Dorothea; by the way you have an hour till your wedding bells ring, a messenger dropped by and let me know the place and time" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi blushed and then left.

Meanwhile… A certain armored masked warrior walked in the front gate holding his spear as a walking stick with a macahuitl at his side he wore a mixture of imperial armor and a hodgepodge of other things including skulls. "The hunt never ceases to be interesting" he commented to himself, most people looked at him a mixture of concern, curiosity and interest as he was an odd sight in the city.

The warrior had come to the city as part of an elite unit of 200 men who had just finished their duties in the southern provinces and were reporting back to their commander General Tsunami. When he arrived at HQ, he noted a set of wanted posters next to entryway; on which were a number of bounties. "Interesting: the Masked assassin, the hundred-men man, Night Raid all of them" the hunter remarked and looked at the posters the first of which depicted Aria with her battle mask on which shrouded her identity, the second depicted Bulat prior to his desertion; then the others were of members of Night Raid but one portrait stood out. "Gin: The Blade of the Evening, former Elite Seven wanted for desertion and murder; 500,000 gold for information or a confirmed captive or kill" he read aloud. "You're still alive; I'm amazed you may have escaped me once but I'll hunt you down and bring you back to where you belong" the Hunter thought then proceeded to an office where General Teketh reviewed a serious of reports with regard to training.

"General Tsunami; I'm pleased to report that all remaining resistance has been wiped out in the southern provinces; my unit has returned full strength, they sent me ahead to report as they await further orders" The hunter replied.

"Excellent work Commander Jamo; you've done well: ever since I recruited you and your tribesmen to my army you've lived up to my expectations; strong, swift, smart and driven along with not caring at all for the weak" Teketh remarked.

"Such is the way of my people General Tsunami; you share the values of my tribe the N'ghai'mahvaki and are one of us in every way apart from blood" Jamo agreed.

"Yes, your people, I admire them and respect them; I respect an enemy turned friend especially one who was a strong and worthy enemy; I'm personally glad to see my honor guard return: Jamo I've trust you've found your Teigu to be useful?" Teketh replied.

"Indeed; Islawandi: Horn of the Bull has proven a worthy weapon" Jamo explained indicating his spear.

"Your people were the near perfect example of my beliefs save one key difference that you and them have since forsaken; the eating of human flesh" Teketh replied

"Indeed but let me tell you General we didn't just eat it because we enjoyed it we ate it to sow terror in our enemies hearts and as a way of absorbing the soul of the prior warrior; I and my comrades in arms see the light now; that in doing so we were weakening ourselves by consuming meats that were not healthy for our consumption at the expense of a balanced diet" Jamo commented.

"I'm glad you understand Jamo which is why I have a request; I've been forming a team of professional warriors; putting them thru a training program that finds the strongest and kills the weak; to create an elite force of professional soldiers; I'm putting you in charge of the first of the new squads however I want you undergo the training" Teketh explained.

"I'll do it General; you know I'd go thru the gates of Hell and back for you" Jamo explained.

"Good you will begin the training soon" Teketh replied.

"General I request some leave for a specific personal matter" Jamo requested.

"Of course, for my best soldier I'll give you leave; what is that matter" Teketh asked, Jamo pulled out the poster and put on his desk. "Night Raid egh, what business do you have to settle with them" Teketh asked.

"This girl; she's mine; I took her as mine and another girl too, they escaped while I was hunting Makmakul-Khooda in the jungle; I'm going after her; the money doesn't matter all I want is to bring my stolen bride back and put her back where she belongs; as the means of continuing my line" Jamo explained.

"I see; well take her captive and you can keep her Jamo; I've no objections; she's a pretty thing" Teketh commented.

"I know General thank you for your permission I begin my hunt" Jamo explained and dawned his warmask and left, Teketh smirked in the pride he had for this warrior of his that was trained for war and to enforce his bidding on the weaklings of world.

Meanwhile at Dorothea's lab… "Fascinating; and dangerous" Dorothea commented after looking over their chemicals she had extracted from the cookie.

"What is this stuff Dorothea?" Tatsumi asked, Cosmina clung to him and but was interested in the subject matter.

"It's called IZ-2387 also known as Sterosgensine or 'juice' this stuff is a potent chemical developed by a scientist whose name is classified but was made as a strength enhancer however it has some very nasty side effects" Dorothea explained.

"How bad?" Tatsumi asked.

"Depends on who consumes it and when; according to records Kurome was inducted into the group of terror at age 12 and was injected within the first month of training; the younger the person is that gets this the worst the effects will be; in Kurome's case is has according to her medical record since joining our group caused convulsions, spasms, periods of mood swings and erratic thinking, also appears to cause an increase in arousal and has likely both stunted her growth and sterilized her" Dorothea explained; "The latter two are pretty much guaranteed, I've done medical testing for people on this to help understand the effects and 67% of people injected with this stuff will suffer these side effects the rate is double in those who are adolescents; the only benefits this drug offers are short-term strength and speed boosts along with heighten reflexes however this too has a price that of muscle loss and bone atrophy" Dorothea explained; Tatsumi didn't understand much of the scientific terminology but could tell the negatives outweighed the positives. "They stopped distributing this drug about 2 years ago to the ranks because of the negatives of this performance enhancer in fact it's a medical disaster; Kurome is lucky to have the ties she does because they rarely make this stuff anymore I'd to think though what she has had to do to keep a steady supply" Dorothea added.

"So how long will Kurome have to live if she continues at the rate she's currently at?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 2 years maybe three unless a cure can be developed" Dorothea explained. "Fortunately, you brought this to the right scientist Tatsumi; I've got firsthand experience with this chemical and have access to Stylish's research in bio-science with my own expertise and these samples I'll be able to create a cure" Dorothea explained.

"How long will it take?" Tatsumi asked.

"At best a month; at worst two but the prior is more likely since the Capital offers all the resources I'll need and I've got full Imperial support which means I can ask for anything no questions asked" Dorothea replied. "Personally, though this is risky business; I'll need to actually test the cure on live people who are addicted to the stuff and there is a risk they might die if I get it wrong and I really am worried about that" Dorothea explained.

"I know but if you develop a cure you could save the lives of so many people that this drug's ravaged and wipe out the damage" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah you're right but I'm going to do this on a voluntary basis people have to know they are at risk of dying from the experiments" Dorothea explained.

"They are at risk of dying every time they hit it up on these drugs; personally this is sick; feeding kids cookies with this drug in them; Kurome was the same age as Fal, Air and Luna along with my sweet Kyoko when they gave her this abominable chemical; this isn't just a matter of addicting someone to this stuff its enslaving them and paying them with it" Tatsumi replied.

"You're right; I'll do it but trust me I really hate having to experiment on people even if they volunteer for it, I'd rather not subject humans to science's torments; animals are different they can't feel things on the same level and even then it's still sickening" Dorothea replied, Tatsumi hugged her as did Cosmina.

"Don't worry Dorothea-chan I know you don't like having to do this but there are people who need your help" Cosmina comforted.

"You two are right; now go I've got to start my research right away" Dorothea explained.

"Tatsumi-kun has wedding though Dorothea chan and you're invited" Cosmina commented.

"Fine it can wait but after that I'm going straight back to work" Dorothea replied,

Later that day… The sun was lying low in the sky at late afternoon over the Grand Temple of the Gods; Tatsumi didn't like going there mainly due to the bad memories of Stylish and Aria torturing the high priest to death for his crimes; granted the place had changed since then but still memories were there and they tugged at his mind when he showed up. After he entered the building, he was led to the side by Susanoo who looked absolutely absurd in the suit and top hat get up, granted the hat was to hide his horns but still didn't mean it wasn't funny and Tatsumi laughed.

"Yeah I know the hat is silly but that's what Najenda told me to wear and what I'll wear for the whole occasion; it is a bit demeaning for someone as strong as me but well she's the boss right?" Susanoo commented.

"Yep; why are you here though?" Tatsumi asked.

"The other human men of Night Raid had an idea of making your Best Teigu man; Koro thought it would be funny too" Susanoo explained.

"That sounds like whole thing was Ieyasu's idea but ok; still though that hat is funny" Tatsumi replied.

"It's the twins doing and I don't understand human humor as to why the hat is so amusing it's because of my horns" Susanoo replied.

"Hey it's better to be laughed at then people think some half-human half danger beast and you have to put up with the jeering associated with that" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, though I could have resolved the whole situation by retracting my horns" Susanoo replied.

"You can do that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, I can increase their size so I can retract them" Susanoo explained.

"Well do it if you feel like it" Tatsumi replied, Susanoo did so and removed the hat showing the results. "Man, impressive are there other things you can do" Tatsumi asked.

"Not with regards to my appearance; I do have a female counterpart somewhere but likely still in the holds of the Dwarves" Susanoo replied.

"That's crazy Susanoo; well just try and keep up appearances and don't risk well showing people you aren't human" Tatsumi replied, his friends then made sure his suit was crisp and ready before heading to the alter. Shortly the door opened and the organ played the bridal march as five beauties came up to him in lovely lime-green gowns studded with emeralds; the fact that he had only met Henrietta and her sisters and was already marrying them was a surprise but considering the fact that she was Aria's best friend apart from Seryu she'd obviously heard all about him and likely convinced her sisters and her parents that marrying him would be a good idea. To Tatsumi the marriage was a win-win, he was marrying five lovely women who obviously had some romantic feelings to him but they were also the daughters of one of the most influential people at court; also he had to admit he was looking forward to going on a mission with Henrietta who was independent but like would join Night Raid and the Jaegers if he asked plus it would be nice to have a pyromaniac on his side for once.

"Hey Tatsumi; I'm so excited for this" Henrietta commented as she arrived next to him; she and her sister surrounded him in a circle.

"So am I too big sis" One of the redheads, who had her hair tied back in a ponytail commented.

"Right my apologies Tatsumi; these are my sisters" Henrietta explained and identified each one: Ylana the redhead with a ponytail, Sophie who was the redhead who had two pigtails and wore glasses, Elizabeth who was a brunette with short hair in a double bun, and Keline who was a brunette with glasses and who had long flowing hair, each of the girls shared their sisters beauty and figure though Henrietta was taller than all four of them and they all shared their sister's green eyes.

"Oh, this is going to be an interesting ceremony" Tatsumi commented; he had bought rings in between the whole thing and noted that five rings now where going to be added to his fingers in addition to the 13 he already wore; having recently married Clementine in an extravagant ceremony in the Imperial Palace. He looked glum.

"What's the matter?" Sophie asked.

"Not much I feel though like I don't know this is all rushed and I hardly know you five" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry we'll get to know each other really well soon" Elizabeth commented.

"Yeah but well usually I- you know what never mind let's just go thru with this we'll have the ceremony; then the dinner and then we'll head to my home and we will have my favorite part the honeymoon" Tatsumi replied, all five giggled and held him; the priest began reciting the vows and a few minutes later they were officially married with the bridal kisses covering Tatsumi's face with orange and green lipstick along with each taking turns to kiss him; Henrietta however took her kiss to the next level and tongued him which hadn't ever happened in his experience before while everyone cheered him on.

Then the feast happened and it was a filling one which Tatsumi loved after a long day; after the feast he stopped by Henrietta's place where she brought her things along with those of her sisters to his Manor. "You know it's hard to believe when I came here, I only had the clothes on my back, my sword and some money which I was conned out of less than 2 hours after I got here" Tatsumi explained to Henrietta. "And now look at me; I'm rich, powerful, influential, I have a harem that I love, a family, and a massive house to call my own granted it belonged to a target that my group killed but that's just the icing on the cake of irony that comes with my life" Tatsumi continued.

"Well this is a good place; you know the previous owner of this place never struck me as a scumbag just a reclusive man who was focused on his work; granted though if I knew about it well Night Raid would've been beaten to the punch" Henrietta commented.

"What do you mean?" Tatsumi asked.

"Let's just say I'm fond of removing scumbags; when I told you I love fire and that Aria and I shared interests I meant it in more ways than one" Henrietta commented then shot a glance towards one of her larger suitcases then stepped over and opened it revealing a flamethrower inside it granted with an empty tank but still a flamethrower.

"Incineration squad" Tatsumi commented.

"Nope though I did knick this from them, I use my own mixture of substances to make the fire even more potent than a normal flamethrower's ammo; also, I've taken a lot of precautions to make sure this thing is only dangerous to those on the receiving end of it" Henrietta explained.

"Do your sisters know about it?" Tatsumi asked, she laughed.

"Know about it? They don't just know about my hobby they share it; Aria's mother taught me all about assassination and torture then I taught them; we are the Fires of Night and we've been killing scumbags for longer than you think, and before you ask my parents know too as do my brothers but those two really don't care about this sort of thing they're more interested in more civil matters and dealing with people in a 'legal' manner" Henrietta explained, she then closed the suitcase. "I've got more of this stuff being brought over; I've got a number of other 'toys' apart from this; also, Tatsumi do you happen to have some sort of cold storage here? The fuel can be volatile and I'd prefer to store it where it won't be a fire hazard" she added and asked.

"Well this place does have a meat locker and a walk-in freezer" Tatsumi replied.

"Good just what I need; any secluded areas for the torturing of scumbags I prefer to take my targets alive and deal with them privately where there is no risk of capture; if not I'll just take them next door to my private dungeon" Henrietta explained.

"No such areas yet; we're in the middle of building one though but that will take a couple weeks" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright then; now that everything is here my sisters will be waiting for us in the boudoir my paramour" Henrietta explained; then led him off upstairs; in his room he found all four of her sisters in skimpy underwear that they had worn under their wedding gowns Henrietta locked the door behind them much to the disappointment of Sayo, Leone, and Seryu who had fully moved in and would have loved to get in on the action and had attempted to follow them in; Tatsumi simply turned and unlocked the door.

"Hey if they want to join in let them" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright" Henrietta commented and Tatsumi invited his three other wives into the room to join in on the action all three of which had dressed for the occasion. Henrietta slapped him on the butt and pushed him onto the bed; followed by her stripping off all her clothes save her garter belt and stockings; an endeavor in which she was joined by all the other girls in the room who quickly relieved him of his clothing.

What happened next was a blur to Tatsumi mainly because there were eight women to keep track of in the whole thing; but I've managed to keep some track of it and can give a blow by blow because of said eight girls who remember this occasion fondly. "Who gets to be first?" Ylana asked.

"I do" everyone stated at once.

"Alright youngest to oldest; virgins first however" Leone explained establishing some order among the group; thus began the kissing; Elizabeth being the youngest slid herself onto his length snapping her hymen to a loud half-pained half-pleasured moan from her; Seryu and Sayo licked his balls while Henrietta sat on his face for him to eat her out, Ylana and Keline licked his pecks while Leone scissored with Sophie showing her the ropes and explaining to her the things which Tatsumi liked. Tatsumi was on the receiving end of so many girls the only way to describe it was a reverse-gangbang; in which instead of girl being banged by multiple men he was being banged by multiple women.

Tatsumi relatively speaking lost himself in the pleasure; one moment he was eating Henrietta out while five other girls tended to the rest of his body then the next he was taking Sophie doggy style anally while making out with Keline and being played with by all the other girls; while Sayo was being pleasured orally by Sophie while at the same time doing the same to Leone; who's breasts were being sucked on by Tatsumi and Ylana; while Seryu was being pleasure by the two other quadruplets. Then after that he had taken both Ylana and Keline at the same time giving the prior a pussy pounding while eating out the latter while arms were being massaged by three other girls, two of which were licking and playing with his pecks, that he couldn't see and two others he likewise couldn't see licked and sucked his balls; though he guess one was Sayo by the skill.

Then came blowjobs and boobjobs from every single one of the girls who lined up to allow him to take them one or three at a time while those not being pleasured massaged his back with their assets. Then came Henrietta herself who was an absolute tiger who completely dominated him and unleashed a tirade of all variations of the f-bomb while adding in a few other profane words as well; but she loved every moment of it. "Tatsumi-kun! Fuck me! Fuck me like a Whore!" Henrietta moaned, he did that; giving it to her like a beast before filling her with his seed and striking a home run; just like he had with her sisters before taking her amazing ass for a ride and that was his most fond memory of this whole thing the one he remembered clearly, then after that came the haze of girls many positions many angles, Leone in Lionelle form with nonstop cat pounding before he blacked out in the warmth of women.

Meanwhile… Honest was enjoying himself doing what he loved best in that case was taking one of his rival's wives for a ride; some of these women survived and became concubines in his harem if they pleased him; some of their children as well; both boys and girls; but those that didn't meet his exacting sexual standards were either on the menu, a prize to award to an ally or child of his or something to entertain his personal soldiers and for them to play with. Still though Honest genuinely hated one thing when it came to his excesses and that was people interrupting it; which a messenger banging on the door had just done; forcing him to pull out of 13 year old girl that he had grown quite fond of and dressing in his fur housecoat; the only notable thing that changed with his wardrobe was long armored arm protectors he wore to hide the demonic augments and that required him to wear those at all times even when bathing just to hid those changes to his body.

"What is it!?" Honest asked very annoyed.

"Minister your son has sent me with news from his projects and he requires your attention as he has made some major breakthroughs" a mono-toned voice stated Honest opened the door to note that messenger was one of his son's automatons; the metal machines were some of the most interesting of his creations: Honest dismissed the unit and dressed in proper clothing before heading to the passages down to his son's secret underground laboratory to which he had recently sent some political rivals and their relatives whom he had kidnapped to depose off via his son's experiments.

Shortly… Izel looked over a freshly secured captive; a young heir to a minor upstart noble house who was about 15. "Don't bother struggling, you'll soon not have to worry about your problems" Izel commented, Honest walked into the room. "Good that you have arrived father; I won't bother you with the details yet but rather demonstrate my breakthrough" Izel explained to him, then turned to one of the automatons. "IZ-817, ready the Rune dosage" Izel ordered, the automaton nodded and injected the test subject with it; the result of this wasn't something Honest had seen before, usually the substance mutated the test subject into a hodgepodged monster; in this case the skin of person changed pale white as snow and the hair lost its luster and greyed.

"Where am I? who am I?" the subject asked.

"You are Warrior Seed-12; you are the newest in a new breed of warriors; artificial humans: you will serve as frontline soldiers in my father's new army; you as one of the first will serve as an officer; the training will commence shortly" Izel explained.

"Yes Father" WS-12 replied and was unhooked and led off by an automaton.

"I've made a major breakthrough with regards to the Rune; I've found the proper dosage and the results have created a new breed of soldier that I call artificial humans; I've tested their abilities and they are worth 20 of the Royal Guard in terms of skill; however I will note that they are less resilient then a normal human meaning they may not take as much abuse as a normal person: anyway that is but one of the breakthroughs; the demonic soldiers have begun full scale production in addition to that I have developed a new war automaton that combines demonic power with machinery along with the means to control war beasts made with the Rune; overall the results are rather major" Izel explained.

"Good job my son: I'm proud of your work; continue the efforts however I've questions regarding the loyalty of your Artificial humans" Honest explained.

"Their loyalty is to you; and to those you consider loyal enough; I've no interest bar their results; overall the experiments are successful; I've also created a rather interesting creature with the rune; the creature has some interesting properties that allow it to fuse weapons of a similar design into more powerful ones; overall my experiments are successful, I've even figured out how to create a more potent IZ-2387, this time without any long term draw backs and with the rune cells introduced make them more potent, it also has been used to augment the new artificial human soldiers; I've also managed to create a stable strain of Rune Beasts perfect for frontline battle" Izel explained.

"Are there any female artificial humans?" Honest asked

"Yes, two so far if you wish to relieve yourself sexually on them, they won't resist and will be completely submissive" Izel explained.

"Good; I want you to make more of them; I have a use for them and not just for myself but as well a means to ensure the loyalty of my more ambitious subordinates" Honest explained.

"Gladly father; also I may note that for another project I required people of a specific blood type, I have separated them out from the other test subjects; the rest I do not require feel free to relieve yourself on them" Izel explained; Honest smirked an opportunity to do whatever he wanted to his political rivals which held captive by his son was just the thing he needed to deal with his annoyance of being taken away from the tender embraces of his 'toys'.

Shortly… Honest walked into a room in which the captives wore shock collars which prevented them from either escaping or fighting; the ones in question in here were the daughters of 12 of his minor upstart rivals; in all 30 of them; each of varying age. "Play things for me: you'll do for my relief, I'm sure you've heard of my reputation and I'll let you know it's not even close to what you think, in reality I'm way more terrifying; now I'm glad that you won't be able to resist which makes this all the more enjoyable to me" Honest commented he then walked up to the youngest girl a 12 year old with green hair. "You're first" Honest stated and ripped the girls dress off after removing his own clothes and began his mass rape of all 30 girls, two of which were homely things in his sight and which resulted in him killing both and eating them; the rest met his exacting standards and thus would live as his sex slaves; he then went to another room in which their fathers were shackled up, he simply came in removed his gauntlet exposing his demonic claws and began to eat one man alive and raw to screams then he raped another before killing the most vocal of these captives by crushing his skull in; he laughed as he told them how he had raped their daughters and absorbed more power as he ate more of them; when he was done he devoured them all. Then came more horrors far too vile to put to writing; suffice to say that I as an author have never heard of a viler despicable person in my life; when it comes to villains Honest is truly the worst of them all.

That night… Tatsumi found himself being shoved out of bed by someone. "Yeow!" Tatsumi shouted as he hit his head on the floor and got up without clothes and noted Henrietta in what looked black leather catsuit; which actually was made of the same Chakhound-slime-treated Asbestos that was used to make the padding of Seryu's fireproof protective suit.

"Good evening Tatsumi; time for some late-night trash disposal" Henrietta commented, with her were her sisters in similar attire along with Seryu, Sayo and Leone.

"Trash disposal?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"There's a certain noble scumbag with his family who are trash and have done things that are rather evil; I've thought of informing Night Raid about it but it wouldn't be fun for me; the problem has been is that it was heavily guarded; now however I have you; the master of pulling off impossible wins, Sayo the goddess archer, Seryu and her cute but deadly dog of destruction and the Lion girl Leone; so we can finally deal with this scumbag and well I can show you what I'm capable of" Henrietta explained; Tatsumi yawned and got dressed and grabbed Valruost and Smaug before leaving; Henrietta strapped on her flamethrower which she had filled up and her sisters had a few backpacks full of their sister's 'toys' then they left via the rooftops, they only had to go five blocks before they arrived at their target location.

Tatsumi took one look at the security and winced. "That's no mansion that's a citadel" Tatsumi commented and noted the security was the biggest he'd ever seen in a target manor; which meant this not going to be easy.

"Yep which is why I brought you along" Henrietta commented; then Sophie pulled out a sniper rifle and set it up.

"I'll give you guys 1 minute after I start shooting to begin the attack" Sophie commented then she began firing; Tatsumi lead the charge and he found the results of Sophie's marksmanship, overall as good as Mine's work. Then they stormed the place killing every guard with swift and ruthless abandon destroying the forces with ease, Tatsumi noted that each of the sisters were ruthless and the fiery blade Henrietta wielded caused the enemies stampede over each other or into the jaws of Koro and the attacks of everyone else; Tatsumi noted Sayo bombarding the enemy from the air; then they stormed the manor proper smashing the door down; Tatsumi winced as two servents who had the misfortune of being in the room were sliced in half by a massive axe wielded by Ylana; granted they were enemies but still them getting guillotined by that massive axe was still shocking regardless of how many times he had seen Ieyasu do the same thing with Belvaac.

Shortly in a secret dungeon under Henrietta's mansion… Tatsumi winced as he saw the man branded by Henrietta and tried to keep himself resolute as he watched her at work; granted seeing people tortured was nothing new to him; considering how many missions he'd been on with Aria; and the fact he'd done some himself, but Henrietta was way more enthusiastic with her behavior; at the moment he was punishing the lord's daughter; who had been offered to many suitors only to deprive said suitors of their lives and their money.

The punishment as much as Tatsumi hated to do it was that she was now his sex-slave with Valruost's mind control ability; granted Henrietta allowed him this and it saved the young woman who was his own age and named Jessa from being immolated after Henrietta's other torments; besides it was fitting in his opinion; her fate was worse than death; that was to live as his slave granted not that he would treat her as such but she would act as cover for the whole incident and claim her father's fortune, estate and property for her own and serve as a political ally to him. At the moment Jessa was currently being ridden doggy style while her sister Karla who also had been spared and undergone the same punishment lay down fingering herself after he had finished with her; all the while as he did this Henrietta and her sisters tormented their father and brothers; Leone had killed their mother in fighting as she had pulled a gun on her in the hallway; as a result of this night Tatsumi would officially gain the support of the Galhard family and merge it with his increasing his power while the daughters officially married him in a public ceremony with all the pomp and circumstance that required.

"I hate this Henrietta; I hate having to do this to these girls" Tatsumi commented.

"Please Tatsumi don't interrupt; you didn't want me to kill them nor did you want anyone else to do so; once you showed off that sword of yours to save them their your problem; besides they need to be punished for their crimes somewhat and since you won't allow me to have 'fun' with them I'll be satisfied if you fuck them senseless and take them as your brides; after all that was a way smarter idea; you've turned one of Honest's top supporters into your own" Henrietta commented.

Tatsumi sighed and released; the father screamed as Henrietta used small heated rods to burn him in tender places; then she poured boiling oil down his throat; burning him. "Ok I've thought of a way to kill him, is the gold from his vault melted down yet Keline?" Henrietta asked.

"It's fully ready" Keline replied, she had been heating the various implements of torture used by her sisters.

"Good bring it over here!" Henrietta ordered and brought over a pot of molten gold and handed it to her. "You love gold? You do that's great now have all the gold you need!" Henrietta exclaimed and dumped the pot on his head which burned into the body and killed him instantly. Henrietta and her sisters then finished off the rest of the lords sons save one whom they trapped into a bronze bull under which they lit a fire; then they disrobed and joined in on Tatsumi's punishing of the two noble girls as they listened to the screams; before the noble died he heard the moaning of Henrietta as Tatsumi banged her doggy style and anally next to the bronze bull and screamed his death throws before cooking inside.

As all this had been ongoing Gin, Akame, Mine, Gilberda and Merraid were carrying out another Night Raid op; the target in this case was one of the political Generals that Honest had put into a position and who used it to embezzle the money from his soldiers and make the women under his command pay him sexual favors to advance their ranks; one of them his secretary had marked him for death.

"Why do I have to watch the perimeter again guys?" Gin asked.

"Because you're not invested in watching Merraid's boobs in the aftermath" Mine japed.

"Not funny" Gin replied.

"Please we both know what Merraid's going to do after we get back to base and that involves her, Akame, and Gil fucking each other in her room across from my room" Mine replied.

"Five Silver" Gin commented.

"That fucking jar!" Mine swore, another five coins, followed by a tirade about said jar which put her 50 more coins in debt and made her want to throw Gin off the roof, Gin heard movement.

"Shut it Mine you hear that?" Gin explained.

"Hear what?! Fucking Jar" Mine muttered; Gin noticed that a fast-moving blur was jumping from roof top to roof top.

"Mine there is something coming our way shoot it!" Gin remarked, Mine looked in the direction and aligned Pumpkin.

"Time for a little surprise; Pumpkin: Stormtracer rounds!" Mine declared and fired, the rounds fired instead of their usual pink balls of plasma were instead lavender spear head shaped shots which spread out in multiple directions and converged at the target; said target managed to dodge the shots save two which while they didn't kill him knocked him from the roof top and did some serious bone breaking. "Nice try whatever that was it's dead now" Mine remarked.

"Hopefully" Gin replied.

"Gin since when has a target I hit survived?" Mine replied.

"You're right nothing ever survived a shot from the Goddess Sniper; man, I wish I had you around in my army days" Gin replied.

"Please me in the Imperial Army? That wouldn't go well there's a lot of hatred for people like me; those who have western blood" Mine replied.

"Yeah you're right; granted where did you learn to shot?" Gin asked.

"From my father who was in Imperial army as a sniper; I learned how to work a gun from age 5 and since then well I'm the goddess sniper" Mine bragged.

Gin looked at the moons and didn't like it; considering the fact it was night three years ago when she had been taken; of the moons she thought it was interesting that she could see grassy plains and jungles on them, scientists speculated that there was life on the moons but barring a means of getting them there was no way of knowing for certain. "Hey Mine I wonder is there life on other worlds" Gin commented.

"Personally, if there is, I hope it stays as for from ours as possible because if anything whatever people live out there live a better life then us on Eden" Mine replied, Merraid and the others arrived on the roof top.

"I can't believe you guys brought me along for this milk run there was one guy and he didn't even have a security detail, no guards for me blast brains out of" Mine commented.

"The target was expected to be protected" Akame explained.

"Protected my ass, I didn't get to kill any imps; the most I got was probably a burglar on the rooftops if that" Mine commented slinging Pumpkin over her shoulder.

"Yeah not much; also, Mine owes 68 coins to the jar" Gin explained.

"That- you know how long is this jar going to be around?" Mine asked.

"Until you stop dropping F-bombs frequently" Gilberda replied.

"Yeah- ogh" Mine replied and winced as she felt pain. "Hold this" Mine stated handing Pumpkin to Gin before going to the side of the roof top and vomiting. "Ugh; there goes my dinner; man, that's the third time today; happened with lunch and that snack I had; what gives" Mine replied and received another stomach pain and keeled over hurting. "OW" Mine moaned, Merraid and Akame helped her up. "Medic" Mine commented as they got on the Air manta a flew to Grundewick Manor to drop her off.

Shortly… Aria looked Mine over and examined her, then she performed a number of medical tests one of which tested positive. "WHAT?!" Mine yelled.

"You're pregnant; trust me I know what that's like; and I'm sure we both know who the father is" Aria replied.

"Tatsumi; that- that- I've got to get married to him; it's enough that I'm disliked because of my mixed blood and Western heritage, the last thing I need is the shame of siring a bastard; and I won't have any child I have go thru the racism and stigma of being born out of wedlock: Tomorrow you and I are going shopping Aria for all things needed for a wedding and expect me to jump Tatsumi the moment he comes here tomorrow" Mine explained.

"Don't worry we'll take care of that; now get some sleep I need it and you need it" Aria explained and yawned both then retired to their rooms.

The next day proved to be an interesting one for Tatsumi in this case he had it planned out; today he'd train talk to Gin, soak in the hot springs, then spend the rest of the day with his lovely adopted girls and Esdeath because they planned that day for it. "Good morning world" Tatsumi said to himself. "Good morning Seryu" Tatsumi commented; as she was currently on top of him, she yawned and woke up.

"Good morning Tatsumi; my handsome stud of a husband; ready for some morning fun?" Seryu replied with a wink; currently they both were naked, apart from green lace stockings worn by Seryu.

"You know I am" Tatsumi commented pushing Seryu and the blanket up as she inserted him into her and began to bounce up and down cowgirl style.

"So (moans) what are you going to do today?" Seryu asked.

"Honestly I've got it fully planned out Seryu; in this case do my training, talk to Gin about me and Kurome, soak in the hot springs and spend the rest of the day with my dear little girls and my beautiful Ice Queen Esdeath" Tatsumi replied as he fondled her breasts massaging them in circles to more moans from Seryu who clasped her hands on his as she bounced up and down on his cock.

"Good to hear you've thought all this out in advance; but you and Kurome what happened there?" Seryu asked curious, Tatsumi then explained the whole thing to Seryu minus Kurome's rape at the hands of the scumbag pedophile Jamo. "Wow! I never figured Kurome for having the eyes on your dick; but considering practically every girl you've run into apart from Yami and Angela has wanting it and mostly gotten it I'm not surprised. Man though I really am mad though about what she had to suffer for that drug; her superior officers molesting her in exchange for more of the drugged cookies and candies I've seen some rotten stuff in our nation but this well I think is the worst; good thing she has you to help her when she has those 'needs' Tatsumi you are definitely the sort of person she needs" Seryu replied.

"I agree; I'll try and help her; hopefully though we become more then friends with benefits I'd like to see her and Akame reconcile and get her on our side; she'd be an amazing ally, as for the insane shit she's had to suffer; well I'd like to track down every one of those monsters and put them 10 feet under" Tatsumi agreed, he continued his thrusts and released into Seryu; considering the amount of times they'd had sex he was pretty sure she was pregnant by now and he wondered what their kids would look like, she pressed herself against him kissed him on the lips and began kissing him down his body before wrapping her breasts around his erection and beginning to massage and blow it. "I swear we have sex every day Seryu" Tatsumi commented.

"Yep and I love it" Seryu replied interrupting her blowjob before going back to it. This went on for about another half hour before they were both satisfied and he got dressed; Tatsumi dressed in rather fine clothing which while noble in appearance and design wasn't either too flashy or too bulky overall his attire was rather fine then he grabbed Valruost and his normal blade along with his Barretta which he slung into a concealed holster before heading out.

Tatsumi arrived at Night Raid HQ in record time, enough that he found Sheele still sleeping to which he walked in and kissed her on the forehead to wake her up, then he walked to Gin's room and countered a surprise attack with relative ease before heading to the training grounds. Overall his progress on training was coming along pretty well; between the endurance sessions with Gin and Sheele, his training in Imperial Fist techniques by Spear and his constant sparring and training in Group of Terror fighting styles with Martha he was coming along pretty well and advancing faster in said training programs then his teachers expected. Today's training proved no different and he powered thru it; at this point he pretty much ignored the pain caused by the training and was nearing the stage in which he wouldn't even notice it.

After his training concluded he and Gin went into the forest for a private discussion. "So Tatsumi what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Gin asked.

"Kurome; she and I well, I did what you asked me to and we spent some time together and she's well its complicated warming up to me; and well we- we- we had sex" Tatsumi explained, Gin's jaw dropped.

"What?!" Gin exclaimed shocked.

"It was complicated, I followed her to her room we were chatting and she was getting more of her cookies; well she explained her condition and well she went into the heat; one thing led to another and we- well had sex; it felt rushed but she enjoyed it, said I was the best partner she ever had and we're now friends with benefits she's given me a shot to become more on a few dates; personally I hope to become more: but there's more" Tatsumi explained.

"More?" Gin asked.

"During our session I saw a tattoo on her back, the same as the one on yours's I- asked her about it and she told me a whole story" Tatsumi explained, Gin teared up.

"I'm- sorry you had to here that; its- well- horrible; even more so then you think" Gin explained, then told him the story from her perspective. "I really wish I hadn't been a coward that day that Kurome hadn't been the one Jamo raped first; granted it wouldn't have stopped him from raping her but at least I wouldn't consider myself a coward; I- hate what happened; she was so young at the time and me well I was about a year older but that really didn't make a difference we were still people that were raped by a pedophile monster; and one who's still out there I fear: personally Tatsumi I- I am really sad for what happened; even more so because well- I love you; and I really wanted from a young age for my first to be a person I loved; and Jamo stole it from you; you're the one I love and I've never been more certain in my life; especially considering you selflessly have put yourself thru the same hard training I had to go thru at a much younger age" Gin explained crying as she did so; Tatsumi hugged her holding her close and patting her back gently, he then kissed her on the forehead.

"Gin; I'm sorry I put you on the spot to tell me the story; I'm even more sorry that I don't get to be your first like you wanted; but I can try and make that up to you; I'll return your love if you'll have me; but I will be your first; the first person you actually loved and whom you've given your love to unconditionally" Tatsumi comforted, Gin smiled and kissed him on the lips a tender kiss.

"Thank you Tatsumi; but not now: I'm not sure I'd be able to deal with sex between us until well I know I won't have that monster haunt my nightmares" Gin explained.

"Don't worry I'm not asking you to give yourself to me right away; we'll take this at the pace you want to; anyway, that training was exhausting I'm going to head to the springs for a good relaxing soak" Tatsumi explained; kissed Gin again and two doubled back to HQ. As Tatsumi began to leave he was jumped by a flying pink blur.

"Mine?!" Tatsumi asked, Mine playfully slapped him.

"Tatsumi your lucky son-of a bitch you've gotten yourself the Goddess Sniper; I've decided we are going to get married ASAP: you know why? Because I'm pregnant!" Mine explained, Tatsumi blushed.

"Ok" Tatsumi replied being honestly surprised, Sheele did say Mine would blindside him with that proposal; she then pulled out something; a small box in which was a silver ring with a pink tourmaline on it.

"Here; this will be your wedding ring; I bought it so it stands out from the others on your fingers" Mine explained, Tatsumi kissed her. "I'm looking forward to our honeymoon when we can f-u-c-k as much as we want" Mine added then made out with him; as tempting as it would have been to have sex there and now Mine restrained herself. "I'm saving that for our wedding night; I want that to be wild and just you and me Tatsumi; though I'd love to have a chance with you and Esdeath for some personal reasons" Mine explained.

"What do you want to do with Esdeath" Tatsumi asked.

"See which one of us lasts longer with you; I'd love to see if I can keep going longer the Empire's Finest" Mine replied.

"I can see that" Tatsumi replied kissed her and left for the springs

Shortly… Tatsumi relaxed in the warm water of the springs; his eyes closed and getting close to drifting off to a nap; then he heard a splash, two actually and opened his eyes to see Cornelia and Akame sitting in the water in nothing but their skin. "Hey Tatsumi" Both said seductively.

"Hey Akame, Cornelia" Tatsumi replied as both eased up alongside him and he moaned as Cornelia began stroking him underwater with her soft hands.

"Well we figured you'd be here so we thought we'd bring you a surprise" Cornelia commented "Especially given how much I love warm water" she added and kissed him on the cheek and hugged him.

"What kind of surprise beyond this, it isn't surprising to me that two of my lovers would show up for some fun time" Tatsumi replied.

"What about four, one of which you didn't even realize you had" Akame replied. "You two can come out now" Akame added, then to Tatsumi surprise came Tsukushi and to an even bigger surprise Peony; both of whom wore their most seductive swimsuits and had towels which they discarded next Akame and Cornelia's along with their swimsuits which they removed allowing Tatsumi to see Poney naked for the first time causing him to blush.

"You like what you see?" Poney teased; flaunting her d-cup breasts before turning around to flaunt her large booty then turning to him again.

"Yes, but Peony what's going on?" Tatsumi asked.

"I figured that since most of the Elite Seven was with you already I figured it only suitable for me to climb on board that bandwagon and get some of that Tatsumi booty; or rather get that cock that Tsukushi keeps bragging about in mine; granted I'm a virgin but considering your influence on my friends why not give you a shot" Poney explained as she and Tsukushi eased into the water and swam over to him and the other two.

"But that's not all" Akame explained. "We've been having a debate amongst ourselves and we've decided that as soon as you finish your training, you'll be our Elite Seventh; then all that's left is to get Kurome on our side and a new Elite Seven is ready to go" Akame explained.

"It will also be the last Elite Seven" Tatsumi explained.

"What do you mean by that?" Cornelia asked.

"After this war is over and well, I'm having influence in the government I'm going to end the program, from what I've heard it has no place in a civilized nation much less the greatest and strongest one on the face of Eden" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; well would our group be dissolved?" Akame asked.

"No, in fact I won't be removing the group in its entirety just change how its trained and how its run; there will be an Elite Seven in the future but it will be nothing like the one the four of you knew" Tatsumi explained as breasts pressed against him from all sides.

"I'm ok with that, besides nothing will be like the one we knew, we lost two of our members over the years but more than that we lost our true father Gozuki" Akame replied.

"Yeah" the other three agreed.

"Anyway, let's not talk about this anymore I'm ready and I'll go first" Poney replied and kissed him on the lips before turning around and leaning against the rim of the pool. "My booty is ready come and pound it" Poney explained, Tatsumi came up gave it a playful slap and embedded himself in; Poney moaned loudly. "OH! That's amazing!" Poney replied and smiled as he began thrusting back and forth into her. Akame came and kissed Tatsumi who began drinking from Cornelia's breasts while Tsukushi massaged his back and wrapped her legs around him; Tatsumi at the moment was in Elite Seven heaven with four of the six members with him; heck all was missing was Kurome and Gin and he'd have the full group. He gave Poney a good pounding and when he came, she moaned in full bliss, he then pulled her into the water and flipped her around. "Ready for it; pop my cherry and fill me with your seed Tatsumi" Poney commented, Tatsumi kissed her and entered her, Poney moaned as her hymen snapped but ignored it and began riding Tatsumi roughly; the other three girls kissed him and massaged his arms and back with their breasts in a cross of pleasure.

"Man what I'd give to have more than one dick" Tatsumi thought to himself then discarded the thought not sure how that would work out, he did however have two hands which he used to finger Akame and Cornelia while drinking from Tsukushi's massive breasts, she and Poney kissed him as he did this. Eventually he came in Poney and then swapped to Cornelia; the blonde was a personal favorite of his to sleep with among them; granted though Akame came first with Merraid involved, Cornelia loved it vaginally and she also loved it when Tatsumi drank from her breasts and kissed him as he did both.

Soon he climbed out of the pool and found himself on the receiving end of a four titjob and blowjob; while he was in a sixty-nine with Poney who had quite a sensitive pussy with a lot of sensitive spots in fact he swore she had more than one g-spot, granted that may have been easy to notice given the fact that if he focused on one spot for too long she'd orgasm and he'd have to lick her off of him. Granted it was familiar ground from then on; giving it to Tsukushi from behind, holding and making out with Akame as he pounded her pussy, riding Poney's ass like no tomorrow and enjoying a blowjob from both Cornelia and Akame at the same time eventually he had satisfied all four girls who hugged him all at the same time before washing him off, he did the same for each of them before drinking from each of their breasts to quench the thirst he worked up from having sex with them for a past two hours; then he tidied up and headed into town once again.

Later… Tatsumi arrived at Grundewick Manor relatively quickly and found himself in the entry hall greeted by a little blonde blur, that being his little girl Mishi; he then noticed Kyoko being carried by Esdeath. His Ice queen was dressed in a lovely blue dress threaded with gold and silver thread. The gown was rather fine and clearly made of silk and as usual showed a lot of cleavage to flaunt her Teigu, she also wore an interesting cap like headdress and a diadem of silver; overall, she looked like a princess of some foreign kingdom granted an armed princess with her rapier at her side. The girls wore fancy frilly dresses Kyoko's being orange and Mishi's being lime green, they both wore similar caps to Esdeath's. "Hi Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted. "You ready?" Esdeath asked.

"Yep and you three?" Tatsumi asked.

"Ready to go daddy" Mishi commented. "Mommy why do you call daddy Tatsu-bunny? He doesn't look like a bunny" Mishi asked.

"Because he's so soft and fun to cuddle" Esdeath replied. "Anyway let's get going; I promised we'd take you two shopping and show you around the city along with going to visit the palace and we'll do exactly that" Esdeath explained then they went to the carriage; Tatsumi fetched crutches for Kyoko so she could move about without Esdeath having to carry her everywhere not that Esdeath minded, they were then joined by the twins and went to the carriage where their driver was ready.

They soon arrived at the first of many places on their list to visit; in this case Umatora Theater, to watch the performance of the Grand Triumph; a play about Esdeath's most famous victories something which the Empire's Finest enjoyed. They sat down with Mishi sitting in Tatsumi's lap and him sitting with Meela on one side and Esdeath on the other while Loris sat next to Kyoko. "I've never been to the theater before daddy? Is it fun?" Mishi asked.

"Yes, it is sweetie you want something to snack on? We have about 10 minutes before the show stops and we can go get something to eat and drink" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd love to daddy" Mishi replied and the two got up and he let her ride on his shoulder.

"Be sure to bring us back something to eat too Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath replied, and wrapped her arm around Kyoko, Tatsumi nodded and left to get the refreshments leaving the two alone.

"Kyoko I'm so glad to have this new experience, I've gone to the Theater before but never with kids: this is such a fun new experience and I love being a mother" Esdeath explained.

"I'm glad you do; mommy I have a question?" Kyoko asked.

"Ask away" Esdeath replied.

"Mommy have you always wanted to be a mommy?" Kyoko asked.

"Yes I have; more than anything; you see I lost my family when I was as old as Mishi, I had to fend for myself I spent years having nobody I could call family, I had friends yes as well as people who'd be willing to sacrifice their lives for me and well some people who I loved but those never lasted mainly because they'd die from something stupid. But then a few months ago I met Tatsumi and we fell in love and got married and we have our first born child on the way; and now we have you; I've wanted so much to be a mother and to have a family, but more to be loved and love in return; I take care of the Emperor and his sisters like they're my own children and I know a lot about taking care of kids so don't worry I'll be the best mother I can be: I love you Kyoko and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and to make a better world for you to grow up in" Esdeath explained; Kyoko hugged her arm.

"Thank you for telling me; what happened though to your family?" Kyoko asked.

Esdeath frowned. "The same thing that happened to yours though different people did it; war took them from me; not just my father, my mothers, my siblings but my entire clan; I'm all that's left of a group of people that's been existence for thousands of years a people going back to the days when Humanity first rose to power and well in ages of legends; the Northerners took them from me and I survived driven to avenge them but also to restore my people I am the last Patras and I wanted more than anything else to have a family not just to replace the one I lost but to allow my clan to be restored, it may take centuries for my people to return to their former numbers but they will, I've gotten both of my goals now Kyoko; I've got a new family and I saw to it the Northerners paid for what they did to my people and family but not just to them to countless other people and families destroyed by their warlike culture" Esdeath explained.

"What did you do to them?" Kyoko asked.

"I made them pay, showed them what it's like to be on the receiving end of their warriors, but most importantly I broke them and freed those they enslaved; now the North is part of the Empire and their king who had no respect for me or anyone else is dead; the North will remember this but they'll never rise up again as long as there is a Patras to put them back in their place" Esdeath explained in as kid friendly a manner possible. "But don't worry I've got a new future to look forward to, I'll probably die in a way inglorious to my people from old age but because I'm the last and first of the New Patras Clan I'm going to have some new ways; starting with recording our history in writing, but also making sure we understand the truth; the strong die and the weak perish, but the strong should protect the weak and allow them to become strong; a child when born isn't strong but thru nurturing and training they become strong" Esdeath replied.

"Thank you for telling me mommy: mommy what are you going to name my little brother or sister" Kyoko asked and leaned against her belly to listen.

"I've been thinking on that but I've changed my mind on what I'll name my first daughter; but I'd rather tell your father about it" Esdeath explained.

"Should I start thinking about what name my baby when I have one someday?" Kyoko asked.

"Sure, it's always a good idea to think ahead" Esdeath replied.

"If it's a girl I'm naming her Aria after the mommy who save me and if it's a boy, I'm named him after daddy" Kyoko replied.

"I'm glad to hear that; but won't you name a baby after me?" Esdeath asked.

"Sure, I can do that; but I'd like to get Aria's name first because she did save me from dying" Kyoko replied.

"I can agree with that; anyway, look your father's back" Esdeath commented and Tatsumi and Mishi sat down with the prior carrying a good amount of popcorn, peanuts drinks and other refreshments which he handed out to everyone before sitting down. "Hey Tatsu-bunny remind to stop by the largest butcher shop, I need to acquire about half a ton of fine beef" Esdeath explained.

"What do you need all that for? You never struck me as person to acquire that much for a meal and we don't have any events planned in the near future" Tatsumi asked.

"It's for Yandral; he's gone thru the last delivery I had for him" Esdeath explained.

"Who's Yandral?" Tatsumi and the girls asked.

"My pet Wyvern" Esdeath explained to Tatsumi's shock and the awe of their daughters.

"When did you get a Wyvern?" Tatsumi asked.

"When I was 16 and during one of my campaigns; I found the egg and raised him up to his status he's not failed me yet; how do you think I got back to the Capital so quickly" Esdeath explained.

"I've got to see this for myself; I'll believe it when I see it" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright then I'll show him to you" Esdeath replied.

"Why the name Yandral though?" Tatsumi asked.

"I named him after my grandfather; Yandral the Glorious who himself was a Wyvern rider; he led my tribe to many great victories even sacking two Northern cities; he died when I was 2 in true Patras fashion, his wyvern was shot down by Northern artillery but despite that fall he survived, managed to win the battle in spite of his mortal wounds and lived long enough to pass the position of chief to my father; the Northerners never forgot him and they were all the more terrified when a Patras the last of our clan came northward leading an Imperial Army and riding a wyvern herself only in this case I learned from Grandfather's failure, he never armored his wyvern I did also he didn't have a Teigu I do; I've more than surpassed any of my ancestors" Esdeath explained, then began eating. "You know I've changed my mind about what I want to name our first daughter: I'd like to name her Sayo" Esdeath explained.

"Why that change?" Tatsumi asked not that he minded naming their daughter after his best friend and first love.

"Well Tatsumi Sayo is well- special; I think I've got feelings for her; not romantic but she's like the little sister I never had; and well she keeps me comfy when you aren't around" Esdeath replied.

"I'm ok with that, you know Esdeath Sayo loves you" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh I'm well aware of that fact; granted I love her but as a sister not as well a lover; granted though who am I not to reject her advances she loves you as much as me and you love her and me; it's a nice love triangle only all three members of it love each other" Esdeath explained.

"Mommy why does a girl love you; I thought girls liked boys?" Mishi asked.

"It's complicated there are some people in this world who prefer members of the same gender and love them; men who love other men, girls who love girls and those who love both men and women equally and of course woman and men that love each other. Personally, I don't care for people's preferences as far as I'm concerned there is someone for everyone out there and I'm not going stand in between them and their feelings. Overall though personally I only have true love for your father and that won't change my absolute love for him; granted though I'm still capable of loving other people but not like him; those who love him too in the same way as me well they're sisters to me and well I love kids because they are adorable and should be protected and loved and made stronger so they can survive the hardships of the world: girls the Strong survive and the Weak perish, but the Strong should and must protect the Weak so they may have the chance to become strong" Esdeath explained, the show began and all four of them were quite, the Twins were too but they had stayed out of the discussions.

The play proved quite entertaining; Tatsumi only had to criticisms, the first being the actress who played Esdeath was too short for the role and the fact they had opted for her to be a caricature of herself. "Man, that was a good play Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath commented as they left.

"Yeah it was, though actress who played you was too short for the part and they made you a caricature of yourself" Tatsumi commented.

"I've got no problem with either; Tatsumi try and find someone who both looks like me and is as tall as me; as for me looking like a character its satirical Tatsumi it's meant to make fun of me" Esdeath replied as she carried Mishi. "Anyway, let's go shopping; I've got things to get and then we'll head to the palace and introduce our new children to the court" Esdeath commented and they got into the carriage once more and rode to grand market.

"Mommy can I dye my hair blue so it looks like yours?" Mishi asked.

"When you're older; though I think it would be pricy to get hair-dye that matches my hair color" Esdeath replied to Mishi who was comfortable on her lap.

"Mommy can I get something snuggly?" Mishi asked.

"We'll see" Esdeath replied as the carriage came to a halt; the first thing they did was Esdeath went to the nearest butcher and placed an order for delivery; General Esdeath's orders before heading to a toy store that Mishi was pulling them to. Once inside they grabbed a shopping cart before Mishi took off running towards the plushies.

"Oh! Giant soft bear: Can I get it Mommy?" Mishi asked holding a large red furred mountain bear plushy, Esdeath and Tatsumi both nodded and she put it in and thus began a large toy buying spree. "OOH! Plushy Wyvern!" Mishi shouted and carried it around. "I'm going to name you Snuggles and I'm going to love and hug you and sleep with and always be your best friend!" Mishi commented, there was no way they weren't going to get that for her because of how cute she looked.

The cart was soon full and Tatsumi had to get another one and filled it up to; when it came time to check out they were about 2000 silver pieces poorer then when they came in and the covered baggage cart was nearly halfway full of toys, save one that Mishi carried around with her; Snuggles the Wyvern.

Shortly… The cart was nearly full after two more stops and Tatsumi had nearly exhausted the money he brought with him; fortunately, Esdeath still had 2/3rds of what she brought. The last place they stopped was stand that was selling some exotic fabrics and jewelry which Esdeath paid for the things that the girls liked before heading back to the carriage; Tatsumi noticed as they were about to get in the chanting of red-robed cultists who were singing blood hymns. "Girls get inside the carriage now and stay inside Meela Loris protect them" Tatsumi ordered seriously, the twins assumed a defensive position next to the carriage with halberds at the ready.

"Why daddy? I want to sing with a red robed people" Mishi commented.

"Those aren't good people their bad people coming to kill us; now get inside now and keep Snuggles and Kyoko safe" Tatsumi ordered, Mishi saluted and said "Yes Dad Yes!" and got in, Kyoko climbed in behind her and shut the door as the cultists arrived.

"In the name of Lord Valtor our father bellow we offer our souls and these here in your name may we serve you as well in our next life as we have in this one" a scarred cultist leader prayed and thru his robes aside along with the others; with them were more of the black armored demon soldiers Tatsumi had encountered before.

"Tatsumi don't trouble yourself with these weaklings I'll handle them it will only take about 30 seconds" Esdeath replied "Demon's Blood: Ice Guillotine!" Esdeath declared and large Ice blade shaped like the blade of Guillotine materialized in front of her, the cultists readied their weapons; "Angrif!" Esdeath declared the blade went flying towards the bunched-up cultists and demon soldiers who gaped as they were abruptly decapitated; Demons materialized from their slain vessels Esdeath simply drew her rapier and faster than the demons could react she danced gracefully killing each and every one of them.

"Wow" Tatsumi said and that was all he could say.

"I told you they were weak; like I said only 30 seconds" Esdeath explained.

"I never doubted you for a minute; let's amscray" Tatsumi replied and they both got into the carriage indicating to their driver to go.

"That didn't take you long" Kyoko commented.

"Mommy are you a magician? Tell me how you created that giant Ice blade!? Tell me more!" Mishi asked.

"I'll tell you later; when we are at home and as a bed time story" Esdeath explained. "Now off to the Palace" Esdeath commented.

Shortly at the Palace… "Now girls I want you two to be on your best behavior; this is the Royal Palace and we're going to meet the Emperor so stay focused and don't panic" Tatsumi explained.

"Don't worry this will ok the Emperor is a nice person; but there are some people in the palace that are bad so just stay close to us" Esdeath getting on her knees to pick up Mishi; they then walked in the door in typical Tatsumi fashion, by slamming it open and in the middle of a Council meeting. "Esdeath-nii!" Makoto shouted from his throne.

"Grand Marshal it is good to see you've returned and but not alone" Honest greeted, then licked his lips as he saw the two girls.

"Don't even think about it; Makoto these are my new adopted daughters Kyoko and Mishi" Tatsumi greeted holding Kyoko who needed his help because of her legs, Kyoko looked around the room and noted something or rather someone and screamed.

"YEEEGH! ITS HIM! THE BIG MEANIE WHO STICKED HIS PEE-PEE IN ME!" Kyoko replied pointing at Teketh; half of the room looked at her in confusion the other half looked at Teketh in disgust.

"General Tsunami is that true!?" Makoto asked disgusted by it.

"No, it's not" Teketh replied.

"IS TOO! He's lying I saw him do it! Him and bunch of others!" Mishi objected and Kyoko replied.

"You called me names and you killed my daddy and mommy!" Kyoko replied. "You did things to me that you shouldn't do to little kids and you did them to Mommy too and would have done them to Mishi!" Kyoko added.

"Your highness I believe that- "Honest began to stammer out.

"Yes, I did those things and you should be dead brat! You little twit you've no place in this world no weaklings have a place here!" Teketh ranted.

"ENOUGH!" Makoto yelled and began stomping to get everyone's attention.

"Makoto-nii he is a monster and deserves to die for his crimes!" Esdeath remarked.

"He's one of our best generals we can't afford to lose him! Especially when we are at war with two other nations and a massive rebellion!" Honest countered and a few of his councilors shouted in agreement while the rest of the council including a number of the neutral ones joined the outcry.

"Enough! I'm the Emperor and because this is a crime that General Tsunami admitted his guilt to, he'll be punished and because this is a crime the Minister of Justice will decide his punishment!" Makoto interceded. "General Budo! Rakshasa demons bind General Teketh!" Makoto ordered and the four demons and Budo after a brief struggle overpowered Teketh and secured him bringing him at Tatsumi's feet.

"Alright Teketh; You know she told me about what you did to her when I first adopted her and her sister; now while I'd love nothing more to cut your head off here and now that would do nothing but help the Revolutionary Army as the good Generals are few and far between, but I won't let you off without a punishment; in fact I'm going to make sure you're never able to do what you did to Kyoko to anyone else: as punishment for your crimes General Teketh I order you to be made a Eunuch! You'll also be branded with a mark on your head to let men and women alike know what kind of a monster you are!" Tatsumi decreed. "General Budo, take him to the Dungeons I'll oversee his castration myself!" Tatsumi replied.

"Meela, Loris keep an eye on Mishi and Kyoko Tatsumi and I have an appointment in the dungeons with General Teketh!" Esdeath explained. "Also, in addition to this I'll paying you a sergeants wage for the rest of your time in the Imperial Army and you'll receive no commission for when you leave!" Esdeath added as Teketh was dragged kicking and screaming by Tatsumi, Esdeath, Budo and the four demons Sten knocked him over the head to allow them to drag him off to the dungeons.

Momentarily… "YEAGH!" Teketh screamed as he was branded by Esdeath, at the moment he was undergoing extra torture and Esdeath was drawing it out before he was castrated.

"You want to cut it off? Or should I?" Tatsumi asked.

"You cut off the stones I'll take off the pillar then we'll burn what's left in front of him" Esdeath replied. "But first Teketh you'll have a seat" Esdeath explained and brought over a Judas chair and shoved him down on it the spike on it going up his rectum; Esdeath then cut off the foreskin around his loins to make sure cause excess pain, then she branded his loins to extreme pain before Tatsumi went over to rack of menacing pincers.

"Which one do you think will be do the best for this" Tatsumi asked, Esdeath simply grabbed the alligator tongs which clamped hard on Teketh's pillar and yanked it painfully out to squeals from Teketh, Tatsumi then removed the balls one at a time dragging out the pain; then came the brand cauterizing the injury. "There Teketh; you'll NEVER do what you did to Kyoko to anyone ever again; you know I really wanted to kill you but Honest did make a valid point the Revolutionary Army is a big threat to Empire long term and as such you'll live but you'll live with the weight of your crimes: just so you know I already killed the other soldiers who raped my daughter; you'll die at my hands one day; but for now you'll live: Esdeath do you think he's been punished enough?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"No. There is still one more thing; Tatsumi you've had your vengeance against him but I haven't: now I'll have mine; a good warrior functions with what he or she has; for example a warrior may not need both eyes to be an amazing warrior; as such I think you only need one eye Teketh" Esdeath replied and grabbed a corkscrew and pulled out Teketh's left eye to shrieks. "Not so much the superior warrior now: personally there are other things I'd love to do; but you need to be at a decent potential; however I think about 30 lashes with the cat-o-nine-tails will be enough to satisfy me" Esdeath added; then strapped him down and proceeded to whip him.

Later that day Teketh steamed having dawn an eyepatch. "TATSUMI! YOU WILL PAY! I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE! AND I'LL ONLY BE SATISFIED WHEN YOU AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE HAS BEEN BROKEN ON A WHEEL!" Teketh swore; the servents outside his room winced hearing that, the door was knocked on and Honest walked in.

"I'm not surprised to see you so angry" Honest replied.

"What do you want Minister?" Teketh asked annoyed.

"To make you an offer; considering your state of points how does your loyalty stand to the Emperor" Honest asked.

"That boy is no longer a puppet Minister at least not yours; he's become a puppet of that despicable upstart peasant Tatsumi and his whore Esdeath; to think I considered him possible to be a proper ruler who served society proper: no more; you interceded on my behalf and serve you now Minister fully; consider this a formal alliance" Teketh replied.

"Indeed; usually I'd seal the deal with one of my daughters but your current situation makes that a moot point; or does it I think you can see I've got something on offer" Honest replied.

"On offer?! Even with your power I doubt you can restore my manhood from its state; the only thing that cheers me is that with all the seed I put in that girl she'll give birth to a proper child hopefully a son! Why though do you mock me with offers of restored loins!?" Teketh replied.

"I've got my means; let's just say I'm willing to offer you a deal beyond your wildest dreams" Honest replied and pulled a medallion out of his pocket the medallion bore the Mark of Valtor. "Take this; I think you'll find it quite interesting" Honest explained.

Teketh looked at it. "I've seen this symbol before; one of my subordinates worships it and you worship it too?" Teketh asked.

"That would be an understatement so what do you think would you be interested the offer and join my inner circle?" Honest replied.

"I'll take it; but remember Honest, I only see the strong as fit; show any weakness and I'll see to it you regret it" Teketh replied, Honest smirked showing off his teeth.

"You won't regret accepting my offer; Lord Valtor offers gifts beyond your wildest dream; come and follow me we have much to do" Honest replied and led him off. "Weakness? Me weak? Teketh you have no idea how strong I am; I may present myself as a jolly fat man; but that fat is muscle and everything about me anyone sees is a lie only I know the truth and come the day you betray me Teketh I'll show you who is truly weak" Honest thought, his stomach grumbled. "General I have a task for you; for now, resume your training of your elite forces; I'll have a field test for them once they are ready in the meantime I must tend to my hunger and have lunch" Honest explained.

"Field test?" Teketh replied.

"The Duke of Caltarnath in the Western Kingdoms is a skilled military strategist; his army has won a number of victories; I want him dead; if the Elite Seven are master assassin he will die and in the resulting confusion your military prowess will destroy his army. After that I want you to eliminate the Revolutionary army forces in the Kagme province which works with the Duke's army; I hear tale that they are led by a Woman of astonishing beauty of a kind that is the perfect mixture of western and imperial blood General Nymeria Canellia, bring her to alive and unspoiled I will see to her punishment personally" Honest explained.

"With pleasure Minister; the training has borne fruit and I have already selected the first of three Elite Seven soldiers; they will kill the Duke and capture the General" Teketh replied and smirked; the two went there separate ways and Honest arrived in his office to note a squint eyed old man the familiar face of his personal torturer and kidnapper Youkan. "Minister I've news I found him" Youkan replied.

"Him?" Honest asked and had to remember what it was he ordered Youkan to do when he last give him an order; Youkan was his top enforcer and if Honest wanted a job done right and he'd send Youkan to do it; the old man was quite deceptive and very reliable in his chief jobs which were extracting information, torturing Honest's captured rivals and most importantly kidnapping children to suit his sick addictions to which the old man had to restrain himself from spoiling Honest's prey though Honest rewarded him decently.

"The one you requested, I scoured the Capital and the adjacent provinces as you ordered; the boy is exactly what you wanted" Youkan explained and Honest remembered and smiled.

"Excellent Youkan I remember now; you've done well now I'll see to your reward later but let's just say you've earned it" Honest explained "I must see this for myself come" Honest ordered the old man followed him to Honest's private dungeon where chained to a pole blindfolded was a 12-year old boy, naked but he was a perfect fit. "Remove the Blindfold" Honest ordered and Youkan did so the boy was confused.

"Where am I? Who are you and where are my clothes?!" The boy asked, Honest noted he was the exact image.

"Excellent work Youkan you are dismissed" Honest ordered and the old man left him alone with the boy. "Consider yourself lucky; I've a use for you a good decoy is so hard to find these days; you know you're a spitting image of him; you'll fit my plans perfectly; little Emperor" Honest replied.

"Emperor? I'm Kobi, what do you mean by that who are you?" Kobi stammered scared.

"You even sound like him too, all the better; your name is Kobi no more you are now Makoto; you will serve as my decoy when the time comes but for now you are my plaything and you will be fun to play with" Honest replied and removed his clothes.

"What? No!" Kobi replied too late; Honest smirked and laughed.

"Now suck on this" Honest replied, what happened next was so vile I won't put to print only to say that this was one of the reasons Honest was so vile, soon however Kobi was unconscious and Honest smirked. "You were fun to play with; if only I could play with the real article but for now the decoy will do; once I've broken him and made him submissive the time will come to replace my puppet with one fully under my control" Honest commented to himself and cackled.

Later that Night… Jamo was hunting; the speedy warrior darted thru the forest and countryside in search of his prey; one specific person. "Gin: I'll find you" Jamo thought to himself then noted a pool under the moonlight; where three young women were taking a late night bath before retiring; it was quick and he immobilized all three before forcing himself on all of them they screamed in terror and pleasure; he then laid them flat and secured them to a tree. "You three were fun; you'll make excellent bride" Jamo commented and drew a knife and cut open his palm he then marked all three of them. "Now to secure myself a place to stay and to keep you three secure" Jamo commented then went off leaving the three young women scared.

Gin was out for a late-night stroll as she came upon the scene; all three women naked and afraid and tied to trees. "Shit" she thought to herself as she saw the scene and even more so when she saw the familiar blood marks. Gin drew her dagger and cut down the ropes freeing all three women. "Quick follow me: I know a safe place" Gin replied and led them off to Night Raid HQ to the surprise of Najenda at their state of appearance.

Shortly… "Are you sure?" Najenda asked.

"Positive; their story backs it up: I hoped never to encounter that monster again; but he's back and doing his sick things again: We have to do something" Gin explained.

"I'm aware of that: Gin I want you Tatsumi, Tsukushi, Akame, Bulat, Naomi and Aria to deal with him; he's way too serious a threat to be ignored; you've got firsthand knowledge of this monster and I want you to help the team to take him down" Najenda replied.

"Alright; but Tatsumi and Aria are in town at their mansion" Gin replied.

"Well take an Air Manta and get them; I'm sure Tatsumi won't pass up a shot to hunt down a rapist monster" Najenda replied, Gin smiled at that.

Shortly… Tatsumi was asleep with Henrietta and Aria lying next to him in their night gowns and Cosmina on top of him mumbling Tatsu-kitty in her sleep and having serious wet dreams. Tatsumi himself was having a pleasant dream this time it was one of him in a peaceful world with the war won to his surprise though he was Emperor in his dream which was something that clued him immediately he was dreaming; however he was allowing himself to enjoy the dream as he played with his children in it.

The door to his room entered and Gin walked in with Akame at her side. "I know exactly how to wake them up" Akame commented then stepped up to the bed and yelled "MURAMASE!" which woke all four of them up and caused them to fall out in a pile.

"Akame what the hell?" Tatsumi commented, Henrietta mumbled something about that it was too early in the morning mother.

"Mission Tatsumi: we have a target and we must eliminate" Akame explained. Gin looked at Tatsumi with genuine concern, Tatsumi noted she had some fear in her eyes.

"Tatsumi he's back" Gin explained, Tatsumi now was fully alert and ready.

"Who?" Henrietta remarked.

"The man who- who did horrible things to me and my friend 3 years ago" Gin explained.

"Good a scumbag to kill: I'll get my toys and my flamethrower" Henrietta replied and stepped out to change.

"Who's she?" Gin asked.

"My best Friend apart from Seryu; we share similar interests though she's more hot-headed then me" Aria explained.

"I'm coming with you too" Cosmina replied, Akame shrugged as she found Cosmina irritating but nodded in agreement.

Shortly… Tatsumi had put the team together and they were ready for action. "We'll take this scumbag alive: there is one person who deserves to kill him and I'd like to see him suffer and let her kill him" Tatsumi explained, Gin nodded knowing who he was referring to, though not her.

"Ok what is the strategy?" Henrietta asked.

"The plan is rather simple we'll split up Gin he's looking for you and so you'll be the bait, once he shows up, we'll gang up on him and knock him out" Aria replied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? Aria I don't want to put Gin thru this if she doesn't want to" Tatsumi replied.

"No its ok: I've got to face him otherwise I'll never get over this; however one request I must face him in battle don't intervene until he's either beaten or I get overwhelmed" Gin replied, Everyone was stone faced by this; but Gin simply nodded and they then divided their group into groups of three: Tatsumi went with Akame and Tsukushi, Aria went with Henrietta and Cosmina leaving Gin with Bulat and Naomi.

Shortly… "I really hate going out in the woods at night; I have bad memories of these woods" Naomi commented.

"Yeah I don't like it either but we need to keep pressing on" Bulat replied having dawned Incursio he was at the head of their triangle formation; it was designed to avoid any flanking. In the trees above Jamo was moving from tree to tree in anger that someone had freed his captives and as such he was looking for them. Jamo stopped as he looked into a clearing spotting the three patrolling Night Raid assassins before readying his spear; the Teigu Islawandi. "Islawandi: Speed of Cheetah" Jamo declared and dashed at rapid speed and jumped in front of them, he looked and saw Gin.

"It's him!" Gin shouted; Bulat and Naomi ran off leaving her alone.

"Interesting to know Night Raid isn't as loyal to one another as I thought; here we are Gin you and me alone; You're alone and outmatched I've gained Teigu and trained under General Tsunami's Elite training regiments; I've taken my squad and crushed uprisings across the Southlands and I've been looking for you for a long time: now where is your friend I'd like her back too" Jamo greeted.

"Kurome isn't here; when me and other Elite Seven members deserted she stayed loyal to the Empire; as for my groups loyalty well think what you will, one things for sure though I will NEVER be your slave again without a fight also you're not the only one with Teigu here" Gin retorted. "Tempestria: Wind Speed!" Gin declared and dashed towards Jamo who matched her speed and began a duel. (Song begin: Believer by Imagine Dragons)

"Islawandi: Strength of the Rhino!" Jamo declared and countered with his spear, the Teigu spear glinted with a golden alloy and red stones however it wasn't a traditional spear but an Iwisa Spear which is a cross between a sword and spear that is a short spear but allowed for swifter attacks then a standard spear, the sword function allowing him to parry Gin's Katana slices and deliver powerful counters as the ability he just used enhanced his strength leaving Gin on the defensive.

"Is that all you've got? Please my friend's grandmother fought better then you" Gin replied referencing Barbara Oarburgh, that pissed him off Gin dodged and weaved countering missed strikes and hitting back with powerful blows that reversed the fight. "Tempestria: Lightning blade" Gin declared and the blade hissed as electrical energy surged down it enhancing the blade's speed and allowing Gin to continue an onslaught.

"No more play time I wonder how good you'll fight when I use my trump card! Islawandi: Shaka's Stampede!" Jamo replied and declared, his body now surged with superhuman speed and strength in addition to his spear grew to twice its normal length resulting in Gin having to use her agility to the best of her ability to avoid getting disarmed or impaled by the rapid strikes; Gin then danced around the attacks and struck hard a blow across the face which broke Jamo's war mask revealing his face; he had changed since she last saw him; his hair was short and orderly and a fresh bloody gash was across his face but she recognized those greedy eyes from all those years ago and kept up the fight. To the side of the battle the other Night Raid members were closing in on every side waiting to make their move; Gin at the moment was evenly matched but not overwhelmed both fighters fighting at superhuman speeds.

Eventually however Jamo and Gin began tiring, but Jamo being the older man who was in his late 30s was losing stamina faster than the much younger Gin who managed to slip pass his guard and slice him across the right eye blinding him and causing him to drop to ground in pain and his Teigu to fly from his hand and embed itself in a tree.

(Song End)

Bulat stepped up picked Jamo up and banged him against a nearby tree until he was knocked out before removing Incursio. "Well he's out, what are you going to do with him now?" Bulat asked.

"We'll take him to Jaeger HQ then he'll face a terrible fate" Cosmina commented.

The next morning… Jamo woke up shackled to a rack. "What the" Jamo mumbled and noted he was locked up in a cell, a door opened and in walked a Red-head and blonde and one towering woman that Jamo recognized immediately along with Tatsumi who was casually walking into the room.

"Well look who's awake "Aria remarked.

"General Esdeath! Arrest them they're Night Raid!" Jamo shouted out.

"I'm well aware of that fact and you are in no position to give me orders; as you can see the official report is that you are dead in action killed by a Night Raid assassin during a mission; General Teketh was notified by my informants of this news and well you're dead; officially not just yet; you can see Night Raid and I well we share the same goals; wiping out scum like you from the Empire and insuring the Empire is led by the Emperor not corrupt politicians like Honest or Warlords like Teketh Tsunami; however as it stands Night Raid is not here all of us are Jaegers; you are in for a load of pain before you die: you've raped many women, a number of which were soldiers under my command in the Southern Campaign; I would've have killed you years ago but you eluded my soldiers and infiltrated my army under Teketh's command; and for what you've done you will burn in Hell but first you will see what Hell has on offer; by the way I'm rather good at this as are these two sweet girls who enjoy it even more than I do; for the moment they will play with you; then me; and once there isn't much left but a breathing husk Kurome will execute you" Esdeath explained and left Tatsumi along with Aria and Henrietta to begin their work.

Both girls dawned demonic expressions while Tatsumi lit a brazier for Henrietta to heat her tools in. Aria had first dibs and began by water-boarding him, intently she then brought up a vile of rather nasty things. "This is a little concoction my mother and I made for rapists like you; it will rot your balls right off" Aria explained and injected it into his loins. "It will take a few minutes but in the meantime it's time for my favorite pass time: yanking teeth; Henrietta are those tongs hot and ready?" Aria asked.

"Both sets are hot and ready Aria; lets yank this fucker's teeth out" Henrietta replied handing Aria a set of tongs they tapped the sets together and began pulling teeth. Jamo had to pounder what was worse, his teeth being yanked, the fact that his gums where been seared with hot metal or the fact that his groin was tightening up and starting wither. Tatsumi left and brought in a bottle of wine.

"I thought we'd celebrate our victory girls and well better way to torture him" Tatsumi explained.

"How exactly?" Henrietta asked curious to why Tatsumi was filling goblets with wine.

Aria laughed and looked at her. "Henrietta what Tatsumi's implying is that we are in laymen's term going to drink the wine and have sex in front of him" Aria explained then picked up an exotic torture device and put it above Jamo's face then filled it with water that began to drip slowly; Aria then picked up a metal pair shaped implement and shoved it in his mouth forcing it to stay open. "I call this a the silent scream; your see this a Water Torture device it will slowly drop water down on your face all the while you have the Pear of pain in your mouth; as much as you may want to scream you won't be able to; you'll just have to look up and feel it as the water drip and man parts rot off; now enjoy the show" Aria replied and move his head up a bit and put a metal pincer behind it. "Tatsumi and my friend and I will be having fun; that you can't join in" Aria explained.

Henrietta came over with what was a clearly a welding torch. "I don't think you like the tight shackles what you need is well them to be warm" Henrietta commented and heated up the shackled to orange hot using the torch to more pained noises. Then she, Tatsumi and Aria toasted and downed the entire bottle of champagne between the three of them before striping nude and engaging in various acts of fornication to the shock of Jamo who tried to close his eye but Henrietta came over and cut off the eyelids so he had to watch. An hour later and 2 dozen methods of torture later Esdeath walked into the room with Kurome. "Well there isn't much left of him beside his face now is there" Esdeath commented.

"That's him though: I'd recognize that ugly mug anywhere; when do I get to kill him?" Kurome asked.

"Only after I've broken him" Esdeath explained and began said breaking; Esdeath used every single method humanity could ever devise and a couple she invented herself; including freezing his jaw open and driving out his remaining eye with Ice knife, then alternating his body temperature to make it seem like he was colder before Henrietta 'warmed him back up' with a firebrand engraving her initials into him, Esdeath also froze and unfroze his blood causing him to pass between being alive and dead; she then as a final blow to all the other tortures she inflicted wrote her name in his chest and yanked out his tongue.

"Kurome he's yours now" Esdeath replied, the cold eyed Kurome nodded and pulled a dagger, the blade was a standard issue military dagger only it aged.

"I stole this weapon and killed my first person with it; I killed my father with this blade and I've killed every person who ever abused, mistreated or took advantage of me: you however they all shared one thing in common I killed them all quick; you however will have a slow death it's only fitting for a man who kidnapped me then abused and raped me and my friend; you've done too many evil deeds to deserve a quick death" Kurome explained and disemboweled him leaving his guts hanging out. "You'll die in your own filth; come let's leave this monster to his fate" Kurome explained and the did leave him; Jamo's last minutes alive were spent listening to the water dripping and losing control of his bodily functions, in addition to this he had been injected with a high dose of Kurome's drugs which meant he was suffering internal body damage, Seryu watched him die from the shadows then fed his remains to Koro.

Later that day… Tatsumi relaxed in the springs once again; this time on a moonlit night; nice and serene with all three moons being full and he could see the lovely green jungles on Eve, the temperate plains and oceans of Adam and the lovely warm grasslands on Able in full display. "Those moons are lovely" a voice commented, Tatsumi woke form his daze to see Gin naked and in the water. "Tatsumi you think there is life on our moons?" Gin commented.

"Yep; but whatever lives on it I'll never probably see it; and honestly let it stay there safe from the conflicts and hardships of Eden; oh Eden a paradise world but you beauty has been marred and staining by the sword and ravaged by lies and primordial evils with great civilizations rising and falling into ruin" Tatsumi commented poetically.

"You never struck me as the poetic type Tatsumi" Gin replied as she swam next to him.

"It's a hobby; one of many possible career paths after the war" Tatsumi commented, Gin wrapped her arm around him.

"You ever given thought to what may happen after this war?" Gin replied.

"Nope other then I know that good will win in the end because evil tends to be stupid; Honest may have done all he could to get into power but he can only do so much to stay in power plus when it comes to being a leader he's failed miserably; I've read the history books in my spare time and he's pursued policies that are doomed to failure; as to whether someone as evil as him ever existed before him; I don't think in recorded history" Tatsumi commented.

"Well I hope we win; I also hope we survive this war; but we know a happy ending is too perfect to have" Gin replied.

"Well just because it's too perfect to have doesn't mean we should strive to achieve it; and so far, my story has had more good parts then bad; and over all I've not lost those who I've fought beside because we are the best at what we do" Tatsumi replied.

"Speaking of being the best; Thank you Tatsumi" Gin remarked.

"For helping you face your past; it's nothing I wouldn't do for a friend; I'll always help me friends get stronger because the stronger we are the less likely we are to die" Tatsumi explained.

"Not just that; but for allow Kurome to have her justice; and for wellbeing the friend she needs; I love you Tatsumi and now I'm not afraid of it anymore; make love to me Tatsumi" Gin explained and kissed him; Tatsumi kissed back pulling her in front of him; he entered her under the water to moans of joy from Gin. "Oh, you're so big!" Gin commented.

"Do you want to lead or do want me to" Tatsumi asked.

"I've wanted to have control of this for a long time; I'll lead but I don't know much" Gin replied and kissed Tatsumi who she indicated to her breasts; the ample DD-cups were equivalent to Najenda and Akame's breasts.

Tatsumi licked the areola of her left nipple tracing it in circles before stimulated the actual nipple; he kept doing this to get her ready before taking the nipple in his mouth and beginning to drink, as he thrusted slowly and gently into Gin who moaned cute moans stretched and wrapped her left arm around his neck and ran her right hand's fingers thru his soft brown hair. She then moved her left arm down and held his left buttock while smiling looking at the moons then back to Tatsumi who stopped drinking and started the process over again with her right nipple; licking the areola then the tops before stopping to make out with Gin before kissing down her neck and drinking from right breast. "Oh Tatsumi-kun, you're like a suckling babe at the moment; well not quite your something different altogether" Gin moaned and thought to herself the contrast, Tatsumi was no Jamo not even remotely: Jamo was forceful and rough on her never letting her lead and never doing it to her consensually, while Tatsumi was the exact opposite; loving, gentle and easy paced overall she wondered what she was afraid of; Tatsumi's style left plenty of room for full freedom and was completely kind in fact she completely decided to stop comparing the two and convinced herself that Tatsumi was the only man to ever and who would ever know her in this way.

Tatsumi filled her with his seed and let Gin decided what to do next; what she wanted to do in spite of her love for the setting was to take this to her room.

Shortly… "Tatsumi-kun" Gin moaned as Tatsumi thrusted into doggy style, anally at first but after doing that for ten minutes and filling it he was now back in her warm pussy where Gin enjoyed it.  
"Cumming!" Tatsumi moaned and released filling her womb and striking home. "So, what do you want do next?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tsukushi always brags about how much she loves using her boobs to massage your penis so I'd like to try it, also Cornelia said she enjoyed it blowing it so I'm going to try that too" Gin replied, Tatsumi laid down, Gin started with the blowjob; which she had a deal of experience with; while Jamo had raped her often he had taught her how to use the positions properly and with skill so it allowed her to stimulate Tatsumi with all the expertise of Cosmina and Chelsea combined; putting her on par with them but not better then Sayo who was a master at this. Tatsumi moaned as she did this laying against the pillow of the bed while Gin preformed her best on him; overall with joy.

Gin's door opened and into it walked the other Elite Seven girls minus Kurome. "Well now its official" Cornelia remarked as she disrobed along with the others and locked the door.

"Yes; Tatsumi consider yourself our honorary sixth member" Tsukushi commented.

"Seventh, I'm not going to leave Kurome out of the group I'm going to try my best to bring her back to where she belongs with her family; and I hope and pray that Dorothea's research is successful" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then I'll give you some pointers with how to act around her; tomorrow though" Akame replied.

"Yep for tonight though; Tatsumi you'll get the ultimate treatment Girls let's get him" Poney commented and all four of them completely naked joined in as Tatsumi experienced a steamy elite sevensome; passing out with all five girls holding him and Gin on top.

Meanwhile in the Capital… "Tatsumi-kun" Kurome moaned fingering herself. "Tomorrow we start dating; I don't know why I hated you to begin with but now that I know you, you aren't such a bad guy; thank you Tatsumi wherever you are" Kurome said herself. "I wonder what it would be like if me him and Akame had a threesome that would amazing; too bad my sister and I are on opposing sides; hell though the way things have been going though I wouldn't give up a hope of that happening; if only she could come around to my way of thinking" Kurome thought then smiled, tempting as it was she'd have to see for herself, she also heard thru the wall next to her and heard the moans of "Tatsumi"

"Looks like I'll have to make that a double date; Doya needs some loving" Kurome thought. "Well I'll cross that bridge when we get there.

 **AN: 30,000 viewers and over 150 reviews, plus this is a longest Akame Ga Kill Fanfic on the site: Thank you all for your support and offer suggestions for what you guys want to see next.**


	44. Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Operation Pink Princess

Melitine, a small chapel three days after the death of Jamo… Mine had her eyes closed as she let Chelsea, Seryu, and Sheele do their best to make sure that she looked as good as possible with her make up; she wore a lovely all pink gown her hair was let down and she wore a laurel of roses in her hair; her shoes were soft padded pink pumps which were comfortable to wear and walk in. At the moment Chelsea was handling her cosmetics, Sheele was combing her hair to make as neat and radiant as possible, while Seryu painted her fingernails and gave her a maniquere; overall at the moment Mine was pink princess in terms of her attire and of radiance. "This is the day I've been waiting for; I've wanted so much to marry Tatsumi from when I first met him and now, we're going to go thru with it. This is exactly what I wanted when I ran away from home; my parents won't be paying him a dowry but I don't need it; I've spent the last two years fending for myself and before that I was always able to find for myself; unlike my little sisters who wouldn't last a day on their own" Mine thought and smirked. "Yep Mine Canellia you've proven you're the best your family has; regardless about what your parents think fuck what they think; I'm not living in anyone's shadow anymore" Mine thought and smirked; Chelsea giggled as she did this then applied lipstick before adding more blush and then the eyeshadow.

Momentarily they were finished. "There Mine we're done you can open your eyes now" Sheele explained, Mine opened them.

"Here what do you think?" Seryu added handing her a mirrior.

"Wow: you all did an amazing job; I look absolutely gorgeous: way better then if I did this myself" Mine remarked looking at her reflection; pink blush, pink eyeshadow, and pink lipstick, as well as a pink symbol of Unity from the Western Kingdom of Kadarea where Mine's mother came from; that symbol was that of two hearts merged as one upside-down. "Yes, eat your heart out now Big Sis if only you could see me like this now" Mine thought to herself smirking again. "You know you all look great in your dresses too; Ready Chelsea?" Mine asked.

"I'm more then ready; been wanting to do this for a month now and finally we're getting it out of the way; if only my Grandma and Grandpa could have lived to see this day" Chelsea replied, she too wore a wedding gown, it was red as roses and luxurious though not as bright as Mine's as the red was a darker shade of red; when Mine had made the wedding annoncement Chelsea opted to join in; Mine has been hesistant against this but when Tatsumi had stated they could have two sepperate ceremonies one after the other she was ok with it; granted she had been worried the other Oarburgh sisters would join in on it; but Merraid and Gil were holding off on their marriage to Tatsumi till they could get the priors other lovers involved, Taeko wasn't ready to tie the knot just yet, and the twins well they were in the camp of doing that on their own time which meant with them specifically.

"Good well lets get my wedding done first and you can have your's after; side note we will be having sepperate honeymoons with him" Mine replied, Chelsea shrugged noted that Mine was focused on it being her big day rather then Chelsea's which granted she would've focused on Mine too but still the fact that Mine was going out of her way at every time she got to remind people of how it was "Her big day" made Chelsea annoyed and had a strong desire to smack Mine but she surpressed both of those things.

"Well then I'll let you dibs" Chelsea added. "You really seem over eager for this" Chelsea replied.

"Of course I am; this is such a big day for me, I'm finally going to marry for love and to the man I love and chose to love and who loves me in return; forget the fact I'm part of a harem I'm just you know interested in f- well you know him and everything he can do for me and I for him" Mine replied stopping herself from swearing; she had decided that enough was enough with the swear jar and had decided to refrain causally swearing and well working on stopping all together; the fact that she recently found out about her pregnancy made this all the more important. "I do love to swear when I get the oppurunity to; it's a nice way of showing my resentment for authority and venting my angerstreaks" Mine thought to herself.

The time came for the ceremony; Tatsumi yawned as it had been a short night for him the previous one, manly because of two things; a Night Raid mission and on top of it a steamy foursome with Martha and Twins afterwords as a celebration; the prior of which was enjoying the relationship dearly and the latter well were just along for the ride though they did love him. "Stay awake bud" Lubbock commented.

"I'm attempting to; man Meela and Loris had so much energy and we spent three hours last night before passing out" Tatsumi replied; Lubbock laughed then smiled at Yami who was sitting in the front row with Naomi and Lila, the latter of which held Tatsumi Jr. in hand hugged him, Yami smiled back.

Then the music began as Mine entered the room, Mishi flung flowers to her front as Seryu and Sheele held her coat-tails. "Man, I expected her to wear Pink but that much pink well I should be shocked but I'm not at all" Tatsumi thought made sure he was standing up straight and watched her walk right up to him. "You look beautiful" Tatsumi complemented.

"I'm glad you think so" Mine replied and held his hand.

Then came the ceremony which Mine had the Priest rush to part where she and Tatsumi kissed and the Priest complied; Mine then surprised Tatsumi by making out with him, tongue and all, in front of the entire crowd which gasped in surprise by the brazen kiss and again when Tatsumi returned it.

"Good lips; and that tongue OH! I love his tongue and all the things he can do with it" Mine thought as she made out. Tatsumi blushed and she kept doing this for a minute before they broke the kiss to applause from the audience, Mine then did something she rarely did and that was smile; she then clung to Tatsumi's arm.

"You know Mine I love you with your hair let down" Tatsumi complemented, Mine giggled.

"I'm glad to hear you say that; for once I don't have to worry about my hair" Mine replied.

After that the next half-hour was spend with Chelsea's marriage to Tatsumi which was a bit more of a humble ceremony and when it came time for the two to kiss Chelsea gave a more chaste loving kiss. The rest of the day Tatsumi spent with Mine as Chelsea wanted to give those two-space given how important the day was for Mine.

That Evening… Tatsumi and Mine were having a stroll as the suns were setting, they stopped at a small café to chat. "This has been a wonderful day" Mine commented.

"I'll say; it has been one of those days where everything worked out just fine and to make it better, I didn't have to kill any hired killers" Tatsumi replied, Mine laughed.

"Same feeling here too; oh Tatsumi, this is a day I've been waiting for my whole life since I was old enough to fall in love to be able to marry to the man of my dreams who loves me and I love and whom I married of my own free-will" Mine commented. "This day is the best day of my life" Mine replied and leaned on Tatsumi. A cute waitress that Tatsumi recognized as being Clair came over to ask for their choice of drinks and hand them menus.

"Hey Clair; how have you been since well the incident" Tatsumi asked, Clair smiled.

"Way better; I got made manager here" Clair replied.

"And you still take orders?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yep; especially if the man who saved me from that monster Enshin shows up; in fact, I'll give you a discount" Clair replied and blushed; Mine was too focused on leaning on Tatsumi's head to notice. "So what can I get you two?" Clair asked.

Mine came to attention. "For me champagne to celebrate our wedding" Mine replied.

"No you won't I've had this same talk with Leone, your pregnant Mine something less strong please?" Tatsumi replied, he then rubbed Mine's belly with his right hand.

"Fine, right; nearly forgot; Grape Soda if you have any; if not I'll just take the sweetest soft drink you have" Mine corrected, Clair nodded.

"We certainly do have some and you Tatsumi?" Clair asked.

"Some Lemon-lime Soda if you have any" Tatsumi replied.

"Will do: I'll let you two decide on your food" Clair replied and went inside.

Mine held the right hand of Tatsumi which continued rubbing her belly. "Thanks, Tatsumi; saving our baby's bacon like that; that would have been dumb of me; besides you know I can't hold my liquor anyway" Mine thanked and smiled. "You know I'm even more happy to be reminded of our child; though I've already decided that if the baby is a girl, we are naming her Sheele" Mine added.

"No problems there I suck with coming up with names" Tatsumi replied, she laughed.

"Yet another reason to love you Tatsumi; that great sense of humor you have" Mine commented.

"So, Mine how about we talk" Tatsumi replied, Clair came and handed them their drinks then took their orders.

"About what exactly? If it's about me well that's risky territory you're walking on" Mine replied.

"It's not like that at all; more you know about ourselves; Mine I'd like to know what is it you love the most about me" Tatsumi replied.

"Well- "Mine started then stopped herself; she had been wanting to say fucking him but she had to restrain herself from saying that considering Tatsumi might take that the wrong way; nope what he wanted from her was her reasons to love him that didn't involve his physical features. "The fact that you have got to be one of the most enthusiastic and stubborn men I've ever met; arguably the most; plus there is the fact that you well never acted remotely perverted around anyone; whether it was me or Sheele or Aria or really anyone; you're a gentlemen and a guy who follows his conscience more than his brain; you don't like killing and well we share that in common; and well you're a free-spirit and that's something I've always wanted" Mine explained.

"I see: Mine what do you mean by that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well, that's a long story; but I can summarize that; my full name is Mine Shatirra Canellia of the house Canellia; a prestigious merchant family that's well quite influential and wealthiest one in the Western half of the Empire; heck whenever I see Aria's mansion I think that it's just one of my parents' minor estates; trust me my family makes the Grundels look modestly wealthy by comparison" Mine explained.

"Wait you're parents are rich and you-"Tatsumi interrupted.

"Yes they are and no being the second-born child of a noble family isn't at all like it's cracked up to be; Aria is lucky that she is an only child well was born one; I had to be born the second of seven siblings and well was seven my Mother's still capable of having kids and my dad has three other wives, four mistresses and six concubines. But still you get the picture big family. Even though I was the second born child I didn't get much attention at all from my parents beyond my father teaching me practical skills for just in case I ever found myself in a situation, no all the focus, the love and the attention was given to my big sis Nymeria" Mine explained. "Nymeria; oh, how I both love and hate my sister; compared to her I'm plain in terms of beauty, she's got the perfect pink hair that's even more illustrious then my own, my father's purple eyes, and a bust that puts my boobs to shame hell they even rival Esdeath's. And in addition to her looks she a prodigy, everything I can do she does better except for two things; she's nowhere near as good a sniper as me and secondly, I've got a way better rump then hers. But that just doesn't make things fair; she's a genius, strong, beautiful, adaptive; and on top of that a formidable fighter; and the icing on the cake a duel-Teigu user which is good thing I don't think I'd ever be able to pull off using two Teigus; I have enough trouble with Pumpkin" Mine continued. "So you will probably wonder what brought me here; well there is the fact that despite our family wealth there are no shortage of people who have disdain for us do to their belief in 'pure-blood' whatever the fuck that means; I really stopped trying to understand racists years ago. But in addition to that stigma comes the drama that comes with being a second born daughter in a family which despite our cultural differences and wellbeing a bit more liberal minded then the other noble families my parents are still nobles; they have power and they will keep it by whatever means they have to" Mine explained. "The straw that caused me to leave was when my parents told me I was to be married to business partner of my father's twice my age and ugly as sin, granted a good person, but still not remotely the sort of person I wanted remotely to marry especially since my Big Sis had the freedom as the heir to our family's fortune and enterprises to marry whomever she felt like doing so which in her opinion was a guy who suited her exacting standards which she's never tell me because that 'wasn't my business.' Given the choice of marrying against my will and running away I took the latter option and at the age of 16 ran away just as the Revolutionary Army began forming; I essentially operated as a mercenary for the next 5 months before a job went wrong; the person I ended up working for was a Night Raid target and thru some careful negotiation I joined the group; got Pumpkin out of the deal once it bounded with me" Mine explained. "Since then well I've built up a rep, no wanted poster because people don't ever see me because I'm a good distance away; but everything I've hit was a kill; and that wasn't just with Pumpkin" Mine concluded.

"Wow that's an amazing past" Tatsumi commented.

"You don't even know the half of it; anything else you want to ask?" Mine replied.

"What's with I don't know the profanity? I rarely swear Mine yet you can't go a day without it" Tatsumi asked.

"That's a simple case of me acting out; my parents always were trying to have me be a girly girl; granted it worked to some extent pink being my favorite color but I really hated that they wanted me to hold my tongue when they let Nym have full freedom to say whatever she wanted to. In short, its my way of rebelling against authority; I'm not for anarchy by any means but I just hate being forced to be something I'm not." Mine explained. "Also I'd note that I didn't join the Revolutionary Army because I support its ideals I mainly do it to challenge the worst parts of society which while my parents weren't in that circle neither were their friends they didn't seem to do much to change things they were more interested in keeping their power" Mine added, Clair returned with their food and left them alone to eat.

Meanwhile at Grundewick Manor… "Let's see yep I'm sure this will do" Lilianna stated to herself as she changed from a new shirt into the sweater she had been wearing previously. Then there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Lilianna asked as she hurriedly put the sweater back on.

"It's me Leone" replied.

"Come in" Lilianna replied; Leone came into the room.

"We need to talk" Leone explained.

"About what?" Lilianna replied, thinking.

"About well our father" Leone replied, Lilianna frowned and came over.

"I see; you're still taking it hard" Lilianna responded.

"No kidding; I really can't get that out of my mind, you see part of me always wanted to know who my father was and why he was never there for me or my mother; but finding out the way I did is; well it really hurts, especially considering the fact our father literally engaged in horrible acts just to get my attention and draw me to him" Leone explained and frowned; Lilianna came over and hugged her.

"Don't worry I'm here for you little sister; let Lilianna-nii be here for you" Lilianna comforted.

"Well on the bright side at least I have siblings; granted a mixed bag of siblings but still I have a family apart from my mom" Leone explained.

"Yep; you have me always here to talk about things with, Leone we're sisters and we should spend time with each other; even if we do have different mothers, we are still family and we've got to stick together" Lilianna replied.

"Indeed we do" Syura commented coming into the room from behind, he wore a casual set of clothes: a green sweater and white sweats.

"Hey big brother" Lilianna replied then ran over to hug him, catching him in a bear hug which semi glomped him.

"Lily-nii you're crushing me" Syura replied and Lilianna eased off.

"Sorry Syura" Lilianna replied.

"It's no Biggy; hey you and Leone talking about family things" Syura commented.

"Yep; I have to admit though things have gotten way more complicated with you well coming back from the dead" Leone commented.

"Trust me having seen what lies beyond for evil people; it's enough to change a person if you give them a second chance, I am grateful to Asha for my second chance" Syura replied. "Personally, looking back, I did some pretty despicable shit; I really hope that the damage I did can be repaired as much as possible" Syura added.

"Yep you really did some horrible stuff, trust me compared to what our father's done though its small crimes, I really can't believe he is that irredeemably evil; was he always this bad?" Leone agreed, Syura and Lilianna frowned. "Whoa did I cross a line?" Leone asked.

"No its just- well it's very sad, Valdis though told me and Lily growing up that dad was a much more kind person, he in his youth was a religious man and well lived up to his name but that changed after our birth" Syura explained.

"What happened?" Leone asked.

"Our mother; her name was Lilian she died giving birth to us, what made it even worse was it happened within a week of our grandma dying in our father's hands; losing the two people that loved him the most really did something to him and I guess overtime he lost his morals doing whatever he wanted as means of coping" Lilianna explained.

"It's more than that Lily, you weren't ever in the full knowledge about what dad was doing, heck even Valdis has no idea and never did really but me I was in his inner circle I know the ins and outs of his cult, the most he's ever told me is he has done everything he has done and will do to get the one he loves most back" Syura replied.

"So, wait you mean to tell me he's obsessed with his first wife?" Leone asked.

"Obsessed is an understatement Leone; he has a giant picture of her in his room that he wakes up to every morning not to mention the one in his office" Syura replied.

"Anyway, enough about father, I'd like to know about my other brothers and sisters" Leone inquired changing the subject.

"That's an interesting subject Leone, because those we know about number about 60 not counting us, granted the old bastard probably has way more than we know about; but for the sake of things lets focus on those who are more or less redeemable" Syura explained. "The oldest of our siblings is Valdis, he is everything our father was in his youth and well he grew up as a Templar Knight, his a brilliant general and master warrior who wields the Teigu Theseus: Monster Killer, a massive great sword about as tall as me, he has all of father's stature, mass and looks like a younger version of our father except he has our mother's eyes" Syura explained.

"Does he know anything about Dad's evil side?" Leone asked.

"Nope; he's as in the dark as our sisters" Syura replied.

"Except me; speaking of the three of us have way more sisters then brothers, about 47 sisters that we know about" Lilianna explained.

"Crazy though why is it though Valdis doesn't know about any of this?" Leone asked.

"Mainly because he's rarely in the Capital and he's obsessed with being the best warrior possible and well fighting anything dangerous, mainly Danger Beasts but also the best warriors possible, he's also the Grand Master of the Order of the Dawn so he has an entire Paladin order to run" Syura explained. "That reminds me one of the things dad is obsessed with apart from his schemes and gains are Teigus, he will go thru the Imperial treasury and find whatever arms are available and well go from sibling to sibling until he can find one who can use one; that was how I got mine; speaking of what happened to the thing?" Syura explained and asked.

"Still locked in the vault here at Grundewick Manor, do you want it back?" Leone asked.

"Nope simply because I don't need it anymore, I've got the ability that I granted as part of my new body" Syura explained.

"What kind of ability did it give?" Leone asked.

"The ability to teleport objects and people to anywhere I choose, pretty useless now that I've got magical spells that can do that without risk" Syura explained.

"Good point, hopefully somebody can learn how to use it, it would be an amazing way to eliminate targets quickly and without anyone noticing until after the fact" Leone explained, they all laughed at that.

"It's not that simple Leone, yes it can teleport you to a location but you'd have to wait a couple minutes before using it again" Syura explained.

"Thanks for that fact, now what will we do tomorrow, we can go get drinks I'll pay for them" Leone suggested.

"Leone, we need to talk about that one, I think you should stop drinking, it's a dangerous habit, I got killed because of it" Syura replied. "It clouds your logic and causes you to do stupid things, you have the family endurance but you've got the issue of what happens if you drink and you're pregnant, do you want to risk your child coming out deformed or stillborn because you couldn't put down the bottle for nine months?" Syura explained.

"I- I- you're right, but I'd never be able to go cold turkey I don't think I would" Leone responded after a long think.

"Don't worry we'll be here for you, speaking of spending time tomorrow you and I will go shopping little sis" Lilianna replied.

"You two do that, I'll just well do what I do best" Syura added.

"You know you could haunt Dad; he thinks you're dead and you could get inside his head by scaring him, think about it" Leone suggested.

"That actually is a good idea but risky" Syura explained.

"Not to risky just don't let him touch you" Lilianna added in support of Leone's idea.

"I'm try it may work it may not either way he doesn't have a way to reply if I did pull that kind of a stunt" Syura explained and left the two alone.

"I'm glad I'm not the only person opposing my father from my family anymore" Lilianna commented and hugged Leone, Leone rubbed Lilianna's belly.

"Big sis, I never thought I'd say those words, I love you Lily" Leone commented. "So, how's your baby doing?" Leone asked.

"Pretty good, honestly I think our child will be a great blessing, I've always wanted to be a mother" Lilianna replied.

"So, have you given thought to names? Last I checked Tatsumi-kun wasn't so good with them" Leone asked.

"If it's a girl we'll name her after my mother and call her Lillian, if it's a boy we'll name him Syura after my brother" Lilianna replied. "By the way I decided on the name Syura before he came back; honestly I'm happy, have you given thought to what to name your baby" Lilianna added.

"Well I'm not sure I'm pregnant yet, but I'm well stumped on that, though if we have a girl, I'm naming her Catherine after my mother but a boy, I don't know" Leone replied.

"I can see that; you know it's hard to believe we're siblings given we don't look that much alike" Lilianna commented.

"Well the eyes are a dead giveaway" Leone commented, noting that gold eyes were extremely rare, and while their eyes were different colored their physical size and strength matched their father's own. "Anyway, let's spend some quality time, I've got an idea for Tatsumi when he gets back, you up for a threesome with him?" Leone asked.

"Gladly, the two of us sisters fulfilling our wifely duties to the husband we both love; the real question though is how do we spend the time waiting for him to get home" Lilianna commented.

"By finding the sexiest underwear we have and setting up a romantic scene for him to return to in his room" Leone replied.

"We'll warm him up for Mine and Chelsea, better let them know" Lilianna replied and the two stepped out to find Chelsea.

Meanwhile in the Western Provinces… Teketh sat in his chair overlooking a strategic battle plan with his tactic ready for the oncoming battle against the forces of the Western Duke of Caltarnath Carnan Redron when his team arrived. "Excellent have you made your preparations?" Teketh asked the three hooded figures.

"We have everything ready for action, our Teigus are at the ready and we've taken the measures ready for the probing attack" One of the figures a woman commented.

"Good now you have your mission: eliminate the Duke and sow chaos in the enemy camp, once they have been shaken up, they will no doubt commit their army to battle and fall right into the ambush" Teketh commented.

"I'm looking forward to slicing and dicing" another woman commented.

"I'll just smash them" a man replied.

"You three have your orders, take your strike team and kill the enemy leadership, leave no survivors, once this army has been destroyed we will be ready to move on the remaining forces of the Revolutionary Army in this area, your mission then is to capture the enemy General after that is done I will send her back to the Capital as a gift to the Prime Minister, you three will continue to aid in the pacification of this region before we return to the capital; my trusted subordinates will make sure our captive doesn't escape; be warned though that your second target is a Teigu user" Teketh explained.

"Don't worry General we'll follow thru" the first woman commented.

Grundewick Manor later that evening… Tatsumi was quite surprised by what he found in his room when he got back and was currently enjoying it, Mine and Chelsea took a break to let Lilianna and Leone warm him up. "Oh! Oh!" Lilianna moaned as her folds were licked and caressed by Tatsumi's tongue, Leone wasn't moaning as she drank from her half-sister's breasts as she bounced up and down on Tatsumi's length; this was exactly what they had planned and they were in the third round already. Tatsumi was reaching his limit and soon filled Leone's womb with his seed once again, she was already pregnant but at the moment she wasn't aware of that fact, at the same time both sisters came as well.

The sisters dismounted him and Tatsumi took Lilianna in the ass doggy style riding her repeatedly as Leone moaned as he drank from her breasts, this fun would last for a bit longer over all the fun would be enjoyed and soon he'd be more than ready for Chelsea and Mine.

Meanwhile in the Royal Palace… Honest was currently eating once again in this case a full plate of his typical fair human flesh. The door suddenly opened and in walked Syura. "Hello Father" Syura greeted.

"Not again, why do you continue to haunt me!?" Honest replied angry and scared.

"Because you allowed me to die, had me commit acts of serious evil, my punishment is being raped by Succubi tormenters for eternity, as a slave to breed demons!" Syura replied.

"You should be grateful! The pleasures of the flesh for eternity is an amazing gift!" Honest commented.

"Not if you are being forced to do things against your will being violated, you've no idea what it is like to be on the receiving end of torment and you don't get it at all!" Syura replied getting angry.

"Then continue! Lord Valtor has granted me great power and in months I'll have no need of any of this of my puppets, of humans, no in a few months I'll have amassed an army of demons so great that I'll be able to dominate Eden for eternity!" Honest commented.

"You think your plans are solid, I'm not surprised but it is too late for you, if you think Valtor rewards you for your actions his boons are a curse, you are and will be his slave for eternity; I hope you understand this because if not well it doesn't matter you're already lost father! Farewell I hope you enjoy your boons!" Syura replied and flung Honest out of his chair into the wall before vanishing.

"I will rule the world! No not just the world the entire Universe!" Honest replied then laughed and continued eating once more.

Later at the encampment of the Western army… Duke Carnan was going over his plans one more time before retiring for the evening, his armor had been traded for a set of warm pajamas and he yawned as he finished his plans, he then retired to his quarters only to notice he wasn't alone.

Three figures stood in front of him, one was a short but bulky man wielding a Kanabo, he was class in black plated armor and had a shaved head, a thick black beard and a snaggletooth sticking out of his lips. To either side of him stood two women, they were both well-endowed with ample D-cup breasts but that was where similarities ended: The first of the two had white skin, long blond hair styled in drill-like pigtails, with smaller locks framing her face. Her eyes were sapphire blue, with highlights that resemble a smiling face and she was radiantly beautiful, her attire consisted of a pink rather revealing richly adorned pink Lolita-styled dress with matching boots and fingerless gloves she completed her ensemble with a parasol and a large pink hair bow in addition to a heart shaped collar and heart shaped earrings, she wielded a bright purple scissor blade. The other woman had light brown skin (an Indian complexion) long flowing black hair which was tied back in a series of buns and braids, she wore a suit of combat armor and held in either hand two blades of similar design, one was black with purple etchings and was straight and long, about 2 feet in length, while the other was a deep orange red, she wore a sash with a commander's rank on it.

"Who are you?" The Duke asked noting that their weapons were stained with fresh blood.

"Your worst nightmare and one you won't wake up from" the Blonde stated and faster than the man could react she sliced of both of his arms causing him to yell in pain.

"My arms! My Arms!" the man screamed as blood poured out on mass.

"Eliminate!" The blonde shouted and decapitated him, leaving his dead armless headless corpse on the floor. "Well that was easy and fun, who are we going to kill next?" the Blonde asked.

"A number of other targets, Nui in the future please endeavor to kill your target immediately and don't drag out their deaths" the other woman replied.

"Spoilsport Shastavi: Hey Jauss you agree that it's way better to draw out their deaths for the blood factor, right?" Nui asked.

"Yeah I agree Nui, personally though I prefer to break their bones slowly and methodically" Jauss replied.

"Please you two, we are the first of the new Elite Seven we need to get the job done quick and fast then leave the enemy dead in our wake; now grab the targets head and his sword and we'll return them to my father as proof of our success" Shastavi replied.

"Right now, Shastavi wants to bring back a gift to daddy dearest" Nui teased.

"Shut it Nui, we both know my Father and I don't get along and anything I do that is a success will not impress him beyond that which he expects; even if I went the extra mile and killed the entire enemy army it wouldn't phase him" Shastavi replied with notable disdain and the three assassin left the Duke's tent and left with their elite team of 200 Imperial Rangers who with them had killed the elite guards and officers protecting the duke with minimal losses.

Later that Night in Melitine… "Oh!" Mine moaned as Tatsumi's tongue invaded her loins. "Tatsumi" she moaned and thought. "Eat your heart out Nym I've got the best man in the world a husband who loves me and whom I married by my own decision; I don't regret this at all hell even if I had to share him with you I'd have the satisfaction that he met and fucked me first" Mine thought to herself and smirked. As Tatsumi ate Mine out Chelsea was giving him what she did best: a blowjob, mixed in with a titjob, while Chelsea may not have had the biggest breasts in Tatsumi's experience they were big enough to give him that favorite of all oral experiences.

"So good" Chelsea thought as she continued sucking his length taking it in deeper before popping it out to lick it as she swallowed the pre-cum with gusto. "I love doing this, and he loves receiving it; I'm the best at this" Chelsea thought, granted Tatsumi let her think that when truly Sayo was the best at giving him blowjobs and Chelsea's boobjobs were easily rivaled by Esdeath but she did do an amazing job anyway, Tatsumi though thought Chelsea's best trait in sex was her extremely tight pussy which was soon on his length after he creamed Chelsea's face.

Mine didn't stop Chelsea from mounting Tatsumi's length as she was way too fixated on what Tatsumi's tongue was doing for her, also the fact that he was using his hands to caress her breasts. "Tatsumi! Tatsumi-kun!" Mine moaned and orgasmed Tatsumi licked off the cream and returned to licking her loins before alternating to her rear to give her a rimjob. "OH! Tatsumi-kun! That's oh deeper, deeper" Mine moaned, Tatsumi obliged as Chelsea bounced up and down. "I love him dearly; Fuck what my parents think of him if they ever meet him, granted after this war is over, I'm going to introduce them to him and well he'll be so fucking influential and powerful that they'll kneel before him in respect" Mine thought. "Now I'd wonder how fun it would be for him to humble my brash big sister; boy I'd just watch him fuck her if that ever happened, let him fondle those massive tits of hers, way bigger than my small boobs all the while pounding massive ass of hers but the best part is that I would have her suck his dick while making her watch me make out with him" Mine fantasized mentally. Chelsea moaned very loudly as she orgasmed Tatsumi did the same. "Oh Chelsea, you've had his cock long enough I want that now" Mine thought.

Chelsea was quickly pushed off by Mine. "Hey!" Chelsea exclaimed as that had been rather roughly.

"Not apologizing for that you've had him long enough; Tatsumi my ass beckons for you to fuck it, NOW FUCK IT LIKE A WARG FUCKS A BITCH!" Mine exclaimed, Tatsumi eagerly obliged entering her and pulling her to the side putting her face forwards as rode her roughly, groping her breasts with one hand and holding her hair with the other. Mine took it with gusto but was relaxed as he did lay her head on a pillow as Tatsumi rapidly thrusted into her.

Chelsea moaned too as Tatsumi nursed from her breasts granted though in between moans she showered his forehead with kisses from her strawberry flavored lipstick. "Tatsumi" Chelsea moaned. "Mine why did you have to be such a bitch about that, I would have glad gotten off of him to let you have your turn but that was just mean and needs punishment" Chelsea thought then mental grinned as she had an idea. Chelsea stopped Tatsumi from drinking and planted herself in front of Mine. "Lick my cunt out Mine!" Chelsea demanded, Mine was about to tell her no in true Mine fashion but Chelsea forced her face first to begin licking her out before making out with Tatsumi.

Mine actually enjoyed licking Chelsea's loins, she and Sheele had in free time when Tatsumi wasn't around practiced doing this exact thing or rather Sheele taught her how to do it, granted Sheele's knowledge came from her doing the same things to Tatsumi but the anatomical differences allowed for things that weren't possible with him. Though between having her ass drilled by Tatsumi and licking out Chelsea's pussy Mine was having the time of her life. "This is fun: if I ever have the chance to bring my big sis into a threesome I'm going to make her do what I'm doing to me as Tatsumi pounds that fat ass of hers like no tomorrow" Mine thought, she had so many ideas for her big sis most being humiliating with her and Tatsumi being dominant and her sister being well a submissive bitch.

Tatsumi moaned into a kiss and causally released inside Mine's rectum filling that channel with his seed before pulling out and spraying her butt cheeks with some surplus; he then pulled Chelsea onto him and made out passionately as he moderately thrusted into Chelsea's tight pussy. "I wonder how many rounds Chelsea is good for; I'll just let him fuck her until she passes out and then I'll have that cock of his all to myself" Mine thought and smirked, also her butt was quite sore so she laid on her back and proceeded to masturbate as she waited for her turn.

It proved to be a good 45 minutes and ten rounds until Chelsea was passed out, Tatsumi wrapped the blanket on her. "Good night Chelsea" Tatsumi said to her then turned to Mine who had spread her legs waiting for him. "I'm surprised you let us go at for so long without butting" Tatsumi commented.

"Consider it me being generous besides I'd figure its best to save the best for last, your stamina is amazing, giving it to Leone and Lily for a good two hours then taking a 20 minute break to eat before giving Chelsea and me some fun, also you went 10 rounds with her and you're still hard" Mine replied. "Hey my cunt is ready for your cock so put it in" Mine seductively commented, Tatsumi came over and entered her taking her at a moderate tempo before amping it to the rough tempo Mine loved, he then took her right nipple his mouth and bit it before sucking it and drinking it all the while groping her butt-cheeks as she kissed him. "That's it" Mine thought, granted missionary wasn't her go to position she loved being taken like a dog and ridden by Tatsumi, which as soon as he was done drinking his fill of his milk he did just that and she laid her face on a pillow and moaned genially.

Tatsumi kept going for 7 more rounds before he passed out, Mine was still awake. "I wore you out and I'm still able to move" Mine commented to herself then yawned, before pulling the covers over her and Tatsumi, she then rode his length as he slept for 7 more rounds before she passed out herself from exhaustion.

The Western Provinces the following day… Teketh was overseeing the digging of massive trenches by captive enemies. "Yes dig your graves" Teketh thought, the workers dug until Teketh was satisfied with results, he then ordered the enemy captives to be brought up, he separated first the men and women and gave those women over to his men as sex-slaves for a job well done, then the men were brought up the trenches after being stripped. The soldiers behind them brought up large mauls and broke the bones of each captive before through them into the trenches which had been filled with tar and pitch while the men had been sorted out from the women. The men yelled in severe pain as their arm and leg bones had been shattered. "Weaklings; you are all failures, nothing more than a sad excuse, you call yourselves men? HA! You are little more in cockroaches and beneath them" Teketh commented.

"Father" Shastavi greeted arriving.

"Good Shastavi you are just in time for what I want to show you" Teketh replied, Shastavi frowned, not for the fate of these captives because this was something she had gotten used to but because he was having her watch it again which was rather disgusting, she didn't take pleasure in this sort of thing at all if anything having seen it enough she had become numb to it, in fact that numbness allowed her to get thru the training of the Elite Seven rather easy because having to spend every day in her Father's shadow was the worst thing to be subjected to; granted he let her join the group just for his own enjoyment. "My father is probably the most demented person I know, he thinks people dying in gruesome matters is funny or well enjoyable, I think differently; death is a fact of life and if you have to kill someone or something its best to do it clean and quick" Shastavi thought, then frowned once again as soldiers came up with more barrels, these filled with turpentine which was dumped all over the screaming captives. After this was all said and done Teketh pulled out a cigar and pack of matches and strolled over to the side of the trenches, he then struck a match lit his cigar and flung the match into trench which lit up the flammable material and began burning the men inside alive. "Ah nothing like a good cigar to start the day off" Teketh commented indifferent to the mass execution that he had just committed.

"I'll pass" Shastavi rejected. "I thought you were against stuff that weakened a man's body" Shastavi remarked.

"Please one cigar is hardly going to impact my performance; especially when it is filled with herbs that enhance my strength; anyway Commander I've yet to give you your next orders: your next target is the General of the local Revolutionary army forces in this province, her name is General Nymeria Canellia she is the daughter of a powerful noble family which fled the Empire recently after pledging their support to the Revolutionary army; they are cowards but she is not; she is brash and overconfident though; your mission is to capture her alive, she is to be taken back to the Capital to be made an example of; subdue and capture her don't kill or maim her, she's brought back here alive, then you will have your next mission from there; a two battalions of my finest soldiers and one of my top commanders will escort her back to Melitine, do you understand!" Teketh replied.

"Yes sir: I'll go tell the others; Nui and Jauss won't like that though" Shastavi replied.

"Who cares what they think?! You're their superior in every way my daughter and you are the superior being remember that Shastavi Tsunami" Teketh commented. "Now go and leave me to my amusement: I'm still angry at that boy" Teketh commented.

"Boy?" Shastavi replied.

"That boy humiliated me in front of the Emperor and is his Majesty's Minister for Justice: He had me gelded and took my eye for what? All on the trumped of charge of me taking what I want and playing with a weakling child: I will have my vengeance" Teketh replied.

"Maybe I should meet him" Shastavi thought. "Do you want me to escort those soldiers back to the Capital after the success of my next mission?" Shastavi asked hoping to get an excuse to leave and meet with this 'boy'.

"No Shastavi I have need of you here on the front, despite being my daughter you are extremely skilled and talented, your talents and skills would be wasted in the Capital" Teketh replied taking a good look at her with his remaining eye to show he was serious.

"Alright, forget I asked, we'll subdue our next target and get back to you Father with her" Shastavi replied.

"Also Daughter I mean it when I want her alive, I don't want her damaged in any way beyond what you need to do to subdue her, no man or woman under your command is to sully her; the same will go for my subordinates; she's a gift to the Prime Minister" Teketh reminded, that last detail made Shastavi's skin crawl. "Fail to bring her back alive and I will send you and Nui to him in her place for him to do with as he pleases after I have you both raped and broken by as many of my soldiers as is it takes" Teketh added; that was enough; Shastavi would either take their target alive or die; she then left and informed Jauss and Nui what would happen to them, the latter fainting at the suggestion of being a 'gift' to Honest.

"We know what we have to do and we'll do it" Shastavi explained, and the three assassins left.

Back in the Capital…. Tatsumi was ready for the afternoon that awaited him after another morning patrol with Mez and Seryu, the results of which netted the deaths several more of Honest's hired assassins in addition to the breaking up of a another child sex trafficking ring which also took down five highly influential nobles they had caught in the round up of prisoners which Tatsumi turned over to Aria and Henrietta for 'punishment' the latter of which was positively giddy at the opportunity for the torturing of vile scumbags.

Tatsumi now found himself changing into more formal clothing for the fact this afternoon and evening would be spent with Kurome on their second date. The first date they had was a good experience for both of them; dinner at a fine restaurant which had been both delicious and expensive, followed up by an evening of passionate sex which Kurome absolutely enjoyed. Today though he planned to take Kurome to the Umatora theater to see a new play that had been in the making, it was a drama about a hero that wielded a sword of evil's bane who was on a quest to save two worlds from a dark sorcerer and a demon king. "Are you ready Tatsumi?" Kurome asked from behind the door.

"Yep" Tatsumi replied after getting his hair in order, Tatsumi was contemplating a haircut soon but at the moment he was satisfied with his signature cowlick, the suit he wore as the same formal one given to him by Esdeath for Jaeger purposes. He opened the door and found Kurome, she wore a lovely red and black kimono but this kimono was a tapestry decorated with imagery of roses, dragons, dwarves, people, amid other things and feats, her feet were bound with red cotton stockings and she wore sandals on her feet, her hair was tied back with forward facing short ponytail topping the ensemble with her face painted like a geisha, she had Yatsufsa at her side, the sleeves of her kimono exposed her shoulders and she held a red fan in her hand. "You look absolutely beautiful Kurome; I love the effort you put into your hair; you're more radiant then the goddess of love herself" Tatsumi complimented, he meant it, she was beautiful.

"Thank you Tatsumi, I'm- glad you love it, Doya and I spent a good hour making sure it all looked amazing, also I decided on the face paint because I heard we'd be going to the Theater and thought a costume would be good" Kurome thanked and explained.

"How are you feeling in terms of well health" Tatsumi asked.

"As good as possible, I tried going the day without the 'juice' but well I started having shakes after the first two hours and began convulsing after the next half-hour and had to eat a cookie, I'm feeling better now but really this hurts" Kurome explained frowned, Tatsumi kissed her on the forehead and hugged her.

"It's alright, I'm here for you, we'll get thru this together and Dorothea will invent a cure" Tatsumi replied, she giggled and kissed him on the lips and they then made out for a few minutes before stopping. "Let's go, we don't want to be late for the play" Tatsumi commented and they left HQ.

Whether because of the suit or because of his earlier killing of a group of hired blades they ran into no assassins trying to kill Tatsumi and arrived unmolested both figuratively and literally at Umatora Theater. They then took their seats and waited for the show to start holding hands. "Tatsumi tell me honestly, how did you kill the three beasts?" Kurome asked, Tatsumi sighed then explained once again that he had only killed two of them and Spear had killed Liver, but Kurome stopped him. "Tatsumi I know you did kill at least one of them but I can tell you're being dishonest on the second" Kurome replied, "If we are going to be a couple and in love, we have to be honest with each other" Kurome explained.

"Alright Kurome, I didn't kill Daidura, he got his head blown off at the beginning of the fight by a sniper; someone I'm- really close to and who never misses a shot once she fires" Tatsumi replied.

"See that's better, now tell me more" Kurome replied.

"Not here, too many people, in private after the show; but I will tell you the whole truth Kurome just promise me though you will hear me out in full" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright then, now let's enjoy the show" Kurome replied and leaned on his shoulder, Tatsumi wrapped his arm, around her, they were in a private box that overlooked the stage and the crowd below, the show had another ten minutes to start. "Hey while we're waiting I'm going to give you a taste of what will happen later, and honestly I need it even if it's just a quickie" Kurome whispered then used her hands to undo his fly, it was good thing this was a private box and they were the only ones in it as she leaned over him.

Kurome undid the fly and then fished out Tatsumi's length which was at full mast and gave it a kiss before opening her kimono to expose her perky breasts which while not capable of the things done by Najenda let alone Esdeath or Sheele who were masters of it were large enough to give a modest massage, granted it wasn't much but that wasn't what Tatsumi was fixated on that being the blowjob she was giving him; her tongue was exceedingly good at this but she loved to lick the length and tip before sucking it. As it stood at the moment she was kneeled over in her chair rather than sitting in front of him; Tatsumi suppressed his moans to make sure they were quite something which was difficult for him to do because Kurome was doing such a good job at it. "She's so good at this" Tatsumi thought.

"I needed this, badly; oh this- to call it a cock would be a disservice because its more then that it's a royal phallus worthy of any monarchy and well every women of true beauty in the world should experience it and him" Kurome thought and deepthroated him, she had lost her gag reflex years ago during the training of the Elite Seven as a result of building up immunities to various poisons and having to eat things that no civilized nation would have a child eat but were the main offerings you got as a rations during the training of the Elite Seven. Blowjobs were something Kurome had to learn how to do years ago, mainly Natula her first was the one who was her test for such a thing, but she had to preform them often on superior officers both male and female with the female equivalent of cunnilingus, she had become a master of this; usually it was enough to get one bag of the cookies she needed. But for more well her loins were made sore by men twice or even sometimes three times her age, greedy pigs who took advantage of her addiction to satisfy their perverse needs some even forced her to swallow their urine. "I'll never be any other man's plaything, Tatsumi is the only one for me, I- wouldn't be able to live without him" Kurome thought as she alternated licking up and down either side of his length before taking it back in her mouth.

"Kurome" Tatsumi moaned.

"I'm glad that he is enjoying this" Kurome thought, then mentally smiled. "Akame I've no idea where you've been the last two years but if you're still a virgin you need this in your life" Kurome thought, not knowing that Akame had beaten her to the punch already, not that she'd care if she had to share him with her sister, the two shared everything growing up and sharing a boyfriend wasn't anything different for her. Kurome took the tip in then slowly slid the whole length back licking the underside as she sucked up and down, Tatsumi put one hand on her head caressing her hair while groping her cute bum, he then lifted her up pushing his head inside her dress, Kurome used her legs to grasp the seat cushion as Tatsumi used his hand to move her panties aside to please her loins with his tongue as she did him.

After a couple minutes both came, both of them slurped up all the juices making sure their clothes weren't stained and readied themselves just in time for the show to start. Tatsumi turned to the side grabbed out a bottle of wine and two silver goblets from his bag. "Here; I thought I'd bring something for us to enjoy while we watch the show, spiced wine, also I have another bottle for when we well return to my house for the night; that's 1234 Gattle Town Vintage from my in-laws personal stores" Tatsumi explained.

"Thanks, Tatsumi" Kurome replied taking the goblet while Tatsumi popped the cork and filled the cup before filling his own. The show began as Tatsumi noted the crowd for familiar faces and saw Lubbock's familiar green locks with Yami's black hair next to it as they held hands, he also noted Angela and Ieyasu who were in an adjacent box, and apparently those two had the same idea as he and Kurome did but Angela was showing way more off as Ieyasu was spooning with her as she watched the show with her opera glasses he also was drinking from her breasts. Tatsumi gave them a thumbs up and Angela smiled.

The show proved to be a five-hour performance with three intermissions during which refreshments were bought, Tatsumi noted that at the end the hero of the two worlds clad green married his princess, the one of the other world who had guided him thru the adventure, a red eyed dark purple haired beauty named Hilda, and went on to rule alongside her with her and two other wives a blue haired girl named Seres and blue haired girl named Irene from his own world who would continue his bloodline in his world. "That was a great show" Kurome commented as they exited the Theater.

"Completely, personally that story of that hero reminds me a lot of myself, he started off as a nobody but rose to do the impossible and eventually found love around the way and well married three people who he loved; only difference between him and me well I'm not royalty and my story is by no means over" Tatsumi agreed.

"Speaking off when we get to your place, I want the full story of your adventure so far, we'll talk about it after dinner and over that lovely bottle of wine" Kurome replied and the two held hands. They had hardly gone three blocks when familiar red-robed cultists arrived with swords at the ready.

"Not again: seriously is one week without you crazy demon worshiping assholes showing up too much to ask for, let me guess 'Lord Valtor we offer these souls and ours to you accept our bloody offering' and then you assholes are going to attack me and I'll kill every single one of you, don't you guys want to have a normal life" Tatsumi remarked and lectured.

"Lord Valtor we offer these souls and ours to you, accept our bloody off-"a cultist began saying before his brains were blown out by Tatsumi's berretta.

"Should've guessed" Tatsumi remarked drawing Smaug and dawning the Dragon armor.

"Tatsumi, wait let me handle them" Kurome commented then drew Yatsufsa and muttered something, before hissing out a dark curse her eyes glowing red with energy, suddenly the flesh on the cultists began to age rapidly, their cloaks having been thrown aside, their features caused them to grow older. "Yatsufsa: Curse of Years" Kurome declared as the cultist began to slowly wither away. "You scum will not sully Tatsumi's sword with your blood or mine, Yatsufsa's powers allow me to accelerate your aging with a powerful spell bound to it, you will simply wither away" Kurome explained, the skin withered as the cultists froze in place, the skin rotted to husks and from husks to skeletons which stood there. "Yatsufsa: Danse Macabre" Kurome declared her eyes glowed red again and the skeletons walked once more with glowing blue eyes, Tatsumi sheathed Smaug and stared at the scene.

"That was awesome, remind me to NEVER get on your bad side" Tatsumi commented.

"Glad you enjoyed it, now the skeletons will follow us and I'll store them in my closet for future use; well in any closet will do, you never know when these bones will show up to save the life of someone else" Kurome agreed, the two then returned to Tatsumi's manor to find a certain Red-head waiting for them with news.

"Hey Tatsumi! I managed to get more out of those scumbags you brought me earlier; its amazing how talkative people get when you shove a hot fire poker up their ass and leave it there for a few minutes" Henrietta greeted.

"What did you find out?" Tatsumi asked interested.

"That there were at least four other similar operations and a lot more scumbags of their rank involved, including interestingly enough the man who killed my uncle; use that information as you see fit" Henrietta explained with glee, Tatsumi smiled.

"Good job, I want you to put out a call for Jaegers and some royal guard soldiers to deal with the other nobles, I'll handle your uncle's killer personally" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll tag along, I love seeing people like him get what's coming to them; for obvious reasons, now let's eat" Kurome added, and they left to eat.

Meanwhile in the Western Provinces at the headquarters of General Nymeria Canellia… Nymeria yawned as got out of shower wrapping herself up in a warm robe before heading to change into her sleeping garb, she looked at her Teigus which she had on the nightstand just in case. Myrmidon: Armor of Champions, a ornate of gauntlets that when worn allowed her to cover herself in full body armor that was on par with Grand Chariot and surpassed Incursio with ease, and Aegis: Shield of Defiance which could withstand any attack and was her family's ancestral Teigu given to her father's ancestors by the Angrund clan of Dwarves for saving the life of the clan's leader. "What a disaster, the Empire's new general is a genius, I'm going to have to redouble my efforts to beat him; a good thing I've already given orders for my best troops to lie low and disperse into the countryside, even better that my parents or anyone else from my family are here to taken and 'made example of.' New plan, complete asymmetry, I'll have to pull everything out into the countryside, abandon the cities and wait for the crackdown to end and the troops to pull out then resume our war" Nymeria thought, she then took a look at her hammer, a mithril and adamantine masterwork from the Dwarves that she used a portion of her family's wealth to buy, Ironhammer she named it, also there was her sword made out of the same materials but this she had stolen from a Western General who changed sides mid battle and handed out an Imperial victory, she had crushed him in a follow up strike as the Imperial forces celebrated.

Yet all these weapons would be of little use as she was suddenly knocked over the head with a parasol knocking her out stone cold. "Sleep well, you're going to need it" Nui commented.

"Good we've secured the target all without attracting any attention" Shastavi replied, Jauss slung Nymeria over her shoulder, Shastavi grabbed the general's weapons and Nui her armor before they left her headquarters which had been completely cleared of any form of security offered to their leader.

Shortly at Teketh's tent… Shastavi walked into her father's tent to report in. "Father; we have captured the target, she is currently unconscious and has been secured in a straightjacket, her equipment has also be captured and everyone at her headquarters was neutralized" Shastavi reported.

"Excellent work Shastavi, you next missions are pending as soon as I can think of them" Teketh commented then clutched her in a hug. "Now I must see to rewarding you" Teketh replied and began removing her shirt to resistance. "No, remember what I've said before; your mission isn't over yet" Teketh replied and removed her shirt and her bra, greedily molesting her breasts before letting her leave. "Remember you are nothing to me if you do not prove yourself, you are but a bastard, to me you are little more than the contents of my chamber pot; now go: I'm sending the general back to the Capital, her Teigus and weapons too, they will have nice place in the Imperial treasury" Teketh commented and Shastavi ran out of his tent in shame, he had molested her again, the same way he always did by fondling her breasts, she was still a virgin, anatomically, as he valued her as a commodity and he made sure she was fitting just after she'd humbled herself to be someone's blushing bride.

"Monster; I can't believe he's my father" Shastavi thought to herself, then resolved to deal with the abuse she received from him molesting her over the years in the way she usually did, by drinking a whole bunch of liquor and spending time in the camp brothel.

Shastavi arrived momentarily at said brothel and approached Madame Mal, well that was what she insisted on having everyone call her, one thing was for sure the brothel that was attached to her father's camp was one of the best as it had to fit his exacting standards. However, a result of these standards were two things. One there were no male prostitutes; none as he view homosexuality as a weakness unfitting of a man because it caused infertility as far as he was concerned, and he only allowed male soldiers in his army, beyond a few women who had earned the right like her, secondly only the finest of women were allowed to serve the soldiers and they had to maintain his exact physical standards as regards to exercise and diet.

"Good evening Miss Tsunami welcome back" Madame Mal replied.

"Good evening, is Kaltalia available?" Shastavi asked.

"No, she is currently busy, Delilah is available as are Lina and Miyushi if you're up for something more exotic" Mal replied.

"I'll take Miyushi, I like what she can do with her tongue and I love the way her skin contrasts against mine" Shastavi replied.

"Well she's in her chambers if you want her, remember though she is pricey" Mal replied, the older woman was a friend of Shastavi's mother, whom had been one of those unfortunate women who ended up as a slave in her father's army, granted she knew these women were exactly that, the money she would be giving to Miyushi would leave her with 30% cut of the payment; granted Miyushi got more then the others because of how high class she was.

Shastavi arrived at Miyushi's tent which was easily distinguished by the green dragons woven on the fabric, Miyushi was a lovely girl with a skin tone that was the same as Akame's with hair just as black, she was dressed in a set of red bloomers and wore nothing else apart from sandals and a transparent green wrap that was easy to see-thru she also covered her face in white make up. "Hello Shastavi, how have you been?" Miyushi asked, Shastavi was one of her regulers, she showed up about three times a week and always in sad mood.

"Miserable, I thought becoming an Elite Seven and pulling off to major strikes in quick succession would cause my father to be proud of me, instead once again he only gives me a congratulations" Shastavi replied and pulled out her coin purse and half of the price. "Same terms as usual though, Half now, and half when we are done" Shastavi replied and kissed the harlot on her lips, she kissed back with eager joy.

"I'm glad she keeps coming back for more; poor Shastavi she needs someone in her life, like me but well not a well harlot" Miyushi thought as Shastavi picked her up and carried her to the bed, then stripped off her clothing along with the wrap, sandals and bloomers worn by Miyushi, throwing all articles to the side before laying back and allowing Miyushi to please her with her tongue while fondling her breasts.

Shastavi looked at her and thought. "I really enjoy Miyushi, I think I'll keep her, she's young about the same age as me; I feel some conections with her and she really helps me cope" Shastavi thought, then moaned loudly as Miyushi caressed her g-spot with her tongue. "I wonder what it feels like when a man does it; I'm half tempted to let my father marry me to find out, but no; I'm not going to be anyone's trophy wife if I marry it will be for love, Miyushi well I love her but then we wouldn't be able to have kids, besides a woman marrying a woman in the Empire- maybe in the Shadow Mountains with those Oarburgh clanswomen but not in the rest of the Empire and not with my father; the most I'd be able to do is convince him to keep Miyushi as a bedwarmer and plaything, nothing more than that; really though I need someone to love; I really can't say I'm lesbian, I'm clearly Bi have to be to survive in this world; but who? Who could fill my father's exacting standards" Shastavi thought, she then looked at Miyushi; "After this Miyushi you're mine, not as a slave but as well someone to warm my bed at night and to relate my problems" Shastavi thought and relaxed as she enjoyed the pleasure.

Back in the Capital… Tatsumi thrusted in and out of Kurome's rear to moans from her; he told her everything and she didn't care, she considered him her friend and well more than that, she loved him, but was afraid to commit to love when she felt she'd never be able to fulfill what she considered to be the most important duty of a wife; motherhood. Kurome viewed motherhood as the most important thing any woman should do, however it was what she wanted the most especially after the way her mother failed to no- refused to do the duty of a mother; she was like her sister in that. "I hope whatever cure Dorothea develops can repair the damage to her body; then with hope she can be a mother" Tatsumi thought but kept going, hope would only do so much, he hoped he wouldn't have to kill someone each day he woke up, only to be disappointed when people kept trying to kill him; granted those who gave up and ran he didn't pursue, he was merciful a commodity that was lacked by others in Night Raid; Akame being a good example of someone who could kill without remorse but he couldn't refused to become a soulless cold-hearted assassin like Akame who could kill anyone without issue. No that wasn't him, he was just a normal person who was pushed into circumstances he never wanted becoming something he on a level feared, Tatsumi didn't fear the monsters of his world he feared becoming one himself; on some primul level that caused him to have fear, fear for those he cared for and those he loved, fears for what such a monster could do.

"I'm no monster and never will be, Akame and the others who think mercy is a weak trait are wrong, when this war is over I never want to have to kill another defenseless person, regardless of whether they are evil or not; I'm better then that and this world needs more people like me; I will fight, fight for everyone and everything I care for; I will never give up, when I die I'll die an old man with no regrets and in my next life I'll be with everyone I love and care for" Tatsumi thought and released, Kurome passed out; Tatsumi wrapped a blanket over her and held her to him tight; he then looked out his window at the moons, then looked at Kurome who was asleep in his grasp, he was still awake and aroused but looked out the window and waited for either someone else to show up to tend to what energy he still had in him or for him to naturally fall asleep.

Tatsumi wasn't the only one looking at the moons, five other people were doing so at the exact same time, none within his home though. Makoto looked out at the moons as Mez tried to help him to get back to sleep, Esdeath looked at the moons as she held an exhausted and sleeping Sayo in her arms, Shastavi looked out at the moon hoping that someone was out there for her heart, Nymeria looked at the moons from her cell in a prison wagon which was going to take her to the Capital hoping for rescue and that she wouldn't be the victim of vile abuses, lastly Honest looked at the moons his ambition looking star wards and contemplating what to do once Eden was all his.

Sleep took Tatsumi, after Henrietta burned him out. The rest of the week proved to be business as usual with nothing major happening, that was until Saturday when Chelsea arrived in Najenda's office with a folder of instructions.

"WHAT?!" Najenda responded after the bad news hit.

"The western forces have been routed, the Revolutionary army forces in the region have gone into hiding and General Canellia has been captured" Chelsea repeated.

"Damn it! I knew when Teketh left the Capital it would be bad news but I didn't know where he was going, I thought for sure it would be up north to pacify the region" Najenda commented.

"Don't blame yourself Najenda, a good deal of this is my fault, Esdeath and I weren't keeping as much of an eye on Teketh as possible" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't take blame for this either; now we've only got one option, General Canellia is far too important to lose, she is one of the best commanders and one of the few straight arrows in the Revolutionary army; but more than that she's the only real person who can keep the factions in the western provinces in a united front; therefore we are to launch a rescue mission, locate the column and free her; in other words we will have to wipe out an entire division: again" Najenda explained.

"Yep which means we'll need Susanoo- wait did you say General Canellia was the one who was captured?" Tatsumi responded.

"Yes, Tatsumi what is it?" Najenda replied.

"Mine's got to be on the team for the rescue" Tatsumi explained, Najenda nodded while she didn't know about Mine's heritage, she wasn't going hold back the group's main and best sniper.

"She's mandatory for the mission, Tatsumi I'll be putting the group together with our best in mind; don't worry we'll pull this off, the last time we fought a division it was stomp and we weren't expecting them" Najenda replied.

"Alright, I'm going to go and let the others know, if you need me well you know where to find me" Tatsumi replied and began to leave but stopped when Najenda leaned over and moaned in brief pain. "Are you ok?" Tatsumi asked and looked into her eyes.

"Yes, the Baby just gave me its first kick; I swear I hope our child lives in peace, but I tell you if not our baby will be one hell of a warrior" Najenda replied getting out of her chair, Tatsumi came over and hugged her and kissed her.

"I'm glad to see our child is doing good" Tatsumi commented and rubbed her belly and listened; he received a kick. "Ouch" Tatsumi remarked. "Yep definitely a fighter; just like mom and dad" Tatsumi commented, Najenda smiled.

"Which means our baby will be nice and healthy" Najenda replied, they kissed again and Tatsumi left Najenda smiled and then looked at her desk at their wedding picture. "I'm so glad to have my Tatsumi, I'll never let him die" Najenda commented unaware Tatsumi heard her.

Shortly… Tatsumi came into Mine's room finding his wife masturbating. "Good you showed up, I'm in need of a good fucking" Mine remarked, Tatsumi nodded and stripped after locking the door.

"That's not what I came for but yeah we can have some fun while we chat" Tatsumi commented.

"We fuck now and we talk later" Mine replied and flipped over presenting her rear to him, Tatsumi came over and spread her legs and entered her asshole, Mine moaned in pleasure as he began his work.

"Damn it I was going to let her know but yeah for now best to have some fun before I give her the bad news hopefully she doesn't smack me for not telling her sooner" Tatsumi thought and smiled as he rode her rump giving it a playful slap before fondling Mine's breasts; Mine didn't moan as he did this she was completely relaxed; Tatsumi noted that to her this was like him giving her a massage. "Man, tightest ass ever" Tatsumi commented.

"Glad you enjoy it" Mine replied and turned around to kiss him, it was a tender kiss one that was chaste in comparison to her usual kisses which most of the time involved tongue.

"Kurome's though a bit cuter though" Tatsumi thought, then noted as usual the tightness was making him orgasm faster than normal which he did filling it before turning over; Mine straddled him cowgirl style. "You know you really need to tame your mouth; I don't want our kid's first word to be the F-bomb" Tatsumi remarked.

"Fine alright; but two terms, I get to swear as much as I want in battle and whenever we have sex, I calling fucking what it is and we are fucking" Mine replied, Tatsumi nodded and pulled her against him and kissed her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and his palmed her rear to which Mine moaned into the kiss as he massaged it before breaking the kiss and kissing down to her ample CC-cups and began drinking holding her to him as she moaned louder. "Tatsumi-kun. Tatsumi-kun." Mine moaned as he kept thrusting into her and kept drinking. "Yes Tatsumi I love you; you are the best husband ever and I will NEVER betray your love; no one could convince me to" Mine thought and just enjoyed his labors, letting him do his thing for another 15 rounds before they were satisfied.

Momentarily… "Ok what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Mine asked.

"Mine, your sister's been captured" Tatsumi replied.

"WHAT?! How!?" Mine asked.

"Not sure, Teketh's responsible though; she's got an entire division guarding her to bring her back to the Capital; we're going to launch a mission to rescue her" Tatsumi replied, Mine laughed. "What's so funny?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh just never thought the day would come when my 'perfect' sister needed her little sis to save her massive ass from trouble" Mine replied. "Speaking off I bet she's still a virgin and that ass of hers is practically begging for your cock, and those massive titties of hers too and that mouth" Mine joked.

"Really Mine? You want me to fuck your sister? She hasn't even met me and your advocating for that" Tatsumi replied after shrugging.

"Yep; if there is one thing my sister was bad at was trying to find love, never worked and she needs a man like you in her life; besides it would get her on your side; and she honestly would owe her life to you, so you're going to the one to bust her out of her paddy wagon and save her sorry ass; that way she's grateful to you" Mine added.

"And you have no issue with this whatsoever?" Tatsumi replied.

"Look Tatsumi as far as I'm concerned as long as you're giving me a good amount of fucking I don't care who else you fuck, you're a strong, caring man who's heart is worthy of a thousand women; I'm not ever going to stand in your way with that, besides I don't feel like having to fight mother fucking Esdeath for your love, much less your entire harem" Mine answered bluntly.

"Ok then; but you're watching my back" Tatsumi replied.

"Please Tatsumi don't worry I'll be watching everyone's back but you're the special one and I'll be watching more than your back, you know" Mine replied and playfully slapped his bum.

Tatsumi then went about getting ready; Chelsea and Aria had left already to scout out the position so he was left putting together the strike team with Najenda, for this they were willing to take the entirety of Night Raid including base stuff and supporting troops to guarantee victory. Aria and Chelsea soon reported back with the path of the column and the numbers. "Well this is going to be a tough one; but nothing we haven't pulled off before" Najenda explained. "Now lets get ready; Who rules the Night?!" Najenda pepped.

"We do!" A collective shout went out.

"Who fears the night?!" Najenda pepped.

"They do!" everyone replied.

"Alright let's kick some Imperial ass, and show these bastards why they: Fear the Night!" Najenda declared; the cheer went up and they then began the march as the sun set. The force consisted of the core Night Raid group but also of the militia that Tatsumi had been forming in secret to support the group; the force was enough to rival their target and they arrived at the site they intended to use to ambush the enemy.

The column arrived at full unawares Mine had taken a position with Pumpkin on a good overlook with Sheele and Tatsumi to either side. Mine gave a sharp nod to start going; then began. "Pumpkin: Focused reflexes" Mine declared and time slowed around her as she activated the Teigus trump card, then she focused first on the officers. "Dead" Mine commented and fired, then turned to another as the round slowly fired towards him, then picked out every single officer and elite soldier saying a variety of comments, as she fired the tenth shot her trump card's effects began to wear off as she then focused unloading more shots.

To those next to her Mine was firing at an extremely fast spead also everything she said was unintelligible by those next to her; each round in quick rapid succession each flying towards the unaware targets. When the effects wore off each round flied forward; the Major at the head of the column's head exploded, then the two Captains at his side died in similer fashion, then a number of officers and sergeants died too; all of this happened within seconds and the soldiers began to panic.

The panic quickly turned into a rout and from that into a massacre as Night Raid's forces easily picked off the scattered troops which didn't put up much of a fight as most of them ran headlong into their attackers; those that tried to resist were quickly slaughtered by Tatsumi who'd activated Valruost's Trump Card and was rapidly speeding thru and slaughtering every enemy soldier in his path; no one even having the chance to match the blood frenzied spree that rapidly massacred troops. Night Raid's other members pulled off similar feats of destruction with even the lightly armed Chelsea killing about two dozen soldiers; while Koro and Susanoo killed masses of enemy troops. Tatsumi subsided the blood frenzy and charged the prison wagon where Nymeria was being held and sliced the only disciplined troops who remained calm down with ruthless ease.

The battle lasted only an hour and at the end of it not one Imperial soldier lived; the casualties on Night Raids end were no dead but a number of wounded both minor and major injuries which Aria tended to with practiced skill. Tatsumi waited for Mine to come down to him before kicking down the door to the wagon.

Nymeria looked at the opening noted Tatsumi but stopped when she saw Mine. "Mine?" Nymeria questioned.

"Yep big sis its me, saving your ass; well me and Tatsumi-kun, by the way Tatsumi this is my sister Nymeria, Nymeria this is my husband Tatsumi" Mine replied.

"Husband? What happened?" Nymeria asked.

"I'll give you the details later; just so you know we're part of Night Raid and we just wiped out the entire escort holding you prisoner" Mine replied.

"Alright now could you do me a favor and get me out of this straightjacket" Nymeria responded; Mine laughed climbed inside and drew a dagger and cut the binds. "Thanks Sis, so you're in Night Raid; I'd be surprised but knowing you I figured you'd get yourself involved in the war" Nymeria commented getting up.

"I told you that I'd make my own way and I've found a good deal of happiness; speaking of you owe me and my husband especially considering the fact he practically slaughtered the entire group of guards defending this cart in addition to braking the door and being an all-around badass" Mine replied helping her up.

"I see; well I'll try my best, don't have anything on me, speaking of can we search the baggage train? I'm certain they still have my things and maybe they sent them with me" Nymeria replied. "Besides I agree that I do owe you two, I owe all of Night Raid something for this, speaking off I owe you even more Tatsumi, they intended for me to be a trophy for the Prime Minister; that's a debt I'll have real trouble repaying considering the fact I thought I'd be a sex slave for the rest of my life, which probably would have been short" Nymeria added.

"No kidding; come on let's see if your stuff is still here" Mine replied, they then left the wagon and searched the baggage train finding Nymeria's weaponry and Teigus which were locked inside a protective safe.

"Good to have these back; I'm going to need to get back to the West soon, Mine you want to join me?" Nymeria asked.

"No sis, I ran away to avoid being in your shadow and I'm not leaving my husband and my friends behind; especially since I'm a crucial part of the team" Mine replied, Nymeria giggled.

"Just kidding you are better off here; though we have a lot to talk about" Nymeria replied.

"A fuck ton of stuff" Mine replied.

"Five coins Mine!" Sheele commented then was falcon punched by Mine in the face.

"You and that jar!" Mine replied, she surprised the urge to add the word fucking in front of jar but she had promised Tatsumi to ease off with the profanity.

That night… Tatsumi eased into the warm springs cleaning off the blood from his hair which had been stained with it during the fighting; granted that had been from the fact that some of it seeped thru the cracks in the Dragon armor but still it did get into his hair. "Blood, man this stuff is something fierce to get out" Tatsumi remarked using a washcloth to clean his hair.

"I can agree" Nymeria commented wearing a towel as clothing which she sat aside and climbed into the water, Tatsumi took one look at her naked figure and understood why Mine was envious, Nymeria had a body that was on par with Esdeath's with longer pink hair then her sister; she was extremely buxom and her f-cups rivaled Esdeath's with ease, her pink hair was long, curly and stretched to the middle of her back. She then swam over to him and kissed him on the cheek.

"General Canellia?" Tatsumi asked surprised.

"Please call me Nym, I prefer it; anyway, where are my manners? I should explain; I'm giving you something the only thing I have that can reward you for rescuing me not just that for taking care of my sister: my love" Nymeria replied. "I've been searching for years for someone to wed and to love but never managed to find the right guy, but something told me that if Mine ever found someone to love that guy would be perfect for me" Nymeria explained. "I'm ready for you if you'll have me" Nymeria replied.

"Not here, in Mine's room" Tatsumi commented.

"Ok it's your party; by the way I think it's fitting to have fun in private; now you were having trouble washing your hair let me help with that; also have a drink from my breasts at least; their yours now" Nymeria replied.

"I'm ok with that; you don't beat around the bush, do you?" Tatsumi replied.

"Not with the man who saved me from Honest's slimy clutches; I've heard of you too by the way your reputation precedes you; killing the Three Beasts, becoming that influential at court, marrying a number of nobles, and humiliating Honest on several occasions, now that's a man worthy of my respect and my love" Nymeria replied as Tatsumi latched onto her left breast; first though he licked the areolas and stimulated the nipple before drinking; a thirsty long drink; Nymeria moaned as he did this. "Also, I don't beat about the bush like my sister I'm honest with my feelings and a bit blunt too" Nymeria added.

Later in Mine's room… Nymeria leaned back. "Alright sis now Tatsumi will give you the best thing he gives me; I hope that since we're sisters we'll both enjoy getting fucked in the same spot; besides that, massive ass of yours has been begging for a fucking for a while" Mine explained then laid down in front of her.

"Alright; please be gentle though" Nymeria commented to Tatsumi.

"Don't worry I'll take this at the pace you're comfortable with, I always do that" Tatsumi explained readying himself for entry.

"Now while Tatsumi fucks your asshole you are going lick out my pussy" Mine commented; Nymeria did so reluctantly and sloppily to Mine's moans; Nymeria stopped doing so when Tatsumi entered her; she moaned in both pain and pleasure and let Tatsumi begin she then returned to licking Mine's pussy.

Tatsumi meanwhile was taking it nice and steady with about 6 thrusts per second, gentle work, but he fondled and massaged Nymeria's breasts with glee especially given how big they were, being the equal of Esdeath's, Lilianna's and Tsukushi's but with the fact she was Mine's big sis and had that long pink hair which he nuzzled his head in. "So soft; so sweet" Tatsumi thought then hugged her pulling her back from Mine's face, Mine annoyed at being deprived of the licking proceed to invade her sister's folds probing for soft spots.

Tatsumi simply kissed Nymeria caressing her breasts with one hand and running the other thru the soft hair, the stimulus was too much and Nymeria had her first orgasm, before Tatsumi did likewise creaming her rear's insides before pulling out. "Nym; I'd love to see what you can do with your breasts" Tatsumi seductively suggested in her ear.

"Why not; I'm sure you'll like it but I've never done this before so if I mess up or aren't doing a good job I apologize in advance" Nymeria replied, as Tatsumi laid back.

'Don't worry sis I'll show you how it's done" Mine explained and demonstrated to her sister the fine arts of oral sex for about 4 minutes showing her how best to use her breasts to stimulate him while explaining the finer ways of using her tongue; she also added a few things that she wasn't capable of doing because of her breast-size that Nymeria would have no issue in doing. After her sister understood she moved aside and fingered herself while Nymeria wrapped her breasts around Tatsumi's length causing him to moan loudly.

"You ok?" Nymeria asked.

"I'm more then that I'm in heaven" Tatsumi replied, Nymeria began the massage making sure to stimulate him, she actually liked the feeling of his length wedged in between her breasts then she began blowing him after kissing the tip and licking it; preforming both a blowjob and a boobjob at the same time; granted she was sloppy but Tatsumi didn't care.

Nymeria rubbed her breast up and down then use her hands to rub them in different directions before taking them up and down at a nice steady pace; all the while licking and sucking his length taking him deeper. This was something Nymeria was enjoying so much; she had always wanted to use her breasts to make her future husband happy and well now she had him and was doing that.

"After the war Tatsumi you and I will marry; I'd offer you the chance to fight alongside me but you have other obligations; don't worry though if you need me to help you I'll do that" Nymeria explained in between blowjobs.

10 minutes later… Tatsumi creamed Nymeria's face and breasts as released after a good banging. "Mine are you up for more?" Tatsumi asked.

"No I'm content to watch you two fuck; I'll wait until Nymeria and you are done for my turn besides I love watching my sister getting banged by you" Mine commented, both of them looked at her annoyed but nodded. Nymeria laid back and spread her legs.

"I'm ready for you; take it and give me a child; my family's fortune and greatest treasure are yours Tatsumi-san" Nymeria replied.

"Thanks; it's very humbling" Tatsumi replied and eased into her in the missionary position; going in slowly feeling her vaginal walls before kissing her and holding her tight as he snapped her hymen. Nymeria cooed into the kiss but showed no signs of discomfort, she was deep too, Tatsumi managed to sheath deep before beginning his thrusts; gentle thrusts as their tongues locked in a passionate kiss as he held her tight breasts pressed against his chest before kissing down to said breasts going for her right nipple this time and stimulating it properly before drinking. He used his free hands to good use as well, fondling the left breast with his right-hand while using the left to caress her curly pink hair all the while nursing. Nymeria eased as she felt him inside her and moaned as she just enjoyed him, he was happy so was she; in fact happy was the wrong word she was euphoric and smiled as she moaned; not taking her eyes of Tatsumi even noting Mine's audible moans as she fingered herself and played with her own breasts.

Nymeria wrapped her legs around Tatsumi playing with his bum using her feet. He was doing this for what to her felt like hours but was really a few minutes; when Tatsumi came he didn't bother to pull out because he was too focused on her left breast to notice. After his release he flipped her over and rode her doggy-style fondling her breasts as he did so, holding those massive globes gently playing with them; Nymeria moaned as he did so, cute moans worthy of Lilianna, Aria or Seryu but not something he expected of a battle hardened military commander much less one who was relative of Mine's.

But considering the fact Najenda made similar moans when they had sex and she was grizzled veteran general he stopped and threw out his expectations knowing for a fact having them with anyone can usually cause you to underestimate or misunderstand a person. Overall Mine was happy to watch while Tatsumi did her sister but she did come over and let him drink from her breasts while he rode her sister. He did a number of things with Nymeria after doggy style: Spooning, the butterfly position with her rear, showing her what he could do with his tongue eagerly. Then the more exotic positions: such as  
The Caress of Calla which was giving her a back massage as he took her anally, the Maiden's dance which was standing up vaginally while swaying her body slowly from side to side with her hips and giving him a lap dance, Waking The Dragon which was rolling around while having vaginal sex and caressing her breasts, the Claiming of Kaona, which was standing up 69 mixed with constant deepthroating and massaging her butt, and of course his personal favorite Imari's kiss: fellatio mixed with kissing, licking, deepthroating and moving her breasts in circles as she massaged his length with them.

Then came the grand finally the one that would be the most exhausting and cause Nymeria to pass out: Riding the Bull, rough anal doggy style with her legs spread and wrapped around him while he constantly fondled her breasts roughly; even with her stamina Nymeria passed out midway and Tatsumi stopped and put her down and wrapped a blanket around her.

"Took you two long enough; I'm not surprised she could handle riding the bull; well my turn to ride the bull and see which one of us passes out first" Mine remarked then thru him back and let him get to work; Mine endured it and when Tatsumi released he demonstrated a new technique he had come up with during their wedding night and which she only the partner he'd share it with as only she could enjoy it fully: The Goddess Sniper's onslaught; 20 rounds of rough anal and vaginal sex, granted he was sure Esdeath and a couple others could handle it like Suzuka, but Esdeath preferred gentle because she wanted him to enjoy her and the others wouldn't be able appreciate the full meaning.

Mine simply kept going and regardless of how many techniques Tatsumi brought to bear he couldn't keep up with her endurance and passed out. "Nighty night Tatsumi. This whole adventure today has gone exactly as I planned and Nymeria now has been humbled and I'll be able to constantly tease her about how I got him first and how I managed to get her laid" Mine commented then yawned, kissed Tatsumi, placed his hands on her rear and his still erect length in her and giving him two rounds while he slept till she passed out.

Meanwhile… Kaldatha was a secret stronghold not to far from the Capital and Teketh over looked the four new finished training members; annoyed that only one man had made the cut and the other three were women; but this really didn't impact his opinion; they made the cut and now were a weapon to use as he saw fit. However the new members had one thing ahead before their actual missions began; that was meet the Emperor and along with Shastavi, Jauss and Nui take their oaths of service to him personally and formally pledge their loyalty to him, then they would begin the field missions. Teketh had 14 people ready in reserve to fill any opening that emerged, in addition to that they were trained with the same standards as active Elite Seven members. But now came an important milestone they had finished their training and met the standards; they still had one last test though; that being could they claim their Dragon Arms and to his delight they did exactly that.

"We await your orders" One of the women said.

"Dawn your cloaks, when I present you and the others to the Emperor you will reveal your identities to him and the other members of the court; remember two things, first you are loyal to him only and that you follow the Military chain of command which is to say my orders because I am in charge of your group" Teketh replied.

"Yes general" the man replied.

"Good now see to yourselves ready; Commander Shastavi is in charge of your unit follow her orders as if they were mine: Understand?" Teketh asked.

"I'm sure they do" Shastavi replied coming over. "Alright you four are dismissed ready yourselves tomorrow will be a busy day; we'll be marching to the Capital" Shastavi explained, all four saluted her and they left.


	45. Author's Note: Please read this!

**Author's note: Chapter delay**

 **Hey guys; been a bit; this coming Friday I will post the next chapter; my apologies for the delay, this is a long one and I'm sure you'll all enjoy the content; also the next chapter is a big milestone because it will be the half-way mark for this story; slightly past it; there will 64 chapters in all for this story; this next chapter will be Najenda's focus chapter, following it will Yami's focus chapter which is concurrent with this next chapter; after that will come an interesting chapter where the four remaining Night Raid girls who aren't yet fully part of the harem: Mashiro, Bullock, Remus, and Womyn will share a focus chapter. (Cassandra and Pais will be joining the harem fully in chapter 35 which is Najenda's focus chapter) From there I will have three more focus chapters: Makoto's, Doya's and Kurome's in that order; following that we start that true war in earnest; also I hope you guys are aware at this point that Tatsumi and anyone on his side will be their own faction; both Honest's Puppet Empire and the Revolutionary army will be his enemies; if you think this story is over though its not by a longshot.**

 **Also following it's conclusion I have a follow up sequel that I will start writing after the conclusion of Empire's end; by the way the story itself techinqully will end with Chapter 61; 62 will be a historical record of events afterwards, 63 will be an Erasiel centric chapter where he delivers the finished story to Asha, and 64 will be my closing thoughts/the cast of who'd voice the characters in the story. But trust me that's a long way off; I think though at the rate I keep going with a chapter a week (Two if you guys are lucky and I go on a roll) we should be done by the series anniversary.**

 **Also reviews: I have been so far willing to let guests review as they see fit but now I'm going to lay down some ground rules with regards to reviews as recently I have received two reviews of people claiming to be me; which is bull because I am me.**

 **No using my username for posts, guests using my name will have their reviews deleted immediately.**

 **Constructive criticism only; flames and trolls will be beaten up and thrown out**

 **Blood Clan guys; be you and remember I let you guys post the stuff you do out of amusement; but remember none of it is canon; this is my story and while I welcome suggestions I'm not going to implement them all; especially if I have no idea what's going on with the plot.**

 **Suggest ideas you have often; I'm open to suggestions, additional characters you'd like to see added in, especially villains because I exhausted canon's list; only things I'm not willing to accept are suggestions to kill off characters or stuff that runs counter to what a character would do; for example Tatsumi isn't going to kill a child or a pregnant woman, or a woman in general; the prior two because they are defenseless or bare the defenseless and the reason he won't kill women is because of the nightmares he's had of him killing Aria; those nightmares albiet they are Honest's doing have had a psychological effect on him that he would make a momentary hesitation that would get him killed that being if he sees a woman about to be killed he sees Aria from his nightmares; and while canon Tatsumi will kill a woman Empire's End Tatsumi won't because he hasn't been put into a situation where he's had to until after he's had to deal with the Nightmares which have caused him to suffer a case of Post-Traumatic stress, mainly because Honest kept throwing this Nightmare at Tatsumi after they first met, so if he were to be put in that hypothetical situation he wouldn't be able to do it.**

 **Keep it positive; if you have negative thought express them in a neat and orderly fashion and explain what I could do to improve it.**

 **Be nice to other people in the Reviews; Especially Neo-Byzantium as he is my Co-Author, so ask him stuff from time to time I regularly update him via PMs as to plans for the story.**

 **Don't compare any character to their canon counterparts; in fact don't mention the so called 'canon' here because it is just a horrific nightmare created by Honest to torment you all; here the story will have a happy ending; granted people will die but that's what you get out of a war story; after all we don't expect our favorite characters to survive in Star Wars movies right (Don't mention the Sequal trilogy here; that is even more non-canon then canon AGK)**

 **That's all for now I want you guys to enjoy my work, the next chapter will be out on Friday and well it will be long but there will be lots of lemons in it so you have that to look forward to; also expect some familiar faces from other franchises to show up in the next chapter; mainly because as I've said before I'm out of Character ideas and need to flesh out the universe so as I did with Clementine I've taken characters from other franchises and thrown them in, granted they aren't exactly the same as this is different place but they are relatively true to character to a degree. Also remember this is a fantasy setting so if races that seem outlandish show up remember fantasy setting set in a world that has been changed much like me who took it from the ash heap of its cruel demented writers and turned it into a better story; something truly unique as I'm the only one here I think that's opted for a happier story and taken the Characters in the direction I have.**

 **So for now that's all: see next chapter: Nathan Out!**


	46. Chapter 34

Chapter 34: The General and the Revolutionaries

 **AN: Finally done took me long enough, next chapter won't be as long but it will be interesting; Long chapter ahead so be ready for it; this was a pain in the butt to write and even more so to edit**

The day began as another day for Tatsumi; with a rather extensive and grueling training regimen; the Elite Seven training had properly begun in earnest as he had mastered all that Martha had to teach him and as such Gin was education him.

"Hyagh!" Tatsumi shouted as he parried a strike from Gin's sword before following up with a flurry of blows, which Gin countered but couldn't keep up before he disarmed her of her sword and caught it.

"Excellent Tatsumi; you're doing amazing; anyway, time to move onto unarmed combat" Gin explained, Tatsumi handed her back her sword only for Gin to attack once again but he countered once again and disarmed her once again. "Good you've definitely improved I didn't even surprise you that time" Gin commented.

"Please Gin one of the first things you taught me was that you should always expect your opponent to surprise you; now can we move onto the next thing" Tatsumi replied.

"Gladly; unarmed combat: pankration" Gin replied. Then came a series of wrestling matches with Gin as she demonstrated various martial arts; Tatsumi ignored the pain from the numerous techniques before countering with a series of strikes that incapacitated her.

"Had enough?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes; honestly Tatsumi I'm running out of things I can teach you; I think soon it will be Akame's turn to teach you" Gin replied getting up, Tatsumi anticipated and overpowered a follow up attack. "Yep definitely out of things I can teach you; I'm wondering how much of that is my training and how much is Sheele's and Merraid's training; you seem to mixing your fighting techniques both unarmed and with the sword" Gin commented.

"I thought I'd create my own style, in fact I'm actually creating a few just to make sure that I'm completely unpredictable, next time I fight Honest I think he'll be surprised how much I've come along" Tatsumi replied, he kissed Gin on the lips; she kissed back they then went to the Hot Springs and soon they disrobed.

Momentarily… "Ah! Ugh! Ugh!" Gin moaned as Tatsumi thrusted into her pussy riding her doggy style on the grass near the pool. "Oh Tatsumi-kun" Gin moaned, Tatsumi leaned in towards her head; she turned to kiss him their lips locked as passionately as their loins.

"Hey guys" Akame greeted walking up, non-plused by the situation.

"Akame!" Both said simultaneously,

"Hey don't stop on my account; mind if I join in?" Akame replied, then removed her clothes and came over to them.

"No problem Akame" Gin replied.

"Please join in" Tatsumi added, Akame strolled over to them and kissed Tatsumi on the lips; Tatsumi laid down; Gin moved into the reverse cowgirl position while Akame straddled his face, Tatsumi then began his tongue-work.

"OOH!" Akame moaned loudly. "Tatsumi-kun! Deeper" Akame moaned Tatsumi obliged inserting his tongue in further, Gin moaned and bounced up and down; Akame kissed her friend before stimulating her areolas then beginning to drink from Gin's breasts.

"Akame-san! Oh!" Gin moaned; Akame founded her right breast with practiced ease from her many times with Merraid while drinking from the left; Gin's white hair was caressed by Akame's free hand while Gin wrapped her arms around her as she bounced up and down; Tatsumi striking into her core with his length going deep inside up to her womb as she bounced up and down and moaned.

Tatsumi licked and fingered Akame's pussy his fingers gently playing with her sensitive outer folds while licking the inner with his tongue licking two sweet spots on either side of her loins, passion was completely dominant in his mind, at the moment he was one with both girls as he pleased both. "I'm so glad to have both of them; along with everyone else I love, I'm happy with my new life in spite of the tradeoffs, I just hope I can live in peace with them and our children" Tatsumi thought; Akame orgasmed, as did Gin and within 20 seconds of them so did he, filling Gin's womb striking four eggs inside with his seed.

Both Girls then dismounted and all three of them eased into the warm water; Tatsumi was lucky Akame had brought towels. "You knew we were here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; I was watching your training and once you two finished and I saw you kiss I knew for fact you'd head here to be alone, so I changed into my bikini and grabbed some towels then found you two having fun" Akame replied. "Speaking off" Akame added then dived under the water and pushed Tatsumi up to the side of pool. "Allow me to please you" Akame remarked and wrapped her breasts around his phallus and began to massage it, she then licked and caressed the tip and upper length before sucking it. Gin swam over and allowed Tatsumi to drink from her breasts while he fingered her loins with one hand and caressed her rear with the other; after he finished drinking he picked Gin up and had her sit on his face after arching his back to allow for her to do this so he could like he did with Akame please her with his tongue.

Overall this positioning lasted for about 12 minutes before Tatsumi's next orgasm; creaming Akame's face which she responded to by giggling, smiling then licking off his spunk; Tatsumi then climbed into the water again and held Akame's hands as he entered her; Gin massaged his back and kissed his ears, neck and cheeks while he made out with Akame.

Overall it was a normal morning for Tatsumi; after his time in the springs he returned to the Training grounds where Sheele put him thru a harder regiment then normal to punish him for being late; his training with her was now even more intense as she was now training him in actual techniques of the Sorrowful ones; in this case integrating daggers into his duel handed style allowing for some interesting potential manevuers which he practiced with his swords in his off time and learned that a lot of these techniques with careful maneuvering could be used with swords as well as daggers, he had even opted for when not using his Teigu to use a parrying dagger alongside a longsword which had been made by Clementine as the wedding gift; granted he still used his great sword but this technique allowed him to engage opponents in tighter places where his two-handed fighting style was impractical.

Speaking of tight places Sheele had no shortage of those for him to navigate to simulate some of their airducts and narrow passages that he'd encounter on missions, then of course she two extremely tight places on her body; both of which he pleased after finishing his training for the day. Sheele's pregnancy was becoming more apparent as her belly had begun swelling into the first tri-mester; each day he listened for movement inside hoping for their child to begin to show signs of becoming more developed. Sheele lectured him the subject and Aria had gone to no shortage of medical explanation on the pregnancy and when certain things would happen but still, he insisted on seeing how his children were doing each day they were in the womb.

This training with Sheele was followed by Merraid's regiment, she had skipped conditioning as Aria had been doing all that with regards to the building up the immunity to poisons. Merraid's actual training was to teach him in the Oarburgh Clan's secret techniques which was a new experience as he was essentially the first man since her grandfather to be trained in the techniques. As such he had added to his arsenal with shurikens, flechettes, darts, throwing knives and the clans famed needle daggers which were favored by Taeko who taught him the clans sword fighting styles along with how to use the daggers to maximum effect, Saraya also assisted in this endeavor as Tatsumi's duel wielding style was something she knew how to take to its max.

All in all, the training with everyone who could and would teach him was making Tatsumi and absolute all-around fighter, a Jack of All Trades Master of All. "Who said a Jack of All Trades is a master of none? I'm perfectly willing to prove that person wrong" Tatsumi had said after noting his increasing mastery. The training for the day concluded and he headed for the Palace; but Najenda stopped him.

"Tatsumi we need to talk" Najenda explained.

"About what?" Tatsumi replied.

"About the Revolutionary Army, I think it's time for you to meet the leaders of it; in fact, I've received a messenger that is calling for us to make a journey to meet with them" Najenda explained.

"When?" Tatsumi replied.

"Tomorrow, it won't just be the two of us: Cassandra, Martha, the Twins, Seryu, and Pais will be coming along too as well as Merraid; we'll take an Air Manta to the Eastern provinces where the strongholds of the Revolutionary Army are" Najenda explained

"Noted, I'll be there ready to go; for now though I'm going to continue business as usual" Tatsumi replied then headed to the city after collecting Saraya, Taeko and the Twins; the guards paid him no head as his passing in and out of the city was normal to them, he then met up with Leone who after a quick stop at Grundewick Manor to change joined him in heading for the palace.

Later at the Palace… Tatsumi barged in the door to note the scene in front of him; eight cloaked figures and General Teketh stood in front of the throne. "Good afternoon your majesty" Tatsumi greeted walking into the room.

"Tatsumi-nii!" Makoto exclaimed jumping out of his chair and running over to hug him; Tatsumi returned the hug. "What do you have for me today?" Makoto asked giddy.

"A nice new Chess set; by the way Esdeath told me today was your birthday so happy 13th birthday and here's your present I know how much you love chess" Tatsumi replied grabbing out of his bag a rather ornate chess set; it had cost him a sizeable amount of money but he paid out of pocket for the gift which justified its price by the fact the pieces were studded with actual gems and made of actual silver with the board being made of Makor Mange wood from the Far south which was notoriously hard to both to collect and to carve into anything, also the padding on both the pieces and the inside of the board were made of velvet.

"Thanks, Tatsumi-nii you're the best friend ever" Makoto replied, Honest coughed.

"Your majesty we should resume the ceremony" Honest commented; Leone in a bee like black and gold gown with the gemed figure of a wasp topping her headdress came over to him.

"Father" Leone greeted.

"Leone" Honest replied. "That reminds me your majesty I made an interesting discovery recently" Honest added coming over to Makoto and being shadowed by Leone.

"Yes Honest-san?" Makoto asked.

"That Leone is actually my daughter; a lost child of mine" Honest replied

"That's amazing; that means Tatsumi's even more of in-law to you then before" Makoto commented, Honest winced.

"Yes indeed" Honest commented. "Leone what was it you wanted to tell me?" Honest asked.

"I'm pregnant" Leone replied bluntly; Honest laughed a jolly laugh. "So is Lily" Leone added, he laughed again.

"Grandchildren are a wonderful thing I look forward to meeting them when they are born" Honest responded to everyone who looked at him.

"Yeah if you live long enough" Leone remarked.

"You'll find I'll live for a very long time" Honest responded and grinned barring his teeth.

"Anyway, your majesty we should resume the business of the day" Budo commented, Esdeath nodded in agreement as did most of the council, Tatsumi joined Esdeath while Makoto returned to his throne; Leone stood next to her father keeping an eye on him for any signs of potential schemes.

"Anyway your highness, before the sudden arrival of the Minister for Justice I came to report the recent news, victory in the western provinces on my part but much more important the formal organization of the new Elite Seven who stand right with me and are ready to take their oaths" Teketh explained, all eight people shed their cloaks. Six women and two men stood there and Teketh began to introduce them.

"This is Nui, wielder of Shatra: Slicer of foes; a Dragon arm and Ungallant: Trapper of foes another Dragon Arm; she's rather pleasant and good at her job, she recently killed the Duke who lead the enemy army" Teketh introduced pointing at her.

"Nice to meet you your majesty, you're so young and adorable; you're a great Emperor and will be even greater when you get older" Nui greeted, then looked at Tatsumi. "OMG HOTTIE!" Nui commented looking at Tatsumi and ran over to him intending to kiss him: Esdeath attempted to stop her but failed as the babies inside her womb chose that particular moment to give their first kicks, kicking her on opposite sides of her womb causing her to drop to her knees; Nui kissed Tatsumi on the lips to his surprise. "Hey handsome nice to meet you; I'm Nui Harime I hope to see you a lot, especially if you as Minister for Justice need a hired assassin" Nui flirted; Tatsumi blushed.

"I'll consider it" Tatsumi replied.

"Just look me up" Nui replied and flashed him momentarily causing him to be taken aback before she returned to the others.

"What are Dragon Arms?" Makoto asked having been focused on a fidget spinner during Nui's sudden braze nous.

"Dragon Arms are Imperial arms, Teigus made by the Dragon Emperor, the ones given to the Elite Seven were made as slight copies of existing Teigus that were made during the reign of the First Emperor if not earlier; I say slight in that alterations were made from the originals that made them different from them and allowed of different techniques but also maintaining the strengths of the originals with some exceptions; one of these Teigus is not a Dragon Arm but an older one made by the Dwarves" Teketh explained.

"You're surprisingly knowledgeable on the subject Teketh" Esdeath commented after getting back up.

"Let's just say I'm a student of history General Esdeath; I've learned that history is a contributor to the best weapon a general or anyone can have: Knowledge; when it comes to Teigus most of the things I've learned can be found in books on the subject of them" Teketh replied. "Anyway let us continue with the other members" Teketh continued and indicted a dark purple haired young woman, she was slender, decently endowed with average sized D-cup breasts and wore a ninja style outfit and a mask that concealed her fact apart from her eyes; but for the purposes of the meeting she removed it to show her face; Tatsumi noted she was quite beautiful and her orange eyes sparkled.

"I am Tay-Tay your highness" She greeted.

"Yes Tay-Tay, she wields Nocturnal: Shadow shroud; she is the group's stealth operative and uses a fighting style similar to that of the Oarburgh Clan assassins" Teketh explained then turned to the next person or rather persons, two women near identical to each other but with one having bleach strawberry-blonde colored hair which was long and tied in two pigtails and having light blue eyes where the other had short black hair and purple eyes; but both shared the same beautiful facial features, tall curvaceous bodies and delicate hands, both wore similar outfits both being cat suits and in their hair they had peculiar hairpins; the brunette had a sniper rifle of polished crisp design on her back while the other had nice set of swords.

"These are the Enoshima twins; Junko and Makoro; they are an interesting case of extreme survival and opposing fighting style, Makoro is a sniper that wields Hyperion: the Requiem Blaster while Junko is a sword fight that uses duel swords, her Teigu is a biological Teigu; Amaterasu: Daughter of the Twin Suns" Teketh introduced; Amaterasu stood next to Junko and was a fiery orange haired female with a sun-like disc infused into forehead like a crown, she was radiantly beautiful with warm sun-yellow eyes, she towered over the rest of the group being the same height as Esdeath; her skin was warm like sand and her figure was the same as the General who's height she shared; her attire consisted of a metallic flame colored gown; in her hands she sported a pair of khopeshes with gauntlets that sported a mixture of retracted blades.

"Greeting descendent of the Golden Emperor; I am Amaterasu; sister to Susanoo, my brother is lost and like him I was created by the Dwarves and am an absolute force to be reckoned with" Amaterasu introduced.

"Hey don't forget about me" the blonde stated.

"Of course, not Mistress Junko" Amaterasu replied.

"Anyway, I'm Junko and this is my annoying twin sis Makoro we're glad to have had the chance to serve you" Junko stated and kneeled.

"Yes, your majesty we will fulfill your orders" Makoro added kneeling.

"Now for our next one: this is Fritz Von Fingerhof: he wields Mantalla: Poisoner of Gods; the Landsknecht blade Teigu allows him a poison rivaled only by the legendary Muramase wielded by the dangerous Night Raid Assassin Akame" Teketh introduced, Fritz was a tall but slender man; his attire consisted of garb similar to a duelist's with addition of an ornate breastplate, his hair was light brown and he sported a goatee on his scared face with green eyes; he wore a salet helmet which was ornate too.

"Your Majesty" Fritz commented and kneeled a fencer kneel.

"Now for our final two members: Jauss wield of Hanzo: Onslaught of rage, it allows him the ability to dawn strong armor the equal of Incursio and use the mace form to batter armor and smash enemies" Teketh explained. Then turned to the final member. "This is the team leader; my daughter Commander Shastavi, she wields the Teigus of the Dragon Empress and the Shadow Empress Visneya and Rhaenys both of which were made in the image of the Dragon Emperor's own swords; two blades which are wielded by one man in this very room" Teketh replied then turned to Tatsumi.

Both Jauss and Shastavi paid their respects as Teketh walked over to Tatsumi. "I must admit Minister Tatsumi you have earned my respect and as such I am making you an offer; you see I'm quite fascinated with you; I have a daughter you are a son; we both distrust Honest; now I may have gotten off on the wrong footing with you and to mend that I'd like to marry my daughter to you" Teketh explained. Tatsumi was shocked as was everyone in the room.

Tatsumi had to back pedal and think: What would Teketh stand to gain by marrying his Daughter to him; he knew for a fact that Tatsumi wanted him dead; perhaps he saw her as a means to get rid of him; have her kill him on their wedding night; something that was a real possibility. However, he couldn't reject the offer out of hand especially considering the political aspects of such a union, one that would be in favor to mend the rivalry. Then there was other things to worry about; instead of just assassinating him Shastavi may just spy on him or go after others he was close to; but then there was Teketh's own schemes it was obvious Teketh was working with Honest and the two had an alliance but it was also obvious that Teketh was interested in Tatsumi because he threated not only the status qoe but also was impossible to kill by every means tried. "Tell me this isn't out of the kindness of your heart Teketh" Tatsumi replied.

"No it isn't my daughter is how shall I put it rebellious and is far too much like you for my tastes therefore I'm giving her to you; Afterall as a loyal Imperial General and Minister you'd be a fine husband, also consider it an olive branch a peace treaty for this little feud of ours" Teketh responded being as unreadable as possible, Tatsumi responded in kind, Honest whispered in Makoto's ears, he wasn't liking the idea.

"I think the whole thing is a wonderful idea! Tatsumi you'll marry Shastavi and we can let all bygones be bygones" Makoto agreed, Tatsumi was now trapped; Makoto had decided for him and Shastavi; mainly both to spite Honest and play matchmaker because Tatsumi had done the same for him with Fal, Air and Luna.

"Alright your Majesty I accept; Shastavi are you ok with it?" Tatsumi replied, Shastavi rushed over and hugged him tight.

"Completely; anything to get away from my Father" Shastavi replied, whispering with the last part.

"Then its settled when will we have the wedding?" Makoto asked.

"Next Week your majesty; I've got important business to take care off; I'm going to pay a visit to my home town so I'll be gone for a few days; I'll show them how much I've changed" Tatsumi replied, lying about the last part: it was a plausible alibi one that was impossible to verify as Honest's spies weren't present in the countryside focusing instead on the large cities and infiltrating military, economic, religious and artistic circles as Honest prized those more, Teketh had a minimal spy network and all of it was focused on military intelligence which at the moment was focused on rooting out resistance cells in the Western provinces to nil effect, and none of his other rivals cared enough about the outside of the Capital to bother shadowing him.

"Now enough political matters; the Elite Seven will now take their oath and become formally the Elite Seven and The Emperor's personal enforcers" Teketh explained; the seven members stepped up to the throne and knelt Makoto drew a ceremonial blade and servents put ceremonial sashes over their shoulders.

"In the name of his Imperial Majesty Emperor Makoto the first of the Imperial house Gildenstrom you swear on the customs established 200 years ago by Emperor Malkarion the Sixth founder of the order of the Elite Seven to serve his Imperial Majesty, to enforce his will and strike down any foes to his glorious reign; so you swear" Honest stated reciting the oath of membership.

"So, I swear" each member said in turn.

"I Emperor Makoto First of my name accept your oaths of fealty; valor with glory, courage with might, fidelity with honor, patience with temperance: You now serve my name and follow my orders; no task happens without my approval and you will receive orders from the Grand Marshal, the Minister for Justice and the Prime Minister, treat those as if they were my own, any other who is not of these rank is to be respected but if their orders conflict with mine you are countermand them; for example should you receive an order to kill a fellow citizen of our Golden Empire from a superior that conflicts with an order given by me or my two subordinates it is to be disregarded; also you are not to lift up your arms to harm your fellow citizens unless ordered to do so, you are their secret protectors sworn me and them who make our Empire what it is: I dub thee all now Elite Seven" Makoto recited and went to and tapped the shoulders of each member with the sword. "Rise; you will not harm anyone within the walls of the Palace unless ordered to do so by me; you are not to harm the Grand Marshal, Minister for Justice, Prime Minister or any other Council official unless I give you orders to do so" Makoto explained then turned to Teketh. "General Teketh you are in charge of this group's oversight and supply however any orders you give them must not conflict with mine; any attempt to do so will be treated as an attempt on my life; if such happens the members of this group are to execute you on the spot" Makoto explained. "That is all, now each of you are to ready yourselves for your next missions, for the time being though you are to relax and enjoy the comforts of the palace; this is my home and I welcome you all as guests with the rights afforded to people there in: now you are all dismissed" Makoto explained and they all relaxed.

"Oh, by the way tonight at six will be my birthday party; I'll have a massive dinner and we'll then have cake and ice cream for everyone!" Makoto explained to cheers from everyone. "So, bring your friends and family; everyone's invited and we'll be having a party to remember" Makoto added and jumped for joy. "Is that the end of council business for today Honest-san?" Makoto asked.

"Yes, it is; there are a few minor matters but none you need to worry about" Honest replied and the room dispersed.

Shortly in Honest's Office… Honest overlooked said minor matters; these being new laws which would restrict the lower classes right to bear fire arms of any kind; the Empire was easy to control if the only people with advanced weaponry were the ones with the wealth and power; there were also new taxes on minor goods and on Honest's most disliked food goods: Dairy products specifically cheese which annoyed his palette to no end. The door to his office opened and Leone walked in. "Father" Leone greeted.

"Leone, to what do I owe this visit?" Honest asked.

"Just questions; a number of them" Leone replied.

"Please have a seat I'll answer them to the best of my ability" Honest replied, she sat down, Leone's intentions were not gag able to Honest but to her they were clear; trying to understand her father's psychology why he did what did and what drove him; also about her siblings every one of them regardless of parentage; and see what she could gage of his plans.

"First question; why do you do the things you do?" Leone asked, Honest pulled out a pocket watch and showed it to her. Inside was a woman who was a spitting image of Lilianna but older and posing the beauty that came with age, along with a brawnier physique then Lilianna.

"Lillian; my lovely Lillian, young caring Lillian, brave sweet Lillian, and the one who was always there to keep me level headed, my reason to face the threats of the unholy abominations of the Undead and ferocious Danger Beasts" Honest replied and looked genuinely sad shedding actual tears as opposed to the crocodile tears he usually shed. "I was 35 when I met her, she was young half my age but brave and daunting, a fellow Crusader of the Dawn and master of the Imperial Fist; my student, my first love, my virginity's taker, my first wife; she was a great warrior an even better fighter then me; I never gave thought to love before I met her; and after she died never truly felt it's like again; even for our children; Valdis was and is always looking to outdo my feats striving to become the Warrior without Equal, Eugene was lazy but still a good warrior but never really amounted to much until I sacrificed him, Syura and Lilianna though: they were special, they bore my likeness and the likeness of their mother; Lilianna a radiant child that I treasured and raised to be a woman of peace rather than war like her mother, Syura though he was a prodigy; my successor and the only one of my children apart from Saikyuu that would do whatever I asked of him and would follow in my path" Honest explained, then wept. "All I want is my family to live in a world where I can be with every one of them; all alive and healthy, never having to know war, but unfortunately that isn't how the world works: That Boy was right about one thing that this world is cruel and brings out the worse in the race of man and that in way man can be crueler even then even it. But he is wrong in order to survive this world we must become crueler than it; but even then, I've still to taste the bitter taste of mortality" Honest explained.

"A man should never have to outlive those he loves most; a husband shouldn't have to outlive his wife, nor a father his children; I've experienced both many times over Leone; and the worst part is that my own children can be responsible for that pain: you Leone; you're like Lilianna in beauty and in caring but like Syura you are brave, fearless and strong; in a way you're the child Lillian and I never had: One who embodied both of our strengths and weaknesses yet stayed level headed in this cruel world: I love you daughter regardless of whether or not you feel the same and regardless of your choices; I'm your father and a father should be able to love their child; I'm sorry I abandoned you and your mother; perhaps in another time and another age we'd have been a normal family; you, me, Catherine, and Tatsumi but this is no such place." Honest explained.

"While I love you, I despise your husband: all my life I was told how far I would not be able to go, I've worked hard to gain all I have; I've murdered, lied, stolen, raped, cheated, devoured human flesh, I've done every evil thing in the book and even sold my soul to the Devil himself: all to get where I am today. But that boy he threatens all that I have gained and all that I stand for; every move I make against him fails; every strategy I try is blunted by his own; he's like he was in our first game of Chess: unpredictable, impossible to deceive, and smarter then he looks, possibly smarter than me and easily becoming stronger then me; but I will not lose all I've gained not when I'm so close to returning my Lillian to me; my Syura too and everyone I've ever lost, my mother, my mentor, my friends: Lord Valtor has given me the power to bring them all back and he has given me this world; this world is mine Leone a world that is demented and cruel but one that I can be crueler then and I will make my slave" Honest replied and bared his teeth.

"So that's why you do everything just for love? You don't seem to understand how the world works: I had to work my way up from nothing; a mother who was child who taught me everything I know and every method I have used to survive; the only thing she wanted for me to do was to never become a harlot, to give up my most prized possession to a stranger; the one thing I had that was mine by birth and reserved for the person I'd love: you don't understand Tatsumi I like I do; he's everything a woman would want in a husband; in fact I think I saw the same thing in him Lillian saw in you; a selfless protector of the weak and a kind caring soul; how much of that old you is left, little of it I don't know why you couldn't just wait till you died to return to Lillian, so many people have died, have suffered the worst mankind can ever conceive of all for your quest to bring back someone you loved that died years ago" Leone responded.

"You would have done the same! Wouldn't you; that Boy that Tatsumi I can see how much he means to you, you feel the same thing for him that I felt for Lillian; answer this question if you ever lost him to death what lengths would you go to for him to be brought back to you? I may be evil I know that I am my mentor and everyone in my former order would strike me down for my sins but I choose the path I did to have the one person I loved most restored to me; everything I've done I did for her; I had divine favor from Zez-Ki-Ell, from Solodus, Amari, and Ulmo, all the great gods and goddesses I swore vows to I could have ruled a kingdom in heaven: instead I forsook that after-life for that I want most: to live my life with the Woman I loved more than my faith, more then what I was: more than anything. Honest was what the Oracle and priests of Zez-Ki-Ell named me told me that as long as I was Honest I would know happiness and good; well honesty didn't save my mother or my Lillian; it didn't save my mother from being raped by that northern savage who sired me: who gave me the name I bore from birth: Valdis Unwillingborn! I was dragged unwilling from my pre-existence to live in this cruel, evil vile world! I knew happiness and the gods I worshiped took it from me; took those I love most from me; and their cruelty knows no limits; nor does Fate: Fate stole my Lillian! my mother Mahira! my Syura, my Lilianna! My Mentor Sir Galdoth who was the father I never truly had! And Fate saw me born from those Northern savages; my only regret is I didn't join Esdeath in her conquest; she razed the Northern Capital, destroyed their army, and humbled them: that was not enough If I had been there, I would have destroyed the Northerners! Every single one of them from the oldest man to the child born today: Every last one of those savages who made me who I am: those savages who have tormented and preyed on the Empire for generations who raped and pillaged for sport who preyed on the weak I would have destroyed them all! EVERY SINGLE FUCKING ONE OF THEM!" Honest ranted, his face turning outright demonic at mention of the Northerners. "Esdeath should have wiped them out; they caused her as much suffering as me; they wiped out her entire people save her: but she didn't she defeated and broke them but she didn't destroy them didn't wipe them from the face of Eden like they deserved: The strong survive and the weak perish she says why then did she let the weakling children of the north have the chance to grow into strong cruel and wicked Northern warriors who's men and women alike raped, robbed and murdered the people of our homeland for centuries! WHY?!" Honest replied.

"Because she's better than that; you don't understand Esdeath's philosophy, you've never bothered to talk to her like me, Tatsumi and even Lilianna have; she does indeed believe the strong survive and the weak perish but she believes the strong should protect the weak that they may have the chance to be strong; she's never murdered innocent children ever, never a pregnant women who she sees as stronger than her, never those who have their right to live to become strong and why she kills- no not just kills tortures those who do the reprehensible things to them; people like you: I don't understand why you'd ever harm an innocent child much less rape, murder and cannibalize them; you're not just evil father: You're a monster! A monster greater than even the Tyrant Danger Beast! The Greatest Monster in this world, no not just the world, the Galaxy, the Universe: I am ashamed to be related to you, even more so when I know the severity of your crimes and that you were once the kind of person who'd never commit them and would go far to protect those you've preyed on from monsters like yourself! You think this story has a happy ending for you father; where you live with the family you always wanted in peace without war, to build a Dynasty that wouldn't ever break, if you truly think that: not only do you live the wrong place but if you think this story has a happy ending for you: you clearly haven't been paying attention, the only people who will have happy endings in this tale are people like me, Tatsumi, Esdeath, the Emperor, Everyone and everything I'm fighting for and you want destroy that's what the happy ending will be, and I and everyone who believes in a better world a true Eden will fight to make that happy ending happen even if I don't live to see it!" Leone ranted.

Honest stopped, breathed and smiled. "That's why I love you Leone; you're a better person then me, you may not have been born to Lillian but you are definitely her daughter in spirit and soul, not just that but you embody our best traits; now leave I've answered enough for today, you are always welcome here; until the point where the war comes to its full and Tatsumi and I truly began or battle; I'm proud of you and even though you are my enemy I wish you all the luck and hope this story has a happy ending for you; but I hope even more to live a happy ending of my own in a world where I and everyone I've ever loved live in peace and harmony and never die" Honest replied, Leone began to leave. "Wait" Honest replied getting out of his chair, Leone paused as he came over and unexpectedly hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Regardless of anything Leone I love you my sweet daughter, you may not love me but I do you; you're my child and my biggest regret was not being there for you to raise you right and if ever wanted to kill me for my crimes I wouldn't stop you" Honest replied.

"Thanks for that at least, granted though I turned out just fine though; Also, I'm glad you still have some sanity and good left in you, bye for now" Leone replied and left.

Honest sat in his chair and looked at his picture of Leone. "I've never been so wrong: why?! Lillian where did I go wrong? Was I always doomed to be evil? Mother I miss you to." Honest said to himself, then looked at Syura's picture. "And where did I go wrong with you Syura? You were the future my heir; was it when I first gave you your first cup of liquor or was it when I let you have your take of the women I brought and bring into this palace every day. No, it was when I decided to let you go out on your own by yourself. I thought you crueler and stronger than anything this world could throw at you; the world threw Aria Grundel at you and you died a cruel death" Honest added. The door to his office opened and Teketh walked in.

"Prime Minister" Teketh commented.

"General Tsunami, what is it? Also, I think the new look suits you, the eyepatch makes you look all the more like a battle-hardened general" Honest replied.

"Prime Minster; why did you not intercede to prevent my daughter from marrying that- that- that- unholy spawn of a pig fucking harlot" Teketh asked, Honest laughed.

"Teketh, Teketh, Teketh. I thought you smarter than this and I did intercede and my puppet has become harder and harder to control that's not important, but what is important is that you've forgot two of the most fundamental rules of war: Never underestimate you opponent and don't ever try to appease them" Honest replied. "Anyway you also forgot to study your history, you've been so focused on training the Elite Seven to be the perfect soldiers that you never bothered to read up on the group's history or their internal workings, while you have made reforms that have changed the program you never considered their loyalties; if you thought they were going to be your own personal group of enforcers from the beginning you're even more of an fool then I thought you were" Honest added.

"I'm no fool! I'm a superior being and warrior!" Teketh yelled banging on Honest's desk.

"You are a fool Teketh, you just gave up one of your best political weapons and turned it into one of Tatsumi's and on top of it a 13-year-old boy outsmarted you. Tell me what did you intend with your order to begin with?" Honest replied.

"I intended for her to wed him and on their wedding, night kill him" Teketh replied, Honest laughed hysterically. "What is so amusing!?" Teketh asked banging on the desk again.

"That was your plan: you're plan to deal with Tatsumi? Look that technique never works, women may be his biggest weakness but they easily turn to his side once they enter his bed in fact they do so before that in fact not to long after meeting him. Also how did you treat you daughter, there is another thing to factor in; is she loyal to you what reason or motive would she have to follow those orders?" Honest replied.

"She's mine! I've treated her as any bastard should be treated, like the contents of my chamber pot, she's stronger than any woman should be and I cannot stand it, she should know her place, her duty is that of a servents good for doing menial labor and as source of milk and child rearing; her milk is the only good thing about her other than her beauty! I should know I drink it every time I get the chance!" Teketh replied, Honest was taken aback got up and slugged Teketh in the face and flung him into a wall then pushed over and pinned him against it by the neck with his demonic claw.

"You're a worse man then me Teketh; were it not for the fact I still have use for you I'd run you thru right now! I've done many things over the years but I've never made a child of mine a slave and abused them like such, yes, I've slept with my daughters fucked them, but all of it was consensual! I've raped many men, women, and children over the years but never anyone of my own issue, to me Family is more than anything, even Lilianna and Leone would never be raped by me nor by any man on my orders; Teketh you are slime, you deserved to have had your loins ripped from your body and your eye too! Get out of my sight; General Teketh!" Honest replied and over powered and flung Teketh out the door.

Shortly… Valtor walked into Honest's office. "I watched that display and found it interesting" Valtor commented standing next to Honest. "You know though it wasn't evil though in a level it was good" Valtor added.

"Lord Valtor, my apologies part of me just couldn't let it stand, when I heard he molested his child that- that's something I'd never do, anything else yes my lord but use my own offspring against their will that's- not me, I've done everything all for the sake of my family and I will not lower myself to his level" Honest replied.

"Don't worry I completely understand that and I wouldn't do such a thing either, you know there is a certain place reserved for people Teketh in lowest deeps of Hell itself, I've visited it, tormented some of those vile wretches; even demons have some standards, well demons like me, the Damned; those who were once something else but were cast down to hell in exile for our crimes against the Eternity Queen, I was born there but my father was one of those who led that war, a civil war between the race of ancients. Our lord below offered us a place for a barging and we've taken it, we have abilities lacked by those he had in his depths and as such we serve him, but that is beyond your concern; I have a gift for you" Valtor explained.

"A gift? Is there a catch?" Honest asked.

"No, it's a reward for your loyal service, more power; something truly strong: the ability to form Demonic weaponry; all yours but there is one catch; I'll need both your legs, the armor won't fit you properly with them, don't worry I will replace them" Valtor explained.

"Fine, I've already come up with a way to conceal my appearance" Honest replied.

"How exactly?" Valtor replied.

"With my Teigu Ephialties, I recent discovered in an old book that it was capable of concealing one's appearance" Honest replied.

"Useful indeed: Now your legs" Valtor explained, then began the pain and the change.

Meanwhile at the same time as Leone's conversation… Tatsumi was approached by Shastavi not to long after the scene in the throne room, while Leone was having her talk with Honest, Tatsumi was left with the new Elite Seven leader. "Minister it's nice to meet you" Shastavi greeted after holding his hand for a while.

"Thanks, nice to meet you too, please call me Tatsumi, I'm one of those people that regardless of my rank just prefers to be called by his name" Tatsumi replied.

"My apologies I'll remember that in the future Tatsumi-san; Shastavi Tsunami pleased to meet you" Shastavi greeted.

"So, your father decided we were to be married?" Tatsumi replied, Shastavi frowned.

"Yes; against my will, but I guess you'll do, I'm just glad to get out of my Father's reach; he- he- he's a horrible person" Shastavi replied.

"I know; I've seen what he's done first hand; he- raped a 12 year old girl murdered her parents, would've raped her five year old sister if he was given the chance; the man is a monster; don't worry this is actually a good thing for you; I'm probably one of the best people to be married to, those two girls I just mentioned Kyoko and Mishi I've adopted them; I saved Lila a widow of a condemned official from Honest's clutches; I've- done so much; I'll take care of you, I won't do anything to you harmful, I'll treat you with kindness and respect; I know this world is full of evil people, I'm not one of them; hell I'm not even a noble I'm just a country bumpkin who managed to get himself way in over his head and rise to power as a result" Tatsumi explained, Shastavi came over and hugged him and cried.

"You mean that, please don't be lying; please" Shastavi replied.

"I'd never harm a woman or a child, especially if the two are together I've killed people before but I don't like it I hate it" Tatsumi replied.

"I hate it too, in spite of all the training my father put me thru, even the training of the Group of Terror and Elite Seven I- never was able to enjoy or even tolerate killing; the other members of the group do to some extent not me; on my first mission I lectured Nui and Jauss that if you're going to kill someone do so quickly" Shastavi replied.

"Yeah, in a fight yes I share the same view, though some scumbags deserve and slow agonizing death" Tatsumi replied, she giggled.

"Truer words were never spoken; so, you know my father?" Shastavi replied.

"Wish I didn't; wish the man never showed his face, I made him pay for what he did though; I made sure he'd never be able to do that again" Tatsumi responded. "Enough though about him; it's obvious you've tried all your life to get his attention and he rewarded it with cruelty didn't he" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes; you're right well let's talk about other things are you really from the Countryside?" Shastavi asked.

"Yes, well I don't know where I'm from originally; all I know about that is that I was orphaned when I was a baby; my parents murdered and my foster father pulled me out from my Mother's dead hands with her dying words being 'take care of my Tatsumi.' From then on I was raised and grew up in the small village of Karsawa, I have friends; two lovely wives among them I- always wanted to just live a peaceful life own a farm and smithy of my own with Sayo and Clementine; didn't work out like that, I still have both of them but now I fight a battle to survive every day in a cutthroat arena of politics in addition to fighting and killing, sometimes torturing the scum of the Earth, all to keep safe the new family I've gotten since I came here, to ensure my children don't live in a time of war" Tatsumi explained, Shastavi cried.

"I- I- I'm so lucky, so fortunate, I don't deserve this, please don't let this be a dream don't let me wake up to my father sucking from my breasts like a leech! Please be real!" Shastavi replied, Tatsumi held her.

"This isn't a dream this is real; I'll see your father pays for this; now what did he hope to achieve by this?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"He- he wanted me to kill you, a test of my skills only then would he allow me freedom and not have to serve as his favorite plaything to torment as he saw fit; I'll never do that; not just because I don't need his approval anymore and never did need it but because I won't kill someone like you Tatsumi: a kind caring soul who's let himself stay steady even against all the evil in this world you're the kind of person I've hoped above hope I would marry the type of person the world needs" Shastavi replied, then laughed. "My father was such a moron; he- I can't believe that he thought the Elite Seven were his to command as he saw fit; what a fool they take orders from you, Esdeath and the Emperor above else" Shastavi added.

"I have a task for you and the Elite Seven: I need you to for the moment protect the Emperor; I've got plans and he needs to stay alive above all else, there are people who want him dead; I need you and your team to end them; I've just got to find out who the worst offenders are and then you and the others will kill them, not just for me, but for the Emperor, above all else we need to keep him safe" Tatsumi explained, she nodded.

"Understood; I'll try to do what it is, but you're the minister for justice can't you just have these people arrested?" Shastavi asked.

"Some of them, but not the ones I need you to kill; they're Revolutionary Army and as Elite soldiers of the Empire I want you and your fellow assassins to kill them; I've got plans, you'll see I will change the world and make it better" Tatsumi replied, Shastavi saluted and kissed him, then gave a seductive grin.

"You know we're do to be married soon, why not start acting like husband and wife" Shastavi teased flashing him one of her breasts.

"I'd love to, but there is the issue of well seclusion" Tatsumi replied getting the meaning.

"Oh don't worry that won't be a problem, also I've got someone for you to meet; hell I'll make that two people; follow me" Shastavi replied and led him off to her room which compared to his personal quarters was rather spartan but still lavish enough to be comparable with any of rooms he had stayed in that were estates.

To Tatsumi's surprise a young woman with features physically similar to Akame sat on Shastavi's bed, however her eyes were a different color, green as opposed to the blood red of Akame's and her black hair was shorter however other than these she shared Akame's other physical traits albeit not as athletic as Akame she wore a green and yellow kimono. "Hey Miyushi" Shastavi greeted.

"Hey cute thing; how'd your ceremony go, want to celebrate?" Miyushi asked before noticing Tatsumi. "And who's the stud wow boy is he a hottie; I hope he's packing something big because I could just ride him all day and night long" Miyushi flirted.

"Tatsumi this is Miyushi, Miyushi this is my betrothed Tatsumi, We're going to have some fun if you catch my drift but I want to bring one more person in on this; so I'll be right back you two get to know each other and warm up things for us" Shastavi explained and then left Tatsumi with Miyushi.

"So Tatsumi's your name I'm Miyushi; consider me well Shastavi's paramour, mistress, personal pity-fuck, I'm just there for her; I used to be a whore in her father's camp brothel but Shastavi kept coming back and well one thing led to another and she decided to make me her- I won't say sex-slave because it's not like that at all, her concubine that's the word I'm looking for, and masseuse and confidant, and friend with benefits" Miyushi explained.

"Nice to meet you Miyushi; I'm Tatsumi, her father's number one rival at the moment and before you ask her father was dumb enough to think that by marrying her to me, he'd be able to have her assassinate me" Tatsumi replied and Miyushi laughed.

"Really well that was rather stupid; anyway, I'm going to warm you up for Shastavi how do want to do that?" Miyushi replied undoing her kimono.

"With a massage and blowjob; throw in a boob-job too while you're at it" Tatsumi replied and removed his ceremonial minister garb striping down to his skin, Miyushi wore only a set of panties and stockings, Tatsumi laid on the bed on his back and she began to massage him. "After I'm done here, I'm going to go pay a visit to my concubines for a few hours then collect everyone for the party tonight" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Boy are you a lady's man, mind if I become one of those concubines" Miyushi asked.

"Nothing against it; besides can you imagine the outcry from those uptight self-righteous assholes if they heard I was marrying a prostitute, they'd go nuts" Tatsumi replied.

"You could get away with it; just have it privately; don't bother though with me, I'm just a girl who has sex for fun and until recently the money" Miyushi replied and she caressed his scapula, then went down to his calves. "You've got such soft skin, but you're all tense and these scars how'd you get this one above your thigh?" Miyushi commented.

"The one on my thigh; well that -ah lower- anyway that was from nearly getting mauled to death by a warg, he grazed me and got me pretty deep but he got hit worse and died" Tatsumi explained, lying of course that one was from his fight with General Mengele.

"Oh, you're a brave man" Miyushi replied, noting the tenseness; she then massaged his gluttes and when done with those gave the right cheek a playful slap. "Turn over" Miyushi requested, Tatsumi turned over presenting his front body to her. "WOW!" Miyushi exclaimed, Tatsumi's hardened chiseled chest was a sit to behold, granted the upper part of his right shoulder blade was scarred extremely badly from the wound Honest dealt him but that wasn't what had Miyushi's attention no that belonged to his boner. "This is huge! Boy Shastavi is a lucky woman, no one I've done ever has had something this big" Miyushi remarked and climbed on the bed, pushing Tatsumi up and beginning the requested blowjob.

Tatsumi moaned as she began to suck him off; taking him into her mouth caressing it with her tongue inside before deepthroating it; doing so for half a minute before stopping to lick the sides and then wrapping her D-cup breasts around it. "You are a lucky man; I give the best blowjobs, every man I've given them to said I was the best at it" Miyushi bragged before sucking him in further.

"She's pretty damn good" Tatsumi thought, ranking her in the top 5 with at number 5 due Najenda slight edging her out on it, the full brunt of her skills being beaten by the Night Raid leader who preferred that particular form of sex.

Meanwhile… "Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Nui kept saying to Shastavi.

"No problem Nui, that's what friends are for, but please you don't need to keep saying that" Shastavi replied.

"Please Shastavi I've been a virgin for so long I'm so horny and Tatsumi well he's my dream guy in how he looks" Nui replied.

"You say that about everyone that catches your fancy" Shastavi replied.

"Do not! Well yes I do, but everyone else I'd said that about ran away from me; he stood his ground" Nui replied.

"Mainly because he was backed into a corner and he is probably used to girls throwing themselves at him, Nui curb the enthusiasm" Shastavi replied.

"Would you rather I be enthusiastic about killing people?" Nui replied, Shastavi replied.

"Forgot it; just well are you sure" Shastavi asked.

"Damn right I'm sure; I've been a virgin for 16 years, all the other girls in my unit and in my home town always bragged about how fun sex is but every time I try and find a guy for it they run away; and you know I'm not going to waste my first time on a whore; I want it to be with someone special and who'll love me and marry me and well whom I'll fight alongside and make enemies into giant pools of blood and piles of limbs: Slice! Slice baby! Slice! Slice" Nui replied posing around all dramatically.

"Great, now I pity Tatsumi; he's going to be putting his dick in crazy" Shastavi muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?!" Nui asked angry.

"Your hair is amazing! Tatsumi will love your beautiful blonde locks and your pigtails" Shastavi replied smoothly.

"It is?! Thank you! I'm going to personally have him nuzzle his head in it" Nui replied as they arrived at the door hearing Tatsumi moaning. "I'm super nervous. What do I do?" Nui commented.

"Just go with it; do whatever comes to mind and I'll let you have first dibs" Shastavi replied and opened the door.

"OMG!" Nui replied, Miyushi stopped blowing Tatsumi to look at Nui who took one look at Tatsumi's length. "OMG THAT IS HUGE!" Nui remarked and immediately threw off all her clothes. "Must have it in me now!" Nui stammered crazily; then climbed up on Tatsumi and kissed him before sitting up. "No foreplay now! Take that stupid virginity now!" Nui replied and dived down on his length; it went in snapping her barrier like it was a weakened gate hit by a battering ram. "YEAAGH! OW! OW! OW!" Nui yelled jumping off "OW that hurt!" Nui replied; Tatsumi hugged her.

"Don't worry it happens, I know it hurts I've done it enough times to know how it hurts and it hurt me the first time" Tatsumi comforted.

"Thank you; you can put it back in now" Nui replied, then eased onto him this time to no pain, Shastavi who had watched the whole seen play out came over the bed wearing nothing apart from some golden leg bracelets and other jewelry; Nui went up and down slowly at a relaxed pace.

Shastavi kissed Tatsumi on the lips, the escalated into a full blow make out session while Tatsumi fondled Nui's breasts and Miyushi fondled Shastavi's. "Good lips and an amazing tongue; why don't you show me what else you can do with it" Shastavi remarked, Tatsumi nodded and laid back Shastavi sat on it and began his tongue work, which was at a level Shastavi never experienced before, Tatsumi found her G-spot near immediately and licked at her Hyman noting it still being intact; not even Miyushi was this skilled.

"Is he that good? You never made those noises before when I licked your pussy" Miyushi asked.

"Yes, he's amazing" Shastavi replied, Miyushi kissed her and massaged her breasts.

"OH! OH! THIS IS AMAZING! FUCK ME TATSUMI-KUN FUCK ME!" Nui yelled as she went up and down and down on his length, Shastavi made out with Miyushi while Tatsumi licked her out. "This is so amazing; this well I've never been so happy in my life" Nui thought as he struck her core, more moans Shastavi climbed off of Tatsumi to grind her pussy against Miyushi's and make out with her lover while Tatsumi turned to Nui.

"You're enjoying this?" Tatsumi asked.

"Fuck yes I'm enjoying this! I've wanted this for a long time: Marry me! Marry Me! Please! Please?!" Nui asked insistent.

"Sure" Tatsumi nodded and kissed her; she eagerly made out with him as he now topped her while she wrapped her legs around her as he kissed down to her perky D-cup breasts and began to fondle one nipple with his left hand while using the right to caress her soft hair; he then used his tongue to lick the tip of her right nipple before licking in a circular pattern around her areola Nui moaned as he did both of these.

"Oh Tatsumi-kun" Nui moaned and wrapped her left arm around his upper and fondled his bum with her right while wrapping her legs around him; Tatsumi began to suck warming up her nipple to start her lactating once that was done he drank eagerly; Miyushi and Shastavi where meanwhile locked in a mutual 69 with their tongues caressing their inner folds to garbed moans from both. Tatsumi was nearing his limit with the tightness of Nui and she noted his duress. "You're reaching your limit, aren't you?" Nui asked and guessed.

"Yep; so, where do you want it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Inside me; I'm going to marry you alongside Shastavi; let's get the baby in the oven now" Nui replied and locked her legs around Tatsumi's back and kissed him; Tatsumi didn't hold back any longer and filled her oven with his dough. Then pulled out.

"Bend over Nui" Tatsumi requested, she turned around and presented her rear to him.

"Well this can't hurt as bad as the first one" Nui replied as Tatsumi began to ready himself. "Wait!" Nui shouted.

"What?" Tatsumi replied, Nui looked at him.

"Before we go there, I'd like to well see what it tastes like; I'd rather not have you put it there yet before we do that; I'm not ready for that yet" Nui explained, Tatsumi laid down, Nui looked at his length. "It's so big, I'm amazed this thing fit inside me; well let's see what I can do with my mouth" Nui commented and began to lick it then took the head in and began sucking Tatsumi moaned.

"You know you can use your breasts too; they can do some impressive things" Tatsumi commented, Nui nodded and wrapped her D-cups around his length and began to massage it as she blowed him, Shastavi and Miyushi continued to make love in the corner and Tatsumi observed it, Shastavi noticed and came over to him and made out with him, Miyushi not wanting to dejected came over and put her breasts on his length alongside Nui and assisted her in the blowjob however Nui kept hogging it because she wasn't going to share with Miyushi who'd already given him a nice long one. Shastavi joined the blowjob after parking her loins on Tatsumi's face as well as the boobjob Tatsumi's length being smothered by a triple paizuri which Shastavi excelled at.

Eventually he came again spraying his seed on the faces off all three girls before altering position. "Miyushi I want that pussy of yours" Tatsumi commented, Miyushi nodded and eager mounted him; Nui came over and sat on his face and he began to demonstrate his skill with tongue; Shastavi made out with Miyushi as she began to moan and bounce on Tatsumi's length.

"Tatsumi! Tatsumi! Oh, your tongue is- wow! It's in places I've- never felt before never knew I had keep going!" Nui moaned, Miyushi stopped making out with Shastavi to drink from Nui's breasts. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Nui moaned; Shastavi then got down and alternated between sucking and licking Tatsumi's balls then giving Miyushi a rimjob. Speaking of rimjob; Nui's moans were the loudest when Tatsumi decided to give her one.

"This is so good" Tatsumi thought; then came inside Miyushi without noticing and who being busy with sucking Nui's breasts didn't either and he went another two loads before he realized he had unloaded into Miyushi twice. Then they changed positions again Tatsumi finally ready to give it Nui's rear and she was likewise ready; Tatsumi held her drill-like pony-tails in either hand and backdoored her in her rear; Nui eeped as he took her black cherry, his length going deep into her; but it wasn't as painful to her surprise as she had expected mainly because she had braced for it, and Tatsumi had given her a warm up rimjob beforehand so she was fully ready.

What Nui hadn't been expecting was Shastavi to put her loins in front of her; Nui getting the meaning began to lick at putting the skills Tatsumi had just taught her to use; Shastavi moaned momentarily before Miyushi sat on her face to receive the same treatment she then made out with Tatsumi; the only noises made by all four were slurps and the occasional moan from Miyushi when Tatsumi stopped to drink from her breasts and planted the playful slap on her rear.

Thirty minutes later… Tatsumi had worn out all three girls and had redressed to leave granted they were awake but they were satisfied. Tatsumi then headed towards his personal wing of the Palace, one specifically allocated to Esdeath but was pretty much a home to him. The place he stopped at was a large room this one was a great spa and private harem room; the quarters of his concubines.

As he entered, he was greeted by the burly amazon that was Steela. "Greetings Master" Steela greeted, Tatsumi kissed.

"Please don't call me that, just keep calling me by my name" Tatsumi replied.

"I was just teasing you; now what can I and the others do for you?" Steela asked.

"Comfort; love, a warm touch; I'll see Camilla first though; I think we're overdue; after I'm warmed up, I'll handle you" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll be waiting" Steela replied. Tatsumi then explored the large harem chambers which were a mixture of a spa, pleasure palace, and living quarters; the many women here with only two purposes: to tend to his needs all of them and to bare his children.

Tatsumi walked over searching among the ladies receiving kisses from each of the women who loved him before finding Camilla reading a book she wore a sea-blue semi-transparent dress over quite transparent leggings with a transparent wrap worn on her hip she had short shoulder length black-purple hair which was tied in three buns behind her head. "Camilla" Tatsumi greeted.

"My lord: What do you have need of me?" Camilla replied shutting her book and adjusting her large circular framed glasses and meeting his green eyes with her amethyst eyes.

"I want to spend time with you Camilla; I've got a lot on my mind and need your help organizing it" Tatsumi explained.

"Well you came to the right concubine; Esdeath didn't just pick me for my looks but for my brains too; what do you want to chat about?" Camilla replied.

"About the future; I'm in a bind at the moment; I'm going to be away for a few days and I'm worried the moment I lead Honest will make a move against anyone or anything; Esdeath is here to stop most of those moves but there are a few things I worry I won't be able to stop those regarding matters of justice which means I need to put someone to represent me in my place if you get my meaning" Tatsumi explained.

"I do, at the moment you don't have a second in command to handle your day job at court" Camilla replied. "Do you have anyone you'd trust to step into that position while you're away; someone you'd trust absolutely with the job" Camilla asked.

"Well there is Esdeath but I don't want to put all this on her, she does so much already I don't want to overwork her; she's strong but I need her operating with focus" Tatsumi replied then thought hard. "There is someone else though; someone I trust implicitly to keep an eye on everything here while I'm gone, someone shrewd and bright: Spear!" Tatsumi concluded.

"See that's all you needed someone to help you get thinking now is there anything I can do for you" Camilla replied.

"A lot of things; I'm horny and need your touch and your love" Tatsumi replied seductively; Camilla untied her dress and removed her leggings; Tatsumi removed her lace under garments leaving her naked save her bracelets and anklets as well as the transparent wrap; two of Tatsumi's other concubines Lyra and Melony, a short blonde light skinned 16 year old in the prior's case and a dark skinned blonde in the latter's case, relieved Tatsumi of his clothes and their own as well.

Camilla stepped over and kissed Tatsumi on the lips, he picked her up and entered her to a loud moan into his lips, Lyra and Melony got down and began licking his balls as he thrusted into Camilla's pussy. "Tatsumi-Sama, Tatsumi-Sama!" Camilla moaned; two more of Tatsumi's concubines came over. They were Gilly and Tara; the first Gilly was a green eyed ginger with a Mediterranean complexion and light skin from the Northern provinces who was brought back and liberated from Numa Sakui's personal harem fortunately unlike others of said harem she had escaped the rape daily done by the northern king in his spare time; she was a freed slave. The second was from the mid-provinces near the Salvaka Desert where the old emperors were buried in great pyramids in the far past. Both concubines disrobed, put lotion on their breasts and massaged Tatsumi's sides and his back; Tatsumi came in Camilla after ten minutes and then eased onto on to one of many water beds before the other girls came over to him.

"Tatsumi-master we live to please" Gilly commented as she took Tatsumi's length into her; Camilla kissed his cheek while Tara and Melony played with his nipples using their fingers at first and then their tongues; Lyra allowed Tatsumi to nurse from her ample E-cup breasts; two more of Tatsumi's concubines Shallea and Mirii fanned Tatsumi after disrobing.

Noting the fun going on Tatsumi's other concubines began sending a message across the room to wake Constance from her nap in her quarters and to inform her that her lord was here and would soon have need of her touch.

The goal for Tatsumi now that he had things figured out was to spend half an hour with his concubines to warm them up then send messengers to Grundewick, Hearthome and Chouri manor to let his family and friends know about the party; then until the time came for said party relax and enjoy the comforts of said concubines. "Yep that's the plan" Tatsumi thought as the long-curly haired redhead Gilly bounce up and down he was fanned, drank sweet breast milk from Lyra and Camilla, feed grapes by Tara until she handed the task over to Camilla when the time came for her to take Gilly's place; or rather him to take Tara in her ample rump and ride her doggy style.

Said round of anal riding was followed by a triple blowjob given by Camilla, Lyra and Melony with the two spiky haired blondes one with cream skin (Lyra) and the other with dark brown skin (Melony) wrapping their e-cups around his length and massaging it while Camilla barely managed to get in on action. As this happened Tara and Gilly made out with Tatsumi after covering his body with lotions and oils to sooth his skin; Gilly being the more passionate of the too. "Tatsumi master we are here for you" Gilly said soothingly and Tatsumi relaxed as the two girls kissed him and the three others blew him; when he came they eagerly gobbled up his seed before Lyra mounted him and began bouncing up and down; Camilla came over and grinded her loins against the exposed length and against Lyra before turning to lock lips passionately with Tatsumi who eagerly kissed her back. "My lord I'm pregnant" Gilly whispered hoping to surprise him, Tatsumi blushed.

"Same here: we- well the doctor came by and we passed the tests; palace protocols and all" Camilla added; Tatsumi wept and kissed her deeply and held her tight; he was happy, extremely so and excited, so excited he released faster than normal filling Lyra's womb and Lyra fell backwards panting and relaxed; Melony took her place and the other three girls stepped aside and Melony kissed Tatsumi too

"My lord; I'm here take me and give me a child worthy of you" Melony replied and deep voice; Tatsumi nodded and began drinking from her breasts as he took her missionary style. The passionate rounds went on for five more of them before Tatsumi was satisfied with the results and the five women got off the bed.

"Camilla, I need you to run a message to one of my heralds; everyone on my list of friends and family are invited to Emperor Makoto's birthday party; just give the herald the message and come back here" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes Tatsumi-kun I'll do that" Camilla replied and kissed Tatsumi on the lips; the two girls who had been fanning him joined him on the bed; Shallea mounting his length and Mirii his face as he began to have a threesome with the two.

Camilla redressed and left the harem quarters and found one of Tatsumi's heralds nearby said herald took the message to the people in question; she then returned to the quarters and rejoined Tatsumi in who had alternated positions.

Said fun was interrupted by trumpets which meant only one thing: the arrival of Tatsumi's chief concubine; the beautiful long raven-haired grey eyed busty beauty Constance; clad in little but ornate golden jewelry and some transparent cloths the lovely beauty came over to Tatsumi; the other girls stopped and gave the two space. When it came to Constance and Tatsumi it was clear that the other concubines respected their relationship; to extent that the other girls didn't want to interfere when it came to the two wanting to spend time together; granted Steela and Camilla were allowed to join in but those two usually gave them space. "Tatsumi-kun" Constance greeted as she joined him on the soft bed.

"Constance; I- need you; we need to talk" Tatsumi explained

"Don't worry Tatsumi-kun I'll take good care of you while we talk; tell me what you want to talk about I'm here for you" Constance replied, then straddled him taking his length into her; her ample E-cups were among Tatsumi's favorites; her perky nipples were pierced with golden ruby studded rings; she wore the finest of silk stockings and wore the finest of clothing when not being intimate with him; she also wore a diadem of true silver, Mithril, that was studded with fine pearls and pink sapphires this signified her position as chief harem girl. Constance become one of Esdeath's many concubines; liberated from Western mercenaries she was a virgin beauty who Esdeath considered truly worthy of the man she hoped to find one day, perfect to bare the finest of children and a lovely beauty worthy of an Emperor.

Esdeath considered the concubines as her handmaidens, personal assassins, spies and one of the greatest treasures for whom ever her future husband would be; Tatsumi being that lucky man. Esdeath trained them in every practical skill worthy of their stations; had them wear Chasity belts as a means of preserving their maidenhoods from anyone who'd dare defile them and to ensure their fidelity to whomever Esdeath choose as a husband. The taking of concubines by female generals was not an uncommon practice the main purpose being as part of a large dowry for their future husbands: Esdeath choose the strongest and fairest but also the smartest and most loyal women for this role. She had the goal of not only her baring the strongest children possible but for them to do the same; each of these women were adopted into her clan as the future for a new Patras Clan, as such she considered them her sisters. Tatsumi was the future of her clan and Esdeath intended to have it return above anything else to Esdeath the restoration of the family she had lost was more important than anything else, the restoration of her people.

Constance being the crown jewel of this harem was the most skilled and fairest of these maidens Tatsumi held her close; and for her held nothing back he treated her as he would Esdeath herself with love and care and kept nothing secret from her. As such she likewise kept nothing hidden from him, granted Tatsumi didn't keep his secrets from those he loved apart from things that really didn't matter such as stuff that had no bearing on the situations he found himself in or rather personal private habits of his those being his personal religious beliefs as he had an interesting set of patron deities and personal religious practices such as his weekends fasts, his studying of religious texts, and well certain obsessions with the occult; nothing sacrilegious of course but still there were a number of things that fascinated him in that field. Also kept largely secret were his many liaisons with Palace courtesans for education in exotic sexual positions to please his many lovers. Regardless though all these things aside Tatsumi was an honest person thru and thru, though he was more than capable of deception when needed.

"Tatsumi-kun" Constance moaned as he thrusted into her via the cow-girl position; they kissed Tatsumi kissed down her body to her breasts and drank from her right breast as he lay his head on it, Tatsumi's hands fondled her rear, overall sexual relations were moderate, while Tatsumi held nothing back in terms of positions with her he was never rough with her but he loved fondling her rear and drinking from her breasts both of which he was doing with his best as she bounced up and down. "Come on Camilla join in; I think Tatsumi would enjoy some poetry from you as he demonstrates his tongue's skill" Constance invited waving to her friend, Camilla nodded and went to collect her latest compositions and began to recite them to him as Tatsumi drank from Constance's breasts and thrust into her womb with a rapid tempo.

"Serene eyes of Green, brown hair of locks fair, phallus without malice, fill my core evermore, Tatsumi I love thee" Camilla recited as she disrobed once more and crawled over to him, she kissed his ear and massaged his back as Constance wrapped her legs around it. "Man of many shades, man of many fades, mans of many faces, man in many places; shrouded and clouded, yet plain to see; many things are thee Tatsumi" Camila recited and wrapped her arms around his neck and his chest and massaged him with her breasts while rubbing her loins against his rump. "Now for an old composition from the Dwarves recited from elder days beyond the memory of man: The King Beneath the Mountains, the King of Carven Stone, The Lord of Silver Fountains, shall come unto his own. His crown shall be upholden, his harp shall be restrung, his halls shall echo golden to songs of yore resung. The woods shall wave on mountains and grass beneath the sun, his wealth shall flow in fountains and the rivers golden run. The streams will run in gladness, the lakes will shine and burn, all sorrow fail and sadness at the Mountain King's Return" Camilla recited then nibbled his left ear kissing him while continuing her breast back massage while tickling his nipples all the while Constance lay bag his length in her.

"I love your wonderful words Camilla" Tatsumi complimented turning to kiss her on the lips, before leaning down to kiss Constance's sapphire lips which were blue from her preferred lipstick.

The Harem door opened and Esdeath walked in with Sayo and Riji in toe, Sayo wore an imperial general's uniform not too different from Esdeath's while Riji wore a nice fine dress; rather than a concubine Riji was elevated by Esdeath to being worthy of full wife status mainly as her skills with regards to palace intrigue and the fact that she had been responsible for Tatsumi's rise to prominence albeit indirectly. "Tatsu-bunny!" Esdeath shouted, Tatsumi turned to her. "No don't stop on my account; you're doing an important duty I just wanted to tell you some good news" Esdeath explained coming over.

"What's the good news?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm pregnant" Sayo explained, Tatsumi smiled.

"But not just that Tatsumi; I received two kicks earlier, and again recently; Tatsumi I'm carrying twins" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi blushed and began to cry with joy.

"Esdeath: that's beyond wonderful; it's a true blessing, for you and I to have one child is a blessing but for you to be bearing twins: truly the gods smile on us; we are definitely meant to be" Tatsumi replied getting up and coming over to her and hugging her.

"I'm glad you're so happy; Tatsumi I wonder though what will our babies be? Two sons? Two Daughters? Or one of both? Really though however this is a momentous occasion for me; in a few months I won't be the only Patras left in the world anymore; well trueborn Patras, I count you and all my other sisters as part of my Clan; but Tatsumi I- I'm not alone anymore" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi kissed her.

"You never were alone, from the moment we first fell in love Esdeath you weren't alone; think though generations from now our descendants will tell the stories of our accomplishments , but also your story how you went from being the last Patras to the restorer of your civilization; one of the oldest ones in the world" Tatsumi explained.

"Anyway, I leave you to your concubines Tatsumi; Riji though wanted to join in" Esdeath explained.

"What about you?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've got to see to tutoring Sayo in military tactics also in court politics; while you're gone, she'll be filling in for you" Esdeath explained.

"What about Spear?" Tatsumi asked.

"Don't worry I've already got that under control, Spear said she'll handle the harder court matters with regards to you job as Minister for Justice while I'll handle your duties as Minister for Fun and those relating to the Jaegers; plus while you're away Esdeath and I will play" Sayo replied, with a wink at the last part.

"She's actually amazing Tatsumi, not on your level but still quite good at being there in your place" Esdeath replied. "She can also do amazing things with her tongue; Tatsumi you're lucky to have a friend and wife like Sayo, also she is a great student; better then Spear I might add" Esdeath commented.

"Right we'll leave you be, I we've got to go birthday shopping for Makoto" Sayo replied, and the two left him be, with Riji who removed her clothing to join him with Constance and Camilla; Tatsumi entering the latter and laying his head on her breast while drinking as she recited more poems while Riji and Constance tended to his balls which were exposed, leaving Tatsumi in the embrace of his concubines.

Later that afternoon… Leone and Lilianna were with Aria on the quest that even Leone in her tomboyishness enjoyed: shopping for anything that suited their fancy.

"So, Aria what is going to be the plan while Tatsumi and the Boss are gone these next few days?" Leone asked.

"The plan is business as usual, only catch is Lubbock will be in charge, I'm taking a break to prepare our new home and ready things for the baby; I'm near the end of the first trimester and as such I'm going to use my down time to get ready for that; also I need to pay a visit to my cousin in Joyuu; she's due to have another child and my parents were invited to the baby shower, and myself as well" Aria explained.

"I heard about that from Seryu; she mentioned Run was going to be out of town for the same reason, hard to believe he's your cousin by marriage" Lilianna commented

"Not really, the hard thing to factor in is that he's still alive what with his military duties and being a Jaeger" Aria replied.

"Well turns out the world is smaller than we think" Leone joked and the three laughed. "Now what are am I going to get the Emperor for his birthday?" Leone asked aloud.

"Well Makoto-san is very much still a child at heart, even if he's now a teenager he well loves things that are fun to hold but also things that are fun to play with; though I'd refrain from a chess set as Tatsumi got him one" Lilianna explained to her younger sister.

"Good well that narrows things down" Leone replied the carriage they were in stopped and they got out to look around the market; Leone actually following Lilianna around. "Hey Lily, I- talked to father" Leone replied, Lilianna stopped and frowned.

"How did that go over?" Lilianna asked concerned.

"Not the way you think; trust it- well he actually believes it or not acted kind for once and actually cried real tears; I asked him some questions and well got the answers I wanted but not the ones I expected" Leone replied.

"Such as?" Lilianna asked.

"Why he's done everything he's done, turns out it's all because he wants to bring your mother back from the dead; thinks he's on the brink of it not just that he did everything he did for your sake and Syura's. He- told me about his past and well apologized; he regrets dearly that he wasn't there for me when he needed to be, regrets abandoning my mother; he's acknowledged that he's evil and well he blames the deities for his lot in life and that's why he's so willingly forsaken the path of good" Leone explained, Lilianna shed a tear, then another and more after mention of her mother and the fact that it was for her sake that Honest had done so many unforgivable and despicable evil deeds.

Lilianna stopped as Leone hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey don't cry, you're the big sister you have to be strong, brave and kind: I should know I've tried to fill that role" Leone comforted. "Also remember I'm here for you, our brother is here for you and me, Tatsumi's here for us, we have so many people who can be there for us that we don't need father in our lives" Leone replied

"It's not that Leone, its- well the fact that my parents will never be together again; our father has damned his soul to Hell all because he wanted to bring my mother back from the dead; I wish well that he'd been stronger, that he hadn't done what he did, so many people would still be alive if he had; the Empire would be a better place because it has bled and is dying because of our father" Lilianna replied.

"Love does crazy things to people, you know he also asked me what I would have done if I were in his shoes; if I were to lose Tatsumi before my time" Leone replied.

"What would you have done?" Lilianna asked.

"I'd be strong; remember there are still people who need me and that I'll be together with him again someday; you know though you are right; I hate to dwell on the fact that because of his crimes and pacts with demons he'll never see the person he loves most again and those that he still loves greatly have well betrayed him; I hate to think what would happen if he found out about Syura's return and his defiance, it might destroy the little good left in him" Leone replied.

"I wish there was a way to take that little bit of good still in him and send it back to mother in the afterlife; that way the evil monster that was once our father can burn in hell for his sins and our actual father can return to mother again and perhaps when we die to them" Lilianna explained.

The two on that somber thought stopped talking about the subject and returned to shopping, picking out a share of toys but also a set of nice warm blankets which were not for the Emperor but for Lillianna and Leone's own children when they were born. "I'm looking forward to our kids, thinking about it I'm going to name my son after father; he may have fallen to evil but he was once a good person and his name was meant for one so I think it's fitting that I name him after our father; in fact one day when my son asks who his grandfather was I'll just say he was a good man a long time ago" Leone explained

"I- am surprised why though? Aren't you worried about the legacy that may entail?" Lilianna asked.

"Yes, but I'm even more worried that our father's legacy will solely be for his evil deeds, I want those that were good to be remembered and what better than a son who will surpass those good deeds he did before his fall and be truly praised for generations beyond" Leone explained.

"I see, well if you name your son Honest please for the life me don't ever ask me to call him Junior" Lilianna replied, Leone laughed.

"Never was going to, he may then be second of his namesake but we will treat him and raise him like he was the first; in fact I'm tempted to ask our father more about his adventures before his fall; I think those would be best remembered, did he ever tell you about them?" Leone asked.

"Yes and no, yes he did but I don't remember them; they were never my interest, I was more focused on acting like a lady then on adventure, that was Syura's forte" Lilianna replied.

"Boy you and I are opposites Lily, lady like ha- you know I get all tense when I wear a dress" Leone remarked, both laughed then met up with Aria and filled the cart with their purchases before taking it back to Hearthome Manor to wrap the presents and ready themselves for the occasion.

About 5:45… "Ahh" Tatsumi moaned as Steela bounced up and down. "You know I could ride your ass all day" Tatsumi commented, they were spooning vertically.

"I know you could and you're the only man who can handle me" Steela commented Tatsumi kissed her soft lips, her fair dark skin contrasted against his skin, her grey eyes shined and his hands caressed her long black hair as her ample f-cups pressed against his chest, she was muscular and a true amazon in that she was a big woman with the same height as Esdeath. She viewed Tatsumi with very deep love as he was the only person who could handle her in terms of strength outside of Esdeath, that and she had extreme stamina.

"Yep and all I needed was warming up" Tatsumi commented noting behind him seven passed out girls. He was still being fanned by two other girls; Gilly licked his balls as Camilla massaged him and Lyra kissed him on his cheek. The door to the room opened and Seryu Ubiquitous walked into the room.

"Tatsumi! Get dressed and get ready; the party starts in 15 minutes!" Seryu shouted; the girls dispersed and Tatsumi got up.

"Alright I'll do that; you look beautiful in that dress" Tatsumi replied and complimented, Seryu wore a lovely lime and dark green gown with gold threading that held it together she also wore green fingerless gloves that showed off her silver painted manicured nails. She wore her hair in the usual style but added a number of decorative hairclips and her ordinary hair scrunchie was traded for a silver one. Overall, she was dressed perfectly for the occasion whereas Tatsumi wasn't not even remotely.

Tatsumi took a towel and wrapped it around himself, then went to his personal chambers. His chambers at the palace being rather lavish but not overly so with a wardrobe of finery worthy of any lord or prince; in this case Tatsumi accompanied, by four of his concubines: Lyra, Gilly, Tasha and Milly, chose a pretty respectable set of clothes which said concubines helped him dress in making sure he looked prim and proper; he then sent them out of the room and instructed them and the others to put on their finest gowns and accessories. "Man, Tatsumi you look handsome; hard to believe this same guy was a just some country farmer a few months ago; now look at you; you look like you belong here" Tatsumi said to himself looking at his reflection.

After readying himself he left the room and waited for his concubines to finish dressing, all seventy of them assembled with Riji at the head of them as the wife in charge of the group. "All of you look absolutely amazing; I'm looking forward to this; remember best behavior this is a royal birthday and the Emperor is expecting us all to do our part to be on our best behavior alright" Tatsumi explained and complemented, all the girls nodded.

Shortly… Tatsumi met up with his wives and other lovers; everyone sans the Night Raid girls with wanted posters was there and when he entered the grand feast hall he did so in grand style with Aria on his left side and Esdeath on his right, with Seryu and Sayo at the side of each of them, Najenda was to his back and overall his large harem of over 100 girls was a sight to behold, he a handsome kind, caring, loving man surrounded and protected by a phalanx of radiant woman: each a beauty a bard or poet would compose grand songs and stories of and that master artists would paint for a masterpiece of that would be each be worth a room of Dwarven gold. A sight that was impressive to all that were there; friends and enemies alike; those in attendance were in awe at the sight of a handsome regal and fashionable dressed noble who had at his side a harem of some of the most beautiful woman in the world.

However, the reactions were mixed; some those who shared Tatsumi's ideals or were allies of his were happy and proud that he had come this far and that he was lucky enough to have achieved as much as he had and to have earned the love of so many beauties. Others however envied him, were jealous or in the worst case hated him for everything and wanted to see him lose all he had before he died a brutal agonizing death; wanted those he loved to die in front of him from the worst tortures imaginable, to defile all that he loved dear and make suffer. Tatsumi looked to find the Emperor.

Makoto wore orange brocade robes which had golden wire and rubies sowed into the fabric which was made of fine silk; the robes were over a nice crisp fine orange shirt and black pants; he wore slippers and, on his head, the Imperial crown. But Makoto wasn't alone on all three sides of him were girls the same age as him. Air and Luna held either of his hands and wore blue and purple versions of the same gown, which was of fantastic design in fact rather Imperial in design in fact the fabrics were of the finest velvet and silk and threaded with Mithril and studded with star sapphires; the garb was clearly dwarven in make and must have cost a fortune. Fal who watched his back and had her arms on his shoulders and walked behind him wore the same type of gown however it was truly golden. The Emperor stood up shook hands with Constantine Grundel who smiled next to Angela, Honest slouched in a corner with a fine relaxed posture.

Tatsumi studied the room, virtually every major noble who had any influence at court and in the city was there; along with a number of the Empire's top brass. "If the Revolutionary Army snuck a bomb in here most of the Empire's enemies would be having a party" Tatsumi thought, he then noted his three sister's in-law then noted Mishi and Kyoko with Spear who had gone ahead of the group and who looked more radiant then usual and who's blonde locks were styled in the finest collection of buns possible, Kyoko was being held by Spear in her arms.

Makoto then let all three adopted Grundel sisters stand next to him as he took his place on the throne and called for order. "Everyone! I have a few important announcements to make. First of all, I'm glad to welcome you all to my thirteenth birthday party; Ah today is the day I have to move on from being a kid, I loved being a kid but we all have to grow up." Makoto spoke to cheers from the audience. "Secondly I'd like to congratulate our wonderful military generals who've won their share of great victories; recently with General Teketh's vanquishing of another Western offensive and defeating the Revolutionary army's forces in the west; but that pales in comparison to Grand Marshal Esdeath's conquest of the North; I'm proud to announce that the Northern Kingdom is no more and the formal establishment and stabilization of 20 new provinces in the Northern lands; also am proud to announce that for the first time in our history these new provinces aren't governed by human beings; no the Northerners are subservient to the Proud and might Yetis; their chains broken and their masters vanquished as they now rule the Northern provinces : to that subject please welcome the New Grand Viceroy of Far Northern Provinces: King Ivar Rangaku of the Yetis!" Makoto explained, and indicated towards the Yeti Delegation who wore fine clothing weaved from bear leather and bear fur with large bear heads worn on the shoulders over which they wore tall fur hats save on who wore a crown made of carved granite and studded with onyxes and jasper; he also wore an orange broquade robe which was bejeweled with the same substances; each of them stood an impressive ten feet towering over anyone else in the room and people cheered but not too loud as it was common knowledge Yetis had sensitive ears.

"Now for my next announcement: Usually it's about this time in which a young prince starts to meet potential princesses and in this case an Emperor meets potential Empresses. In this case I've made my decision I have talked this over with those it concerns and made an agreement" Makoto explained; the entire room stood silent in anticipation at this. "With that in mind I'm not going to hold you in suspense; I've decided on my future wife or should I say wives because I've chosen three and they've accepted me: I now am announcing my betrothals to Fal, Air, and Luna Grundel: when I'm of age we will marry; I've made up my mind on this issue and I won't be convinced otherwise be it by my regent or by my other advisors and ministers" Makoto declared and all three hugged him.

The room was silent and shocked at this announcement, the most shocked though was Honest who fainted at this announcement, the only people who weren't surprised were the Grundels, Esdeath, the Four Rakshasa Demons and Tatsumi who while he hadn't been in the know about these arrangement wasn't surprised by the decision to go thru with a betrothal. "Now that this is out of the way I will be putting forth a new Imperial decree, the creation of 30 new Legions; 3 for each of the new provinces. With that in mind we will begin recruitment as soon as the first census of the Northern provinces has been made; while this process may take a couple years these new armies will bolster the security of the Empire and expand our new provinces thru the construction of new roads, fortifications and other works as well as provide much needed jobs" Makoto continued. "I am glad to welcome this new year and hope it will be productive and bring the Empire much joy as the next in a long cycle of 15 months commences; winter is over and First spring begins; however, that's enough of these matters let's eat cake!" Makoto concluded and took off towards the desert table.

"Wait your highness what about gifts?" One of the advisors stated.

"Cake and Ice cream first; don't want those to melt" Makoto replied and processed to grab a plate.

Then began a grand festivity worthy of the occasion, much food was consumed, many presents were opened and a fair amount merrymaking and dancing occurred; overall the whole affair was lavish and grand with anyone that could have been unhappy was happy; all during the festivities were united in one purpose, celebration.

Later that night… Tatsumi was woken up by Merraid pinching nose; he was in bed with Najenda and Seryu; both of which opened their eyes. "What gives?" Tatsumi asked Merraid.

"Time's come to go; I've gotten the largest of the Air mantas ready for our trip; we travel by night" Merraid explained; Najenda and Seryu got up and Tatsumi shrugged awake clenched his head as a result of a hangover from too much wine; then dressed in his go to Night Raid attire. Merraid then led them along with the Twins who had been awakened for the journey as well to Air manta; which wasn't the one in question but another for the purpose of traveling back and forth to HQ.

Their flight back to HQ was an easy one and went smoothly and they went inside. "Najenda what's the plan?" Tatsumi asked.

"Rather easy we are going to take our Grand Air Manta to Zartek in the eastern provinces which is where the current Revolutionary army Capital is; there we will meet with the leadership and take care of all matters that come up; I'll explain more on the way there" Najenda explained, they then went inside to fetch Cassandra who would be joining them on this trip along with Pais and informed Lubbock that he was in charge while they were gone; Lubbock had already been awake due to a planned mission that had just been completed.

They then went thru a series of cavern passages which led up the small mountain their headquarters was carved into the grand eyrie. In said eyrie was a massive Air Manta; a Grand Air Manta named Lyos. The creature was the size of a small private plane and was fitted with a specialized howdah; this howdah functioned as a small living quarters which could house about 30 people at max however since this wasn't the case on this trip they could have a makeshift living space for all eight of them; Merraid would be using her power to control danger beasts to allow her to guide the creature to their destination; a journey which would have taken weeks on foot would only take about six hours in the air.

The shelter was enough to allow for comfortable sitting room and to allow making was as essential a makeshift living room; this was done by bringing up an number of spare quilts and blankets as well as some throw pillows and using the large central area in the center of the howdah; the whole thing was covered by roofs and walls; the howdah itself was made from light-weight titanium and a crisp leather the whole thing having been crafted in secret by the Grundels' dedicated craftsmen and it offered protection fit for air travel which would be about 2000 feet in the air.

The howdah was attached using a series of riveted straps and using the massive exoskeleton carapace on the back of the creature to the advantage as a foundation to nail the whole thing down; the exoskeleton interestingly enough had no pain nerves so they managed to nail the howdah to creature without harming or scaring it, granted Merraid had put the creature into a deep sleep while the workers had done the job.

After they finished getting everything ready and getting themselves prepared for takeoff Merraid adopted a meditative position with her legs crossed and muttered some words in an ancient language then her eyes glowed green as she melded her mind and took control of the creature. "Don't disrupt me; I must maintain absolute focus to make sure our friend here stays focused on flying in the right direction and at the right angle" Merraid explained; granted they all knew that to the case but it was meant just to make sure that it stayed drilled in their heads.

Having been woken in the middle of the night the four woman and their husband curled up in the makeshift grand bed and wrapped blankets around themselves and their arms around each other and fell asleep while Merraid stayed awake and alert; the night would be spent flying and come dawn they'd be in the East; granted Tatsumi and his lovers stayed close while Pais and Cassandra slept a good distance away from the five of them.

"Hey general?" Pais asked still awake while Cassandra was half-awake.

"Yes Pais?" Cassandra asked.

"I was wondering why are we giving them space when we should be all around each other to well conserve heat" Pais replied.

"Because they are all in a romantic relationship" Cassandra replied.

"What is it that they see in him?" Pais asked and Cassandra wondered that question.

"What indeed?" Cassandra wondered aloud; especially given that Merraid was one of those girls in Tatsumi's harem; in fact, she wasn't the only Oarburgh in it, so were Chelsea, and Taeko, and Meela and Loris, and Gilberda. "The only Oarburgh not in that group of his is me: well me and the other members of the clan who a pledged to Merraid but they'll go over to him the moment she lets them know about the whole thing; well this is great Cassandra you are the odd one out" Cassandra thought.

"Maybe it's his eyes" Pais wondered aloud.

"No it's not his physical features; his looks while handsome and well- hard to beat aren't the main reason; looks are one thing that can lead to relationships but its actions and well the things a person does and who they are that determines things like this; I should know Pais; I'm no stranger when it comes to matters of love" Cassandra responded.

"Then it's what he is; well he is handsome; brave, smart well not too smart, but level-headed and well the kind of person I wish there was more of in this world; people like him are a rare sight in this world of ours; heck war hasn't even twisted his beliefs if anything he's well stuck to them from what I've heard from the others and what I've seen on the few missions we've been on" Pais commented.

"Do you have a crush Pais?" Cassandra teased.

"Do you general?" Pais teased back, Cassandra took a few steps back; first off she actually did have some good reasons to have one and did in fact have one but she disagreed on him when it came to actions; he wasn't willing to kill when he should, he killed only when it was needed and tried to look for a more peaceful resolution to conflict, also when it came to certain people he just refused to target them; children of their targets, spouses hell even servents and guards; basically he was the sort of person that was willing to leave potential enemies alive to come back at them another day if it wasn't possible to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were guilty. He also hated killing he said it every time he finished a mission or whenever he trained.

"The big issue is that I was raised to be an assassin raised to kill from a young age, Tatsumi's a farmboy who before he joined Night Raid never killed another human being at least not one that wasn't able to fight back; in fact, much less people that were unarmed. He- just is well a person who's life has gone nearly completely out of his control; he has to worry every day and night if that will be his last and that of everyone he cares for- no loves and countless other people whose lives are impacted by his actions" Cassandra thought and then looked at him. "Merraid what is it you see in him, trust me when we get to Zartek I'm going to be asking you a good amount of questions.

The next day… The suns rose over the savannah lands of the Eastern province of Amtrak, which was the central province of the eastern provinces and sat on the crossroads of all provinces that surrounded it and Zartek was at the center of all the trade routes. Whatever direction you were traveling it was a common saying that all roads in the world went thru Zartek.

Which made it all the more painful when the Empire lost it without a fight. Zartek had been taken via a soft coup and series of assassination which killed the leadership of the local army which had been the source of said plots; it hadn't been a bloodless take over but it was taken over without a battle also it helped that the people who lived in Zartek were glad to be liberated from Honest's taxes and duties which had been causing the city to lose prosperity; the Revolutionary was invited in by the cities burghers and nobles as a matter of security meant to guarantee their freedom to trade without having to pay duties to Honest and to trade with the Eastern lands which backed the Revolutionary army. The city itself was about a third the size of Melitine but from the air Tatsumi could tell that it was way better off than the Capital also the architecture of the city was exotic and had no similarities to the Capital as spiraling minarets and ziggurats towered in the city and buildings were topped with what he assumed was brass because no way was there enough gold to cover that many buildings.

The manta was led to a red rocked mesa which towered over the city and was a respectable distance away; but more importantly was climbable both down and up via carved stairways which were connected to an old carved open fort atop the mesa. "Well I've never thought I'd be glad to be out of the Capital, not to mention never thought I'd ever be this far from home" Tatsumi commented.

"The Eastern provinces are more interesting east of the Matahai Mountains where my ancestors' queendom was in ages pass; hard to believe that these lands once paid homage to Oarburgh Queens and latter a few Oarburgh Empresses and eventually an Oarburgh Emperor" Merraid commented; the Manta moaned and fell asleep. "You get some sleep big guy you've earned it" Merraid commented to their method of travel.

"I've never left the Capital or gone more than 30 miles away from it; this is a completely new experience right Koro?" Seryu commented, Koro woofed. "What do you mean you've been here before? It changed in I don't the know the past 500 years since you were last here so don't think we'll be relying on you for directions" Seryu commented.

"Tatsumi stay close to me; Meela, Loris, Seryu you three are to watch his back and stay on guard at all times, Pais you're with Cassandra and Merraid" Najenda explained; they then took time to grab their packs which were filled with things needed for the occasion; they then began the descent down the mesa stairs.

"I wonder who built these stairs; surely the people here didn't" Tatsumi replied.

"These stairs were built if you haven't noticed by the runes on the rock walls by the Dwarves when they still had a means of travel between the Eastern and Western holds; they used these natural mesas as places to dock their gyrocopters and Zeppelins" Cassandra replied.

"What happened to stop them from travelling those distances" Tatsumi asked.

"Emperor Vardoch the Mad happened; the idiot inherited the throne some 400 years ago and was born after 140 years of civil war when the knowledge discovered by the Dragon Emperor on how to make new Imperial Arms was lost; he decided it would be a good idea to steal the knowledge from the dwarves which led to a long 20 year war between the Empire and the Dwarves; after the conflict ended the Dwarves abandoned their holds in the Empire and migrated out into their other holds in the East, North and West; all outside the Empire's borders and since then no remaining outposts exist to trade with that require these old air docks for their flying machines to refuel at means they these things become nothing more to normal people then fascinating structures" Cassandra explained.

"Two questions; first where did you find out about all this and secondly since when can Dwarves fly" Tatsumi asked.

"First of I learned a good deal of it from libraries in the Eastern Cities where I spent some time in as a mercenary before I joined the Revolutionary army; the Dwarves still trade and move about in the Eastern lands and while they aren't as numerous as their kin in the Western Kingdoms they are still a force to reckoned with and still trade with the people of those lands which haven't warred with them being too busy fighting other things" Cassandra replied. "Secondly Dwarves themselves as a species can't fly but they are smart enough to build flying machines in the form of gyrocopters, zeppelins and well what they call ayroplanes" Cassandra added.

"Wait flying machines; now that I don't buy, I'd have to see it for myself to believe it" Tatsumi commented.

"Hey maybe you will one day" Pais commented.

It took them about an hour to climb down the 200 stairs to the valley bellow and another hour and half to get to the city of Zartek which were it not for the fact that travelers came into it daily would have led to some questions from the guards of which there were many.

The guards were a mix of local garrison soldiers which wore rather ornate armor and fine clothing and carried massive two-handed scimitars, and Revolutionary army soldiers which Tatsumi hadn't seen before. The average Revolutionary army soldier wore a black and red uniform which resembled an Imperial uniform but it was different in that instead of the standard helmets worn by Imperial soldiers that allowed the face to be seen their helmets had a face mask which Tatsumi assumed was to make sure that you wouldn't be able to see the face of the soldier in battle especially if they fell in battle; also they wore painted cuirasses and long coats in addition to the uniform itself both of which offered a good deal of protection. The red and black was a contrast to the white and blue of the Imperial military; also, Tatsumi noted the flags hanging on the rooftops, they were red with the imagery of a golden manticore standing upright holding in one hand a hammer and in the other a sickle. "The flag is nice but something isn't right about it, or about the soldiers or right at all; also, those troops seem more rigid then Imperial troops I've seen" Tatsumi thought.

In spite of the military presence, the flags and a number of propaganda posters and other militaristic iconography the general populace was happy, merchants traded and after a good deal of searching for an inn to stay at Tatsumi could be glad to know that for once there weren't about a dozen armed thugs, assassins or cultists out to kill him. "Maybe for once I can go a day without having to kill somebody" Tatsumi thought then laughed aloud which caused his companions to look at him in surprised.

"What's so funny?" Najenda asked.

"Just the fact I may be able to go a day without having to kill someone; think about out here there aren't any hired assassins out to kill me; here I've got no enemies and I have freedom to make friends at my own pace" Tatsumi replied.

Najenda giggled and kissed him. "Well don't hold your breath; meeting with the Revolutionary Army leadership is going to be one of those places were you're liable to make both" Najenda replied. "Those in charge are divided into two types of leaders; the civilian parliament and the Military council of Generals; there are 20 generals including myself and Cassandra; there are 10 men and 10 woman on that council and each general is at least a Major General or higher; at the head of everything is Chancellor Falkland, the civilian leader of the Revolutionary Army and Commander in Chief of the Military, he's also a military commander and one of the best; he's also a Teigu user so be careful" Najenda replied.

"Any particular people I should know about? Any friends of yours on that Council?" Tatsumi asked.

"Friends, well most of these people I'm a passing acquaintance with and are either few years younger than me or many more older but there are a few people I'd call friends; the best one I have apart from Esdeath is in on the council; Lydia Agathe, a major General and my former adjutant back when I was still in the Imperial army; she's a good person but she's a bit more focused; she's one of the few members of the group that I was with from Joyuu that managed to survive until the present" Najenda explained. "Also, there are a few other people but its best you meet them in person" Najenda explained and they went into the Inn; they booked a large room for the next few days and then changed into military uniforms. "Alright I'm sure people may be asking questions as to how I've gotten my eye and arm back and we'll answer that in as best a matter as I can" Najenda explained.

"Alright" Tatsumi replied, looked at himself the mirror. "Najenda does this uniform make my ass look big or it just me" Tatsumi asked.

"I could ask the same, Tatsumi your ass is cute as it always is" Najenda replied and slapped him playfully on his rear, he reciprocated and kissed her. "Meetings first pleasure later" Najenda replied. "And go easy on me when we do our little bundle of joy is getting bigger" Najenda added; Tatsumi caressed her belly and listened receiving a kick.

"Someone is taking after their aunt Mine" Tatsumi remarked.

"If only my mother's intuition tells me our girl will turn out just fine" Najenda replied.

"What makes you sure it's a girl?" Tatsumi asked.

"Mother's intuition, and our little Kajeda will be a nice little girl" Najenda replied.

"You're naming our daughter after your sister?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep, unless you have a better name" Najenda replied.

"Nope like I said I'm terrible with them; just one more question before we go are there any people I should avoid offending on that General's Council?" Tatsumi replied.

"Any of the Gassenarl siblings, they are nobility and offending them is something you shouldn't do, they are caring but they are very sensitive, especially since their father was murdered by Honest's assassins; there are three of them and all are on the council and are military geniuses from a long line of military commanders; also there are a couple of other people but overall not to many people you have to worry about offending" Najenda replied.

"So, these Gassenarls how many are there?" Tatsumi replied.

"Three: Baldrin, Dirk and Audrey; all three of them are prodigies and are proud of their family heritage; they want to retain their ancestral lands which Honest has tried to seize for their deposits of crystals that well have interesting properties; do be careful not to offend them; they are traditionalists in a matter of ways, chief being their etiquette." Najenda explained, they then proceeded outward into the city Tatsumi holding Najenda's hand while Seryu held his left arm while the Oarburgh girls walked behind them. Their first destination was the military headquarters of Revolutionary Army's Council of Generals which was easier to find as it was a former palace of an Imperial Viceroy that had been killed as a result of the assassinations that allowed the city to be taken without a fight. Said headquarters was well guarded with crisp professional soldiers with elite training and equipment stood watch.

"Halt!" one of the guards stated. "Your identification papers are needed" the Guard stated.

"Grand General Najenda of the Revolutionary Army's Elite Special Forces Unit Night Raid" Najenda replied, and dug out some papers that showed it. The soldier looked over the papers then at Najenda.

"Last I checked General Najenda had one eye and a prosthetic arm, you don't have either" the soldier commented.

"A result of a medical breakthrough given to me as a gift from a friend" Najenda replied honestly.

"I don't buy that, and these papers could easily be a forgery" The guard stated. "You're under arrest for impersonating a general!" the man stated and readied his weapon, Tatsumi readied his sword stepping in front of Najenda while Seryu, Koro and the Oarburghs followed suit.

"What the fuck is going on here!?" A woman's authoritive voice yelled out; Tatsumi turned to face the new comer and guards lowered their weapons. Tatsumi noted that said newcomer was a tall woman about 5'11 who was accompanied by two shorter women who were each about 5'4; she had tan-brown skin and long blonde hair about the length of her back with E-cups breasts that rivaled Najenda's which had gotten bigger as a result of her pregnancy, she wore a crisp black and red uniform however it had the braids and shoulder brushes of a general and she wore the hat which signified her rank in the center; she also wore a white cape with two brass clamps attaching it to her uniform; the top which was worn loosely to accommodate her breasts and flaunt her cleavage; she also wore white gloves and had at her hip a holstered Mausser 1896 pistol. The two women with her looked very similar however their skin tones were extremely different; one was a blonde with white skin and the other a black haired brunette with dark brown skin; they wore the same type of uniform however this uniform completely covered their bodies and could be considered an armored catsuit and had no coat and wore Barret like hats one being red and other lavender; their figures were cute with perky d-cup breasts and slender curves; their uniforms also had the braids which signified them both as brigadier generals and they had slung on their back interest designed crossbows and at their sides two holstered Mausser 1896s and on their legs sheathed Kabar fighting knives.

"Field Marshal Agathe!" the Guard captain remarked.

"That's Field Marshal Lydia Agathe to you Captain, and don't forget my subordinates Brigadier Generals Nikola Graf and Chaira Rocino of Ranger corps: I'd like to know what the fuck is going on here!" General Lydia replied.

"I'm being hassled by idiots" Najenda remarked, Lydia paused and Najenda turned around.

"Well I'll be a bastard's mother, Najenda?! What happened to you, you look like you did before the Battle of Kinvago!" Lydia asked.

"Medical advances; a special regenerative formula, it was a gift from my best friend" Najenda replied honestly.

"Well it worked like a charm and hey did you gain weight?" Lydia replied.

"Nope; I'm pregnant" Najenda replied, as if to add emphasis the baby inside her kicked and she moaned and clenched her chest. "I mention you and you kick me; I'm not sure which one of us you're picking that up from but I'm not sure is it me or Tatsumi because I'd like to know" Najenda pondered aloud.

"Well who's the lucky bastard who got you knocked up?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah who is it?" the two subordinates asked.

"That would be my husband; who currently has his sword drawn and is the most handsome man in the world" Najenda replied glancing, Tatsumi sheathed his blade at that.

"Well, well, well, you know how to pick em; good choice; nice strong muscles, handsome as a hottie should be and oh those lovely green eyes; hey you want to spend the evening with me?" Lydia flirted with Tatsumi.

"I'm not sure about that" Tatsumi replied.

"Please we're meeting again for the first time in months Lydia and you're already trying to flirt with and get into my husband's pants?" Najenda replied.

"Yep; especially since you know that promise we made" Lydia replied, Najenda blushed and face-palmed remembering that.

"Yes I remember it, granted we both drunk out of our minds when we made it but yeah I remember; you called dibs on my husband too; we agreed we'd marry the same guy; granted if it wasn't for the fact you had it tattooed on your ass I'm sure you would've forgotten it" Najenda replied.

"Yep; but can you blame me your husband is so hot" Lydia replied and walked over to Tatsumi and planted a kiss on his cheek; Tatsumi didn't recoil when she kissed his lips in fact he reciprocated; the lovely general was hard to resist especially when she reminded him of Melody with longer hair.

"General what about us?" the blonde remarked.

"Oh yeah that was the other promise I made; Tatsumi I haven't formally introduced myself: Field Marshal Lydia Agathe of the Revolutionary army head of the 8th Army; formerly Major General of the Imperial army, formal aide to camp to my best and childhood friend Field Marshal Najenda now Grand General of Special forces and the Tiger of Kal Alane: perhaps you've heard of my exploits there and a few others" Lydia replied. "Anyway I'll let my subordinates introduce themselves, I saved their lives from some black op project the Empire had under development, one of those crazy schemes to make super-soldiers and since then they've stuck to me like glue and well I promised them if they kept themselves nice and virgins they'd get first dibs at the hottest man in the world" Lydia explained and the two girls came over; both were shorter then Tatsumi and had to look up to see him.

"Brigadier General Nikola Graf of the Revolutionary Army's Eighth Army and the Crimson Tiger Regiment of Field Marshal Lydia 'Our Angel' Graf; consider me your sweet little pumpkey muffin; boy you're tall a little thing like me could climb all over you all night long" the Blonde introduced stood on her tip toes and pecked him on the cheek. "I'm one of two adjutants to General Lydia and well consider me The Blonde Tiger and the silent Panther; I'm in charge along with my comrade and sister in arms Chiara of the Shadow Tiger Rangers, elite special ops that do the hardest jobs of the 8th army; unlike a few generals we actually lead these missions also I love making the worst of the Empire suffer painful deaths; oh it's fun they pray and yell for the torture stop but I leave them contorted and screamed and molted till their vocal cords all torn up and shot; then drive my Kabar in their skulls and bathe in their blood" Nikola explained Tatsumi winced at the last part but given the fact he was married to Aria, Henrietta and Esdeath who were fond of this sort of thing and had employed it himself that wasn't a turn off. "You're definitely the hottest man in the world I'm looking forward to tonight if you'll have us" Nikola flirted.

"I'm up for it" Tatsumi replied actually liking the idea more and more and turned to the other girl.

"Me well I'm Brigadier General Chiara Rocino of the same corps as my sister in arms; fellow adjutant and aide to camp, co-leader of the Shadow Tiger Rangers; the Ghost of Ghajanda and Wolf of Vargdath; consider me the more cautious type I love to size up my opponents then utterly humiliate and crush them into the ground" Chiara explained. "And boy are Nikola and Our Angel right; you are well the hottest guy ever; and big I look forward to climbing all over you and riding your cock all night long" Chiara flirted being more blunt in what she intended then her sister at arms then took a more assertive stance after tip toeing and kissed him aggressively on the lips Tatsumi opened his mouth and made out with her picking her up; the guards were surprised by the spectacle of a superior officer making out with another officer.

"So now what do we address you as Tatsumi; what's your rank?" Lydia asked.

"Well consider me quite the point; I'm a double agent; I infiltrated the Empire's hierarchy and am Esdeath's husband, right hand man and a Major General second in command of the Jaeger corps; a new special ops unit, I'm also the Emperor's Minister for Fun and Justice" Tatsumi explained and pulled out his documentation for that.

"Well holy shit; that's definitely Esdeath's signa- wait did you say you're her husband?! You actually managed to get into bed and fuck Esdeath?! Mother-Fucking Esdeath, the Ice queen who has exacting standard, the Ice barrier in her cunt is no more?!" Lydia commented.

"Yes, and I have a picture in my wallet" Tatsumi replied.

"I have another copy but this is our wedding photo" Najenda replied both of them pulled out their wallets and fished out the photographs, Tatsumi's being one of him and Esdeath in a photo booth with Esdeath glomping him and Najenda's being of their wedding picture. Lydia took a look at the pictures.

"Well shit Tatsumi you a true man among men; no, you're the ultimate man; you not only won Najenda's heart but Ice Queen's too; wow I'm tempted to fuck you right here and now" Lydia replied and kissed him again. "This is too funny; Esdeath's right hand man and husband is a double agent and Night Raid Assassin wow this is some crazy shit; your lucky bastard" Lydia added.

"It's crazier than you think though can you keep a secret; an above top secret secrety secret that no one else outside my group can know" Tatsumi replied and whispered in her ear.

"Holy shit that is juicy: yeah I'm keeping that juicy fucker of a secret hidden that is too funny" Lydia replied and laughed uncontrollably for a bit leaving both her subordinates and the guards to wonder at the secret; Tatsumi winked at Najenda and the others giving them the signal that he had told her that Esdeath herself was a double-agent now. "Anyway, now we've spent too much time talking; you're here because you got the Chancellor's message?" Lydia asked.

"Yes; indeed, that is the case" Najenda replied.

"Alright then, hey you assholes, quit hassling my BFF and let her and her friends in, also I'm give you all new orders: go out and update the garrison of the news and you the asshole that tried to arrest my friend and her hunk god of a husband latrine duty for a year!" Lydia replied giving the soldiers all a stern look in which she was joined by Nikola and Chiara; the soldiers bolted. "There they go, now I hate the fact we have to put business before pleasure how long are you guys staying here?" Lydia asked.

"Till Saturday, so five days" Najenda replied.

"Yeah I've got and engagement next Monday that I can't miss" Tatsumi replied.

"Good then you'll be sticking around for a bit; enough time for you to marry me and my friends" Lydia replied; Tatsumi nodded. "I hate that I've got to wait until later today to have you fuck me but the old saying goes business before pleasure" Lydia replied then laughed.

"What did I do to become such a chick magnet? Hell I just met her and she already wants to fuck me; I guess some girls are more direct then others but still she's so easy; it's all because of Najenda" Tatsumi thought; Lydia kissed him again and clung to him; Tatsumi leaned towards Najenda who held his hand and gave him a look of compassion

"Yeah she's my friend; I know it's crazy but you're stuck with her; you're lucky because most men would kill to be in your situation" Najenda commented.

"Yeah; I just didn't expect the first person I meet that's high-ranking officer in the Revolutionary Army outside you and Cassandra is practically immediately wanting to get in my pants" Tatsumi replied.

"Can you blame me Tatsu-stud? You're the kind of guy I've been waiting for; you're handsome, smart, and you're a total stud; I mean you have to be to have gotten mother-fucking Esdeath to fuck you; no way would she settle for a small package" Lydia commented.

"I find this whole nonsense crazy!" Cassandra remarked; she had been quiet during the whole scene outside; but she was breaking it now.

"Hey don't get your panties in a knot Cassandra if you want to fuck him too, you're welcome to join in and make our foursome a fivesome" Lydia replied Cassandra blushed.

"Forget I said anything; this is crazy though you know that" Cassandra replied.

"Yes, and it's about to get crazier: really though with those extra arms of yours you could do some impressive things and give him one hell of a handjob" Lydia teased; Cassandra blushed again.

"Drop it" Cassandra replied.

"You know you want to" Lydia teased; Cassandra blushed.

"I know I want to" Cassandra thought. "Shove it; just because we're the same rank and you have date of rank on me doesn't mean you get to push me around" Cassandra replied.

"Oh, girl I'd do that even if that wasn't a factor" Lydia replied as they entered the base; Lydia, Cassandra and Najenda presenting their papers which didn't cause much of a fuss; also, no fuss was made about their entourage.

"Anyway, shouldn't we focus on our meeting; wonder what's so important that we had to make this trip" Najenda commented.

"Yeah you're right; as to what's important well Chancellor Falkland has heard of your successes in the Capital and wants to see you and your hubby-bubby" Lydia replied. "Also, I did know hear about your successes and having met the man at the center of it all I can say he has my support in anything he decides to do" Lydia added.

"That's comforting" Tatsumi replied, glad that he didn't have to worry about her siding against him when time came to push his faction into power.

They then headed towards a large chamber were a number of other officers were entering: Tatsumi noted a few stand outs: a man in full plate arm with a general's sash. A lovely busty blonde with long curly hair wearing a red and gold General's uniform. A spiky black haired general in the same colored uniform but with a cuirass worn over his armor. A tall lovely brunette with long brown hair in a high-ponytail, a busty body, lovely blue eyes and body like a shrine maiden clad in purple and red uniform that was a fusion with a long skirt and featured high-heeled boots, she was accompanied by a 16 year old with a modest bust clad in a crisp jumpsuit uniform like Nikola and Chiara, though here's was purple, who looked like a clone of her save that her hair was shorter and wavy in a smaller ponytail she also wore brass knuckles, she was likely her daughter. A tall silver-haired red-eyed busty goddess of woman in black and red uniform holding hands with a brown haired man with brown eyes who was about the same age and height as Tatsumi himself and wore a black uniform with a blue and red trim, he was accompanied by a shorter but still tall and busty dark-blue bob-cut haired woman in the same type of uniform. There were a couple of other stand out too, a dark-haired young general with book on his side wearing the same black and red uniform as the others accompanied by black haired young woman who in Tatsumi's opinion looked a lot like Sayo but her butt and bust were bigger than his wife's own she was also accompanied by another woman of a similar figure but with long blood red hair and pink eyes, but the last and most stand out was a flamboyant general with stalhelm with five stars and spike toping it, he wore a bright red and black uniform with a long red cap, with ivory handled revolvers on either side and carrying a riding crop; his face was grizzled and scared but was clean shaven and he seemed to be in his mid-thirties.

These generals entered a large room along with others Tatsumi and his company were some of the last people to enter; the room had a series of high rowed chairs with the centerpiece being a tall stand; there were also chairs in the front row which were as a sign indicated reserved for subordinates. Tatsumi took a seat in one of these with Nikola and Chiara being blocked from sitting next to him by Meela and Loris; having instead to be content with sitting next to the latter twin and Pais; Seryu sat next to Meela and Merraid; Tatsumi noted Najenda and Lydia take their seats above him with the latter of the two staring at his rear which the chair conveniently (For Her and inconveniently for him) showed off as the head board for his back exposed it in the design.

Tatsumi noted the arrive of another general this one was stout and tall and carried himself like a noble he had a crisp black beard and wore a blue and red uniform that was decorated with medals and a noble seal of his family; he was unattractive and arrogant by his posture looking down at a few people who Tatsumi could notice glaring back at him with disdain; the man took his seat. Tatsumi then waited as the last arrivals came in; these were four generals and a man that wore an orange presential uniform and carried a staff like a walking stick, said staff was topped by a black orb and made of a golden plated alloy; the man was in his mid-fifties and about 5'10, his hair was orange long an in a pony-tail and had orange beard; he wasn't the most muscular man but he had a good deal of authority to him and had an aura of charisma about him, the four generals were two men and two woman and which seemed out of comfort in the formal uniforms; something Tatsumi shared with them; both the men glowered but were more light hearted in appearance; the two woman were rather attractive but seemed out of place and haughty with a noble bearing while the two men carried themselves like to Tatsumi's surprise countryside people; also behind them were two more generals both men but both wore masks of a kind similar to Bols and one of them had four arms like Cassandra. They were also accompanied by an honor guard of elite troops in fine dress uniforms which stood at attention along the room; the four generals went to take their seats in the upper rings but the Orange haired man sat in large chair in the center of the room next to a desk; the two masked generals stood either side of him and two civilians walked in to take seats next to him; both wore garb that suggested one was a second in command and the other was some liaison or other high ranked official. The last people that entered were two more generals; one was a woman that Tatsumi recognized as Nymeria the other was a half-serpent woman with four arms; her long green hair slid down her face; her skin was golden and scaled and her face beautiful but framed by a cobra-like hood that went from her forehead down to her scalely neck her eyes were a bright green that spoke poison and two prominent fangs protruded from her lips which were green; she wore a wirey headdress which sparkled with gemstones and was made of refined tin and nickel said headdress was designed to accommodate her hood and hair and silver wire flowed in her long green hair which was tied in two buns that only served to halve the length to her shoulders; her lower body was human save the long serpentine tail that followed her above her hindquarters; she was busty, athletically slender and her figure rivaled Lydia's but had a more exotic allure as she had a serpentine appearance and radiated a beauty that stood out from the other women in the room. "She must be a Tsuwangdani" Tatsumi thought; Nymeria noticed him and came over and hugged him and kissed his forehead.

"Tatsumi-kun! I wasn't expecting you to be here" Nymeria replied.

"Nor you either Nymeria; I thought you would head west?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not while I'm still at large and there is a massive crackdown underway; the last thing people would expect was me to head east thanks to Night Raid's Air mantas" Nymeria replied. "Besides its been what; a year since I last visited Zartek and the Eastern lands; I could use a Vacation till the heat dies down" Nymeria replied.

"Who is this man Nymeria?" the snake woman asked adding in an extra s.

"Oh, my manners; Tatsumi this is my friend Field Marshal Alyssa (Alee-saa) Saritia Matawgina Ghanda; Alyssa this is my husband Tatsumi" Nymeria introduced.

"It is pleasure to meet you Tatsumi; mind my hisses I am Tsuwangdani and we accentuate the S's; my you are a worthy choice of a mate for my friend I'd love to make your acquaintance and perhaps be more if you want to; it isn't unusual for one of my kind to mate with a human though it is unusual for those of my kind to be in the Empire" Alyssa explained. "High Matriarch Queen Maltise has disdain for Prime Minister Honest; and his unprovoked wars of aggression on our kingdoms; they seek our wealth in silver and to humble us women to their slave mates; we will not allow that to happen and I have because of my family's strong ties to the Eastern lands been chosen by her highness as the representative of our race; the High Queen is currently without mate and laments that the Emperor of the Empire is too young for such a marriage; only a royal monarch is worthy of her hand and she has rejected several Eastern kings and princes who have tried to win it" Alyssa added.

"Well I'm glad to meet you; I'm shocked that well snake people exist" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, that seems to be the norm of those like you from the interior provinces of the Empire; those in the Eastern Provinces see our kind frequently; more often than not in battle" Alyssa agreed. "Now we must take our seats; this meeting is of importance Tatsumi; it's about you" Alyssa explained, she kissed his cheek and took her spot next to Nymeria.

"Just great; now a snake woman wants me; well that would be one unforgettable night and one exotic wife" Tatsumi thought. The remaining leaders had been seated and the man in the center gaveled in the meeting; two honor guard carrying a flag stand and flag set them up.

"Generals of the Revolutionary army and the Free Republic of Imperia please raise for our national anthem and our pledge of allegiance" the man to the right of the orange-haired man explained and everyone stood as trumpets played the music and a tapestry with the lyrics descended.

Song Begin (Soviet Union/Russian Federation Anthem instrumental): "People of the Free, Soldiers of the Cause: March forth United as one! In union of purpose for glory and love; to free our land from tyranny; Children of the Empire Rise up and take up arms; Battle against Tyrants that rule us all! Blade strike true and guns fire proud smiting our enemies at last! We Live for Freedom, our blood spent for love; to protect and free the oppressed; to shatter the chains and change the world: to free us from the tyranny of those who torment the innocent: We battle ever on; Soldiers of the Free! People of the Cause! Our Nation Shall be free! Tyrants will crumble and Traitors will fall but we march onward to freedoms call! Love shall rise of over tyranny's corpse our nation will be free; the oppressed will strike their oppressors down: Glory to freedom and glory to friends; the change this world of blood: We fight for Freedom and Fight for the cause our martyrs' names in our prayers; we'll strike down the tyrants and live in peace, our freedom achieved at last; we'll remember the fallen and care for those affected by war; our fields show grow bounties and mines pour forth gold; Our nation at peace! All that was gained and all that was lost; be remembers to the end of days: But this is our purpose and we march one: We are the Soldiers of Freedom's call" The song went and was sung, then another banner was let down and they recited an oath.

"I pledge myself body, blood and soul to fight to free the Empire from those who oppress it; I pledge my weapons to strike down the wicked, I pledge my loyalty to the truth; to the needs of the many over the wants of the few: to oppose evil and corruption where ever it exists; to uphold justice and to free those who are oppressed; I take this oath so that my children do not have to, that my descendants may live in peace: For the Revolution!" They all recited.

"Good Everyone sit down: we call this meeting of the Council of the People's Generals to order; Chancellor Boreth Falkland presides over it and will address us now" The right-hand man stated then gaveled in and sat down; the orange haired man stood up.

"Thank you, Speaker Deimos, we will begin this session in earnest by welcoming a special new comer: Tatsumi of Night Raid please step forward" Chancellor Falkland replied; Tatsumi stood up and came to him and saluted. "At ease soldier: we are all comrades in arm here; I've heard tales of your exploits, public and secret; your name is spoken from Melitine to all provinces of the Empire and beyond into the lands to west and east: I'm pleased to finally make your acquaintance" Boreth greeted.

"Glad to meet you too Chancellor; I've not heard much about the leaders of the Revolutionary army from my beloved Najenda beyond what was important to know; so, what is it you want to talk about" Tatsumi replied.

"About the ties you've made in the Capital; I find it impressive that someone from the countryside has managed to rise up within the ranks of the Empire; albeit thru more luck and then skill; to a Major General in the Imperial Military, the right-hand of Grand Marshal Esdeath herself in addition to being her lover, as well as the Emperor's Minister for Justice and Fun; also that you manage to play the high stakes games of politics within the court and that you managed to marry into a few noble families; most influential being that of the Grundels; plus your feats in Night Raid while not known to Empire are known to us in this room and thus I am pleased with you; as such I've decided to match your rank in the Imperial Army with the same rank in the Revolutionary Army: I am impressed by your achievements; now I have a few questions for you; public ones and a few more in private" Boreth replied, smiling with pride at Tatsumi's accomplishments.

"And I have some for you; but I'll answer those that I can publicly'' Tatsumi replied; making sure to answer in a general matter of half-truths as to protect his own agenda; Honest may have been a scumbag but he had taught Tatsumi enough about politics to know that it is best to keep your own plans secrets and answer the questions in as open a matter possible, but also to keep a good posture and expression; also Spear and Aria had helped him even more on these mannerisms and Esdeath had pretty much finished his education in court politics so he would be on the same level as Honest in terms of arts of political debates and deal making; with that in mind he sized up Falkland as he would a new opponent in a game of chess. "Chancellor after the meeting is over would you be up for a game of chess while we discuss the more private questions?" Tatsumi asked

"Glady Tatsumi, I love a good game of chess; now for my first question what is your relationship with Esdeath and what are you doing playing with death?" Boreth asked.

"My relationship with is Esdeath is well a happy one; we love each other dearly; we're married, she's pregnant with twins; she's my mentor in military matters and political ones and I'm her righthand man" Tatsumi replied.

"And what does she know about you?" Boreth asked.

"Everything; in fact: her loyalty is to me completely" Tatsumi replied with as imposing and serious as an expression and tone as possible shocking the entire room.

"That is quite an achievement is it possible you could you know" Boreth replied not sure how to take this.

"Stage a palace coup? Please Chancellor if it was that simple I'd have done it already; no that isn't possible at the moment; consider the state of the court; there are literally three factions at court right now, those loyal to Honest, those against him and those loyal to Esdeath and the Emperor; and the three don't exactly see eye to eye; there is a state of things that makes things way more complicated than you think; I don't think you understand the Court; I don't think you've visited it for a long time and as such it has changed rather significantly; it's a delicate balance and the last thing I want to do is break that balance without utter surety of victory; after all that result in a loss of many lives on a plan that may not work" Tatsumi replied; a good deal of the people regarded him with nods of an agreement; many of the generals here didn't get their ranks or survive as long as they had by being reckless.

"Indeed; that is definitely true at the moment your best purpose is to act as a spy at court; influence the enemy into making mistakes and give Honest something else to focus on rather than the true war" Boreth agreed seeing Tatsumi's wisdom. "Now another question I've heard that you are a duel Teigu user is that true? if that is the case I'm impressed as Teigu users are rare due to finding people compatible with the Imperial Arms and a user who can use more than one is; rarer" Boreth followed up.

"Yes, that is true; and they aren't normal Teigus they are the armor and blade of the Dragon Emperor if you've heard of him" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, the Dragon Emperor; named for the First Emperor and whose name is forgotten; I'm familiar; how did you come by them?" Boreth asked.

"In the Capital's Grand Temple, in the High Priest's alter; I found them in the middle of a fight with the famous Dr. Stylish; used them for the first time and killed him" Tatsumi replied.

"Very intriguing; were it not for the extensive mission reports that have been sent to me via Najenda I'd not believe you; now I have another question; about a few weeks ago I sent you a specific target for you to kill a man named Bols responsible for the burning of several villages is he dead?" Boreth asked this time it was a hard question.

"No; because after a thorough investigation I found out he was innocent of the accusations; that another man had been responsible for the actions and I killed him in Bols's place; you can understand my reasoning for not wanting to kill an innocent man, much less a father and husband and personal friend of mine" Tatsumi responded.

"TRAITOR!" One of the generals heckled; Tatsumi glared at the man; it was the general in the blue and red uniform.

"No General Damon, Tatsumi is no traitor; rather he is a proper assassin; a true assassin doesn't follow orders blindly; they study their targets figure out their habits to in order to eliminate them; it just so happens that during said study Tatsumi identified the actual culprit and killed him instead; that is true to our ideals question everything and don't follow blindly; that is what our future government will be" Boreth replied, the general admitted defeat.

"That happens to be all the questions I wanted to ask you, publicly anyway General Tatsumi; there are some matters you and I will discuss in private but that is between us; for the time being I've prepared your uniform for your new rank and I'm awarding you the Revolutionary Star for distinguished service in addition to Medal of the Master Assassin for your successes" Boreth replied, then one of the two masked generals brought over a clothing box with two smaller boxes atop them. "Tatsumi by the way this General Dakath and his brother General Makath; they are my chief military advisors and closest confidantes; they are in charge of awards and my ministers for Defense and Attack: he has your awards for your quite distinguished service and I wish you luck in your future endeavors" Boreth explained, Tatsumi took the offered box. "Now I will be dismissing any non-authorized personal from these chambers; we will be discussing our next major military strategy and that information is classified until such time as it is to be implemented: Major General Tatsumi as the second in command to General Najenda you will remain here; take a seat everyone else who is not of the proper rank is dismissed" Boreth explained; Tatsumi nodded and took a seat next to Najenda and Lydia; the latter leaned on him as Nikola and Chiara smiled from the side as they took their seats next to her.

The next hour and half was discussing the new plan; which at the moment was to consolidate gains, fortify where possible and wait to reestablish the Western front which would take about a month to do; a number of the more hawkish generals were for continuing the advance but they were in the minority as Teketh's victory meant the Empire could focus more troops on the east especially with the pacification of the southern lands and the finished conquest of the North. This meeting was rather interesting for Tatsumi as he was able to take note of military planning, the movement of logistics and figure out which Generals were in charge of what as well which ones he had a chance of swaying to his side; there were a good number of them and he wasn't going to rush it; the plan in this case being rather simple; sway a few generals to his side and have them come over to him then have them repeat the process; now Tatsumi was aware of a plan to kill Makoto but not sure who was in the know.

Being astute person that he was and a man who paid attention to every detail he took fine mental notes. "Alright then; first things first Tatsumi you should secure Lydia's loyalty; then after she's on side move from there" Tatsumi thought. He took notice at the tall brunette woman general who made some pretty good points: her name was General Natsuhi Delvar, the girl next to her was her daughter Jessica and the two had pretty good reasons to hate Honest; as she seemed to focus on what Honest's plans were and asked Tatsumi about him frequently. "She's got a score to settle if ever seen one; granted she's on a long and formidable list of people that would gladly see Honest dead" Tatsumi thought. The three Gassenarl siblings were pretty enthusiastic too, with the blonde girl Audrey looking at him and winking at him. Then there was the flamboyant general with red cape: General Zarreck Barton of the Third Army; the man was a fiery hawk and was rather keen on some things also he didn't agree with General Damon on strategy and he considered him a snob.

Then of course there were the Generals his age: the two men General Welkin Gunther and General Claude Wallace were his age and well of similar disposition to himself; and like him ladies mans; as their wives were also Generals; those being Selvaria and Isara Gunther, and Leena and Minerva Wallace respectively. They tended to have the more cautious strategies and focused on the individual soldiers under their command; with Isara being focused on technological advancements that could make the army stronger.

The meeting concluded after the hour and half and the groups dispersed Tatsumi was shown to an area where he could change into his new uniform which was similar to that of Lydia's but made with a man in mind and fit perfectly; he then pinned both medals to the uniform and put his old uniform in the box that held his new one and that was taken away to be reused by another soldier of his rank. Chancellor Falkland with the two masked Generals led him to his office with the two generals leaving them soon afterward alone in Falkland's office.

"Well this is a nice place" Tatsumi commented, the office was decently furnished but was rather modest with nothing too expensive beyond a fine chess set and a few paintings, as well a few of Boreth's own possessions.

"I'm glad you like it: now we are in private let's have that game of chess; black or white; I always let my guest choose" Boreth replied.

"Black" Tatsumi replied and sat down. "So, Chancellor, what was with the two generals wearing masks why do they wear them and why don't they speak" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes; well that is a tragic thing; their faces were badly burned in battle by a flamethrower but they survived however their vocal cords were badly damaged meaning they can hardly speak; they can but it hurts them to do so; they prefer to communicate with hand signals and that is good because they can keep secrets" Boreth replied then made his first move; Tatsumi countered with his usual movement of the right hand knight to block any four move checkmates.

"Alright that's interesting so what was it you wanted to ask me" Tatsumi replied as Falkland moved his own knight to mirror Tatsumi's.

"Yes, I'd like to know more about you; but far more importantly what is it you want in life?" Boreth asked as Tatsumi moved a pawn.

"What I want? Chancellor what I want is peace; peace for me, my family and for my children to grow up without war and to live in a nice sized home" Tatsumi replied as Falkland moved his bishop.

"I see; that is a good thing Tatsumi; I too desire peace, but also I desire change; Tatsumi the Empire for the past few centuries has stagnated, become corrupt with more and more people in power using their power to do terrible things to the people; I intend to the change that, to take away power from that corrupt and oppressive group of people and give it to the people; and in order to do that the old order needs to end; changes need to be made and some lives must be sacrificed for the greater good" Boreth replied, Tatsumi moved another knight.

"Changes like what and who needs to die?" Tatsumi asked acting as non-plused as possible; Falkland moved another piece and Tatsumi another four turns were taken before Boreth took a deep breath.

"Well Tatsumi; that is a decent sized list; but to narrow it down people of the old order starting with those who enjoy human misery and those who profit from it; Honest and his ilk for one; but also those manufacture those terrible weapons of war that are used to oppress the people in the countryside who have no counter to those horrors; the flamethrowers, the poison gases, the battle drugs, the guns and every other abomination that allows grand scale slaughter; the biggest though in terms of threats are those who've used the old order to their own profit; the noble families, but also those who play both sides in this war; the companies that sell weapons to both the Empire and the Revolutionary army like Constantine Grundel" Boreth replied, Tatsumi repressed anger and the urge to strangle him here and now; the man considered his father-in-law an enemy; if he came to power he'd kill, Tatsumi however turned that energy towards his strategic mind and sniped in quick succession a knight and bishop at the cost of two pawns which he used as bait. "But above all else are those that could be used as symbols of the old order: the Royal family; the Emperor and his siblings; they are the biggest threat to our cause because of what they represent they give hope to old order that they have a chance to rise up; now you may ask why I tell you this Tatsumi, well it is because are we not of similar minds; this empire has taxed your people for a long time and there are no shortage of Imperials who have profited at your expense; and think what has the royal family really done for you, they are a shadow of their former glory and have since the death of Valkorian the Stern; I remember those days in my youth but those are long passed; The world is changing and the question is Tatsumi will you change it?" Boreth replied and moved his queen to take Tatsumi's knight; Tatsumi replied by taking it with his bishop.

"Yes I will change this world: I'll change it personally; and my children will live in a world at peace not war" Tatsumi replied, he was being truthful he would change the world but not the change Falkland had in mind; no Tatsumi realized at this point he was too far gone at this point, he was a threat: and obviously evil. Now no doubt Boreth thought himself good but Tatsumi knew better; he was evil only evil people killed innocent children who did no wrong, only evil people betrayed their allies, and while Tatsumi did agree on some level that new weapons were barbaric he knew for a fact that weapons weren't evil; People were and those who used weapons to do evil would do so; also Tatsumi didn't buy that Boreth would in power destroy the new weapons, no he knew in his heart he'd use them to maintain control; to kill dissenters and his rivals.

"Good to hear" Falkland replied not knowing the true meaning of Tatsumi's words and having to mental repudiate himself for losing his queen so easily and adjust his strategy. Tatsumi managed to keep his in play and was glad Boreth didn't try to cheat like Honest would and did during his games with evil incarnate. "Now Tatsumi I've a mission for you; a private mission; I want you to kill the Emperor" Boreth asked, Tatsumi had to restrain himself again from strangling him and showing any anger whatsoever.

"For what reason? Don't you think doing so now is unwise; it would rally more support for the Empire and give them a martyr, plus he's just a teenage boy; we both know he has no power and that all the Empire's problems are Honest's doing" Tatsumi replied, they are valid questions.

"I'm not saying right when you return to the Capital, I mean when we are at their gates: it has to be done to set an example after all; now the Emperor may not have done anything wrong but what he represents has done many great wrongs" Boreth replied.

"Nope; that would be both suicide and against my code of ethics" Tatsumi stated bluntly.

"You have a code of ethics, yet you're an assassin" Boreth replied as he noted moved a rook into position to check Tatsumi's king, Tatsumi took the rook with a knight which was then taken by a bishop which he took in turn with his other knight.

"Yes I am, I am an assassin but not by choice; I don't enjoy killing and I have standards; I don't harm women or children, the prior because I had a traumatic set of nightmares in which the woman I love most was killed by my own hand; I can't justify killing a woman no matter how evil because that nightmare torments me non-stop, I'd never harm a pregnant woman either on the grounds that while the mother may have been evil the child in their womb is innocent; and children NEVER; they are definition of people that shouldn't be harmed under any circumstance; doesn't matter if their spoiled brats or psychopaths in the making they are the future and don't have to be evil; I'd never kill a child and never ever will ever kill a child" Tatsumi explained his ethics plain and simple then took the other rook; leaving Boreth down to three pawns, a bishop and his king where Tatsumi had both his rooks, his queen, both bishops, one lucky knight and five pawns still in play.

"I see; well I will not ask this of you; I can see your position on children but what about women; what would you do if you encountered a particularly evil woman and had her at your mercy" Boreth asked.

"I'd give her a fate worse than death; I'd keep her as my prisoner use her as I saw fit; until I broke her of her evil ways and reduced her to nothing more than a shell; purged of evil and not able to do evil anymore and she can spend the rest of her life atoning for her sins as a mother to my children" Tatsumi replied; this was mostly on its face true; but for the fact he'd use his ability with Valruost to make them subservient was withheld from Falkland.

Falkland's jaw dropped and then he recovered. "I see; well then you're one of those people to whom death given is a mercy for people's crimes" Boreth replied. "Have you ever had to use this method?" he asked as he hesitantly assumed a defensive position moving his king behind a phalanx of his three remain pawns and his bishop.

"Yes; once and on two daughters of an ally of Honest's; and before you ask my partners are supportive of it" Tatsumi replied Tatsumi now was trying to get Boreth to both respect and fear him; if fear was needed to establish his standing, he'd use it. "Also speaking of I managed to humiliate him the most when his daughter Lilianna eloped with me; that made me his mortal enemy" Tatsumi replied moving a rook to the top row.

"I see; you are definitely an interesting man Tatsumi; not the person I expected you to be but still a fascinating person" Boreth replied moving his King to the side; he had no major moves left; Tatsumi sealed the deal by moving his queen to take the bishop protecting his king.

"Checkmate" Tatsumi replied; it had been a game that Boreth hadn't expected to end this way; not only had Tatsumi beaten him, he did so in a way that well was done without losing many of his pieces.

"Well played; you are definitely one of the best players I've ever had the opportunity to play against; you defeated me utterly and without losing many of your pieces" Boreth replied.

"Yes; and I may add this is usually a taste of what happens when people play this against me" Tatsumi replied.

"I wonder are you as good with offense as you are defense?" Boreth asked.

"If you're wondering my philosophy as a warrior is the best offense is a good defense; I used to be more aggressive but a few battles against serious enemies caused me to re-think and change my fighting style; I've since added to my fighting techniques in addition to training with other weapons and with different styles of fighting: tell me how do you fair with the art of the Imperial fist?" Tatsumi replied.

"I've never been one for close quarters combat; my body is well frail by comparison to most warriors; a product of my birth defects; my muscles and bones aren't as developed as other people; they are enough to get by" Boreth replied.

"So how do you fight?" Tatsumi asked.

"To be honest I prefer to avoid battle and if it comes to that let others fight for my defense; my mind is stronger than my body" Boreth responded.

"I mean if you had no other option but to do so personally; hypothetically" Tatsumi asked.

"Well then I'd rely on my Teigu Amathar: Staff of Power, it allows me to use powerful spells to rain death on my enemies; however, I can only use its power so much before it taxes my body" Boreth replied. "Anyway, why do you ask?" Boreth asked.

"I like learning as much I can about fighting styles; it improves my chance of surviving and protecting the people who need me" Tatsumi replied; it was true but not the whole truth; he was already planning for a future battle with the leader of the Revolutionary Army. "Anyway this has been a most enlightening meeting and a good game; I've got a previous engagement, I'll be here for a few days though so if you want to play again chancellor feel free to, I'm going to acquaint myself with my fellow generals and then well head for that previous engagement" Tatsumi explained and left the man to think about him.

Shortly… Tatsumi didn't go too far from Boreth's office before he bumped into one of the generals from the meeting earlier; it was tall brunette with the body of a shrine maiden General Natsuhi Delvar, she wore the same military uniform he saw her in earlier but she had on her back a spear of sleek silvery metal it was intricate and shimmed with light aura; with a head that could both thrust and slice. "I'm sorry; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going" Natsuhi apologized.

"Hey mom what's the- hold up" the girl who resembled her mother in miniature remarked as she noticed Tatsumi. "Whoa handsome" she thought.

"Jessica don't be so impatient; anyway, you're new General Tatsumi; I've heard of you; we've not been formally introduced so I'll do so now I am Grand General Natsuhi Delvar of the Revolutionary army and this is my daughter Brigadier General Jessica Delvar" Natsuhi introduced.

"Nice to meet you; I was on my way to a previous engagement but I think we can talk for a bit if that's alright with you" Tatsumi replied.

"It's perfectly fine with me; now I've got a question; how did you manage to get yourself in such a high position in the Imperial court?" Natsuhi asked.

"Dumb luck, Minister Chouri decided to reward me for saving his life by marrying me to his daughter Spear; I was surprised by this offer but I accepted because well I wasn't going to pass up a chance to advance myself much less someone like Spear who deserved a good husband; part of me wanted to turn it down but I chose not to because of Spear's beauty and because I had some ideas of how useful that may be. So yeah after that Esdeath met me; my wedding to Spear and Aria happened at the Royal palace, Esdeath hosted and invited me to a Tournament which I won and she decided I was the one for her; given that I didn't have any other option and Esdeath was in front of me naked and willing I accepted, we had sex, the following morning I met the Emperor personally for the first time and well being Esdeath's lover and she his guardian Makoto grew on me; he's like the little brother I never had; eventually after I had so many ideas he made up an office for me and made me Minister for Fun, and after I helped mediate a legal case; Minister for Justice; Honest fainted both times; during the time in between I joined the Jaegers, managed to convince most of them to join Night Raid and that process is nearly done, fell in love and romanced my female Jaeger colleagues, marrying some of them, then cracked two very hard cases of dangerous lunatics, during the first of which I in my investigation destroyed the Syndicate without even meaning to. Since then well I've done my best to be good at my jobs, been a loving husband I adopted two orphans married a widow of a man whom Honest had executed to keep her safe from him, and killed countless scumbags" Tatsumi explained.

"That's a fascinating story; it's only fitting then that you've told me your story that I tell you mine" Natsuhi replied. "I joined the Revolutionary army after the death of my husband; he was one of the first people to be executed for defying Honest; Honest wanted to marry our daughter Jessica to his son Syura; my husband who was an influential advisor and at the time Minister for finance refused, Honest fabricated evidence of treason and had him executed; he then tried to seize our family estates; I refused and having been in the Imperial Army at the time with my daughter lead my army in mutiny and defected; since then I've won major battles; found my Teigu Aeglos: Spear of the Elven King, and well been trying to raise my daughter; since then I've been in and out of love; nobody to mend my hurts; I just well miss my husband and I need someone for my daughter; she's of marrying age and I'm still young; it's very important for the sake of my family and of my personal future that I find someone to fill both roles" Natsuhi explained.

"That's a sad story; too familer; my wife Lila; she had something similar happen, she was married to her husband Syoi for about a year before she was widowed by Honest; Honest fabricated evidence of embezzlement and fraud and the Emperor found him guilty; I managed to give him the mercy of a quick death and save his wife from Honest's clutches by first dibs and preserve her husband's estates; the day Syoi died Lila gave birth to his son or our son I'd rather him grow up with me as his father; she even named him after me" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you did such a kind act; you mentioned you adopted two girls tell me about them" Natsuhi requested.

"Well my girls: Kyoko and Mishi; its well complicated; I rescued them from their burning home; their parents were murdered, mother was raped; Mishi hid under the bed and was unharmed; Mishi wasn't so lucky; she was- I'd rather not mention it too painful and I've killed all but one of the men who did it and the last of them well he won't be able to do it again" Tatsumi explained. "Anyway they're sweet; Mishi asked me to be her new daddy and not wanting to chance the orphanages or shirk my responsibilities I adopted them; Mishi is a sweet girl; little blonde hair; always curious and interested in things; Kyoko she's well more reserved but energetic and kind; I love both of them and will care for them as if they were my own, my biggest worry is that well Kyoko was impregnated by that vile monster Teketh; I hope not because I don't want her to have to go thru the pains of childbirth as 12 year old girl; bad enough that my wife Leone's mother had to go thru it at nine; speaking of Leone she her father is- is Honest; we found it out recently and it's been hard on her; but she's strong" Tatsumi explained.

"You are one caring man; to love and care for so many women; to protect so many people and risk your life day in and day out to protect those you love and change the world" Natsuhi replied.

"Speaking of what is it you want out of this war; I just want a world where my family and I can live in peace and where my children never have to know the horrors I've faced" Tatsumi replied.

"What I want most is vengeance, Honest to die and someone far better to be prime minister: I've nothing against Emperor Makoto; I've met him and he's a sweet boy and his sisters are even sweeter" Natsuhi replied.

"What if I told you that there are people in the leadership who want Makoto and his sister's dead" Tatsumi replied, Natsuhi's face saddened and she shed tears.

"I'd feel betrayed, without purpose; I'd never fight for a cause that would kill an innocent child as a mother I won't let children be hurt by those who would hurt them I- is this true or hypothetical" Natsuhi responded.

"Yeah I'd like to know too" Jessica remarked.

"If I tell you what will you do? Nothing rash I hope" Tatsumi replied; he had her where he wanted her; close to joining his side; he hadn't expected one conversation to lead to this but because of their shared experiences with Honest's brutality there was a great deal of empathy, plus she was lonely and needed someone like him in her life; because of that he hugged her.

"I won't do anything rash; I- don't know what I'd do" Natsuhi replied, Tatsumi comforted her.

"It's true; Falkland told me himself, tried to convince me to murder Makoto; I refused and told him why in no uncertain terms I would never do such a thing" Tatsumi replied; her tears intensified. "Hey don't worry I've got a plan; what we need is a new faction one that betters the Empire as a whole; the Empire itself isn't bad; but the people who run it are; but there are way more good people then bad; hell even Esdeath is one of the good people; she'd never harm a child, much less Makoto who's practically her son; and she absolutely adores Kyoko and Mishi; my point being there are more good people in the Empire then bad and if we were to get those good people, on both sides and unify them we'd be able to deal with the bad on both sides; get rid of Honest and Falkland and give the power back to the Emperor and good Prime Minister" Tatsumi explained.

"I'd love to join that plan; it- you're truly a brave man; in fact you remind me of my dear Gerard; I'd be honored to join you Tatsumi; in fact I think I may have just found my new husband" Natsuhi replied and kissed him chastely on the lips wrapping her arms around him.

"Me too; he's handsome, brave, charming; and he's probably a total stud; besides mother you really think there will be anyone better for me" Jessica chimed in breaking up the kiss.

"Why not" Tatsumi commented.

"Indeed; why not, if you want to Jessica you can; I see no problems with it; besides you are right; I doubt there could be a better match; while you're here Tatsumi let us be married this week; best to do so now while you're here and not miles away in the Capital" Natsuhi replied.

"I'd be glad to, same ceremony with Lydia and her two adjutants if that's fine by you; by the way I'm just about out of room for rings so could you get me something else" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, to both; as to something else what about an amulet or a bracelet" Natsuhi responded.

"I'll get you a nice bracelet" Jessica commented.

"I'll get one to match it; Tatsumi there are a number of great jewelers in the city but the best is Imzariahoder's wonders; I'd recommend you shop there" Natsuhi added, Tatsumi kissed both and left looking for Lydia.

Once again, he found someone else; General Gunther and his wives. "Good afternoon" Tatsumi greeted.

"Good afternoon General Tatsumi, I'm General Welkin Gunther; Seventh Army, Gallia province" the General greeted. "So, you're a lucky man; you've got more women that love you then hens do a rooster" Welkin commented.

"Thanks, I guess; I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse; it's given me something I've always wanted a family, but at the same time it's more people I have to protect" Tatsumi replied.

"I know how you feel; I've got the same situation; but where are my manners, I'll let my wives introduce myself" Welkin replied.

"Brigadier General Selvaria Gunther; I'm one of 6 sisters married to my lovely Welkin; my sisters and I were well subjects of an Imperial program to create super soldiers; the results worked but we didn't want to be slaves and escaped killing all the scientists and soldiers at the facility and escaping to the Province of Gallia; we married Welkin about a year after he took us into his father's home; since then we've been fighting to right the wrongs and end these vile experiments" Selvaria explained.

"I'm Isara Gunther; Welkin's my one and only; we're siblings; not blood related but we were close after his father died a few years ago and we inherited his estates we eventually grew closer and married; my actual father was a good friend of his father who died in a conflict; his father took me in and raised me; it's complicated; I'm an inventor; I've come up with no shortage of brilliant ideas; some are still on the drawing boards but I've made a couple" Isara explained.

"Nice to meet you too; Welkin how big is your family?" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty sizeable; Selvaria's sister Alicia is pregnant as is my Childhood friend and girlfriend Juno, so it will get bigger; I'm also the Arch-Duke of Gallia; the Arch-Duchess Cordelia married me after I and a few of my soldiers saved her life from a kidnapping attempt by Honest's hired goons; that caused Gallia to join the rebellion; that mixed with the burning of a village that happened to be the home town of my friend Claude; it's very hard I personally want to change the Empire for the better; get rid of Honest and we'll have some else in charge the Emperor himself he'd be a better ruler then Honest" Welkin replied. "As to the rest of my family; a lot of wives; though really my true family is my army; my brothers and sisters in arms fighting against tyranny and hoping to change the world" Welkin replied.

"How many wives?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 30, about 60 concubines; the perks of being an Arch-Duke; save the Arch-Duchess will do that, plus my father was one of the best generals anyway I'm probably boring you and I've got other business; Isara wanted to show me something she's been working on that she says will change the way wars are fought; what did you call it Isara, a barrel or something" Welkin replied.

"Tank, and I've named the first model Edelweiss; you're love of nature inspired the name" Isara replied.

"The only thing Father and I could have any joy on; sorry my father loved nature and I studied Biology and Bottony at university, he liked nature because my mother loved it and it reminded him of her, I love it because it reminds me of both of them and because it's a fascinating subject" Welkin replied.

"Hey maybe once this war's over you can teach me about it; do you know anything about danger beasts?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh yes; have you encountered any?" Welkin asked, Tatsumi laughed.

"Boy have I ever; I killed my first Mountain Bear when I was 9 years old; and my first Earth Dragon at 13; but yeah I've seen and killed my fair share of danger beasts" Tatsumi commented.

"Good on you; anyway, I won't hold you up; my guess is your heading to meet General Agathe?" Welkin replied.

"Yep; you heard about that?" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah; she gave Selvaria and earful about it after the meeting; you're a lucky man, she's quite a catch" Welkin replied, Tatsumi moved on; he didn't encounter any other general's till he found Najenda being adorable and chatting with Lydia about events that had happened since they last met; Chiara and Nikola were chatting with twins.

"Tatsumi!" The twins commented and Lydia turned to see him and charged to hug him.

"Good to see you; been waiting for you for a bit; what kept you?" Lydia commented after breaking the hug.

"Talking with a few people, also slight change of plans; General Natsuhi and her daughter will be marrying me too in the same ceremony as us" Tatsumi replied.

"Smooth operator; you are lucky; I've seen no share of people wanting her ass, and she's broken up with everyone I've set her up; she needs you; and that daughter of hers Jessica; a girl after my own heart; she'd one hell of girl and she is nice; good catch by you; I'm looking forward to tonight; also on our wedding night I'll let those two have first dibs and if you're still up and hard me, Nikola and Chaira will try our damndest to fuck you until you pass out" Lydia replied. "Speaking of the three of us are still virgins; I may know a thing or to but I've never fucked anyone outside of my dreams; which incidentally you or someone that looked like you were in them; so, what's the plan now Tatsumi?" Lydia replied.

"I thought I'd go see the city; I'm going to by wedding rings and a few other things; some clothes for this climate would be nice it's so humid here; anyway, I'll be going" Tatsumi replied.

"We're going with you" Meela stated, as did Seryu who was behind them.

"Good thing I need buying advice and you two are just what we need and Seryu; just the person I need to talk to" Tatsumi replied.

"You have fun and be careful Tatsumi; even though Zartek may be one of the most prosperous and rich cities in the Empire and have a low unemployment rate there are still people who are evil out there" Najenda commented; as if to add credence to that suggestion the familiar General Damon came by and slapped Najenda on the ass.

"What a lovely woman; though you need to learn your place" Damon commented; Tatsumi punched him in the gut.

"Hey Asshole; that is my wife; she's married to me and I don't need people like you hassling her; she's more than capable of killing you" Tatsumi replied.

"How dare you peasant filth! You may have married your betters but that does not mean you're one of them" Damon commented, Tatsumi punched him again.

"Yeah I'm a country hick I've heard that insult before; from dead men and people on my shitlist; I'm not going to take shit from elitist like you General Damon" Tatsumi commented.

"That's Field Marshal Damon, and I outrank you boy; now fall back in line or I'll put on report" Damon replied.

"Go ahead asshole, see if I care; I doubt Chancellor Falkland will act on it; nor do I think you've got enough balls to do it pencil dick" Tatsumi replied.

"You! insolent filth! I'll-! "Damon replied.

"Do what smack me you don't have the muscle; have me whipped? I've gone thru more arduous training then that" Tatsumi rebuked.

"I'll see this: I'll have you court martialed!" Damon remarked.

"You'll do no such thing it'll get laughed out of court" Tatsumi commented and Damon stormed off; a man laughed from behind Tatsumi.

"That was something: you've got balls of brass kid; I never thought I'd see the day when someone other than me would give that bastard Damon a piece of his mind and scare him shitless" The man commented, Tatsumi turned to face him. "General Tatsumi; good to finally meet you; Grand General Zarreck Barton third Army; terror the Empire and Honest's greatest fear apart from Esdeath: I like you; you're the kind of person I like, doesn't take shit from anybody especially bastards like Damon who think themselves better because they're from some high and mighty noble line; boy the world would be both better and worse without them; better because idiots like him don't take shit to people but worse because then I'd have nobody to mock" the General replied.

"Good to meet you too; General Tatsumi; consider me the luckiest and possible the bravest man in the Empire" Tatsumi replied.

"Kid let me tell you something; something important about being a soldier: a good soldier's job isn't to die for his cause or his country; It's to go at make the unlucky bastard he's fight go die for his country! Remember that and you'll do great in war; also, NEVER give up the ground you've taken; I don't fight for the same ground twice unless I have to and you shouldn't either; also, don't let your enemies have one break: Now go! I've got other business; General Gunther; his wife not him wanted me to help test drive her new machine" General Barton commented and left.

"He's a nice guy" Tatsumi commented.

"No shit" Lydia remarked. "Anyway you get going Tatsumi; go and get what you want to do; see the sights, get those wedding rings hell there are a few high-class brothels I'd recommend for you to get your dick wet at; granted never been to any myself but some of my best soldiers swear by them" Lydia replied and fished out a map of the city; Tatsumi noted the highlighted locations that Lydia recommended.

"Alright I'll be out and about; where do you want to meet up later?" Tatsumi asked.

"Here at my place; it's a small estate; my fruits of my military victories thanks to the Council" Lydia explained pointing at a spot she marked 'my house' "Also don't lose that map; I spent a good amount of time marking the good spots and don't want to have to get another one" Lydia explained.

Tatsumi left with Merraid, Seryu and the Twins at his side; the latter two ready for a fight. He stopped at the recommended store and purchased a few very good rings that he liked then decided to take Lydia's advice and head for the best of the five brothels she'd recommended. "Imria's Palace; if it's named after the Goddess of love herself it's got to be a good place" Tatsumi commented.

"Well fine by me Tatsumi; just make sure I get a turn with you" Seryu replied.

"And us too" Loris remarked; The twins clinged to him as they entered the establishment; Tatsumi noted that compared to brothels in the Capital where people who worked at were usually slaves and were usually full of rough and tumble characters Imria's Palace was a paradise. Everything was cleaned with expensive decorations and furniture. The clientele were more respectable but obviously noble or high rankings officers due to the expensive clothing worn by them also there were a number of both male and female clients and there were also number exotic performers both male and female with fine clothing that while revealing must have been pricy due to the fact some of the clothing was clearly velvet or silk and even lace the last of which was the most expensive because of time that it took to produce. Tatsumi walked over to the madam accompanied by his harem guard.

"Welcome good sir and madams what can I do for you this fine day?" The madam who was an older woman but who wore a rather lavish outfit that was rather modest by comparison to her employees. "May I interest you and your lady friends in some entertainment; we have here employed the finest of beautiful women from across the lands of the east, south and Empire as a whole due to our position as well as the finest of strong handsome lads who are skilled at their job, for both genders we don't judge if a man wants to spend time with a man or woman with a woman" the Madam explained.

"Where are your best?" Tatsumi asked.

"A man of fine tastes good, they are upstairs, fourth floor, Imria's is the finest pleasure palace in all Zartek and unrivaled; here we do not employ harlots or floozies no we here employ fine courtesans and Hetaerae; Hetaera for single; they are free woman with their own home and this place is their workplace: there is a difference between the two; Courtesans are for a single night or a few hours where Hetaerae will stay with the client for a number of days; if you can afford them. Of course, for men whom women serve no interest or for the lovely ladies in your company should they be inclined we have on offer a number of handsome men who offer pleasure like no other" The Madam replied.

"The ladies are with me; anyone I hire is for my entertainment; you can see my inference thank you for your time I'll take my leave and browse your lovely beauties" Tatsumi replied.

"Do enjoy; there are definitely some exotic beauties you won't find in other cities in the Empire; thanks to our trade and proximity to the border we are a multi-racial city with a number people passing thru; for example if you're in for a true taste of the east I'd recommend Srilyssi or Kashi; also there are a few others that may surprise you, if want a taste of the north Freja and Aethild are capable of warming your bed the way others cannot; and there are truly exotic beauties from the South; Amira and Paki-Patka are truly the best; and we have many more so spend your coin well" The Madam commented, Tatsumi filled the suggestions away and went upstairs: up four flights of stairs.

The top floor was comparable in design to one of the smaller wings of the Royal Palace in Melitine and Tatsumi noted the similarities but that wasn't his focus no his focus was on the lovely indoor garden, bathes and statuary that was at the core of the fifth floor; which in addition to this numerous pathways branched off to comforting rooms for the purposes of fornication.

But all that was nothing compared to the exotic beautiful women in front of him; woman who were of all different cultures from all over the Empire and the lands beyond; some even beyond Edaria to exotic lands in the far flung other four continents or the many grand isles and archipelagos. The most exotic though were two winged beauties with pointed ears; faeries from far off Yarkeri where they still dwelt in abundance having all but ceased to exist on the supercontinent of Edaria where the Empire stood on. "Faeries but how?" Tatsumi thought. But they weren't the only thing from exotic lands; Green skinned woman with seven fingers on each hand and webbed feet were also there and they had sapphire hair and fin-like ears and a large fin on their heads. "Undines" Tatsumi thought; then noted a rather short but lovely woman clad in fine jewelry of craftsmanship that was clearly dwarven; she was a Dwarf obviously as the seven toes on her feet told him and she wasn't alone there were four others of her kind; and two more males as he could tall by their fine beards. Also there were Tsuwangdani, as he could tell by their resemblance to Alyssa, Lizardwomen who were fair to look at, Woodlings human like Creatures from Aadais with wood like dark skin and forested hair and which were short in stature about half his height but long lived beyond the lives of man, four armed women like Cassandra, and by far the most stand out was from the lands of far of Eoesa the most beautiful of them all and who was obviously a Hetaera: a star nymph-elf; from a race so rare and so powerful they were rumored to come from another world but had dominated Eoesa and brought those other races there to heel.

Tatsumi made his way towards the Star Nymph-Elf, she was in the company of both of the fairies; one of which had long flowing purple and green hair, lovely purple eyes with a green scalera and sweet lavender skin and multicolored wings that shimmered like a rainbow the other having short hair as white orange and gold it looked like true electrum mixed with diaspros, eyes that were golden yellow with an orange scalera, crisp caramel orange skin, her wings also simmered but with fiery colors. But both paled in comparison to the beauty of the Star-Elf Nymph; her ears as long as arrow shafts, eyes sparkling pink like star-sapphires with their pink scaleras, red irises and purple pupils; star marks caressed adorned her forehead; with a crescent moon horn atop her head which had long multicolored hair much like a star nursery nebula with many little stars shining in the locks; her skin was as black as midnight with white star like marks sparkling like constellations and she wore a revealing negligee that shimmered blue like the light of a the hottest stars; her feet were bare and Tatsumi could see her well-manicured and clean kept feet with six toes on each foot; she was an image of perfection; and the funny thing was; she was considered plain among her species which possessed beauty Tatsumi could only dream off; with the legends of Midnight Queen told only in stories.

"Excuse me" Tatsumi replied interrupting a conversation between the three. "Are you three well what I see before me?" Tatsumi asked mystified.

"I am in indeed an Ingvactar; what your kind call star-nymph-elves: my name is Cassiopeia; I'm a hetaera as are they; I've traveled the lands of mortals in search of a lover unrivaled by any; offering my body in pursuit of this goal; these are my friends Jhudora and Eithne; they seek the same; a brothel or house of passion as they are called in my homeland of Aetria is the place those of our kind go to in hope of finding a worthy mate; trying each and every vanya which your kind call woman and nanya which your kind call man that we can in hopes of finding our partner for life and learning the skills we need to please them; the Faeries of Yakari do something similar but only in pursuit of men for their kind are only female; as such my friends and I have so far been unsuccessful; perhaps you'll be able to help us; you'll forgive me if I inform you that the price of our upkeep is quite high but you are paying for three beauties of unrivaled perfection; we don't do separate acts; all or nothing" The beauty explained.

"How much for your lovely beauties because I assure you, I will be the mate you three have been searching for so long" Tatsumi replied.

"1000 gold pieces; it is expensive but you must understand we do have exotic tastes" Cassiopeia replied: Tatsumi dug in his ample purse; he had brought over 10,000 Gold on hand; with way more in his baggage.

"Here; for your company; hopefully I'm able to fulfill your search for love" Tatsumi replied pulling out and handing them a large coin sack. "Also, I'm going to bring on a few other girls; Merraid do you have any picks" Tatsumi explained.

"Do I ever Tatsumi only the best for you and me" Merraid replied and went to pick out the most pristine and beautiful of the prostitutes; seven of them in all; 10 counting the three ones Tatsumi picked; the two undines Nafari and Algeana, two rather tall northerners both with platinum blonde hair, an exotic beauty of the southern provinces named Amira, a woodling girl, and the crimson scaled Lizardwoman; she handed them each their pay from her own purse and Tatsumi looked over each of them before Cassiopeia led them off down the hallway to a room that was more like luxury suite with all the trappings that included.

Tatsumi had his butt slapped by Seryu. "14 girls one lucky guy; this is going to be fun" Merraid commented letting her dress fall along with her underwear revealing her in all her glory.

"Yeah well then let's have it" Tatsumi commented; this was the sort of thing he was made for what with his concubines.

"I hope you have the stamina of a god because you are going to need it" one of the Northern girls commented as she tossed aside the fur wrap, she wore to reveal her sleek skin; her name was Aethild.

"Please I'm more than ready for this; I once did all seventy of my concubines at the same time for their first time I can take this" Tatsumi replied confident.

"Then prepare to be gangbanged" Loris replied as she and the other girls had finished disrobing, they all then relieved him of his clothes and carried him to the bed which was massive more like a giant bed mat with room for 20 people that was a water bed that giggled as the women climbed on, all stared for a moment at the loins of Tatsumi and at the size 10-inchs long and 5-inches wide.

"By the Gods: your more hung then a stallion; boy are you going to be fun to ride" Jhudora commented.

"I'm looking forward to having my cherry snapped: again" Eithne joked the other girls laughed; Tatsumi and his lovers didn't get it.

"Sorry Tatsumi allow me to clarify: I'm a virgin, not conventionally; my race our hymens regrow and passages contract if we do not find a worthy mate; the faeries have the same problem; just to be sure though I'll be first" Cassiopeia explained then crawled over to him and kissed him on the lips before taking his length in her. "OOH!" Cassiopeia moaned as her barrier snapped this time for good. "So big and thick!" She moaned, the other girls joined in: the Twins took his balls the northerners his nipples, Seryu his navel with and the Lizardwoman Paki-Patka his face while Merraid took the woodling girl, the undines, the faeries and Amira for herself demonstrating why Merraid was the best women when it came to pleasing women who in turn herself was pleasured. Tatsumi couldn't see but felt the women caress him lick his balls, rid his length all the while he put his tongue to work and fingered Seryu and Merraid.

The Reverse-Gangbang was a wonderful experience overall: Tatsumi sampling the milk of each Hetaera; sweet maple milk from Leaf the Woodling, yummy green milk from Paki-Patka, the sweet milk from each of his lovers that he knew well, the multi-tasted milk from the Faeries and the juice like milk from the Undines, each of the women in the room had D-cups at least with the largest breasts belonging to Pak-Patka, the Faeries and Cassiopeia who all had F-cups. Cassiopeia though was the best; her milk tasted like the essence of the stars itself; the most delicious thing he ever had and would drink; she also handled him for ten rounds before taking a break. After her came Eithne and Jhudora who eagerly took their turns; Jhudora loved taking it in the ass while Eithne loved giving him blowjobs, he loved their wings and their tight warm pussies, both giving him their all for 10 more rounds before they took a break, then came the energetic Leaf who despite being 3 feet climbed all over him and rode him like a trooper and was still tight as could be but enjoyed taking it from behind. Then the two Northern girls who gave him four rounds of rough fun before they passed out, after them the two Undines who took him to a nearby indoor bath for the suite and did him there in the water using their amphibious bodies to give him underwater blowjobs while Amira and Merraid kissed him from above water. Then came Paki-Patka; she was big, busty and tall; her scalely skin was cool against his warm body and her folds were warm; she did have hair but it was mixed in with a plumed crest of skin; her features though were beautiful and she please him greatly with the her red skin contrasting against his and her tongue went down his throat after wrapping itself around his; she took a good twelve rounds before passing out; and Tatsumi noted that when he entered her the first time she had a hymen to which she explained as a side effect of her race's regeneration.

All these girls were followed up by each of his lovers; the Twins, Seryu and Merraid were still energized and had been enjoying the other exhausted girls; 40 rounds 10 for each and done with every position he could muster and he was still going and they were passed out; then came the grand finale; Cassiopeia herself who had completely refreshed.

"Tatsumi now is the time to see if you've done it; I took a break to see if my Hyman regrew; and yes it does that very quickly; time to see if it's stayed broken" Cassiopeia explained, Tatsumi took her hand and lead her to him then picked her up and entered her; no barrier and she began bouncing up and down. "Tatsumi-Navann; you are my Navaan! You have taken my barrier you are the one for me; I'm not only going to refund your money but also be your mate; you are my Navaan; one and true!" Cassiopeia moaned; Tatsumi kissed her ran his hands thru her hair and continued to kiss her; giving her 20 rounds till both passed out on the bed in a pile with the other 13 girls all worn out and satisfied.

Later that day… The Sun was setting Tatsumi had returned back to Inn room for a change of fresh clothes; the whole experience at the brothel had caused all 10 girls to refund his money and become his full time lovers and concubines: they all believed any future lover would pale in comparison to him and Merraid; granted he had to explain they'd have to still live in Zartek until war's end; he did have a good sized estate now in the city as a perk of his rank. He also stopped by to collect his things, the others had done so and moved them to their eastern estate after acquiring it and he was now doing the same.

Not to long after leaving his estate he went again to the Headquarters of the Revolutionary Army; this time to acquaint himself with any other generals that were there it was there though as he finished his meeting with General Zartiva Fausta of the 12th army, a red-headed green eyed tan skinned busty beauty who had been staring at him with puppy dog eyes during the entire meeting earlier and upon inviting him to her office well disrobed and they made love on her desk, he ran into a scene that pissed him off.

General Damon was trying non-stop to flirt with General Audrey Gassenarl who was rejecting his advances with gusto; not taking no for an answer and not caring she was a noble he groped her breasts; ample d-cups that the man lusted after. Tatsumi simply strolled over and kneed the man in the balls before beating the ever-living shit out of him with his bare hands. "You perverted swine: First you make advances at my wife and now I see you molesting someone who is clearly 20 years your junior for the second time today; now take this!" Tatsumi shouted and punched him over and over again and knocked out a bloody tooth before Damon threw him off.

"You don't understand at all boy she's my betrothed I can do whatever I please to her!" Damon commented; Audrey glared at him.

"You Lie! I'd never consent to wedding a pig like you, my father wouldn't dream of betrothing me to you: How dare you insult house Gassenarl in this way: from this moment I declare a blood feud with you General Damon now leave!" Audrey yelled Damon raged.

"You dared interfere with my courtship; I've had enough of your country hick; you consider yourself better than your betters fine I'll have you drawn and quartered!" Damon ranted his face twisted with anger.

"You'll do no such thing: By right of birth and as a member of the Noble House of Gassenarl I challenge you to Trial by Combat; Major General Tatsumi will be my champion!" Audrey replied.

Damon glared at the two of them. "I won't reject that challenge; you have that right as a noble and I would dishonor my family if I refuse, I accept the fight: I'll show you boy, that peasants shouldn't rise above their station and dare assault one of their betters! Trial by combat it is! Three days from now and it to the death and with no restrictions!" Damon replied and stormed off leaving Tatsumi and Audrey alone.

Audrey paused and looked at Tatsumi. "Thank you for defending my honor; granted I could have dealt with him myself but you did the right thing; that's enough for me; I'm sorry I roped you into this; but considering the circumstances Tatsumi you stand accused of assaulting a noble, men have been hanged for less, the only way you'd be able to clear your name is in a trial by combat or before the court and I'm pretty sure which option you'd choose. Also, while I would have usually chosen my brother Dirk to defend my honor Damon would've ran off, he always does; you're an unknown to him and his arrogance will be his undoing and finally me and everyone else can be rid of that asshole" Audrey explained.

"No problem; besides your honor isn't the only one I'm defending; the guy had the nerve to ogle Najenda; ordinarily I'd let a beating suffice but considering the fact this guy's a repeat offender I'll gladly remove him; I specialize in killing assholes" Tatsumi replied.

"Thank you; you know I'm getting tired of suitors like him show up and thinking they can own me like I'm some fine mare, the look at me like I'm just a pair of tits atop and ass and I hate that; you though you're a gentlemen shame my brothers wouldn't approve of me marrying you" Audrey replied.

"Why wouldn't they, are they sticklers for noble traditions?" Tatsumi asked.

"My older brother is, my younger brother Dirk doesn't care at all about it he's too busy with martial pursuits and becoming the 'perfect knight' to care about stuff like that" Audrey replied.

"Well I am married into a few noble houses; I have the money and influence to be a noble; hell, why wouldn't I be a good match?" Tatsumi replied.

"You'd be a perfect match, just my older brother Baldrin is stubborn; he'll need some convincing; by the way when I saw you in the meeting, I couldn't take my eyes off of you" Audrey explained.

"I noticed" Tatsumi replied, she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's for saving me from humiliation; I'd love to give you more than that but that will require you to prove yourself to my brothers; granted Dirk wouldn't care but Baldrin is a stubborn donkey of a man and you wouldn't be able to get him to budge on something unless you really convinced him" Audrey replied.

"Don't worry I can be quite convincing; especially since I've got some information that your brother may want to know" Tatsumi replied.

"Information, what kind?" Audrey asked.

"The kind that is important to know; he'll tell you if he believes me; but trust me what I got is well- not good news; in fact, its sensitive" Tatsumi replied.

"How sensitive?" Audrey asked.

"The lives and livelihoods I save may well be our own; put it this way the Chancellor's not what he seems; I just hope your brother isn't prone to rash decisions; there is a danger to people of higher position; granted I may not be a noble but having been married to a few of them it changes your perspective; you realize that people are people regardless of what they were born as" Tatsumi explained.

"My father had beliefs like that; those got him killed, you find yourself Tatsumi because I'd hate to see you die; you're just too handsome and too interesting a man for you to die before your past your prime" Audrey replied and kissed him again. "Be careful out there" Audrey added and walked away from him as seductively as possible.

Tatsumi noted the sun was finally nearly set and Twilight was upon the city of Zartek, which meant it was time for him to go to Lydia's personal home; one that like his was granted by the her position but was way more expensive in design; the sentries let him in without so much of a second glance and with a salute: he then entered the place to the entry hall where he found Lydia with Chiara and Nikola waiting for him; each dressed in a lovely gown. "Hey Tatsumi; you're here; I'd love for us to head to my room right away but you must be starving which means we need to have dinner before we have our 'fun'" Lydia greeted both Nikola and Chiara nodded.

"I can agree with that" Tatsumi replied and his stomach growled loudly for emphasis. "I used a good deal of energy earlier; thought I'd warm myself up and live a little; by the way thanks for your brothel recommendation; the 10 girls I hired well they not only refunded my money but became my concubines because they thought any future lovers would pale by comparison to me" Tatsumi commented.

"Well then I'm looking forward to that" Lydia replied. Tatsumi loved the red and black gown she wore and the fan she carried he kissed her. "Good lips; definitely see why Najenda loves you" Lydia remarked.

"It's more than that; you should talk with her about it" Tatsumi commented.

"We can talk about it over dinner, she's staying here so we can catch up on all the news since we last met also I want all the juicy details on how good you are at fucking; also I'm glad to see she's pregnant; she needs a child to love and care for and so do I; you know though I'm surprised you were the one though that won her heart I thought for sure that our friend Lubbock would be the one" Lydia commented.

"They were friends nothing more and Lubbock found someone else; her name is Yami; they are married now and love each other dearly" Tatsumi explained.

"Good to know that the perv friend of ours found a girl who'd put up with him; she must be a nice girl and a good catch" Lydia replied.

"Trust me she is, she's also an identical twin; her twin is well my lover" Tatsumi added.

"You, lucky boy; that means you and Lubbock will be in-laws at some point" Lydia replied.

"Yep; course I'm already in-laws with my best friend Ieyasu as a brother-in-law and in a couple years he'll be my father-in-law; he's well romantically involved with Aria's mother" Tatsumi commented, Lydia and her friends laughed at this. They then headed to the dining room where a feast had already been laid out for them by Lydia's chefs, compared to other cities in the Empire Zartek was a prospering town with low unemployment and an abundance of various goods which could be obtained for lower prices than elsewhere and thus even the poor in the city could afford more food and goods then a moderately well off family in Melitine and military officers especially of high ranks could afford to eat like royalty every meal. To Tatsumi this meal was very much needed to restore his energy; the earlier events in the day had taken a good deal of energy and left him rather famished; so when time came he ate about five courses of food till he was full and satisfied; Najenda sat next to him at the table she also ate more than him due to her pregnancy and the fact that the baby in her womb was very demanding and needed a good deal more of the food she consumed then she herself did thus requiring her to eat more to compensate.

Lydia and Najenda chatted though in between courses; Tatsumi was left with Nikola and Chiara to chat with. "So how did you to end up with Lydia?" Tatsumi asked.

"A matter of the chain of command; we were assigned under her command and we follow her orders; we've since been a boon and earned out ranks thru our aid in winning major victories" Chiara replied.

"Lydia is also fond of fellow women leaders; she's glad to see demonstrate that war isn't just a man's duty; it affect everyone and as such women need to be on the same level as men to for both to survive; sometimes though women can be smarter" Nikola remarked and the two laughed, Tatsumi didn't respond. "For example a case in point is when our former superior officer decided it would be good idea to do a suicidal charge against a fortified enemy position instead of send us and special forces troops under us to raid and sabotage the position to weaken them beforehand; the resulting battle got him killed and we managed to salvage a victory thru a flank attack that allowed us to get behind the enemy position and take down the enemy pillboxes from the rear where they hadn't fortified" Nikola explained.

"How did you two ends up becoming generals?" Tatsumi asked.

"That's an interesting story; it was due to a maneuver that allowed us to capture two major enemy fortifications without suffering a single casualty on our forces; we did it thru disguising our soldiers as merchants bringing in the provisions for the forts we then administered a potent poison to said provisions which neutralized the majority of their forces before we hit them overnight with lightning fast raids" Chiara explained.

"The maneuver allowed us to follow up and take the city of Parthane without having to take major losses" Nikola explained.

"What caused you two to join the Revolutionary Army?" Tatsumi asked, both frowned.

"Honest's regime destroyed our home town for failure to pay taxes, they were given the option to pay in people, the town leaders killed the collectors; Honest sent in his attack dog General Tsunami to put down the insurrection; most of the people there were killed but the rest of us escaped; after that incident Nikola and I stuck to each other, we're like sisters in all but blood; we came to Lydia's attention after our rise to the rank of general; since then we've been her top commanders" Chiara explained. "You know though it was hard for us because we lost a number of people we cared for; including our parents, then we lost a number of our friends to grist of bad commanders and suicide missions; overall though we've made it thru against all odds" Chiara added.

"I'm personally glad to have the chance with you Tatsumi; one thing this war has done for us is it hasn't allowed us a chance for either of us to develop a serious romantic relationship without the people we were interested getting killed by some lucky Imp or just being afraid of our rank; you however are different you aren't scared of us" Nikola commented.

"Why would I be?" Tatsumi replied.

"We have a bit of a sadistic streak; Imperial troops who've caused ravages against civilians we have punished for their crimes; brutally, and we've had grown men and women tortured to get information to save lives and take down people that are corrupt or a threat; in Special forces Tatsumi you have to make hard calls as you well know" Chiara explained. "I hope that isn't a turn off" she added frowning that she may have made a mistake.

"Nothing against it; Its war, stuff like this happens I wish it didn't have to but as someone I know once said war is cruelty and the crueler it is the sooner it will be over" Tatsumi replied; Lydia belched.

"That was delicious, hey Najenda I've got some the Easterner's famous fire wine if you're up for it?" Lydia commented.

"I'll pass; I'm pregnant and I want the baby to be as healthy as possible: that means I'm going to make sure I don't consume anything that may be hurtful to my child; my mother told me that if I ever got pregnant to treat everything you do with knowledge that your choices don't just effect you but the child you bare" Najenda explained.

"I see; you know I didn't think of that; I've been too focused on the actual fucking as opposed to what the results of said fucking entail; I see now that I should make sure I stay healthy; but at least for now until Tatsumi does knock me up I'm going to drink as much as I want" Lydia replied; said drinking was something she was joined in by Nikola, Chiara and Tatsumi; Tatsumi considered the fire wine to be good but not as good as that from the vintages kept in Grundewick manor; as those were older a couple of which had been allowed to mature for centuries.

After the drinking Tatsumi was led to Lydia's room by her and her friends; Najenda wished him luck telling him "Take good care of my friend." After arriving in the room Lydia locked the door and kissed Tatsumi. "Alright girls you two have first dibs; I'll wait and watch see how good he is then my turn" Lydia explained. "Also, if you two are still awake and your asses aren't super sore all three of us can fuck him" Lydia added. Chiara and Nikola kissed him on the cheeks; Nikola made out with him as Chiara relieved him, herself and her friend of their clothing taking it aside and putting the articles in nice folded piles before getting down on her knees in front of Tatsumi's length.

"Wow this thing is big" Chiara thought. Lydia took one look at Tatsumi's package and blushed before licking it and kissing it.

"That's a massive cock! It makes any horse look like a wimp and I think even an Elephant would have trouble rivaling it" Lydia remarked and began to strip herself and walked over to her bed and waited for her turn.

"Let's have fun here; then after I'm done with you two, I'll take Lydia on the bed alright?" Tatsumi asked breaking the kiss with Nikola.

"Of course; but I want my cute ass spread Tatsumi-kun; I know for a fact people stare at it in interest" Nikola replied and resumed their kissing; Chiara began blowing Tatsumi in earnest now as she took a third of his length in her mouth and began sucking it; she also pumped the exposed part with her right hand before readying her D-cup breasts for the boobjob that would come after she'd blown him for a bit.

Nikola broke the kiss and leaned down to see Tatsumi's length for herself, Chiara had been blowing him and from what Nikola could see it was big; that in mind and with her friend having the best part of it in her mouth and the rest of the length wedged between her chocolate breasts Nikola began licking his balls using one hand to gently cup the one she wasn't licking and the other to play with Tatsumi's naval; Tatsumi himself moaned for a time as he was getting more and more stimulated. Chiara then switched places with Nikola who eagerly took Tatsumi's length down to half-mast into her mouth; licking it from the side and sucking it like it was a lollipop; all the while being wrapping her breasts around his length and massaging it eagerly with all the joy that came with it; Tatsumi caressed her soft platinum blonde hair; Chiara stood up to kiss him and he let her do so before leaning down to her left breast. Tatsumi licked the areola with his tongue making sure to stimulate the nipple enough to induce lactation before taking it in his mouth and beginning to suck on it until the milk came out. Chiara moaned as he did this and he caused her to moan louder when he used his hands to caress her cute ass fondling and moving around her butt-cheeks with practiced ease before switching breasts and drinking more.

At this point he had near reached his limit and when Chiara returned to assist Nikola with the blowjob and added her breasts to the boobjob it was reached and he came; both girls opened their mouth to catch some of the seed that was now covering their faces and their breasts; the white seed contrasted against Chiara's dark skin, both girls then made out with each other as the cleaned off the cum from their breasts and shared the taste in between them before standing up. "So, what do you want to do next and which one of us will be first" Nikola asked.

"I think I'll take your ass spread like you wanted Nikola; Chiara lay in front of her and Nikola use your tongue to please her pussy while the two of us make out" Tatsumi explained both girls laid on the carpeted floor while Lydia moaned as she masturbated. Both took the positions Tatsumi had explained and Tatsumi spread Nikola's legs and butt cheeks as he snapped her black cherry. Nikola moaned as he did this but her moans were silenced as she began to eat Chiara out; Tatsumi at the same time locked lips with Chiara kissing her while he fondled her breasts with one hand and Nikola's with the other. Tatsumi's thrusts pierced Nikola striking to her core as she moaned in bliss in spite of her current position of using her tongue to please her friend's vagina invading her folds as she did so.

Tatsumi himself enjoyed the tightness of Nikola; she in a way reminded him of Mine but without the rough sex and the fact that Nikola was shorter and bustier then Mine who was about the same height as Tatsumi himself at 5'10 where he was 5'11; Nikola and Chiara on the other hand were 6 inches shorter then him granted their current position didn't limit them from kissing without issues but it would if they were standing up.

Breaking the kiss Tatsumi returned once again to Chiara's breasts drinking with joy the milk from her bosom. "You're like a suckling babe Tatsumi; how much -ogh! - Do you do this?!" Chiara moaned.

"Daily and I consider human breast milk to be the best thing for my health" Tatsumi replied honestly; Chiara smirked and kissed him on the forehead and cuddled him like a mother would a nursing babe, moaning though at the shared efforts of Tatsumi and Nikola to please her; she came as this had pushed her to the limit, Nikola smiled as she was covered with her best friend's juices, Tatsumi then did the same Nikola moaned as he did so; and pulled out, then stood up he then picked up Chiara and entered her; going up midway as Chiara moaned as he reached her barrier; she kissed him and he snapped the barrier blood flowing down his length but the kiss completely numbed Chiara to the pain. Nikola then took Tatsumi's balls licking them as Chiara began to bounce up and down and moaned; Tatsumi taking it at a gentle pace at first. "Harder Tatsu- faster too I'll tell you when you're good" Chiara moaned; Tatsumi intensified both his pace and roughness of his thrusts until Chiara grinned. "There perfect" Chiara commented and kissed him Tatsumi continued at the same pace from then on; while moaned as Nikola went from licking his balls to sucking them taking them into her mouth with ease and fondling the free one as she alternated between to; Tatsumi returned once more to Chiara's breasts holding her rump with his hands and letting her lean back as kept thrusting back and forth keeping her happy and smiling.

Both of them came at the same time; as did Lydia on her bed and Nikola from the stimulus; Tatsumi then flipped Chiara around and tapped her ass; going inside her asshole which was as tight as Nikola; holding her by her belly with his right arm as Nikola stood up to plant a kiss on his lips he fondled her right breast with his free hand before kneeling down and riding Chiara doggy style and grabbing Nikola letting her wrap legs around his neck as he held her and used his tongue to eat her out. Both Chiara and Nikola moaned louder than before as Tatsumi used his tongue and phallus to their best effect and beyond for another five minutes; Nikola orgasmed again Tatsumi eagerly consuming her juices before licking it again for another two minutes and coming into Chiara, she rolled to the side as Tatsumi laid back; and lowered her onto his length going right inside snapping her cherry and pushing her upwards. "Chiara sit so I can show you what I can do with my tongue" Tatsumi asked

"Gladly Tatsumi" Chiara replied and sat on his face Tatsumi began first with a rimjob showing Chiara how good he was at please her ass without his cock before going to her loins and eating her out, Chiara in the meantime made out with Nikola as she rode Tatsumi who took it gently which she loved. Tatsumi kept going using his tongue and his dick to maximum effect giving both the girls the loving they deserved and the one he could offer; soon he came again filling Nikola's womb to the brim, both of them climbed off exhausted but still awake they then left the room after putting on their bras to head off to bathe leaving Tatsumi and Lydia alone she laying on her bed wearing only some white silk stockings.

"You ready for this?" Tatsumi asked.

"Fuck yeah I'm ready for this; so what do you want to do first Tatsumi; shove that massive cock of yours into my virgin cunt, ride my big ass doggy style or do you want me to give you head and massage that huge dick of yours with my tits? Personally, I prefer the first because I've been waiting what? 3 years since Najenda and I made that drunken promise to be fucked the best man; and 10 years since we made the promise, we'd marry the same guy" Lydia replied, Tatsumi simply gave Lydia what she wanted ramming her loins snapping her cherry with ease before he began thrusting in her. Tatsumi took one of her grey nipples in his mouth and began drinking from her massive DD-cups that were the equivalent of Najenda's well before Najenda got pregnant and they grew two sizes bigger.

"That reminds me how huge will Esdeath's be when she's been pregnant for 4 months like Najenda? I hope she'll still be able to fight and move with them swollen up; granted I do help her with that but still Esdeath- and Lilianna too along with a few others; namely Nymeria and Catherine. But that was beside the point right now he was giving Lydia what she wanted no needed from him and he was taking what he needed to keep going; the energy he spent caused him to sweat a lot, meaning he had to drink a lot of water or any other liquid to stay hydrated; overall though the milk filled that role perfectly; Lydia herself was filled with his whole length which was at the entrance to her womb each thrust pleasuring her body to the extreme; his too. Tatsumi then latched on her other breast giving it the same love and attention as the first; he caressed her long blonde hair and Lydia kissed him.

Lydia also lived up to her crass profane mouth showering him with begs to 'fuck me' and a host of other expletives; he didn't care it reminded him a lot of Mine; however Lydia liked it gentle as opposed to rough which was a surprise to him given her tough girl persona but she was however a gentle person despite her bluster and apparently liked him to treat her with kindness and respect like Najenda. "Yeah just like Najenda; shame she's pregnant I'd have loved a threesome with her" Lydia remarked, Tatsumi smiled.

"Wait a few months for her to give birth and we can actually do that" Tatsumi replied; granted he and Najenda did have sex but it was limited to anal sex and tit-jobs; mainly out of concern for health of her baby; Angela had explained to him that sex between a man and pregnant woman should be gentle and limited to places that don't affect the babies' health in other words no blowjobs or vaginal sex of any kind; granted that really didn't matter because Tatsumi's preferred positions with Najenda were anal and mammarel so that didn't really impact his performance on that department other then Najenda only opted for two rounds of either or both per session: three if he was lucky, if he wanted more he'd have to ask someone else for the fun.

That said his options were becoming limited as the women of his harem were becoming pregnant; most recently he found out about Seryu and three of his concubines, the prior during their flight here; which wasn't too much of surprise considering how much sex Seryu had with him; usually at least once a day even if it was just something minor like a blowjob or boobjob she was with him. Because of this he was having to visit brothels and thrive with the partners he hadn't yet impregnated but would like have soon enough; mainly Sayo but Tatsumi's gut told him she'd be the next to tell him she was pregnant. Of course the first option had its risks; the biggest being that it left him vulnerable to assassins but that wasn't out of the ordinary but a larger one was that he risked impregnating any of the women he slept with, and if that happened like Vatima he'd take them in as concubines to keep up with the obligations. "Oh Tatsumi-kun, Tatsumi-kun" Lydia moaned, Tatsumi kept his pace before kissing her.

"At this point I'm worried I'd run out of money to support my family even if I manage to survive the war and no matter how many nobles I marry" Tatsumi thought. "What I'd give to be a king; then I'd have a giant palace for my entire family to live in and I'd have the means to support them; but then comes the pains of governing; man I pity Makoto when he gets older because he's going to have to put up with governing a nation" Tatsumi thought. "If he lives that long, if I live long enough to worry about this; I hope if anything I don't die from something stupid like exhausting myself to death sexually but more likely I'll die from something nasty Honest has in plan for me" Tatsumi thought. "I wonder what that monster is up to right now; nothing good, never anything good" Tatsumi pondered, he came inside Lydia then laid back.

"Well that was amazing; now let's see what I can do for you" Lydia replied then lowered herself to his length and wrapped her breasts around it; their warm embrace was great on their own but her sucking of length was cherry on top; Lydia did both with gusto and eagerness; happy to please him in any way she could with her best. Tatsumi smiled and relaxed; let Lydia have her fun, the warmth of her cleavage was as snug as her vagina and her mouth was extremally good granted when he made out with her before she had the taste of wine on it; soon though he reached his limit and gave her something new to taste and drink; she swallowed most of his load but the rest creampied her face and breasts; Lydia grinned; licked herself of and bent over. "My ass awaits; I think you're ready for it; I know I am" Lydia teased Tatsumi entered that massive booty giving it his all his length speared into her and he rode it like he had many more before him; fondling her hair with one hand and her breasts with the other; occasionally stopping to massage the ass he was riding; embracing the cheeks and swirling them around.

Lydia herself was reaching her own limit for second time; oral stimuli hadn't done so as she had been the one giving it but this was too much; she came and Tatsumi prompted by her moan of orgasm did so as well filling her ass with his seed as the door opened and both Chiara and Nikola returned dressed in night-gowns under which they wore their most seductive lingerie.

The two friends stripped and joined them on the bed first thing came an onslaught of kisses from all three girls followed by a triple blowjob: Lydia taking his length while Nikola and Chiara took his balls; Tatsumi ate out Lydia's dripping pussy at the same time as they tended to cock. The rounds continued; positions alternated Lydia passed out first as she hadn't taken a break; Nikola followed after her butt sore and worn out; leaving Tatsumi and Chiara to go for five more rounds until they both were near exhausted. They then used their remaining strength to redress themselves and the sleeping Lydia and Nikola, something that was difficult but they managed to rouse them enough to get them dressed; then they crawled onto the bed Chiara lay on his belly and wrapped a blanket around the four of them and kissed Tatsumi good night before falling asleep.

Tatsumi himself fell asleep and as he slept he dreamt; dreams were hit and miss in his experience; this one he had was a pleasant one; in that dream he dreamt of himself; a child playing in a garden with two people; his parents obviously in his dream his mother shared his eyes and had long black hair; his father was a proud man with brown hair and beard; Tatsumi loved this dream; part of him wished it wasn't. "Tatsumi; come here my little angel" his mother asked and he came over.

"Dad? Mom?" Tatsumi asked in a child voice.

"Yes, we're here for you my son; we love the gardens as much as you do" his father stated.

"Gardens?" Tatsumi asked.

"The royal ones Tatsumi, remember they're your favorite place my little prince" his mother replied.

"What am I doing in the royal gardens? In the palace?" Tatsumi asked.

"We have a joker of a son on our hands; don't worry yourself Tatsumi it's alright we're for you" his father replied; Tatsumi heard familiar laughter and turned to see a young Aria and a young Esdeath; both of whom were quite happy and wearing dresses along with his other friends in both Night Raid and Jaegers but as kids.

"Why don't you go play with your friends Tatsumi?" his mother suggested, Tatsumi didn't question this and played with Aria and Esdeath; however, something was wrong about this; the whole atmosphere was off; he knew instinctively this was a dream however how much of it was his brain making things up. Suddenly the sky darkened he ran to his mother; Esdeath and Aria vanished along with his other friends and loved ones; he felt smaller moving when he opened his mouth he couldn't speak. "Can't sleep my little angel don't worry mom is hear for you" his mother said. "Baby Tatsumi rest your head lean against my warming breasts; my love will make big and strong- "She began singing, but stopped when she heard movement and the carriage Tatsumi could see stopped, it was raining outside. "Somethings wrong" his mother said: the doors opened on either side Tatsumi saw his father draw the sword his spirit wielded and charge towards shadows slicing them down but he was soon overwhelmed, his mother ran towards a tree Tatsumi felt her run him clung against her breast holding him close not wanting to let him go as he heard the twang of an arrow and saw the arrow pierce her side but she moved on into the forest and towards a village he could see in the distance he recognized Karsawa his home; an arrow lodged in his mother's stomach as her legs fell down, she crawled towards the town. "Tatsumi my child I'll always- love you- "she breathed out and died in front of him and he yelled and cried trying to yell Mom.

"MOM!" Tatsumi yelled waking up sweeting tears flowing down his face daylight shined thru the window and he noticed Lydia, Chiara and Nikola looking at him with concern as he cried.

"Nightmare?" Chiara opined.

"No, it was something else; more almost if- it started off good, my parents- they were there alive; I was a kid and everyone else was there too playing with each other; then my dream shifted and I was a baby- what happened next felt so real" Tatsumi replied.

"Just a dream Tatsumi; don't think too hard on it, you need to focus on the matters at hand" Nikola replied.

"Yeah, you're right, but still I'm going to talk with Najenda about the whole thing; usually if I have dreams I'll tell her, Aria, or Esdeath about it, and since Esdeath's back in the Capital and Aria's in Joyuu I'll talk with Najenda" Tatsumi replied and got up; the experience of the dream was enough to not want him to go for a morning round of last night's events; when he was thinking on something he really didn't want to afford distractions.

Getting dressed for the day Tatsumi headed downstairs and found Najenda sitting in chair in the dining room. "Morning Najenda" Tatsumi greeted sitting down next to her.

"Morning my handsome husband; how'd you sleep last night?" Najenda asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk about, I- had a weird dream and it felt real; my parents- my actual parents were there and- it started out great but towards the end it got rather dark and I-" Tatsumi tried explaining; Najenda held his hand in comfort. "Saw my mother die" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; well have you had dreams like this before?" Najenda asked.

"Not like this one; closest in terms of realistic dreams I've had are the nightmares Honest flung at me with his Teigu. Other than that, this dream is- well unique like- a memory" Tatsumi explained.

"Maybe it is; the last part at least. Anyway, let's talk about something else, do you have anything you'd like to ask me about?" Najenda asked.

"To be honest Najenda yes, I have a few questions first off do you have a family well besides me obviously because I'd like to meet them some day" Tatsumi responded.

"Yes I do, my parents are of a well-respected merchant family, not super rich but well off enough they can afford the expenses of a decent sized family; I have 6 siblings of which I'm the oldest: there is my twin sister Lajenda, she's more focused on the business side of my family then on anything else I never understood her interests but that comes of the fact I've always been adventurous, then there is my homebody sister Amelia who's a such a boring woman compared to me. Then there are my three younger sisters: Kaede, Mella, and Lena; their more girly then me and are obsessed with gossip and all sorts of stuff; their teenagers at the moment, my mother wishes I could be more like them but never. And I have my two younger brothers: Khaj and Darion, those two get into more mischief than anyone else their age and I'm hoping they don't get it into their heads to do something stupid like hunt massive danger beasts" Najenda explained.

"So how do you get along with your siblings and your parents?" Tatsumi asked.

"How do I get along with them; well that's one question that's a pain in the ass to answer. You see my parents and I really don't see eye to eye, they wanted me to be more lady-like whatever the hell that means but I've never been that way and personally have never wanted to be that way; in fact one of the main reasons I joined the Army was to get out and be my own person; granted I started off as one soldier among many but we were volunteers which meant we'd advance faster in the ranks. My siblings however are a different case and it really depends; my twin sister and I get along just fine in fact I'm sure she'd be interested in you. My younger sisters drive me nuts apart from Kaede who while she's more girly then I like is adventurous like me albeit in a different way. And my brothers well the further I am away from those two trouble makers the better because those two loves their crazy pranks and just love to annoy the crap out of me" Najenda explained.

"So, how'd you end up being a General?" Tatsumi asked.

"By dumb luck and by virtue of being the most qualified person on a battlefield; essentially, I was subordinate to this noble prick and inept general called Hans Zarkovh, he was very superstitious and trusted the words of his personal fortunetellers over the words of qualified officers. We were fighting against the forces of a major Northern incursion; it wasn't a raid but rather an attempt at conquest and ransom. The Northern King Numa Saika, whom I'm sure you're familiar with was just recently crowned the King of the North and in tradition of freshly crowned rulers he immediately sought to prove himself as every Northern king had before him: by launching an invasion of the Empire. The goal of this invasion was to capture the valuable trade center of Kadrogo, which is the center of the fur trade, and hold the city hostage for ransom along with every other city they took." Najenda explained. "General Zarkovh was sent to deal with the matter I was a Colonel and his chief of staff, Lubbock and Lydia were also among said staff, and like I said before he wasn't a competent general. Any victories our forces won against the Northerners, which were mainly won by the fact that Saika's subordinate generals were even more incompetent that Zarkovh and frequently sent their warriors on suicide charges into machine gun positions, were squandered as the general insisted on making stops constantly to consult various fortunetellers and seers along with halting the army every time he saw a black cat. Eventually however King Saika tired of sending his commanders to suicidal charges and decided to let Zarkovh think he was winning then lure him into a trap; one I saw coming." Najenda explained. "Said trap was in a narrow canyon that Saika had taken the liberty of fortifying and trapping; the battle was an ambush but fortunately the Northerners didn't factor in that I had taken the liberty of making sure my regiments were fully ready and alert; however the rest of the army was caught by surprised and the fighting was terrible. Luckily for us though General Zarkovh died from a stray javelin which while this would have usually been a bad thing it meant I had full command of the army; well what was left of it. Taking command, I formed defensive positions the best I could and used our few remaining machine guns and mortars to maximum effect killing many Northerners; enough that King Saika committed himself and his elite guard into the battle. However, this was when I implemented my trap; during the fighting I had been moving my few reserves into the hollowed-out caverns that had been made by the Northerners to act as a surprise force. Numa Saika committed his troops and I took full advantage and gave the signal to commit the reserves; said reserves were also my best troops and Saika's troops were caught completely by surprise; enough of one that when I charged the main line forward they hadn't managed to brace and we overran their ranks; Numa Saika himself proved to be a formidable warrior but he was only one man and he also had a disadvantage of not having a Teigu and Lubbock used Crosstail to snare him in its strings; with their leader captured the rest of the Northerners broke and we captured them ending the battle" Najenda explained.

"Wow, you beat the King of the North" Tatsumi commented.

"She didn't just beat him Tatsumi, she humiliated the asshole" Lydia commented sitting down next him.

"Anyway after the battle I brought him to General Liver who was in charge of the Northern defense armies at the time and upon seeing the northern King in Teigu chains he had me promoted; King Saika signed a truce and withdrew what forces he had left back home, after that I was reassigned to Esdeath's army and rose further up the ranks after the Takanid conflict in the East and the Mercenary War which followed it. My greatest battle apart from the one that made me General was in the Mercenary War: that conflict started as a result of mercenaries hired by the Southern Viceroy of Vahrain refusing to pay the armies he hired to deal with Southern raiders; they captured the province of Vahrain and the two neighboring provinces of Camain and Dalrain; as they took these provinces they committed brazen acts of looting, committed massacres of local villages that refused to give up their women to them, and mass rapes of women and girls; they loved to express their power and wealth and were led by a council of the leaders of the twenty major Mercenary bands; which were backed up by subordinate bands drawn by the plunder. The most dangerous of them being the Maiden-Takers who were the most active when it came to the acts of mass rape and lead by three of most dangerous mercenary generals: chief among them being Vardak 'Bloodbeard' Akirnan the Widowbreaker. He made it his goal to take women generals and make them sex-slaves for his enjoyment." Najenda explained. "After the defeat of three major armies and the capture and gangrape of three women generals: Emperor Yoritomo sent in Esdeath to put down the uprising: myself with her and the massive army. Each of us was tasked to take down a major mercenary band and me being Esdeath's chief subordinate was tasked with taking down Bloodbeard" Najenda explained. "I tricked him into a major battle in the Kalkra swamps: I had made sure to build a defensive fort in the only firm ground in the bog and then placed a token garrison; the catch being I hid the rest of the army in dug out positions and in thick bog areas; wanting to secure the fort for himself in which I and a number of the most beautiful women in the army were inside he committed his entire force of well-armed mercenaries; unaware of the trap. The swamp was our best friend and a good deal of the mercenaries who were weighed down by plunder they had stolen drowned where my lightly armored troops stayed alive; once they had gone too far in and attacked the fort I sent up a firework that signaled the rest of my forces to in the swamps to attack the besiegers; who were completely blindsided by this; especially by the Artillery I had hidden which tore them apart: Bloodbeard himself was captured and his mercenaries were slaughtered to a man; any captives we took we drowned in the bogs but Bloodbeard and his top commanders I turned over to Esdeath; which lead to them being drawn and quartered" Najenda replied.

"So how did you and Esdeath become friends?" Tatsumi asked. Najenda laughed at this.

"That was actually easier than you think; the fact that I had completely defeated, captured, and humiliated the Northern king impressed Esdeath dearly and the fact that I was Teigu user was another score in her good books; the fact that we both shared our views that inept leaders shouldn't be in charge of armies and that those who cannot defend themselves should be protected by those who can led to us becoming best friends" Najenda replied.

"Thanks for letting me know all this Najenda; and thanks for breakfast Lydia" Tatsumi thanked, as during the whole time they had been eating breakfast. "I've got some things to do today and well I'm going to do them; by the way anyone know where Cassandra is? I'd like to talk to her" Tatsumi asked.

"Last I saw her Cassandra left to go stay at her manor; she told me she had something there she wanted to get and bring back to Melitine with us" Najenda answered.

"Where is that?" Tatsumi asked; pulling out his city map.

"Here; near the Imria's Palace; Cassandra has a thing for going to brothels; plenty of pussy for her" Lydia commented.

"Thanks; I'm going to go find her, I've got things I want to talk about with her" Tatsumi replied.

"What things Tatsumi?" Najenda asked.

"Tell me too; I'd like to know Tatsumi no secrets between us" Lydia added and Chiara and Nikola nodded in agreement. Tatsumi then told them about Falkland's agenda and what he had asked Tatsumi to do. "That Bastard!" Lydia swore pissed off.

"I worried this was the case: Tatsumi be careful who you tell this too: I know you want to stop Falkland's plans and many of the people in this cause aren't in favor of this kind of behavior but there is the danger someone you approach may be in favor of this then you'd risk being tried for treason" Najenda explained.

"Don't worry I'll be cautious, but don't worry Cassandra's our friend I don't think she'd be for the plans of Falkland" Tatsumi replied then got up to leave all four women kissed him he kissed them all back before going out into the city.

He had barely gone a block before he bumped into a familer face: Pais. "Hey Tatsumi-san" Pais greeted.

"Hi Pais-chan; how is your day going?" Tatsumi asked.

"Good, and you're just the person I was looking for; you see Tatsumi I've been thinking about you, over the past two weeks; I- find you handsome and caring and was wondering if we could well- go on a date?" Pais asked.

"Sure, I don't see why not; we can go on one right now; there are some sights I'd like to see if you want to go sight-seeing with me" Tatsumi replied.

"Really? Yes, I will; let's go see things" Pais replied and held his hand; Tatsumi blushed. They then went to one of the famous theaters and watched the performance of a Tsuwangdani theater troupe Tatsumi noted that the stories were those of their own people, which led to a number of interesting stories; however in this case the show he watched a comedy mixed with a romantic story and a great deal of political satire, some of which mocked Honest but others mocked a few other people. Overall though the show was entertaining and he and Pais were happy Tatsumi then looked at a number of other sights he intended to visit then he and Pais visited each of them however Tatsumi noted that one of them happened to be another brothel called the Silver Maiden.

"You know Tatsumi I'm not opposed to a more risqué location; if you want to visit the Silver Maiden I won't up and go" Pais commented.

"You don't care if I want to visit a brothel, usually that would get a gripe out of a girl I just started dating?" Tatsumi replied.

"Please Tatsumi you're a man and men have their needs, so do women; and I'd prefer not to beat about the bush; granted we've started dating yes; but we've known each other for a while now and to be honest I'm way interested in what it is that makes all the girls fall for you: well apart from your good looks and your personality" Pais explained; kissed him on the cheek and they went inside the brothel. Tatsumi approached the madam and was directed upstairs; in this case he hired a lovely courtesan by the name Jazeneth, she was an Easterner from the far eastern city of Nalkair; she had lovely brown eyes, deep tanned skin, and long braided raven hair, in terms attire she wore and exotic orange ensemble festooned with golden rings; she costed 600 gold; Tatsumi then hired the best girl in the place a purple-haired purple-eyed beauty called Lindala from the far west which being extremely distance from Zartek made her the most pricey girl in the whole place at whopping 2,500 gold; however because of the fact she resembled Sheele and Cosmina both of whom Tatsumi was missing at the moment he had to hire her she also wore glasses like his two wives and had her hair in ponytails like Mine, he then paid 1500 more to hire four musician girls who played harps and flutes and two masseuses to give both him and Pais a fine massage.

Shortly upstairs… Pais and Tatsumi laid back on a bed to receive massages from the two courtesans; the massage treatment was the first part of their pampering and thus it would take some time. "Pais are you sure about this?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes I am, and I'm game for it; granted I'm a virgin but I've been one for so long and well I haven't had the opportunity to be with any real men; granted I have had a few boyfriends but no one really steady, apart from one guy who actually was more interest in my brother then me" Pais replied.

"That's your reasoning, well I'm not going to turn you down but I am worried that you want to go into a relationship with me so quickly" Tatsumi replied.

"Is it really much more different from being your friend; it's just we're getting closer; we just be friends when we can be friends with benefits and if I'm going to be blunt I'm sick of Ritone getting all the dicks; I want one for a change but that guy has to be worth it" Pais replied.

"Ok, well then you don't have to worry about me and your brother hooking up, I don't swing that way and he and Bulat are a thing" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh yes I know about it; really I wish my brother wouldn't brag to me about his sex life; much less when he is glad to be with someone like the 100-man-slayer Bulat, seriously I really wish he'd settle down and find a girl to love but if he's going to insist on being into men all his life he can go ahead; but I will at the very least have him be an uncle" Pais replied and kissed Tatsumi; the masseuses finished their work and disrobed; one was a blonde busty northerner named Ursula and other a dark skinned southern goddess named Deja'niki. Tatsumi and Pais took off their towels and Tatsumi revealing his noticeable erection; the flute and harp girls stopped playing and disrobed too in order to join in on the fun; lastly of course came Jazeneth and Lindala.

"So, who gets first dibs on this juicy cock?" Ursula commented.

"It's huge!" Lindala commented. "I hope it fits" she added.

"Let the virgin have first go" one of flute girls a green haired olive-skinned beauty named Tyanna commented.

"Yeah Pais you have first gone at your boyfriend" Lindala suggested.

"Girls can one of you go first to well show me how it's done?" Pais countered.

"I'll do it" One of the harp girls commented; her name was Viola and she had long ginger hair and wore a purple mask; she climbed onto the bed and the other girls gathered around allowing Pais to see clearly and offering commentary as Viola showed her how to give a proper blowjob; Pais heeded the suggestions and when Viola had caused Tatsumi to orgasm she then demonstrated each of the potential sex positions she knew to Pais: on Tatsumi of course.

After Pais had learned enough she eased over to Tatsumi fondled her D-cups and wrapped them around his length and began to give him head; Tatsumi moaned as she did this he watched her bob up and down; caressing her brown hair; he then invited Lindala over so he could drink from her breasts; which were on par with Sheele's own E-cups and from which he drank like she was Sheele herself; the other girls did a mixture of things; the flute girls and harp girls returned to playing music while Ursula and Deja'niki licked his nipples and Jazeneth added her own d-cup breasts and joined Pais in the blowjob.

Tatsumi then had Lindala sit down on him and inserted his tongue into her loins; slowly probing for her soft spots and caressing her breasts with his hands. "Oh!" Lindala moaned and closed her eyes and let out a louder moan as Tatsumi went deeper; finding to his surprise of all thing a hymen which meant she was virgin which explained her extremely high price, not only was she a westerner from a land thousands of miles from Zartek but she was a virgin too; how the hell she managed to get here was beyond him and why she worked in a place like this was beyond him. This shock caused him to stop and mumble. "What is it?" Lindala asked climbing off and looking at him.

"You're a virgin" Tatsumi remarked.

"Yeah; I- really should explain, I'm new here and well its complicated; I took the job because the lady here was real nice; told me I'd make more money in one night then I would in the army which I came here to join; I'm actually really good at fighting and well my home town was destroyed by the Empire" Lindala explained.

"You really don't belong here, why don't you come with me and my girlfriend we can find a better job for you then this" Tatsumi replied.

"You'd do that; thank you; but you already did pay for me and I believe that if someone hires a person for a job they should do the job especially if they've already been paid in advance" Lindala replied and remounted him; Tatsumi resumed his tongue work causing her to moan extensively before he came inside Pais's mouth unloading his seed which she gobbled up thirstily. Tatsumi had Lindala move to the side along with Astrid and Deja'niki; that way he and Pais could see each other.

"So, this is going to go inside me?" Pais asked looking at Tatsumi's erect length. "It's big, please be gentle Tatsumi; I- heard from Clementine it hurts" Pais replied. "Also, she kind of put me up to this when I told her I was going with Cassandra to east with you and Najenda" Pais explained, Tatsumi sat up kissed her on the lips chastely.

"Don't worry I'll be as gentle as possible; I know this is your first time and your worried; yes it will hurt but I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't hurt so bad" Tatsumi replied then held Pais and laid her back before entering her snapping her barrier quickly kissing her as he did so to alleviated the pain before laying back and pushing her up.

"Oh! Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi-Kun." Pais moaned as she bounced up and down on her length the other girls cheered from the sides and a more romantic song was played in the background by the musicians; Lindala and Jazeneth took their spots Jazeneth strode Tatsumi's face and Lindala kissed Pais on the cheek and drank from her right breast. Pais smiled as she moaned going up and down; Ursula took her left breast and suckled it as well while Deja'Kiki kissed her with practiced ease. "So, this is what sex is like?" Pais thought. "Man I can see what Ritone was chatty about it especially when it comes to big cocks; boy would he wish Tatsumi was gay to have his but nope I'm keeping his size a secret, speaking of these girls are so caring too; teaching me how to do this and Tatsumi is enjoying the whole experience I wonder how long we'll go for" Pais wondered.

She had her answer momentarily when Tatsumi came; he wasn't able to warn Pais to get off due to both of them being occupied with other girls at the same time however he did realize after the fact.

"Shit" Tatsumi remarked after getting Jazeneth off him.

"Tatsumi what's wrong?" Pais asked surprised then noted the semen leaking out of her. "Oh, Tatsumi don't worry; I know you would have warned me; but thinking on it I actually like this; this is something Ritone never would have been able to experience" Pais commented.

"I can agree but what if you get- you know- pregnant" Tatsumi replied worrying.

"That's ok with me; I'd love to have your child; I just hope you don't mind and will well- "Pais stammered Tatsumi kissed her.

"Yes, I will help care for our children" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad to hear it; Tatsumi I'm not sure about doing it anytime soon but after the war when all this is over will you marry?" Pais replied.

"I'd love to, but if you turn out to be pregnant we marry soon after: I don't want our child to have the stigma of being illegitimate" Tatsumi replied; then turned Pais around; she had such a cute big ass that he never really could avoid staring out whenever he saw it. "Hey Pais I'm going to do something I wanted to do for a while so bend over please" Tatsumi explained, Pais eagerly bent over.

"I know exactly what you're thinking and I want it" Pais replied; Tatsumi snapped her black cherry and began to ride her; at the same time; Jazeneth, Lindalla, Ursula and Deja'niki did their part to please him and her; Ursula allowing Pais to eat her out while doing the same to Jazeneth; Lindala and Deja'niki kissed Tatsumi and Tatsumi drank from Lindalla's breasts while fingering both of them at the same time; the music again changed to the melody of the Passionate Hunt for Love (Saria's Song from Ocarina of Time) and Tatsumi became more passionate too eventually though he caused Pais to pass out after two more rounds; for someone who used a set of Teigu armor the Equal of Incursio and which took the weapon form of Giant two-handed Warhammer, Pais was easily exhausted by Tatsumi who turned to Lindalla.

"Tatsumi- I'm ready" Lindalla commented and laid back and he entered her missionary style; this sex was more romantic then lustful, and he gave her about five rounds of it before she passed out and he turned to the other 6 girls who were not virgins and were energetic which combined took him two hours and 50 rounds of sex to finish.

One Hour later… Tatsumi had finished his time at the Silver Maiden, Pais and Lindalla accompanied him out; Tatsumi had pay a sizeable sum of 4500 to convince the Madam to let Lindalla go; but considering that Tatsumi had brought way more money than that to begin with (Having a grand total of 250,000 gold pieces for travel expenses: courtesy of Aria Grundel) it wasn't too much of a dent and the Madam was more than happy to let him with her. Tatsumi then had Pais take Lindalla shopping giving her the rest of the money he had in his coin purse before leaving them to go look for Cassandra.

Half an hour later he found her; just outside another brothel. "Tatsumi, what a surprise, what are you doing here? Are you here to visit the Golden Rose; if so, I recommend Sera that woman can do amazing things with her tongue" Cassandra replied?

"Actually, I've been looking for you General" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, indeed; well then what do you need of me?" Cassandra asked.

"Come with me; I'd rather not talk about it in public; it's secret" Tatsumi replied conspiratorially.

"I see; it better be important though" Cassandra replied; Tatsumi and her went off remote park to allow them to talk in private.

"Alright Tatsumi what is so important we have to talk in private?" Cassandra asked.

"Something very important; it's Chancellor Falkland he isn't remotely what he seems" Tatsumi replied

"What do you mean by that? Chancellor Falkland is going to lead the Revolutionary to glorious victory over the Empire; we'll change the way things are run; the Oarburgh clan will return to prominence; and those who've corrupted the system will be brought down" Cassandra replied.

"He wanted have me murder the Emperor; a 13-year-old kid and his sisters both of whom are seven! Cassandra anyone who thinks murdering innocent children to achieve their ambitions is evil! No government can be formed on such goals and expected to be a good one: that's not worth fighting for at all!" Tatsumi replied; Cassandra looked at him in anger.

"Traitor! You're a double-agent loyal to the Empire!" Cassandra replied.

"I'm no such thing; I'm no puppet of Honest and you fucking know it; I'm just a normal person put into circumstances beyond his control and who's been fighting for the wrong side; both sides of this war are wrong: Honest is evil incarnate; a demon in human-form; more demon then man now, and Falkland he's a scheming politician only interested in his own agenda; he's perfectly willing to kill children for his own gains but not just that murder those who supported him like Aria and her parents; good people that granted sell weapons to both sides of the conflict but do they have a choice? No! Any company has to sell the Empire some of products whether as a tax or not: can you see that; both sides are in the wrong Cassandra and I intend to change it; with Esdeath, the rest of Night Raid, the Jaegers and a number of noble families and Generals of both sides I can create a new faction; one dedicated to removing Honest and restoring the peace not just peace the Empire to what it once was; before Honest ever came to power" Tatsumi responded.

"You are under arrest for treason Tatsumi! I'll bring you in myself" Cassandra replied drawing her four straight swords from her side; Tatsumi drew his longsword taking up a defensive stance. (Song begin: Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons)

Cassandra's blades began to spin rapidly; Tatsumi noticed that she hadn't brought her Teigus with her which was good because he hadn't brought his: Tatsumi noted she was using a style that favored an aggressive attack strategy however this left her open to a firm defense.

Cassandras swords clashed Tatsumi parrying the blades rapidly; his sword intercepting the strikes but she continued the attack regardless and Tatsumi was being pushed back towards a tree Tatsumi side stepped employing the dodge techniques that Martha had been teaching him and allowing him flank Cassandra who had to change her style to defend which required Tatsumi to adopt parrying stances to counter her counters; the straight blades Cassandra wielded were sharp contrast to the curved Dervish Teigu blades she usually wielded in that they allowed her to use her arms in more innovative ways' also Tatsumi noted that as she spun the blades her arms became a bit more serpentine and moved at a rapid pace that Tatsumi thought no human being was capable of but then again Cassandra wasn't a normal human being as she had Tsuwangdani blood in her thus meaning her body and bones were more serpent like and each strike she made was much like a serpent's strikes.

Cassandra struck again and Tatsumi parried then side stepped jumping over a log and picking up a branch and throwing it at Cassandra; throwing off her technique allow him to counter and knock one of her swords out of her reach; she drew one of her miniature chakrams and flung it at him. The metal disc glanced his arm grazing he sleeve of his jacket which Tatsumi removed and flung it at Cassandra slowing her as she using her free arm to grab and throw the coat aside only to have to parry a series of rapid strikes from Tatsumi causing her have another sword knocked out of her grip in the process. Cassandra then adapted her technique again; dropping her two swords and catching them with her free arms; Tatsumi countered this as Sheele had taught him about the feigned disarm; allowing him to counter the strikes; using brief leverage he kicked Cassandra in the stomach, knocking her down and causing her to drop her swords.

But even that wasn't enough as Cassandra tried to fling more chakrams at Tatsumi who dodged them as fast he could before close the distance and wrestling Cassandra into submission. (Song end)

"Cassandra! It's over; knock it off; I didn't want to have to fight you; don't you see I'm your friend; more than that I'm an Oarburgh by marriage twice over; think what would happen if Merraid found out you tried to kill me" Tatsumi replied.

"Leave my sisters out of this" Cassandra replied kicking him in the knee drawing her slightly curved dagger and trying knife him when suddenly a swarm of bugs pinned her against a nearby tree and Merraid stood there her umbrella in hand.

"Not staying out of this; Cassandra I'm trying to have a stroll in the park and I see you and Tatsumi-kun trying to kill each other: What the Hell is going on here?" Merraid replied.

"He's a traitor Merraid he's against the Revolution" Cassandra replied, Merraid laughed and the bugs readied themselves to sting.

"Did Tatsumi tell you about the plot to murder the Emperor; Cassandra if he did he's right; you're an Oarburgh; now I know our family are assassins but innocent children are not and never have been targets for traditions; we have standards and as an Oarburgh I'm disappointed in you; trying to kill my husband to be over politics really I'd have expected better from you" Merraid replied, Cassandra began to cry but stopped herself and shook her head looked at Tatsumi and at her sister who was now comforting him and checking to see if he was hurt.

"I- you're right Merraid, what the hell am I? I was trying to kill a man I respect and well care for and who is my friend in defense of a politician who wants to kill innocent children to advance his own gains" Cassandra replied.

"You sure you aren't bluffing; I'm not having the wrigglers release you until you admit the full truth; also remember that if I let you go and you try to kill my Tatsumi I'm not going to stop them from killing you even the fact that your my sister won't save you if you try to kill the man I love more than anyone else even my sweet lovely Akame" Merraid explained with a ruthless smirk.

"I- you're right; Boreth Falkland is evil! Tatsumi, you're right, I'm wrong, so much is wrong; I- I'm no Revolutionary I'm an Oarburgh; a family of noble assassins that is of royal blood and still has that blood in us; you're my sister Merraid not by blood but still by right and- I love you; not just you Tatsumi I love him; my pride just wouldn't let me admit it; please let me go: I won't ever try to hurt him again in fact I'll do the opposite I'll shower him with the love and affection he deserves from me; I'll bare his children and love him he's the future father of a new generation of our clan I promise" Cassandra apologized.

"Good but just in case" Merraid replied, the wrigglers moved and deprived Cassandra of all her weapons before releasing her. "I'll be taking all your weapons for the time being you can have them back once you've followed thru on your promise" Merraid replied and the wrigglers collected the other weapons.

Cassandra leaned over and stood up walking over to Tatsumi slowly; she then planted a kiss on his lips. "I meant it when I said I loved you; Tatsumi you've- filled a place in my heart; you're special; special enough to have earned the love of all of my sisters; both those of full Oarburgh blood and those adopted into our clan; you- are the most stubborn handsome brave and nicest man I've ever met not only that you- are honest" Cassandra confessed and then broke down crying on his shoulder.

"Cassandra it's ok; I'm here for you, Merraid's here for you, so are Meela and Loris wherever those two have gotten off to; and so are all your other sisters and everyone who's part of Night Raid is here for you; you don't need to cry" Tatsumi replied.

"I have to: I just tried to kill the man I love and for what? Someone who gave me promotions for winning battles and a person who well has great ideas but the wrong motives: Tatsumi I love you; and I'll never try to hurt you again, I just want one promise from you" Cassandra explained, Tatsumi held her by her upper hands while her lower ones held onto him.

"Name it and I'll try to give it to you" Tatsumi replied.

"Give the people more freedom; when this war is over; if your new side that I'm joining wins; give them more freedom, don't preserve the positions of people who aren't capable of governing and let the people have a more of a say in their government" Cassandra replied.

"I'll see what I can do; I can't promise though that we'll not have an Emperor when this is over but I can at least promise to try and make things better for the common people like I've been trying to do since the day I left my home; I'll do whatever needs to be done; as long as it doesn't forsake the things I believe in and doesn't require me to take an innocent life: I'll do it I swear it to you and to gods themselves" Tatsumi promised and kissed her; a romantic kiss, she wrapped her upper arms around his neck and lower ones around his abdomen resting her hands on his rump; he rested his on her rump and their kissed turned more heated.

"Hey love birds I think you two need a room" Merraid commented.

"Right sis; Tatsumi I think we should head to my place; I'm looking forward to taking you to my bed" Cassandra seduced, they then left.

Later… "Oh" Cassandra moaned as Tatsumi fondled her breasts and licked her loins; liking the folds of her vagina before putting his tongue in further in search of both a barrier and her tender spots; at the same time Cassandra used her lower arms to massage Tatsumi's length her gentle hands caressing his length while her upper hands held his as he fondled her breasts. "Tatsumi-kun" Cassandra moaned softly; smiling; her dark purple hair let down from the usual pigtails and her eyes looking at him. Tatsumi moaned as her hands did their work. "Tatsumi-kun your tongue is wonderful let me show you what I can do with mine" Cassandra stated seductively and began licking the tip of his length while using hands to slowly pump it, her tongue descended downwards down the length to the base before taking it in her mouth and sucking it; using her tongue to lick the length as she blew him and using her upper hands to hold it steady while holding Tatsumi's with lower hands; Tatsumi loved the way her hands felt; soft gentle with well painted nails that were the perfect length; the skin of her body felt softer than that of a normal person possible as a result of Tsuwangdani Blood in the distant past.

For the next few minutes they both used their tongues to the best of their ability; Cassandra doing more so when she wrapped her ample DD-cups around his length and began massaging him; Cassandra used her upper arms to move her breasts in a shiatsu style massage moving them in different directions and using her lower arms to caress his balls; this lasted for three more minutes both they both came at the same time; Tatsumi filling Cassandra's mouth as she swallowed his entire load and he licked off her fresh juices.

"That was fun; lets' have some more fun Tatsumi-kun; my extra arms can be put to some interesting uses so what do you want to do next?" Cassandra asked.

"Well I've always been tempted by your ass; it's so cute and perky; just begging for me" Tatsumi replied giving her a playful slap on it; gain a moan from Cassandra.

"That's sounds like a fun idea Tatsumi; go ahead; it's all yours and I'll enjoy it" Cassandra replied and Tatsumi took her doggy style. "OH! AH! Tatsumi-kun! It's so big; and my poor little asshole is so tight deeper" Cassandra moaned; Tatsumi went deeper; as deep as he could manage before beginning his thrusts; Cassandra used one set of hands to help him fondle her breasts or rather fondle his hands as he fondled her breasts; while she used the other to support his weight. Tatsumi's thrusts were at a moderate pace; Cassandra letting out keen moans of pleasure as he did her. "Tatsumi how is it? How do I compare to Merra?" Cassandra asked.

"It's your ass is as cute and fun to ride as hers" Tatsumi replied honestly; Cassandra turned her head to kiss him capturing his lips before inserting her longer tongue into him; going rather decently back; she also contorted her body in way to wrap her legs around him and kiss him upside down. "Cassandra you'- "Tatsumi tried to say as she kissed him.

"Surprisingly flexible, I know; comes of being part Tsuwangdani; we half-Tsus are capable of flexing our body in ways that no normal human can and did I mention I can do this" Cassandra replied and contorted her body to reverse spoon Tatsumi; with her being the dominant partner; still though he went deeper and the tightness of her ass resulted in him coming once again; Cassandra dismounted and rolled to the end of the bed before crawling over him in a spider walk with both her sets of hands as extra legs before kissing him once more; using her lower arms to ready herself.

"You're ready now right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi I was ready the moment I saw what you were packing" Cassandra replied; then took him into her snapping her barrier as she kissed him; Tatsumi and her locked as one flipping over with him on top Tatsumi kissed her going down to her breasts and began drinking her milk, which tasted a lot like normal milk with honey mixed in; Cassandra wrapped all four of her arms around him two hands on the small of his back and two on his butt cheeks which she fondled as she moaned and took all of Tatsumi into her holding him close as they engaged in the missionary position, and did so for the next hour.

One hour Later… Tatsumi held Cassandra close to him his sword still in her sheath to use a euphemism; they kissed chastely and smiled at each other. "Tatsumi, that was the best sex I've ever had; nothing could ever rival that experience; you know while you're not the first person I've had sex with you are definitely the best and- I'll gladly bare your children our children, to marry you and have you and hold you every day for the rest of our lives; no matter how brief they may be" Cassandra confided sweetly; Tatsumi placed a hand on her left butt-cheek she moaned and they kissed; as they were to begin the next session a knock came on the door. "Who is it?" Cassandra asked sing-songly.

"Me Dora; it's me Jun; hey you've been invited along with the other 40 generals to the test run of General Isara's newest invention" a woman stated.

"Alright when do we have to be there?" Cassandra asked.

"We? In about an hour and half" Jun explained.

"That's good; hey can you come in and join us, I've got someone for you to meet Jun-kun" Cassandra explained then got up and unlocked the door letting in Jun; she was a busty physically fit woman; about 17; she had light skin and long lime green hair but this was in a ponytail; she wore a maids uniform and she took one look at Tatsumi and blushed.

"Dora, you've- been with a man; I'm surprised but I should have not been surprised when you brought him into your home" Jun commented.

"Yes my love and now you get to be with him too; this is Tatsumi he's going to be my husband you and others are going to be his secondary wives in our clan's tradition: he's earned Merraid's love, respect and taken her virginity; he will be a father to a new generation of Oarburghs" Cassandra explained then removed Jun's clothes allowing her EE-Cups to be free; Cassandra gave her a kiss on the lips and fondled her breasts with her upper arms and fondled her rear with her lower arms before picking her up and carrying her to the bed.

"Dora I'd be honored" Jun replied then looked at Tatsumi. "You're so handsome; be gentle though this is my first time with a man and I heard it hurts" Jun replied.

"It does but not too much; what comes after is well; special and amazing" Tatsumi replied and kissed her and laid back; Cassandra helped Jun get comfortable and readied her.

"You ready? Because once I let go you need to take it in one swift motion; otherwise it will hurt more" Cassandra explained.

"Yes; Please be gentle- Tatsumi" Jun replied Cassandra let go and allowed her lover to do exactly what she told her to do, blood flowed down Tatsumi's length; Cassandra then whispered to Jun in her ear comforting her and explaining how it was done.

Jun began to bounce up and down and Cassandra straddled Tatsumi's face; his tongue entered her insides and his lips caressed her vulva something that Cassandra enjoyed; Cassandra moaned and then held his hands with her lower arms and wrapped her upper set around Jun kissing her romantically her breasts pressing against Jun's.

Both women kissed each other eagerly and happily as Tatsumi pleased both of them; this fun was something Tatsumi was going to be enjoying. The next thirty minutes were spent by Tatsumi pleasing both women and using every position he knew to do so; Jun loved pleasing him with her breasts and her mouth while Cassandra loved to do the same but also loved spooning with him which he enjoyed too.

After this passionate fun Tatsumi redressed putting on his uniform; Cassandra did the same and held his right hand with both of her left hands they then left Cassandra's manor and met with a gathered group of soldiers that were instructed to escort them to the location of the demonstration.

Said location was on a flat plain two miles from the city and in a valley beneath a high defile; Tatsumi noted that each of the major military leaders of the Revolutionary army were here with him and on top of that so were a number of minor ones. The center of the valley was a large object under a large tarp, also threw out the valley were a number of targets that were of a number of different sizes and appeared to be set up for varying weapon types. Next to the object stood General Isara Gunther and her husband Welkin and a few other officers and support personnel. Once everyone had arrived and was ready Isara began speaking. "Greetings and welcome my fellow soldiers and officers of the Revolutionary army; I am Major General Isara Gunther and I'm sure you're all aware of my achievements; today I'm here to show off the prototype of a new weapon that will revolutionize warfare" Isara explained then strode over to the tarp and removed it.

The object in question was similar in size to a carriage however there were a number of big differences; the first being it used treads instead of wheels and was made entirely out of metal. The vehicle was taller than the average person had two parts; a main body and what to Tatsumi resembled the gun of an Artillery emplacement; in addition to that a machine gun was attached to the top of the roof and two noticeable round spots on the vehicles mid-section had what looked like turrets. "Presenting a new weapon that will revolutionize warfare: The Edelweiss, first of what I call tanks; consider it a carriage however with no horse and made out of metal and capable of moving itself" Isara explained.

"How can this thing move itself without a horse?" Tatsumi asked.

"Allow me to demonstrate; team get inside" Isara ordered; a team of engineering personal got inside the vehicle and Isara herself climbed to the top of the turret and got inside. Then came a loud rumbling sound that no one apart from the people working on the project had heard before. "The tank is powered by a new invention of mine; the engine, its powered by Vantar ore which has been refined into a liquid capable of fueling it; pretty potent and so far we haven't determined how long it's good for but we have determined the safety of the fuel source and other functions" Isara explained. "Gunner rotate the turret towards the nearest large target" Isara ordered and pointed the long-barreled gun at a nearby large pile of rocks. "Aim" Isara ordered. "Range found good, steady" Isara replied listening via radio. "Fire!" Isara ordered the gun roared and large shell of the kind used by Artillery flew towards and destroyed the pile of rocks. "As you can all see the fire power the Edelweiss has is comparable to an artillery battery the big difference being that this is a mobile vehicle" Isara explained then climbed inside and closed the hatch; the Edelweiss moved slowly at first then rapidly once it had gotten going; the weapons fire destroying targets; machine guns ripped thru practice dummies, mortals rounds and tank shells destroyed large piles of boulders and bales of hay all the while smaller targets that were missed were ground under the treads of the vehicle which came to a stop where it had started after going full circle.

Isara climbed out of the vehicle. "As you can see the results of five months efforts, we have a new weapon capable of devesting battalions of enemy troops" Isara explained.

"One question remains how much damage can it take?" Cassandra replied.

"That's yet to be determined; the Dwarves allowed me to base this off of one of their designs and gave some pointers but the alloy I used in construction is high-grade titanium; it should be capable of withstanding small yield explosives, fire arms and most conventional weapons; however it won't hold out against artillery bombardment and likely wouldn't be able to withstand a Teigu of type meant for the purpose of destroy fortifications" Isara explained.

"So, when can we expect this on the battlefield?" Audrey Gassenarl asked.

"The Edelweiss itself with require about a month of more testing to iron out any kinks and flaws; mass scale production though could take a year; it would take another two weeks to manufacture another tank and it would take a large amount of money and time for construction of more" Isara explained.

"Alright; who'll get the honor of commanding this newfangled weapon of war" General Barton commented.

"My husband Welkin will command it and I will drive the Edelweiss and oversee maintenance of it; newer tanks will be allocated to the most equipped generals; I intend to have about 30 tanks per company and three companies per army; however I don't want use these in actual battle until the first companies are ready" Isara explained.

"That's a risky; what if I were to convince the council to allocate more resources to production would it be possible to cut the time in making these new inventions of yours; the Revolutionary army needs whatever weapons we can muster" Chancellor Falkland asked.

"I'd need more manpower, in addition to that we'd need a dedicated factory; even then to outfit the whole army we'd need six months" Isara explained.

"I'll speak with council if I have to, I'll use my emergency military authority to allocate the resources you need General Gunther, this project of yours will not just change how war is waged but win this war" Boreth explained; Tatsumi mentally cursed and winced.

"If these weapons become mainstream the Revolutionary army could easily win this war and if that happens Makoto and a lot of innocent people will be murdered by Falkland's new regime" Tatsumi thought. "I need to get her on side and not only that need her to delay production until I can get control of the Revolutionary Army; I've nothing against using these in battle against Honest's forces I have a problem against using these against people who shouldn't be our enemies" he continued thinking, Natsuhi who was standing next to him held his hand and noticed he was outwardly afraid; someone else noted it too.

"General Tatsumi is something the matter?" Boreth asked.

"Nothing I'm just worried; worried this new weapon could fall into the wrong hands, I'm worried about what it is capable of doing to the average soldier; I worry about it being used against people who really aren't capable of fighting back like those conscripted into the Imperial army against their will and thrown away to die; I'm worried about the future" Tatsumi responded.

"I can see your concern; the future is indeed something to be concerned about also worrying is the chance this weapon could fall into the wrong hands; with that in mind we shouldn't accelerate the production until security is fully accounted for; this project requires the highest level of secrecy I agree that is would be a terrible thing for this to fall into the hands of the Empire" Boreth replied; that was comforting Tatsumi had more time to change things in the faction itself.

With the demonstration over the group was dismissed Damon glared at Tatsumi with anger as he passed him; Natsuhi led Tatsumi off she had wanted to talk to him after the meeting and had invited him to her home.

A half-hour later and it being mid-afternoon Tatsumi was led to a decent sized mansion; Natsuhi and her daughter Jessica had invited him to lunch which he needed to get his mind off of the craziness; also, Nymeria had invited him to stay with her for the night so he agreed with that. Lunch itself proved enjoyable, a case of fine venison seasoned with saffron and cloves with sides of fried sliced potatoes, chicken, bacon, grapes, and a number of other good foods with some of the finest wine Tatsumi had ever drank.

Momentarily… "That was delicious; thanks for lunch Natsuhi" Tatsumi thanked.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it; I made it myself with the help from my chefs; I had a bit of an ulterior motive though to bring you here" Natsuhi explained.

"Yeah and I'm that motive; we didn't get to talk much Tatsumi and I'd like to know more about you, so would my mother too" Jessica explained.

"Me? Well that's a long story I hope you two are interested because it will be a while; I'm not going to give the long version because I've got plans for the evening but I can tell you my story so far" Tatsumi explained then told them his story; not leaving out much apart from his nightmares and his darker confrontations with Honest apart from the one that had nearly cost him his life and would've if it hadn't been for Leone and Sheele saving his life. At the end of the story both girls smiled.

"That's one impressive story I think I'll tell you ours; well it began about a year ago; my husband was one of the top advisors to the Emperor; the Minister for Finance; Honest framed him on charges of embezzlement and fraud, something my dear Lawrence wouldn't have ever done, but the evidence was rather solid and the Emperor condemned him to death; my daughter and I were leading the army on the Eastern front at the time and when Honest sent a messenger to inform me of his death and that he had demanded my daughter and I to return to the capital as part of a marriage contract to Syura we refused killed the messenger then my army mutinied; I've always been one of the best generals in the Empire having repulsed numerous Eastern invasions over the years and acquired my Teigu during my first year in the army: I even tutored a certain blue haired captain in the art of warfare and she rose to become the youngest general in the Empire's history; she was a good study and even better than I am as general; I think you know who I'm talking about" Natsuhi explained.

"Wait Esdeath- you trained Esdeath?" Tatsumi asked shocked by this revelation.

"Yep; more than that she was like a second daughter to me; I have Jessica yes but I had four sons; unfortunately, the older two were executed by Honest after they attempted to avenge their father and the younger two are children with my youngest being two. Anyway Esdeath, that girl needed a good stern mother in her life; I found her after she had run away not too far from the Shadow Mountains where the Oarburgh cities of Lyska, Varda, and Merra are; my soldiers apprehended her trying to steel provisions; but I spared her and took her on as a student; she rose thru the ranks faster than any other soldier I've ever trained, like she was bred for war and when she told me she was Patras I understood why; granted how many people died because I took her in as my student plenty of them but how many more would've died without her to lead the armies she's led; granted her methods of war are brutal but no more than those of the Empire's enemies and nowhere near as brutal as other Imperial Generals; there are worse people then Esdeath in the Empire and my biggest regret is not having been able to sway her to our side; granted though you've done that and for that you have my gratitude because I'd have hated to have to fight my former student" Natsuhi explained.

"Yeah which is a shame for me because I was looking forward to it, Esdeath and I butted heads a lot; she's uptight from what I remembered whenever I wanted to have fun of some kind she'd immediately put a stop to it, also she scared all the boys away; what between my mother and her I'll never get a real boyfriend" Jessica commented.

"I can be that for you" Tatsumi explained.

"I know you are; we're going to be married and I'm looking forward to our honeymoon, I like it rough though or want it rough because I've never had sex before and had to put up with some of my friends bragging about it" Jessica replied.

"Jessica, I know you're eager but we can't just get have sex with Tatsumi now; we must wait and marry: I'm looking forward to it to but Tatsumi I'd like you to be gentle with me" Natsuhi replied.

"Well I'm looking forward to the wedding I've got to go; Nymeria wanted to see me about something and has invited me over to her place" Tatsumi explained; then he got up kiss both of them on the cheek and they kissed him there back before leaving.

Tatsumi had barely managed two blocks before being ambushed; not by assassins though, well not ones trying to kill him instead it was by the twins who had been shopping for a while and now were looking for him; they quickly pounced on him and they landed in a pile.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun" Meela greeted kissing him on the cheek.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun" Loris added and did the same.

"Hey Meela, Loris, why did you two jump me?" Tatsumi asked shaking his head.

"Because we felt like it; and we've been looking for you: need you" Loris explained.

"Yep we're horny" Meela teased.

"Great, we'll need to find somewhere private" Tatsumi replied "How about a private sauna?" Tatsumi asked, both nodded and they made their way towards to the nearest bathhouse; on their way Tatsumi had questions. "So, Meela, Loris I'd like to ask you about your family; Cassandra and I just hooked up and well I popped her cherry; so, I'd like to know where do you stand as Oarburghs" Tatsumi asked.

"Where do we stand? Well we're full blooded Oarburghs but we're cousins to Merra-chan; our mother is her mother's younger sister and our mother is well still around but we haven't seen her in five years; after our father died from a bout of Pneumonia she went off to explore the world; leaving us in the care of Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Daniel" Loris explained.

"I see; so, I've heard somewhat about your grandmother but next to nothing about your grandfather could you tell me more about them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Grandma Barbara was a beautiful woman in her youth, she said Merra is her spitting image of her in her youth, she's also by far one of the most deadly assassins in the history of our clans; no target was safe if she was given the mission to kill it; including an emperor; Emperor Madak 'the Mad' II he had essentially gone completely over the top crazy and his younger brother was basically running the whole empire at that point so he hired granny to kill him; she did it by disguising herself as a palace concubine that had been gifted to him and she and before she laid with him and poisoned him with a poison that was flavorless and natural and he died quietly; she then left the palace and Melitine and returned to Grandpa Daniel safely" Meela explained.

"Grandma Barbara was always nice and caring; she put spending time with us and teach us what we needed to know to survive above everything else apart from time spent with Grandpa Daniel; she worked hard and I think she worked herself to death; usually the woman of our family live to be in their nineties or hundreds but granny Barbara died at 73; quietly in her sleep; Grandpa Daniel couldn't bear to live without her and died of a broken heart two days later" Loris added.

"So, your grandfather he loved your grandmother?" Tatsumi asked.

"More than anything; the two were soulmates, he and her were best friends growing up and well they eventually fell in love and married; Grandpa was devoted to her and no one else could fill that place in his heart; not even Grandma's other lovers which he did sleep with as is Oarburgh Clan tradition but still he never felt the love for them that he did for Granny Barbara; he was a great fighter in his own right and was one of the only men our history to be taught the clan's secret techniques; loved granny so much that when she died he lost the will to live, he died in his sleep lying next to granny's coffin during; the next day we held funeral for both of them and they were locked in metal coffins outside their normal ones which were then weighed down and buried in the waters of Lake Merrinaia as is the tradition of our family, alongside our father, our aunt and uncle; the funeral was a costly affair and it nearly exhausted our family fortune; the viceroy appointed to govern the region after our Grandfather's death because he was the viceroy of the region proved to be a greedy ignorant man who knew nothing of our clan's traditions and raised taxes that took nearly everything left of our family fortune and seized our ancestral home the Shadow Palace for himself" Meela explained.

"Naturally we didn't put up with this insult and assassinated the viceroy and his cronies then we held a matter of debate; choosing one of our more politically savvy clan members as a new governor; part of us wanted to go into open rebellion for the insult to our clan by the Prime Minister, so Merraid led those who wanted to off into wilds, leaving the rest of our clan behind in peace; our homeland is untouched by the war simply because any invading armies have been wiped out by our clan's assassins and night warriors" Loris explained, they arrived at bathhouse and headed to the Sauna grabbing a towel each and putting their clothes in storage lockers before entering the room.

Five minutes later… Tatsumi moaned as his length was licked by the tongues of both twins, Meela took the tip in her mouth and began to suck him off, Loris took one of his balls in turn, while Tatsumi relaxed letting the two women please him to their best until he released creaming them both with his seed.

Then Tatsumi picked up Meela and entered her laying back on the bench so that Loris could sit on his face and he could eat her out; the twins moaned cute tender moans in their sweet voices as Tatsumi pleased both of them; his tongue caressing Loris's insides, his lips her vulva, his cock deep inside Meela as she bounced up and down. The two sisters hugged and gave each other's kisses on the cheek before embracing in a hug holding themselves close to each other. "Tatsumi-kun" both moaned. "I love you" Both moaned, both looked the same but that same look was true beauty and their cyan blue hair was let down and free; the steam warmed them just as much as Tatsumi.

Loris picked up one of the rocks and flung it on the fire to cause more steam to erupt and warm the room; both loved the warmth and loved more Tatsumi's pleasure. Soon both sisters came as did he filling Meela's womb; his seed creating twins of their own and they swapped places letting Loris receive his length and letting Tatsumi please Meela's loins but first her anus as he cleaned off his seed.

Their passionate lovemaking lasted only half-an-hour but to them it felt like ten hours; following their sauna fun they took a bath washing the sweat and cleaning the others off; during this washing Tatsumi drank from their breasts to quench his thirst which the sauna caused. After this he looked at his watch: 4:43 and Nymeria was expecting him by five he bid the twins a firm later and left to head to the address given to him by Nymeria.

Shortly… Tatsumi came inside Nymeria's manor noting the chandelier and the suits of Western armor; along with the massive stuffed head of large danger beast; said head was the size of a horse by itself but the fact it was hung by a number of chains to the wall of the foyer made it seem larger. "Hey Tatsumi-kun" Nymeria greeted surprising him; she wore a nice fine pink gown made of silks which was a contrast to the military uniform she had been wearing earlier or the white dress she'd been wearing when he freed her from the Empire.

"Greetings Tatsumi-Kasi" Alyssa greeted, to Tatsumi's surprise, the Tsuwangdani general wore an intricate green and gold ensemble that was a fusion of a dress and a gown it was also revealing showing off her amber-gold scaly skin and allowing for her long serpentine tail to slide out the back.

"Hi Alyssa, Kasi?" Tatsumi asked.

"It means human friend; you are my Kasi, my friend just as Nymeria is my Kasi; I'm glad to meet you and- well it's a matter of importance that I'm here with my Kasi Nym; but also, for dinner" Alyssa explained.

"Well what is that matter?" Tatsumi asked.

"We'll discuss it over dinner Tatsumi Kasi; Chena Vana Imkata" Alyssa replied.

"What do that mean?" Tatsumi asked.

"It means I'm hungry and let's eat" Alyssa explained; Nymeria then led both to her dining room where dinner a massive feast had been laid out to eat.

As Tatsumi sat down to and began to eat he noted a rubbing of something small against his lower back; he didn't bother checking as he was too hungry to bother he did however observe Alyssa eat and there was some big differences for one thing being she had an extra row and set of fang like teeth, another being she could detach her jaw much like a snake and her tongue was more serpentine and- Tatsumi felt a hand on his leg then one on the other, Tatsumi noted Nymeria's arm to his left but to his right he noted he could see both sets of Alyssa's arms as she used one for her drink the two for cutting her steak and one for her to eat the food with.

Said dinner proved to be delicious and Tatsumi noted he was filling a bit groggy and passed out. When he came to he saw Nymeria leaning over him naked save pink silk stockings and he himself was also naked but was surprised him the most was the naked form of Alyssa; her breasts were ample e-cups but like the rest of her body she has scaly skin of a polished golden color; however it was soft to the touch and he was able to tell his because her tail was wrapped around his leg; her nipples were pierced with golden rings and were lime green in color her eyes looked at him full of eager longing; her hood risen and her feet slender and soft to the feel as they were wrapped around his length she also had three navels and to his shock two vaginas one either side of the other. "What?! Alyssa?" Tatsumi questioned.

"Do not worry; my time has come; you Tatsumi are more than just my Kasi, you are my Vashadna; my promised one" Alyssa explained. "Among my kind we females know on a primal level who our mate will be; in my case it was told by the seeress Kalandi that my mate would a human of my age who had green eyes the color of the scales of my queen Maltise and bore the bracelet of Kings; you from the moment I saw you and the bracelet on your arm I knew that you were the one" Alyssa explained. "You should be honored for rare it is one of our kind mates so willingly but if our fate is foreseen we must abide by it; I may live the for two lives of human men but I will spend that time I have with my human Vashadna: Especially when Nymeria is willing to share you with me; now do you accept?" Alyssa asked.

"Well first off why was I drugged?" Tatsumi asked.

"A drop of my venom put in your wine; any unworthy man would have rejected it and spat it out; but a Vashadna would swallow it and rest for a time; our venom does not kill those destined for us; and it is required for us to mate; so now Tatsumi will you have me: I trust you've never experienced a Tsuwangdani before" Alyssa explained.

"Yes; just- I've had a long day alright and I'm worried; also, are you sure about this?" Tatsumi asked. To answer that question Alyssa lunged kissing him on the lips and using her tail to have his length enter her, green blood flowed down his length and her long tongue went inside his mouth invading down to his throat; Tatsumi didn't resist just let her caress him and she lifted him up with her tail and to his utter shock wrapped it around his whole body before vibrating; her tail pleased him in a way something else couldn't it was like a full body massage but done in a way to please him; Nymeria leaned against his back allow him to use her breasts as a pillow.

Alyssa broke the kiss and allowed Tatsumi to drink from her breasts; the milk had a nice lemony-limey taste to it but not a sour taste sweeter than sour. Her scales rubbed against his skin but to his surprise they were softer than rough more like cotton then leather. Her insides though were slimy his length was in was felt like a passage that was awkward in design; somewhat serpentine but nothing to awkward to it except it was more cold then warm and tighter than that of a human vagina; also she used her lower arms to stimulate his balls and her tail to probe Nymeria's loins. Tatsumi was reach his limit and let her know it. "CUMMING!" Tatsumi yelled.

"Me too Tatsumi-Vashadna; fill my first womb with your seed" Alyssa replied and Tatsumi winced as he released inside the passage filling her first womb to the brim. Alyssa then used her hands insert his length into her second vagina more green blood flowed as she articulated her body in a bizarre contortion before letting out a hissing moan; Tatsumi laid flat and Nymeria straddled his face and wordlessly he got to work; the next hour proving to be adventurous as Alyssa's body allowed for some interesting properties as her rectum was also a third vagina and she had three wombs each of which Tatsumi eagerly filling; Alyssa also did some interesting things when it came to a blow job detaching her jaw and deepthroating his entire cock, balls and all will using her tongue to extreme effect, going inside his phallus all via the narrow hole. Her tail was put to use as a massage instrument giving him a tail job which meant using her tail to massage his length and inserting it inside his rear which was unnerving at first but pleasant once he got used to it. After he was done with Alyssa, he spent the rest of his time wearing out Nymeria before blacking out.

The next morning Tatsumi was informed by Alyssa that she intended on marrying him at the nearest possible opportunity and that she had gotten him and engagement bracelet; she explained that among her people they wore a special wedding band on their tail but since Tatsumi had no tail the band would be worn around his arm; the one that didn't have what she called the bracelet of Kings; which she said was an heirloom from a royal bloodline Tatsumi was descended from. When he told her that the bracelet had been a gift from his village elder she insisted on still referring to it as his by right and instructed him to get wedding bands for her; a bracelet for each hand, one anklet for her tail and a wedding ring for each hand; she then gave him the money to buy said jewelry and he went out with her to acquire it; he also bought another wedding band for Nymeria whom he had arranged a marriage with. In order to make sure that his upcoming super wedding with seven women wouldn't be a total headache he intended to have a separate honeymoon for each one: two hours for each of his new wives to have fun with him.

The next two days he spent preparing for the ceremony but also for the honor duel that was coming against General Damon; during which time he met with Audrey's brothers. Dirk spared with him and the sword battle was comparable to him sparing with Spear or Bulat in that he was dedicated to keeping him out of reach while using his impressive armor to keep himself protected; the fight ended in Tatsumi barely winning; Dirk respected him after that considering him a true warrior and he hoped to fight alongside him one day.

Baldrin was another case entirely while he was a martial man who enjoyed a good spar with Tatsumi he was more of a traditionalist however Tatsumi used the number of mannerisms that Aria and Spear had drilled into his head with which he had a great deal of practice with at court to carry himself in a manner that was both respectful and endearing. The two went for a walk around his garden. "Tatsumi you are a good man, a brave man, and a worthy man. But most importantly you are a selfless man and gentlemen. You selflessly came to my sister's defense against that stain of a noble Damon and that is something that you didn't just do for her favor no you did it to stand up to a bully and also you offered yourself as her champion: my sister and I have talked at length over potential marriages and other things and I've come to a decision; my father was a man who respected tradition and I am much the same of mind however he also believed those who've worked hard should be rewarded accordingly especially if they do a selfless act; as such I am going to make an offer for you I do this because my sister asked and well I want her to be happy and while it isn't politically correct I'm offering her to you her hand in marriage" Baldrin explained.

"You do? Is there a catch?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes: I want you to kill that varlet Damon for what he did to my sister, trying to force himself on him; it's an outrage; you kill him and you've not only defended my sister's honor but you've earned her hand as far as I'm concerned; besides my sister is third in line to our household and well once this war is over you're more than likely to have earned the titles of nobility even if you were just a peasant once" Baldrin replied. "One more thing; you wait until your wedding night to lie with her; I'll not have my sister sleep with you as if you're a harlot or as if she was one" Baldrin added; Tatsumi nodded.

"I can wait; question is can she?" Tatsumi replied and both laughed at that.

"Yes my sister can wait; but to be fair I'll have you marry her the day after the duel; same as your other ceremonies; you may not be a noble but you have as many wives and lovers as one of the nobility" Baldrin replied then gave him a kiss on the brow. "That's my blessing of respect; my father would've given it to you but he's not alive any more to do so" Baldrin explained.

"What happened to your father?" Tatsumi asked.

"Honest happened; my father was one of the Empire's finest generals but also one of his most fervent critics particularly when it came to land taxes and management of noble boundaries; he used a number of his powers to enforce higher taxes; when our father objected he sent him on a suicidal campaign against the north when at the beginning of Honest's war on the north; our father died and Honest tried to have our estates seized to pay for the cost of the campaign in addition for Audrey's hand in marriage; I refused and raised banners in rebellion; we joined the Revolutionary army to retain our ancestral lands and take those which Honest stole and gave to his puppets that were right wise ours by conquest; also I've a vested interest in making sure this army doesn't get to out of hand; there is a strain of radicals in the ranks that believe that the upper classes are to blame for their suffering when we're not; most of us anywhere, for every cruel noble lord I can name five good ones who uphold their duties to protect their subjects: House Grundel for example, or my own house Gassenarl, or house Randgriz; without an upper class there is no one to provide jobs for those of the middle and lower class; trust me though I'm not opposed to more freedom though for the people; those who serve my house aren't serfs but paid employees; men and women who tend to our lands in exchange for our wealth" Baldrin explained.

"Baldrin; I'd like to warn you; that strain you're worried about it- exists; more than that it's worse than you think" Tatsumi warned.

"Who are those involved; most of the leadership and supporters for the Revolutionary army are nobles like myself who want a return to the stability of the previous Emperor's reign and the economy that thrived during it: if there are bad apples leading the cause they will spread and kill the good ones" Baldrin replied.

"I know only one for certain and don't know the others but I know who's at the head of the conspiracy" Tatsumi replied and whispered it into Baldrin's ear, Baldrin gaped.

"Falkland? What's his game?" Baldrin asked.

"He wants to create some new government but in order to do that he believes everything from the old one has to go; starting with the royal family: he wants to murder innocent children all for the crime of being born royal and for being a symbol for his enemies to rally behind, after them he wants to wipe out anyone who benefited from the old order as he called it, starting with my wife's family the Grundels, then the Chouris and practically any noble house with any influence yours likely on the top of the list; after that he wants to wipe out the history of our nation; rewrite it; Falkland thinks he's a good man but he's rotten, evil; any cause led by leader who thinks murdering innocent children is just is corrupt, just as corrupt as the Empire itself I'm going to change it" Tatsumi explained.

"And what do you want with that change? What are your ambitions Tatsumi? Tell me those first" Baldrin explained.

"I just want peace; a stable empire, ruled by its rightful leader and a council of kind and good men and women, but above all else I want to have peace, for my children to grow up without knowing war; to live with my new family and not have to spend every day worrying for their lives; fearing that my children may not be born, that my sweet Chelsea would lose her head or my beloved Aria cut down our child lost." Tatsumi explained. "Everyone I care for I want them to be at peace; but above all else I want the killing to stop; at the end of the war no trials; no mobs; no more killing, I don't want to have to kill anymore because I hate having to spend my waking days thinking about the people I've killed and have to hope I can go a day without killing anyone; I hate killing people even if it evil people I kill but especially those who just happen to be caught in the crossfire people who were just normal people trying to get a job who don't have any stake in the games of the Empire, people just trying to provide for themselves and their families; so if anything above all else I want the killing to stop; if Honest wins it won't stop he'll wipe out all mankind he's forfeit his soul to demons and I've fought them myself and if Falkland wins he'll keep killing people after the war; innocent people at that like Makoto, or my Aria" Tatsumi concluded.

"I understand you now Tatsumi, I see I was right to offer my sister's hand to you; not only are you selfless and caring man you're a man who fights for the right reasons who doesn't love war but knows it for what it is and hates it but fights to end it so those that come after you may live in peace; You've my support for whatever plan you have, even if you haven't yet properly formed one; it would be far better then what Falkland has planned for me and my family and I'd never fight for Honest no matter how much was given to me or whoever asked me to; go now and make preparations; there are others here that I'll have to speak to on this matter; likeminded nobles that while they don't trust you will trust me and they have power; but beware Tatsumi you're playing a dangerous game on two fronts now; two separate games of thrones you must win both for if you lose one you die and with you the best hope the Empire has for a happy future" Baldrin replied.

Zartek: the Grand Arena a day later… Tatsumi was now in a case of a traditional noble duel; his opponent the older but far more experienced General Damon was getting ready on the opposite side of the arena; this was a duel to the death; each of them would be given a set of ceremonial armor and weapons and meet in the center of the arena; because Tatsumi was the Champion of Audrey Gassenarl her family would provide the equipment of their champion.

The armor Tatsumi was given was ceremonial plate armor; painted with the colors of House Gassenarl red and gold; but also, he wore a heraldic wrap of the same house on the top of the helmet the symbol of a lion was carved as a small golden statue.

The sword was however a blade of house Gassenarl that according to Baldrin, Dirk and Audrey belonged to their father whose honor had been desecrated too by Damon a number of times, the also gave him their father's war-hammer to deal with Damon's armor.

Tatsumi dawned the armor allowing the plate to balance its weight against his body; Tatsumi had always laughed at people who thought plate mail was heavy; turns out that while it was heavy the weight was distributed across the whole body making it rather light in comparison to armor not designed for the purpose also each piece was designed for a specific part of the body. As he was about to dawn the helmet, he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Me and Jessica" Natsuhi replied.

"Come in" Tatsumi replied and they did; to his surprise while they were dressed in noble gowns Natsuhi had something in her arms.

"I have something for you; you're not just defending Audrey's honor, but mine as well as Jessica's and that of every women that pig Damon has harassed and fondled; because of that I'm going to have you bare my token in battle; or rather my late husband's token" Natsuhi explained and wrapped a green and gold sash around his other shoulder overlapping that red and gold of House Gassenarl; she then wrapped a purple cloth around the top of his armet. Jessica kissed him and removed his gauntlets.

"Here put these on Tatsumi; it will give you some more ump behind your strikes" Jessica explained handing him bronze knuckle rings.

"Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"They're what the dwarves call 'fists of steel' they're my most prized weapons they aren't actually steel though they're in this case made of Bismuth Bronze; they're my token for this fight; my mother's given you hers and I've given you mine" Jessica explained.

"I thought you couldn't wear brass knuckles in a duel?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not brass, Bismuth Bronze and no that only applies to boxing Tatsumi; also their my token and any champion is allowed to bear a token granted to him by a lady who's been offended by his opponent" Jessica explained, only then did Tatsumi put on knuckles, the insides of which were padded, then his gauntlets and both ladies helped him put on his helmet before closing his visor they gave him a kiss on cheek before leaving him.

Two minutes after the mother and daughter duo left him a herald escorted him to the heart of the arena; Tatsumi marveled at the size of the place; it was smaller than the one in the Capital but large enough for the crowd to see. Trumpets sounded playing instrumental music to herald the arrival of him. On the other side of the arena trumpets blared to announce the arrival of General Damon who wore a much large set of ceremonial armor which was decorated red and blue: the colors of his house. They both approached the other and Falkland spoke over the crowd from high box.

"Ladies and Gentlemen; People of Zartek and soldiers of the Revolutionary Army; in the wake of recent disputes and accusations against General Damon; Lady Audrey of House Gassenarl in tradition with the rights of the people has challenged General Damon to a trial by combat to settle the matter in tradition of Empire's laws and those customs of the lands across all of Eden; I lament that at the end of this bout one of the two champions will not be alive to see the sunset however as is custom this is a fight to the death; to the victor goes the spoils; to the defeated a grave in Eden's soil. As is tradition and in accordance with the principles and laws of our nation I will allow this bought; even though two of our finest officers face each other in it and their lose may hurt our chances for victory but because of honor and to prove that we aren't at all like the tyrant Honest let this duel commence" Falkland announced he then picked up a ceremonial blade and held it out to the crowd. "For the sake of this bought our champions have chosen their weapons, let it be said that he who lives by the sword shall cause him who faces him to die by sword: For the Revolutionary army! Begin!" Falkland declared up lifting the blade in the positive.

(Song: In the Name of God by Powerwolf: Begin!)

Both Tatsumi and Damon put down their visors and Damon charged towards Tatsumi; he wielded a large great sword of the kind Tatsumi wouldn't use himself because Tatsumi noted that the weapon itself wasn't properly balanced granted though he still had to dodge out of the way. Damon's sweep missed Tatsumi lunged stabbing at a gap in Damon's defenses before parrying a follow up blow Tatsumi then ducked a slice and drove the spike of his Warhammer into the knee of Damon's armor causing him to lose his grip on the great sword. Tatsumi then followed up by knocking the feet out from under Damon and kicking his sword far his reach.

Normally Tatsumi would have ended the fight here and there but he decided he'd at least humor the General's attempts at fighting him but he'd have to use another weapon which to Tatsumi's credit he had; a polished noble longsword which Damon thrusted at him with; Tatsumi easily parried the strike countered with one of his own slicing across his opponents breastplate and tearing the sash he wore.

Damon tried to counter but Tatsumi followed up that strike with a Warhammer blow to his shoulder; dislocating Damon's sword arm which was then followed up by another blow which knocked Damon's helmet off. "I yield! I yield! I'm no match I'm rich I'll pay you spare me!" Damon begged as Tatsumi tossed the Warhammer aside.

"I'm not lacking for money; besides my job is to kill self-important assholes and pricks like you Damon; Fear the Day!" Tatsumi yelled, picked Damon up by his hair and beheaded him in an even slice; pulling the head and holding it up to the crowd. "This battle is over! General Damon has paid for his crimes against House Gassenarl but also his crimes against House Delvar, House Chouri and House Grundel; I representing the latter two by my marriage to Aria Grundel and Spear Chouri but also bearing the token of Lady Audrey Gassenarl, Lady Natsuhi Delvar and her daughter Lady Jessica Delvar; for his lechery and insults Damon has paid the ultimate price; let his fate be a lesson to anyone who is of a similar mind to him and even more those who are worse: you're days are short if you deign to cross me or any of these houses because I will soon be of all them; remember this battle too I wasn't even warmed up or using my best weapons and I killed him don't try fighting me you'll just end up like him" Tatsumi explained. (Song End) The Audience cheered at the victory and cheered louder when Tatsumi flung Damon's head across the arena.

That Friday… Tatsumi looked at himself in the mirror; the golden uniform of House Gassenarl being worn by him; he thought he looked crisp and fine in it but red and gold really weren't his colors; he preferred the blue and green of his Jaeger uniform or the black and red of the new general's uniform to the red and gold; he just didn't think to colors went well together.

"Are you ready?" Baldrin asked.

"As ready as a man can be when he's about to marry nine woman and take a number of concubines" Tatsumi replied, Lindalla being factored into the occasion because she believed that they should just in case he got her pregnant and the twins who immediately wanted in on the ceremony.

"Good to hear it Tatsumi, a man like you is a true man among man; but also, a good man and a man who's earned everything he has" Baldrin explained.

"So why did I have to ask General Barton to be my best man?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm going to be the one to walk Audrey down the aisle to you and hand her off to you; in place of our father I'm the head of our family" Baldrin explained, Tatsumi laughed.

The ceremony itself took about an hour as the priest preformed the vows for each woman in turn; each in beautiful gowns worthy of queens and each kissed him romantically each time he said I do; after the ceremony came the wedding feast and after that he was escorted to the manor he had just earned in the city; also he had received an influx of money and property; apparently General Damon was the last man of his branch of his noble house; as such a potation of money was and his estate was given to Tatsumi as war geld for the duel.

Tatsumi took his time giving an hour to each of his new wives for their honeymoon.

First came Audrey who'd been the woman of honor and whom Tatsumi had fought the duel for; also, because he went alphabetically, she came first. Audrey proved to be a fun girl in bed, Tatsumi loved her ass and she let him ride it first; but he also loved her breasts and her soft golden locks the prior which he drank from and the latter of which he ran his hands thru. Her mouth was good at sucking his dick and her breasts were as snug as her rear when wrapped around it; then came him popping her cherry which Audrey didn't even remotely wince at when it happened; kissing him and letting the passion consume them for the next 45 minutes.

Then came the serpentine Alyssa who Tatsumi enjoyed more now that he had gotten used to her anatomy and who did things no one else could do, her tail pleasing him as well as her full-deepthroat blowjobs for the next hour.

Then came Chiara who was all over him from the moment she entered the room and who's cute ass Tatsumi rode like it was no tomorrow, as well as giving the rest of her body the same amount of love.

Another hour came the next girl Cassandra the cougar who flung herself at him and gave him love and affection kindly of course, giving him an unrivaled handjob and impressive blowjob as well as tight sheath for his sword.

After Cassandra came Lydia who gave it to Tatsumi like a tiger and rode him like a roller-coaster; then Loris and Meela at the same time the twins flinging themselves.

Then however came the mother and daughter duo of Jessica and Natsuhi; Jessica was on him immediately and was rough shredding her hymen from the get go and without batting an eyelash and he was rough back; the short haired brunette loved anal when he first used it she insisted on doing it for the rest of her turn though with a brief 4 minute boobjob.

Natsuhi let Tatsumi treat her gently and she kissed him romantically as he fit snuggly inside her; they kissed and he filled her with his seed like Jessica before her but it was tender and caring.

Nikola was a minx and gave it to him like she wanted to, Nymeria was a true goddess of paizuri and Lindala was just sweet and kind.

But all that paled in compression to grand finally; all 11 of them at once that was what exhausted his and their stamina and leaving them in a pile on what was once Damon's bed and now his; a final insult to Damon as far as Tatsumi was concerned would be to celebrate in the man's bed.

That Sunday Tatsumi and his team returned to Melitine though not without one addition: Lindala; whom Tatsumi would claim as a western refugee he rescued and wedded on his return journey; which was somewhat true. When they arrived at Night Raid HQ; Tatsumi and Najenda immediately went of Najenda's office with Najenda herself refreshed and ready. "I hope Lubbock hasn't redecorated while we were gone" Najenda remarked and walked into her office with Tatsumi.

Lubbock was sitting in Najenda's chair with his legs on her desk and his palms crossed. "Hey Najenda" Lubbock commented.

"Hey Lubbock; good you didn't rearrange the furniture in my office" Najenda commented.

"Nope I didn't but Yami and I did make love in your bed, don't worry we cleaned up after" Lubbock replied.

"Wait what? Why?" Najenda asked.

"To celebrate another of Yami's lightning takedowns of course" Lubbock replied. "Speaking of Yami" Lubbock replied and snapped; the door to Najenda's room was shut; suddenly a small portal opened up and Yami came out of said portal with a familer recorder in hand smiling.

"What happened while we were gone Lubbock and what did you and Yami do" Tatsumi asked dumbfounded.

"That's a story I can tell; Aria's got a story to tell too so I hope you guys are interested" Lubbock replied and both sat down for story time.


	47. Chapter 35

Chapter 35: Yami's Purpose and Run's Revenge

The events in this chapter happened while Tatsumi was away from Melitine, they occurred both in Melitine and the town of Joyuu.

Melitine an hour after Tatsumi and Najenda's departure; Estate of General Zak Mokra…

Yami took one keen look at their target's personal manse; the place was decently guarded but nothing their team of seven couldn't handle; said team consisted of Chelsea, Lubbock, Sheele, Mine, Akame, Naomi, and herself. "This should be easy" Yami thought and readied her twin hooks.

Chelsea walked up to the gate guards dressed in a skimpy outfit and with her Rapier concealed via Gaea Foundation along with her true attire. "Good evening guys" Chelsea greeted.

"*wolf whistle* Well what have we here?" One of the two guards asked.

"Someone looking for two big strong guys to give her fun evening" Chelsea flirted exposing a breast. The two guards dropped their weapons and their pants; Chelsea giggled; both men were decently endowed but Tatsumi was way bigger in her experience. "Too easy" Chelsea thought. "Ooh me likey" Chelsea remarked and got close to the two guards who were clearly horny and kneeled on her legs; they didn't even react when she drew her rapier and decapitated them both with one swift strike. "Way too easy" Chelsea replied, dropping the illusion and revealing her new outfit: it was black catsuit that was made out a bullet proof fiber with titanium chainmail rings woven into the fabric: courtesy of Aria as a birthday gift, she then waved her free hand to the rest of the group and held her rapier aloft to signal Mine to begin her attacks.

"Light's out fucker" Mine commented as she fired the first of many shots; shooting first the enemy sniper, then the next one, and the one after that and so on.

"Nice work Chelsea" Lubbock remarked. "You know for a moment I thought you'd actually give them a blowjob to put them off guard" Lubbock replied; Chelsea glared at him in annoyance.

"Not funny Lubbock, I'd never do that; Tatsumi's the only guy for me I'd never betray him, granted I'll use my beauty to get idiots to drop their guard but never would I go the extra mile; nobody can compare to Tatsumi I love him and won't ever betray him willingly even to save my life and if I want to suck on something it'll be my yummy cherry pops" Chelsea replied and put on in her mouth.

"Easy it was just a joke; I know you'd never betray Tatsumi like that just the way you smiled looked like you were looking forward to it" Lubbock replied, Chelsea nodded knowing that and turned on her music, Lubbock then signaled a charge; Yami split off with Akame and Sheele, while Lubbock took Chelsea and Naomi with him; both groups headed for either guard barracks wanting to kill the rest of the guard before they could wake up.

Momentarily… A halberd wielding guard charged at Yami who readied her twin hooks to seize his weapon which she succeeded in only for Sheele to say "I'm sorry" and decapitate the man cutting his head in two. "Sheele!" Yami moaned in annoyance.

"I'm Sorry Yami" Sheele replied as another guard with a halberd charged at her. "I'm sorry" Sheele apologized as she sidestepped the halberd and bisected the guard. Yami charged towards the next group of soldiers cutting off the hand of one of them before actually killing one of his allies with hook of her right sword being driven thru the man's skull into his brain. Two more soldiers attacked alongside the one-armed man and Yami parried their strikes only for them to collapse to the ground dead with Akame standing behind them clad in Shingin and with both her swords in hand; another soldier charged at Akame from behind only to drive her secondary blade Kiriichimonji into the man's heart without turning to face him.

"Akame! I could have handled that" Yami complained.

"No time for talk" Akame replied as two more soldiers charged at her with swords drawn. "Eliminate!" Akame yelled and let the two crash into each other before decapitating them with Muramase and Kiriichimonji.

"Come on!" Yami gripped, this sort of thing kept happening; each time an alert guard came into her path someone else killed them in comical fashion, granted Yami killed a few of them but most of her kills were stolen by Akame and Sheele; this didn't include the sleeping guards that Yami killed with one swift strike to the temple which didn't really count to her as they couldn't fight back. Cleaning up the remaining enemies afterwards proved a piece of cake as all remain opponents were asleep.

The team then regrouped at the main entrance to manse before reporting in. "All guards have been eliminated" Akame reported.

"Yeah thanks mostly to you and Sheele, I barely got to do anything" Yami remarked and glared at Akame in annoyance.

"Hey easy Yami it isn't a competition; now that the guards are out of the way we kill our target; Yami because you haven't been able to do much you'll go with me and Chelsea; Naomi you'll go with Akame and Sheele; Mine I want you to take up and overwatch position in one of those guard towers just in case anybody comes to investigate" Lubbock ordered.

"Got it, take up a watch position and blow up the heads of anyone likely to cause trouble got it" Mine commented and went to a nearby watch tower and scaled it.

Yami took point after Chelsea picked the lock to the front door; the group then split off to handle different parts of the compound; their target was the General specifically; his family weren't targets because of the fact the goal of this strike was to eliminate the general specifically due to his position as one of the Empire's better commanders and as Honest's personal attack dog; he had recently ordered a mass slaughter of a town in the western provinces that was assumed to be harboring enemies of Honest's regime. The General's family didn't have any real impact on this as they lived in the Capital and had no real knowledge of the orders of the house's patriarch.

Granted however they were permitted to kill them to avoid being compromised but considering the relative stealth they moved at they didn't have to worry about that. Soon however they found their target or rather Yami did; the man had gotten up to use the bathroom and had just finished using it when she beheaded him without giving him a chance to speak. "There mission accomplished now let's get out of here" Yami commented turning to Lubbock and Chelsea; both of whom nodded in agreement, they then met up with Sheele and the others who reported that they had not encountered their target on their sweep of the house but had killed a few servents who had been awake at that hour.

With victory secured they returned to their Air manta and left for Headquarters; dropping off the members who would be safe in the city off near their homes and Grundewick Manor.

Shortly at Lubbock's home and bookstore… Yami sighed as she sat down on the bedside, sullen. "Hey Yami; what's the matter?" Lubbock asked sitting down; both of them had changed into their pajamas.

"It's just- I don't know I feel well- look everyone in Night Raid has a role in the team; you've got Crosstail and can capture targets as well as improvise traps, Akame's got that poison blade of hers, the boss is a genius, Tatsumi, well is just great all around, Sheele's got that scissor of hers and moves so quick, even my sister has a role with those bracelets that allow her to summon spinning blades of death" Yami explained. "I don't really have a role; I use the twin hooks to their best but well I'm not really able to do much else; and that's even if I get the chance to use them with how quick Akame and Sheele are; let alone Aria who can get the drop on anyone by turning invisible and Sayo with those arrows of hers, I- well feel like I'm not important, like chopped liver" Yami admitted, Lubbock wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she frowned.

"Hey don't worry; you're important to the team; you're important to me, you keep me level-headed and make sure I don't forget why I'm fighting" Lubbock replied.

"Yeah but still you've got Crosstail: I've got no Teigu, hell none the ones Cassandra brought with her were compatible with me; sure, they were compatible with of the others but not me; nope not one of those 7 seven superweapons were compatible with me" Yami replied.

"Yami- We'll find a Teigu for you, there has to be one for you; we've killed a good number of enemy Teigu users too so maybe one of the ones at Grundewick Manor will work for you" Lubbock replied.

"Right and you happen to know the combination for that safe?" Yami replied sarcastically.

"Aria's not leaving till tomorrow morning; if you want, we can head to Grundewick manor right now to try and find a Teigu for you" Lubbock responded.

"Yeah, maybe we should; Lub- "Yami replied then lurched over before running to the bathroom, Lubbock heard her vomiting, she then came back out.

"That's the fifth time this week, second time today Yami" Lubbock remarked.

"Yeah; ugh, I'm not sure; I think we should see Angela before she goes; I need a doctor's opinion" Yami replied, the two looked for a change of clothes and changed into proper attire before heading to Grundewick manor; fortunately it was only 8:45 which meant that it wouldn't be another two hours before the people there headed off to bed, also it meant dinner was on the agenda.

Shortly… "Hey guys" Lubbock greeted coming into the dining room with Yami.

"Hey Lubbock" Aria responded.

"Hey Aria, everyone; hey Aria I need you and your mother really quick for something" Lubbock replied.

"What is it?" Angela asked, Ieyasu eating eagerly next to her.

"I need your medical expertise" Yami explained honestly. Angela nodded and got out of her seat as did Aria and they led Lubbock and Yami to their in-mansion medical wing having Yami sit down on one of the beds.

"Alright what's the issue here?" Angela asked.

"Well I've been having trouble keeping food down; I just threw up about 20 minutes ago and did the same after breakfast this morning and this a fifth time this week" Yami explained.

"Alright then I'm going to do some standard medical tests; it'll take a few minutes; Lubbock I need you to do me a favor; can you fetch my medical bag? I left it in my room this afternoon" Angela explained.

"And get mine too while you're at it, it's in my room on my desk also don't open the box on my desk that's personal" Aria added, Lubbock left to get the things.

Angela's room was remarkably clean, technically it was her study and personal library. Lubbock grabbed Angela's bag which was next to her diary which Lubbock resisted the urge to read though he noted a doodle that was hung on the wall as he left; though to call it a doodle was disservice as was a decent drawing and it depicted an axe wielding warrior fighting a dragon in defense of a woman and was obviously Ieyasu's work though as he could tell by his name being written in the corner.

Aria's bag was next and it was easier to find thought Lubbock then fought himself harder when he saw what was on the box of her desk: it was imagery from Gillia's garments, specifically the unseen collection which Lubbock knew from experience was the woman's underwear section; also he noted the note on it that said "For me to show off to Tatsumi when he gets back; A.G."

Banishing the thoughts of why Aria would want to show it off to Tatsumi while she was two months pregnant Lubbock shrugged and returned to Angela handing her and Aria their bags, Yami sat on the bed smiling and holding her hands back. "Lubbock come here" Yami requested, Lubbock came to her. "Pick a hand" Yami explained, Lubbock picked the right one; and Yami held out the surprise handing it to Lubbock.

Lubbock took one look at the offered positive pregnancy and jumped like he had just won the lottery. "YES! I'm going to be a dad! This is so- awesome" Lubbock remarked and danced awkwardly before Yami stopped him.

"Lubbock; remember the other reason we came here" Yami explained.

"Oh yeah: hey Aria can you let me and Yami into the Teigu vault?" Lubbock asked.

"Why?" Angela asked.

"I'm trying to find a Teigu for Yami so she doesn't feel so useless" Lubbock explained.

"Alright well then we might as well; granted it's a bit late for this but no harm against just checking and we are leaving tomorrow morning so we might as well do that now" Aria replied and lead the two off to the Vault; Aria put in the combination and let them both in with a smile.

The Teigus were in the center of the vault each on a soft dark blue pillow on a stand. The Teigus in question were those that belonged to previous targets that had been killed by Night Raid: Nyau, Champ, Bormac, Tanto, Syura and a couple others. Yami took a good look at each one checking to see if she felt drawn to one.

To Yami's surprise she was drawn toward two of the Teigus; Shambala which had been the Teigu of Syura before his first death, rebirth and quest for redemption, and Scream which had belonged to Nyau the youngest of the Three Beasts who had tried to kill Spear only to be killed by Tatsumi in turn. Yami approached Scream and touched it; immediately her surroundings changed as she saw a being that was wraith-like but feminine in appearance. "Welcome; I am Scream it has been some time since I saw one of your kind humans; the last one I met was how shall I put it; abusive both of my powers and of me" Scream explained.

"Nyau; yeah well he won't be abusing anyone anymore; I'm Yami by the way I guess I'm I don't know bonded to you" Yami replied.

"Yes indeed you are; indeed; ordinarily I'd challenge my new owner to a challenge of skill but I've been stuck in this place for months now and I'd rather leave it and put my powers to use; only thing I ask is you do not abuse my powers like my past master to commit rape and torture" Scream replied.

"Promise granted; I kill those kinds of people anyway" Yami replied, Scream approached her, placed her palm against Yami and kissed her on the lips before breaking it.

"I grant you my power and boon; go forth and use me to do good" Scream explained, Yami nodded as the world faded back to normal; she then turned to the other Teigu; Shambala.

Yami upon touching this one found herself drawn to a strange white plain with multicolored squared and cubes; in the center of it was a strange boney figure that was mediating saying Ohm, repeatedly amid chanting in a strange language, the figure had a weird shaped head with eyes on either side of its head and a conical shaped head. "Con Eka Manti Eka Pa Don Eiet Eka Pa Ma Rulely Ra Eckt tomo Eka pa" the Figure greeted.

"Huh?" Yami replied.

The Figure let out a series of guttural moans.

"I can't understand that either" Yami replied.

"Slorn ecta voxi cass see mo, ecta ruuk vo mus maxiummo slu u roost mo woke camny a rost" The figure spoke.

"Imperial Tongue please" Yami begged.

"Umgi Amika Vai" the Figure replied.

"That's dwarven I can understand a little; that means human; Imperial Tongue please!" Yami asked; then held the creature's hand; what felt like an electrical shock went thru both of them.

"Imperial Tongue; I see, the language of the humans: humans so common thru ought the galaxy" the figure replied.

"Who are you?" Yami asked.

"What you know as Shambala, I've- long since forgotten my true name it was- taken from me- long ago, I'm- ancient; older than most of what your kind know as Imperial Arms; what the Dwarves call Raznul Bakar; Super weapons I was once from a far world; far from yours; when your race was in its infancy barely having discovered fire and making stone tools living by meat; my kind known as Builders tried to take your world for our own; they were in the prime of their power but those you call Dwarves and Lizardmen defeated us I led the invasion and- was trapped in here mind and soul: my knowledge of time allows me to know that over 20 revolutions of your system's furthest planet since my original death at what the Dwarves call Ziriknulbizar" Shambala explained.

"20 orbits of Enoch?! That would take over 25,000 years according to our astronomers I know this because astronomy is my hobby after well swordplay and knitting, that means you're over 5000 years older than the First kingdoms and easily older than any known history: wait you said you were from another world and why did you try communicating with me in other languages I'm sure you've communicated with other humans before me?" Yami asked.

"Yes more 25,000; my race was from a star far from yours I remember little of them but what I do remember is that we were among the first to discover how to travel from one star to another; faster than light itself crossing into another dimension; taking us days to make journeys that would have taken millennia; my people were also the first to build an Empire; we were called the Builders because of our great feats of construction; ships with firepower capable of destroying cities in minutes, weapons capable turning your people to ash in a single blast, and war automatons designed to go forth and destroy but also to guard and oversee; we built an empire that spanned the galaxy and we wanted more; worlds bowed to us, races that opposed us were enslaved to fuel our empire; it was infinite; we thought none could oppose our might. We were wrong; I remember my people came to your world; a small fleet meant to scout and observe; not to conquer and expand yet upon seeing no threats of any kind we foolishly invaded; the Dwarves proved more than a match for us; but those Lizards from your southern lands and other races opposed us; defeating us; none of our kind survived not even our technology and master of the power of our minds could defeat them; and even when desperation came to wipe out those on the surface the Dwarves fired into orbit bringing down our ships to the last; smiting their ruins across your world. Those of my kind that survived who had great power were taken; the Dwarves trapped our souls tearing them from our bodies to fuel their weapons; we who thought ourselves masters had become slaves; broken and obedient to their whims" Shambala explained

"And the languages?" Yami asked.

"The last of your kind to possess me understood the language of the Dwarves and he needed not speak your tongue to commune with me; your language I learned by bonding with you inheriting the knowledge from your mind; the other languages, there are hundreds of them were the languages of our slaves and the first I greeted you in was the tongue of the Builders; yes Yami you are now the master of an ancient; I ask only you treat me well" Shambala explained.

"What is it you can do?" Yami asked.

"I have the ability to create portals and displace reality allowing my user and those around them to travel from one place to another. However there are limits; my power requires time in between use, three of your minutes, and you can only travel to places you know how to reach; places you've been to in your travels: but I offer myself to you willingly; use my power for good Yami; I sense in your soul good; much more then my previous master; I sense too his presence faint bring to him" Shambala explained; the world returned to normal and Yami took a look at Lubbock, Aria and Angela who looked at her with interest.

"You're a duel Teigu user Yami!" Aria remarked.

"Yeah; like- Tatsumi" Lubbock replied.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious of course now comes the obvious trouble of me learning how to use these and I'm wondering what my new role will be" Yami replied.

"That remains to be seen, however that's something for us to worry about tomorrow Yami; we need dinner and sleep and, in the morning, we'll be able to plan what comes next" Lubbock replied.

Meanwhile Elsewhere in Melitine… Dorothea looked at Kurome who was dressed in a hospital gown. "Alright I'm going to need you to take this" Dorothea explained; handing Kurome a cookie, this was laced with a sedative; while Kurome had built up an immunity to most if not all poisons she hadn't yet built up a through one to sedatives; Kurome eagerly ate the cookie and within half a minutes fell asleep.

"Good the patient is asleep, which I can focus" Dorothea replied, went over to a caged pig and bit it sucking it dry of blood she then grabbed an IV and hooked it up to Kurome; then a secondary needle to draw out blood. "Much easier when she's sleeping" Dorothea thought; when the needle filled up, she bandaged the wound properly then moved over a sampler.

The blood in the syringe was a darker muddier red then normal blood; and a look under the microscope revealed to Dorothea less red blood cells then a normal person also that the cells seemed to be mutated to a degree. Dorothea then put it into analyzer. "Scanning" the computer reported in a feminine voice; the result would take a couple minutes so Dorothea went over to her secondary project. "Complete focus; Cosmina's asleep which means I don't have to worry about any intrusions; now the crystal needs to line up perfect" Dorothea commented to herself aligning the crystal into place; it was being placed inside a specialized alloy container with a focusing lens and emitter; all powered by a single small battery; all of this in cylindrical hilt that was made out Mithril that had been acquired by her via some underworld connections.

"Finished; now the Zharnak crystal if focused properly should create a solid plasma beam capable of slicing thru most conventional objects" Dorothea commented after making sure the crystal was perfectly aligned, she then turned towards the computer which had reached 99% on the analysis.

"Analysis complete: the blood sample shows signs of contamination; blood cells of both types are degrading at a rapid pace outside the body, trace elements of mercury, uranium, bromine, and arsenic have also been found" The computer reported; Dorothea then took a number of devices that she hooked up first to Kurome who slept peacefully and to the computer.

"Preform a full body scan" Dorothea ordered.

"Preforming scan; estimated time of completion 10 minutes" the Computer replied, Dorothea nodded then returned to her side project picked it up and went to a nearby testing ground before turning on a recording device.

"Dorothea's log; invention number 23,817, test attempt 27: the crystal alignment has been the problem with previous tests and has resulted in the loss of 5 previous prototypes; hopefully this one works" Dorothea replied; this weapon had been based off of schematics she found in an old wreck from another planet. Dorothea readied herself and pushed the button on the side of the hilt after holding it away from her; a snap-hiss occurred and the blade of orange plasma came into existence, about the length of a longsword. "Stability is nominal; the blade has no imperfections and by the looks of things the crystal has been aligned properly" Dorothea replied. "Beginning combat test now" Dorothea remarked and swung the new weapon which easily cut thru the carcass of a pig; she then presses the switch and deactivated the weapon before looking at the carcass.

"Complete bisection of the target pig; no resistance what so ever; the carcass appears to be cooked thru; the wounds cauterized; overall the first combat test is a success" Dorothea commented and turned off the recorder; she then looked at the weapon. "Now what to call you? Plasma sword seems generic but that's what it is; perhaps something flashier but no, no, no, that's not my forte; leave that to someone like Kurome or Cosmina for fancy names; for now the weapon is fully functional and at the moment designed for a person of my stature; I'll have to go out the next Jaeger mission to test it" Dorothea said to herself and then returned to the computer which had just nearly finished its analysis and when Dorothea set down her new invention on its perch it finished.

"Full body analysis complete; subject shows signs of malnourishment, lower bone density, thicker blood stream but less stable; internal organs are showing signs of extensive damage and mercury levels in the body are alarming; neurological functions are operable but cell loss is apparent; the lungs are smaller than average and the subject has been sterilized albeit not completely; body showing signs of further degradation" The Computer reported.

"I want an exact life-span estimate computer" Dorothea asked.

"Quantifying; subject's condition at current rate of degradation 6 months, if chemical balances are lost, the subject would expire in 35 hours; internal systems would degrade rapidly, mental status would be questionable as would a number of physical status including ability to move" The computer reported.

"Is the damage repairable and can a cure be developed?" Dorothea asked.

"Yes; a cure may be developed; certain materials are required but estimated time of cure competition would be two weeks" the Computer explained.

"Print me a list of materials needed" Dorothea ordered and a page was printed out; Dorothea looked it over. "Well most of this can be acquired in Melitine; other things can be acquired however within a 100 mile radius, overall in terms of needed time to gather materials; about one week, plus two weeks for a cure and yes that should just about do it" Dorothea thought to herself; the door to her lab opened and Esdeath walked in. "General Esdeath" Dorothea replied.

"Please just Esdeath Dorothea-chan; we're sisters now; I'm the bearer of bad news" Esdeath explained.

"Myself too but good news takes foremost" Dorothea explained.

"Agreed give me your news first, bad news first and good news" Esdeath replied.

"Bad news: Kurome has about six months left to live at her current rate of drug consumption; however failing to take it will shorten her life-expectancy to under two days; the good news is I'm able to develop a cure, and in less than a month if you can get me all the resources fast" Dorothea explained.

"I can arrange all of it, now my news: I'm afraid the drug has been discontinued, I'm no longer able to requisition it and all factories manufacturing it have stopped production; the supply Kurome has in her room will be all she has left" Esdeath explained grimly, Dorothea winced.

"That's horrible; Kurome needs to ration her supplies; make sure that is done; Doctor's orders; also, don't have her abstain from the drug's prescribed dosages; failure to take the drug will do even more harm to her" Dorothea explained.

"I'll do that; what materials will you need?" Esdeath asked.

"The ones on this list; I've got some of them already but from what you told me I need the others as quickly as possible also make sure Kurome lives up to the rationing; if she consumes more than her daily allotment her body may suffer more damage" Dorothea explained.

"I'll see to it that everything you need is delivered to you in as fast a manner as possible; I can't afford to lose one of our best soldiers" Esdeath replied then looked at Kurome who was asleep. "You'll make it Kurome" Esdeath commented and left Dorothea to her work.

Shortly… Esdeath walked into her room and changed into her night gown when Sayo walked in dressed similarly. "Good to see you Sayo" Esdeath greeted.

"Nice to see you as well gorgeous" Sayo replied coyly.

"Please the flattery is minor; I- really need a break from all the coming and goings in the city; too much depends on me, if I take one day off, just one I worry about the damage that can be caused in my absence especially without Tatsumi to be there in my stead" Esdeath replied and laid down on her bed.

"Speaking off he's going to be gone for a week" Sayo explained.

"Is he really going to Karsawa?" Esdeath asked.

"Nope; he's going east, to meet with Revolutionary Army leadership apparently they want to see him" Sayo explained.

"Great; too bad I won't get to see what happens there; I'd love to see how Tatsumi handles the politics of the Revolutionary Army; I bet he'll take to it like a fish to water" Esdeath commented. "I'm going to miss him though; today's been an interesting day; I'm- pregnant with twins Sayo; my guts and the fact I received two kicks at the same time tell me so: I- need his touch to keep my mood level-headed; if I go even a day without it I become- mercurial" Esdeath explained; Sayo kissed her on the cheek.

"Don't worry I'll take care of your 'needs' while Tatsumi's gone; you know I share his feelings for you, I- love you Esdeath" Sayo admitted and kissed Esdeath on the lips; Esdeath broke said kiss.

"You love me? Well that's- complicated; the last time a girl well expressed her feelings for me it didn't go well" Esdeath responded honestly. "Besides I'm devoted to my Tatsu-bunny; I won't ever betray his love" Esdeath explained.

"I know you won't, I'm not asking that; I love him too, we both love him; I'd just like for us to love each other too; since you know we've got such a close relationship why not?" Sayo asked.

"Well I'm- not sure; I guess if we both love Tatsumi so much we might as well love each other but- I'm not well into girls, I never have been; always hoping for my young handsome soul mate; we're meant to be; Sayo I-" Esdeath stammered; they kissed again, briefly.

"I understand; I- wasn't into girls before either then I met you, we married Tatsumi in the same ceremony, you're like the sister I never had and on top of that you're kind caring, not remotely what people think you are; you're no monster, you're a young woman born into a cruel world who has had do whatever it takes to survive" Sayo replied. "And I love you for that; for your determination, your beauty, your skills at caring for children and- well your dedication to Tatsumi and everyone else you care for" Sayo confessed and kissed her again.

"I- see, you're like Tatsumi, and I- while I can't just love any woman I guess I can love you Sayo, my sister by marriage and the only woman capable of loving me like Tatsumi" Esdeath conceded and kissed back; this time feeling love before breaking it. "Just so we're clear though Sayo, that doesn't mean I love you more than Tatsumi; I still love him more then you and I hope you share my opinion" Esdeath replied.

"I do; I love Tatsumi more than life itself and I couldn't live without him" Sayo replied.

"I'm glad you share my feelings" Esdeath replied. "Now let us share more, I'm horny and need to be caressed, pleasured, and loved" Esdeath seduced and moved her gown to the side exposing her breasts.

"Gladly my winter rose" Sayo replied and removed her night gown for her and then her own red nightie she then kissed Esdeath and climbed of the bed to grab a bag she had brought with her. "I brought something special just in case you accepted; granted I don't think I'll be able to please you like Tatsumi with it but you'll like it" Sayo explained and pulled out the strap-on she had brought for the occasion.

"Sure I'll humor it; if you underperform I'll use it on you; and if I think it's useless we'll never use it again; also don't let Tatsumi know about it, I don't think he'd approve that you're using a toy to fill in for him" Esdeath replied as Sayo put the strap-on on. "Speaking of who's idea was that?" Esdeath asked.

"For me to bring it, well I may or may have not heard it from a certain other bunny who I borrowed this from" Sayo explained, Esdeath face-palmed.

"Of course Cosmina; figures she'd have something like that in her room; don't ever bring this up to her, she'll never let me hear the end of it" Esdeath replied; Sayo climbed on the bed and eased into her; the plastic toy was well not enjoyable to Esdeath in terms of actual touch; having been used to Tatsumi and only Tatsumi in that spot caused her to immediately notice the difference; then Sayo began thrusting and kissed her on lips; Esdeath kissed back hugged Sayo allowing their breasts to press against each other as she thrusted at a nice even tempo into Esdeath.

Sayo's motions felt to Esdeath a deal like Tatsumi's but try as she felt it, she really wasn't enjoying it too much; there was some pleasure but it felt hollow to her; and when she came it didn't feel remotely comfortable.

Esdeath pushed her off and stripped the strap-on and the panties it was attached to off of Sayo and flung it across the room. "Never again Sayo, never!" Esdeath replied coldly. "That thing- it's a poor excuse for Tatsumi's length there's no real enjoying it; I won't let it sully me and I wouldn't dare sully your loins with it!" Esdeath ranted; Sayo kissed her.

"It's alright, I- I was just trying to experiment if it means that much to you, we'll forgot this ever happened; let's do what we normally do instead" Sayo replied and lowered herself to Esdeath's loins and began her tongue work. That to Esdeath felt passionate and not remotely hollow. The licking first of her vulva while her hands massaged her breasts.

"OH!" Esdeath moaned, Sayo's tongue was truly without equal, well except on person who she was clearly on level with, that being Tatsumi, it now had gone inside her folds and was caressing her insides. Sayo doing her best and giving her breasts all the love and attention, they deserved her hands massaging those gentle orbs; her fingers circled her areolas before playing with her nipples. "Oh! Oh! Sayo!" Esdeath moaned; Sayo simply looked at her with her grey eyes and kept using her tongue to its best.

Sayo's best was something Esdeath could handle for about 10 minutes without releasing; but considering the fact that it took Tatsumi about only 8 minutes and the fact that she usually was sucking his dick at the same time Esdeath was satisfied with Sayo's work when she came and Sayo eagerly licked off the juices. "Yum, Esdeath did you like that better?" Sayo asked.

"Way better; now do the same to my breasts; you've- caused them to lactate and I'm sure you need it" Esdeath explained; Sayo grinded her loins against Esdeath's and began to drinking from her left breast; Esdeath rolled herself on top of Sayo and moaned as Sayo drank. "Ah! Ah! Oh!" Esdeath moaned as Sayo lathered her loving tongue on one nipple before doing the same to the other; Sayo did this until she had drunk her fill and began making out with her; Esdeath returned the kiss her tongue easily overpowered Sayo's in spite of her skill and they wrapped their arms around each other; holding each other tight.

An hour of love making and both were satisfied; Sayo leaned against Esdeath breasts with her arms wrapped around her smiling as she closed her eyes. "That was wonderful; Sayo- we should do that a lot more- say whenever Tatsumi's not around or whenever I feel well pent up and need it; Sayo you're wonderful" Esdeath complemented then smiled.

"I'm glad you love me too" Sayo replied climbing onto Esdeath and held her close using her breasts as a pillow before she eased off to sleep; Esdeath smiled pulled the blankets over them kissed Sayo's forehead and fell asleep hugging her newfound lover in her arms.

The city of Melitine slept; or rather its reputable inhabitants slept; the night life was another matter, said night life was composed of people who used the dark for dark dealings and to prey on those unfortunate to be out at night. That evening a certain man named Gadaat who was a courier for Prime Minister Honest brought a list of names to a specific stronghold; said list were those of people that had organized recent protests and the time of their next protest and the stronghold belonged to a group of dangerous assassins the White Brows Association lead by a man named Gensai; they were old men and experienced warriors who'd in their old age found their retirement to be dull and the money they had made not to be enough to pay for their more decadent pursuits as they longed for the days of young; the average age of the members was around mid-sixties with the membership numbering some 20 experienced members and 40 students of their arts; a young generation of young blooded men to keep their mercenary assassin group going even after they were gone.

Gadaat knocked on the door, unaware he was being shadowed by a certain keen-eyed spy; a young woman whose auburn hair was well hidden by her cloak; and with her rapier in reach. Gadaat walked inside; Chelsea on the roof tops moved from one roof to the other before sliding down with her grappling hook to exposed and open window in which sat an old brawny grey long breaded man sitting polishing a spearhead when Gadaat walked in.

"Who are you young man?" the old man asked.

"Gadaat; I represent a high paying employer who seeks to employ you and your group to eliminate a group of his public critics" Gadaat explained; the red eyed man glinted his face concealed by Crimson robes that featured a head and face wrap and covered his body to an extent.

"Ah yes who is your employer, just curious as we at the White Brows will take any job so long as the price is right, speaking of how much is he willing to pay?" the man inquired.

"My employer is high ranking and has many enemies the general populace doesn't like him so he rarely leaves the Palace and never for hiring people; he leaves such matters to me; price is non-negotiable but is paid on completion of the job in question and by the number of targets killed" Gadaat explained. "I work for the Prime minister and he has a job for you and your organization to kill some public critics of his regime along with their immediate families and leave their bodies in the public square; there are about 40 targets in all and each person killed is worth 200 gold upfront and when the job is done a grand payment of 240,000 is at stake; you do the math and your group stands make a sizeable amount of money" Gadaat added.

"I see; well then young man you have the services of myself Gensai and the other members of the White Brows association; our motto is you pay for the best and you get the best; so we'll take the payment" Gensai explained; Chelsea took notes; she was tempted to kill both men but doubted her ability to do so, even with Gaea Foundation factored in there were two separate targets which had to be killed within seconds of each other; Gaea Foundations darts were accurate but at the angle and distance she couldn't guarantee a kill on either target which would be a problem because if one survived they'd raise the alarm so the only things she could do is take notes and prepare for counters; chief being to alert the people being targeted to the danger.

Chelsea finished her list of people and waited until Gadaat left before shadowing him a good distance; goal in this case being to make sure that he didn't report back in. Gadaat smiled behind his mask and grinned he noted the successful hire and contemplated the promotion that he was likely to receive soon. Chelsea ended that smile and his ambition quietly and quickly with a rapier thru his throat.

This would buy some time; granted by not being able to arrange the follow up meeting the assassins of the White Brow Association would probably not take the contract; which would be an issue. The group did have a reputation but they did have some matter of respect in the local community mainly because when they weren't killing for pay they kept the local neighborhoods in the immediate area clear of criminals and as well as donating a portion of their payments made to the local soup kitchen, small businesses and the local orphanage; so killing of any them would be a tough pill for the general public to swallow without evidence.

Nope as much as she hated to admit it hard evidence was needed which meant someone was needed to infiltrate the group; which was problematic as this was a boys' only group which meant someone else needed to infiltrate the group.

The following morning… Aria waved goodbye to her friends as she got inside the carriage with Fal, Air and Luna. Her parents rode in separate carriages; Constantine needed the extra room in a carriage for bed rest which he needed to get often as part of his cancer treatment: Angela's orders. Angela herself rode in a carriage with Ieyasu; outside all three carriages were escorted by a well-armed and armored honor guard of Grundel household Knights on horseback which were accompanied by regular guards that were just as well equipped but who rode ponies in place of horses. Their retinue was well trained and organized in a matter as to allow fast movement and rapid response to any threats be, they brigands or Danger Beasts.

"Aria-nii when will we get to Joyuu?" Fal asked.

"In about a day and half; one if we're lucky" Aria explained.

"Awh!" Fal moaned.

"Look on the bright side we have all that time to read" Aria replied and pulled out a book; Fal groaned in annoyance and looked out the window.

As the Grundel train left the manor's grounds Lubbock looked out the window with Yami. "I hope they come back safe" Yami commented.

"Trust me Yami they'll be fine; anyway, let's see to getting you trained; Scream I've got no idea as to how you'll figure out to use but we have a teacher for Shambala" Lubbock commented.

"Right Syura; wonder what he's up to?" Yami replied.

Syura himself was laying down on a couch napping as Leone and Lilianna chatted about one thing or another.

"Hey big sis I've got a great idea" Leone commented.

"Let me hear it" Lilianna replied, Leone whispered in Lilianna's ear and she blushed. "Oh, that's an idea" Lilianna replied. "Let's go shopping for the stuff for it right now" Lilianna added.

"Great let's do it! Tatsumi's going to so surprised when he gets back from Zartek" Leone agreed and the two began to leave the room when Lubbock and Yami walked in.

"There he is" Yami remarked. "And he's out like a light" she added.

"You need Syura for something Yami?" Lilianna asked.

"Yep; I've got Shambala and I need him to teach me how to use it, could one of you to wake him up" Yami explained.

"I'll do it; watch this Yami it will be hilarious" Leone replied. "Lionelle" she stated turning into her cat form, Leone licked her hair for a bit and formed it into a hairball which she immediately coughed up and let out a lion's roar causing Syura to jolt off of the couch onto the floor.

"Leone?! What the Hell!?" Syura replied irate, then felt his face. "Hairball? Leone!" Syura added.

"Couldn't resist; now big bro I need you to do a favor, this is way more important than your cat nap" Leone replied.

"What could be more important than sleep; I work nights for Asha's sake and on top of that I've killed about a third of Father's allies within the past two weeks" Syura replied.

"Teaching me how to use Shambala" Yami replied and flashed the Teigu to him in her hand, Syura's jaw dropped.

"That is way more important: Yami where did you- never mind Grundel vaults of course; shit I remember Aria did a number on me and I didn't even get the chance to use Shambala; granted I know how to use it so I'm not completely useless to you Yami" Syura replied.

"Thanks, Syura for agreeing to help is there anything I can do in return?" Yami asked.

"Well- "Syura started to say and thought better of it. "I want you do something for me; I'm in need of someone to collect Teigus from the Royal Vaults: I want to collect some of the more dangerous ones and keep them out of my father's reach; if he hasn't found an user for them; now is the perfect time to do it as well since Tatsumi's out of the city and my father can't blame him from stealing them nor can he blame Esdeath; they'll have gone missing- better yet we could frame one of his allies for the deed; that would start some juicy infighting" Syura explained. "But that will come after I've finished training you; for the time being I'm going to teach you some of the finer points; follow me" Syura concluded and opened a portal Yami followed him and Lubbock followed her; said portal led to a remote tropical island.

"What's this place?" Yami asked.

"A Tropical Island in the southern sea; I used to send my enemies here till I could think of something more unpleasant to do to them; don't worry last time I used it was six months ago and even then I never left someone here long term; its however a good place to train" Syura explained.

"Looks like a nice place to build a vacation home" Lubbock commented.

"It does but it isn't, there are some rather nasty danger beasts here; this the safe part of the island; go further inland and creatures of a kind not seen in the Empire will tear you apart" Syura replied. "Anyway, enough talking Yami your training begins now" Syura explained and thus began her training.

A day later Joyuu… Aria was woken from her sleep by an over eager Fal. "We're here! We're here Aria-nii-san!" Fal shouted.

"Oh" Aria moaned as she woke up; shook off her sleepiness that remained and looked at her sister. "Alright then; Good Morning Fal" Aria replied then looked at her belly. "Good morning my little angel; growing strong inside me, today's going to be a good day" Aria commented to her unborn child, or rather children as she bore twins.

"Aria-nii why are you talking to your belly?" Fal asked, knowing the answer.

"Because there is a sweet little angel growing inside me; Fal you'll understand when you're older but babies do come from inside mommies and I'm going to comfort my child even while it is still in my womb" Aria replied.

"Ok; I hope it's fun here Aria-nii; now let's go" Fal replied pointing towards the open carriage door where Luna and Air were waiting outside. Aria got up and looked at the box that her legs had been rested on; it contained her tools of her secret life, her armor, her weapons, and her 'toys'. Aria strapped on her rapier and climbed out of the carriage and noted the manor which they were parked in the courtyard of, then looked in the opposite direction at the town of Joyuu while Fal, Air and Luna ran off in direction of Constantine and Angela who were already heading inside.

The mansion overlooked the town on a high hill, the place was small in comparison to Melitine but an average sized town; Aria noted the well-fortified stone walls, but also the buildings in the various styles of construction that came with the multi-cultural Empire. The big stand outs to her were the large temple built to honor the God-King Ulmo, a large marketplace bazaar that was crowded with people, the mayoral residence which was an manor comparable to the one she now stood outside of, the new school which had been opened after the incident that closed down the old one, a carnival/circus which was in full operation, a statue of Harwin Grundel who had founded the city, and most forebodingly an abandoned structure that was clearly the old school: a solemn memorial to those who had been murdered by Champ.

"Hard to believe one man pulled of a crime of that magnitude" Aria thought on looking at the school.

"Hey Aria" Ieyasu remarked, Aria hadn't noticed his arrival and turned to face him; Ieyasu wore his typical headband that concealed Spectator but he had traded his normal casual attire for a set of the finest and most regal armor that her family's company could provide, it was also decorated with gold and rubies, and he wore a red cloak, overall he looked like a Royal Guardsmen.

"Hey Ieyasu, just checking out the sights" Aria commented.

"I know this is a nice place, a good change of pace from the big city it reminds me of Karsawa, though my home village is smaller" Ieyasu replied.

"I'm glad to hear it; I like this place; so, let's go see my uncle, speaking of how do you think he'll react when he meets you?" Aria replied.

"Hey as long as I leave out the fact that Angela and I are in a relationship I'm sure we'll get along just fine; speaking off I better not stick so close to you, don't want anyone getting the idea we're in one" Ieyasu commented, Aria laughed.

"Right as if that would ever happen, we all know how our first meeting went" Aria replied.

"Yep; boy I still remember the smack Sayo gave me; at least you accepted my apology for what happened" Ieyasu replied.

"Yeah; you're a perv Ieyasu; a perv but a good one, my mother is lucky to have you; she needs someone like you for when my father goes; it's hard in a way knowing that he's got at best a year in him" Aria agreed.

"Hey you never know; your father may just live a deal longer; I say he's got another good three years left in him" Ieyasu replied.

"What makes you say that?" Aria asked curious.

"My great uncle Zommari had cancer and he took 10 years to die from it; trust me your dad's a fighter and he'll give the disease a good battle before he dies" Ieyasu replied.

"Good point; hey Ieyasu do you see that building over there I think it's the old School" Aria replied pointing to the structure, Ieyasu frowned.

"At least the victims can fully rest in peace now that they are avenged, Champ's burning in hell right now and I think we can both agree that the whole thing is done" Ieyasu replied.

"Still though Ieyasu I- can't shake a feeling that something is wrong about the whole thing, how did Champ pull off something like that on his own, and something just doesn't sit right with me; especially looking at the school it gives me a feeling something is still wrong" Aria commented.

"Hey if you want to figure out that mystery we can do that anyway lets go inside, I'm hungry and I'm sure your uncle and aunt have prepared a great breakfast feast for us" Ieyasu replied, Aria nodded took one last glance at the school and noted a contrast that the lively carnival and circus were in the shadow of the abandoned memorial; one place full of life and joy and the other a tomb in memory of the fallen which were buried in a cemetery adjacent to the structure.

Shortly… Aria walked inside and was surprised to see Run of all people, Run with a lovely woman that Aria recognized as her cousin Chantal, granted she had the light blue hair that the twins had in her experience but she had the bright blue eyes of a Grundel woman. The eyes were a family trait that was a Grundel sign, usually it skipped a generation but sometimes you had a generation where both parents and child had the gene; in this case it was even more apparent when Chantel's mother and father both had blue eyes which increased the chance of the trait; Aria's own eyes were a product similar genetics but her father had brown eyes and his hair was originally black but had since gone grey. Blonde hair was something that was uncommon in her family and definitely confirmed Aria as her mother's daughter.

Chantel held a baby in her hands about a month old who was a young girl with Run's hair and her blue eyes. "Run?" Aria questioned.

"Aria, what a surprise" Run replied and shook her hand.

"I could say the same, what are you doing here? Last I saw time I checked you were recovering from a gunshot wound that I patched up" Aria replied.

"I'm here for my father in law's birthday, which I guess is the reason you're here too Aria" Run replied.

"Yep, though honestly I shouldn't be surprised to see you here, it's been what a month since you last saw your family" Aria replied.

"And it's been about a year since I last saw you Aria, is that a baby bump I see?" Chantel replied in a sweet angelic sing-song voice.

"Yep; my little unborn angel, or rather Tatsumi's and mine" Aria replied, Ieyasu walked in behind after having made sure that the other guards had things under control.

"And this handsome boy must be Tatsumi" Chantel replied looking at Ieyasu.

"Nope; I'm just his best friend Ieyasu, Tatsumi's on a trip so he couldn't be here" Ieyasu replied.

"Yeah, shame too I'm sure you would've liked to meet him; Tatsumi is- well the only person in the world for me; he's a good man and brave" Aria explained.

"He sounds like a good person from what Run and you have told me; shame he's not with you where's he gone to?" Chantel asked.

"That's a secret; my husband has a few political enemies; he's not well like in the Capital nor is he from it; I'm just hoping he keeps himself out of trouble goodness knows that's the last thing I need to worry about; then again he has Najenda to keep him level headed so I shouldn't worry too much" Aria replied.

"Who's Najenda?" Chantel asked.

"A my sister-in-law, my husband has a number of wives and concubines; he's very caring when it comes to them; anyway we can talk more about Tatsumi later, I'm hungry and so is my little angel; let's go" Aria replied and they headed for the dining room which was rather large; a number of people were already sat down, Aria sat next to Fal and Luna then plated herself up some of the various things on offer for breakfast.

At the head of the table sat Aria's uncle; Lucius Grundel, he was tall man and younger than his brother Constantine, his black hair was still visible and he had blue eyes like his daughter and niece; he wore a crisp suit that was blue in color; he wore a red bowtie instead of a normal one and he had a long but well-groomed black beard; his hair was short but still present and hadn't yet begun to recede nor would it because Grundels rarely ever went bald; their hair would grey but not recede.

"Welcome my older brother and your wonderful family how are things fairing for you?" Lucius commented after they concluded a blessing on the food.

"Rather well; in fact, I've been made Minister of the Treasury about a month back" Constantine replied.

"Indeed, well that's a step up, how did you manage that?" Lucius asked.

"That's Esdeath's doing; the previous minister for finance was outed for working with a group of bandits waylaying travelers to the capital, letting them raid caravans, selling military arms to them and taking a cut of their profits in exchange for protection; he would have gotten away with it if not for the fact he forged military papers marking them as Imperial Rangers; Esdeath noticed sent a group to investigate, said group killed all the bandits and brought back evidence of his corruption; the Prime Minister was all too happy to turn on him, and but angry because the Emperor choose me to succeed him on Esdeath's recommendation" Constantine explained.

"That's interesting; so how is the Emperor fairing?" Lucius asked.

"Pretty well my brother; he just turned 13 and he's announced a betrothal to my three lovely adopted daughters: Fal, Air and Luna" Constantine replied.

"There such wonderful children" the woman at Lucius's said stated, her name was Akala she had deep blue hair like Chantel and bright blue eyes, her face had the beauty that came with age and she wore a gold and red gown.

"Yeah we're great" Fal replied.

"Here we go again; get Fal started on how great she is and she'll go on for hours" Air commented.

"Air don't be mean" Luna replied, and Fal began talking all about herself, Air facepalmed then continued eating.

Fal concluded after was interrupted by Lucius. "Thank you very much for telling me about yourself Fal; I'm sure you've got more to say but I've other things I'd like to talk about and others to talk to, how is my favorite niece doing, Aria I haven't seen you in a year since my last birthday" Lucius interjected.

"Me- well I've gotten married since then, I'm pregnant, and I've bought my own mansion for a good bargain too; my husband Tatsumi isn't here right now, important business; he's the Emperor's Minister for Justice and Fun" Aria explained.

"Tatsumi? Now there's a nice name; an old one and a noble one at that, what is he like?" Lucius asked, Aria smiled.

"The greatest and most handsome man in the world; nobody's like him and I couldn't live without him. He and I met under interesting circumstances but we grew on each other and after about a month since we met, we married at the Palace itself with the Emperor giving his blessing to our union, he also married Spear Chouri, the former Prime Minister's daughter" Aria explained.

"I see, so where is he from and what is he like?" Akala asked.

"Well aunt Akala he's from a remote village called Karsawa, he's a lot of noble blood but he's earned it as far as I and my parents are concerned thru his deeds; and I owe him my life and I owe him his, we will be together forever" Aria explained.

"He sounds like a nice person, and well who cares if he's a country born person, well like father like daughter I say" Lucius replied.

Breakfast concluded at about 9:30, Aria noted the fact that Run had a large bag on his back and was leaving. "Hey Run where are you going?" Aria asked, Ieyasu noted this too and asked the same.

"I'm going to do something important; it's that time of year and it's been six years since the incident so I'm off to pay my respects one final time now that the killer who killed my students is dead" Run explained.

"Alright; let me with you Run, I'm part of the reason he's dead; I gave him his punishment after all" Aria replied,

"Me too, I was the one who happened to find the evidence that cracked the case" Ieyasu replied.

"Well alright, just make sure though you give me some space also help me with my bags" Run explained.

One hour later… The school that was once Joyuu Young Learners Elementary loomed large and grim against the sunlit sky; which was filling with clouds; the school itself was a large building about four stories tall; the paint on the building was brown but weathered; windows had been boarded up and the place was marked by large memorial pillar with the names of the victims printed to it, the school's sports fields had been turned into a graveyard where graves marked those who had been murdered 6 years ago; overall a sense of foreboding lay in the air and Aria couldn't help shake the feeling that even with Champ dead that there was more the mystery then she knew. Champ's journals had been destroyed by the Sabatini Show's staff after the death of the killer and the revelation of his crimes along with trailer and everything that had been his; and while Champ had admitted to the Joyuu murders his exact account of what had happened had been destroyed by Ringmaster Sabatini. All this had been done before Tatsumi or the others could collect them for evidence, which left mysteries regarding Champ's actions; largest being how many victims did he murder; but more important was how did he manage to pull of the Joyuu incident.

Run led them inside and they went up two flights of stairs arriving on the third floor; Run was silent, Ieyasu was too, Aria kept the silence, the air felt tense; something wasn't right about the place nothing remotely; Aria had a sense of being watched.

Run led them to room number 312; an old brass plaque read 'History of the Empire; Professor Run Arashi' Run opened the door which had no lock and lead them into a class room. Said class room had 50 desks for children and one large desk for a teacher; chairs sat at each and cobwebs were visible with what little light seeped in via the cracks in the boarded-up window. Run put down the bags on large desk and took a cloth and began to dust off the desks. "Here we are; it's been years now; and I'm glad to say I can finally put all of this behind me; I'm here to deliver my respects and now that their killer is dead my students should be able to rest in peace" Run remarked, then opened the first bag, inside it was a spherical rose scented red candle. "Ieyasu, Aria, those bags each have some tributes of different kinds I want you to help me set up all of this, one for each desk; don't touch the last bag though; that's for my use only" Run explained and placed the first of 50 candles on a desk.

Aria opened her bag which contained tribute wreaths, Ieyasu's contained small stuffed teddy bears; both of them placed the tributes on each desk until all the desks had one of each; Run then looked at the results; he looked and frowned. "Hard to believe that 6 years and a few weeks before there were once kind little children; each with a bright future ahead of them and each 7 years old sitting in those chairs and in those desks; myself looking over a class of young students; little did I know they'd be my last" Run commented seeing in his mind's eye every one of them. "Now for the last part; in that last bag I have a picture of each of my students, I had over a hundred thousand copies made after the incident mainly for the purpose of searching for them; afterword's I kept a hundred of each; each year I've made this tribute and each year I've lamented the loss of each of these promising young souls" Run explained then opened the last bag inside of which was a small metal box which contained photographs; Run put a picture on each desk each belonging to the student it belonged to; Run concluded soon enough then used a lighter to light every candle.

"Rest now my children you've been avenged and your killer now rots in hell where he belongs" Run comforted, the air still felt uneasy, suddenly a small wind blowing out all the candles; Ieyasu felt supreme unease and screamed when green figure materialized.

"GHOST! YEAAHG!" Ieyasu yelled and cowered behind Aria, the green figure was small childlike and regarded Ieyasu with confusion and then looked at Run.

"Lila? Is that you" Run asked looking at the spirit which was that of a young girl seven years of age, she nodded. "You can rest now; Champ is dead; you're avenged" Run comforted; the spirit shook her head. "Please I'm wanting to move on with my life, the person who killed you is no more, don't waste eternity lingering her, move on, go to heaven" Run tried comforting. The spirt walked past Run and stopped in front of a chalkboard which still had an old piece of chalk; said piece of chalk hovered and began writing. The words when finished were five "Champ was one of many" all three of them were shocked.

"There was more than one killer?!" Ieyasu asked shocked, the spirit nodded.

"Who did it?" Aria asked, the spirit shook her head as if recalling memories but then shook her head before writing one word 'brother' on the chalkboard then disappearing.

"I knew this place was haunted I felt it when I came here, now let's get out of here!" Ieyasu replied then bolted into a wall crashing into it and falling over dazed.

"You were off by 2 feet Ieyasu; but you're right we should leave and start investigating" Aria replied.

"Investigating? So soon? We'll need more than just a spirit's cryptic words to start one; where would we start?" Ieyasu replied, Run glared at him.

"We will start here and now; Ieyasu I know this isn't your concern but it's certainly mine; the spirits of my students won't rest until everyone involved with the incident is brought to justice for their crimes" Run explained.

"Yeah, and I won't stand to leave a mystery unsolved much less one I thought was resolved with Champ's death; besides Ieyasu you know as well as I do that if Tatsumi was here with us he'd insist on it" Aria ranted.

"Alright but I have a feeling this won't end well" Ieyasu commented.

"So, we have in terms of evidence two things; the words 'Champ was one of many' and 'brother' so that means we're dealing with an organization; what kind of group I wonder though" Aria commented.

"Perhaps a circus, Champ was a clown and from what Tatsumi told me he seemed well traveled" Run suggested.

"Possible but there is the fact that Champ wasn't likely always a clown; then there'd be a matter of how do we approach the issue; we can't just go asking circus performers about the guy" Ieyasu replied.

"Yeah but it's the only hunch we have, so for now let's head back to my uncle's place and then we'll take Fal, Air and Luna to the carnival in town later" Aria planned, they then left the school but stopped in the graveyard as Run stopped at the graves of each of his former students to pay his respects.

Back in Melitine… Ritone was annoyed; very much so because he was asked by Lubbock to infiltrate a group of dangerous assassins and spy on them for information linking them to murders for the public to see after the Night Raid killings. He was all the more annoyed given the fact that a few of men there were interested in him and he likewise in them; in fact, he had already bedded one of the younger warriors and found his prowess to be good. But that was an inconvenience as he'd soon be dead along with the other members of the White Brows Association, as soon as he could acquire the relevant information; which was easier said than done, mainly due to the fact that they were not ones for keeping information like that in reach. "New plan, find out where they keep the information then have Chelsea infiltrate the group with her Teigu" Ritone thought to himself and studied himself in the mirror, he was rather vain when it came to his physique, and few men could appreciate it, note that the word men was his emphasis, the ladies loved him but he was gay as could be so they had no chance; besides he knew that if they were into him they'd go and dump him for Tatsumi on sight. "Tatsumi; boy what I'd give to ride your ass; but nope that guy is as straight as an arrow" Ritone thought and blushed at an image of Tatsumi and himself doing it.

Ritone dressed in the gi that was typical of members of the group it was white and black; Ritone thought it made him look girly. "Man, what I'd give to be a girl then guys would be all over me and Tatsumi wouldn't be able to resist me" Ritone thought to himself, then had the visual of him as a girl riding Tatsumi cowgirl style. "Dang" Ritone remarked aloud. "What I'd give to be a girl; I'd love to be one just to get at Tatsumi" Ritone thought, then had a crazy scheme in his head if only he could get a genie lamp and then all his problems could be resolved.

Ritone then headed to the training hall where he spared with one of the new recruits and one of the men he had been with since joining the group; Lorenzo was his name he was tan skinned with black hair and olive green eyes and the guy was bi which as far as Ritone was concerned that was good enough; he was a decent sort, about two years younger than him and honestly Ritone felt bad that he'd likely end up dead. "I have to save him, he's young got a future ahead of him he's just involved with bad people that's all" Ritone thought as they sparred, he used a practice sword and Lorenzo used a staff; eventually after a grind Ritone let him win out of boredom with the fight. "Not bad kid" Ritone commented.

"Thanks; so, why'd you let me win?" Lorenzo asked.

"Out of boredom; hey why did you join this group anyway?" Ritone asked.

"To improve my skills as a warrior; my brothers are both Royal Guardsmen and my family has a history of guard support; my main goal is to make the cut and that means I can have my parents be happy with me and I can get a chance with the guys and girls of the guard; some of the most beautiful women and handsome men in the Empire" Lorenzo replied.

"You know there are other options, why not join the Capital Police or Imperial Fists?" Ritone asked.

"Because I neither want to be stuck on boring patrols or shave my head for the start of training; especially in a religious order that well doesn't see eye to eye with my preferences and life-style choices" Lorenzo replied, Ritone kissed him on the forehead.

"Kid; I'll level with you; I'm worried for your safety, I heard things about this group; not pleasant things; you're best off joining some other group; I know some people who'd gladly take a young warrior like yourself on" Ritone explained.

"And you're with the group why?" Lorenzo asked.

"Because I want to see for myself if those stories, I heard are true; if they are then this group isn't long for the world, the Night is full of things to be afraid of, do you fear the night?" Ritone asked.

"No; I don't" Lorenzo replied.

"You should, monsters lurk in the dark, monsters in human skin, but also those who hunt those monsters and those that try to protect them; it's a dangerous place Melitine and if you think your story will have a happy ending if you stay here you're wrong because I've seen this kind of story before and it doesn't" Ritone explained, then kissed him again.

"I- You're probably right; but where would I go?" Lorenzo asked.

"I happen to be in touch with a group of people a family with a good deal of connection, they're always in need of guards and other employees; I happen to know a guy who'd be willing to recruit you; his name is Guarry, and we're just friends but he's a good man and great fighter; he can teach you the ways of the blade and if you prove yourself you may get into the Royal guard Afterall" Ritone explained.

"Well I guess it's worth a shot; will I still see you?" Lorenzo asked.

"From time to time but well don't think of us as a couple, we're just men who need another man's company in bed from time to time, just like my other friend who happened to have the issue, granted it's fun but well I've got feelings for someone else but unless I find some way to become a girl I'll never get to be with him" Ritone explained.

"I see; but will we still have you know fun?" Lorenzo asked.

"Yeah, at least until I find a way to become a girl because I really want to be with him; but he's as straight as spear and from what the girls have told me as hung as a horse; he's also well handsome, kind, caring; it- I want to be with him" Ritone explained.

"Alright; I get it, I've been there; granted it was with my feelings for Mez of the Rakshasa Demons, I saw her once when my brothers offered to show me around and- well no way am I ever going to get a shot with her" Lorenzo explained, Ritone laughed.

"Yep; especially since she's with the guy I want to be with" Ritone asked.

"Who's this guy anyway?" Lorenzo asked.

"Tatsumi, that's his name" Ritone explained.

"Ok, well then when we have time off, we'll head to see those points in the meantime lets have some fun" Lorenzo replied and removed his gi, Ritone did the same and Lorenzo got on his knees to begin to pleasure him giving him head.

Elsewhere… Syura had managed to trap some of the island's local wildlife and had created a training ground that was his private training ground. "Ok Yami first thing we're going to do is figure out the extent of Scream's abilities; for this I've trapped some Logwuuls; they are Class-C danger beasts so they shouldn't be a challenge for you if something goes wrong" Syura explained.

"Ok: release them" Yami replied, Syura and Lubbock did that, then covered their ears and Yami sounded Scream; the black scaled reptilian headed hounds stopped in their tracks; Yami then drew her twin hooks and killed every single one of them.

"Good job Yami; now let's try something with Shambala; I'm going to have you focus on a location you know and then teleport to it then teleport back here; also Shambala's abilities don't work in quick succession; you'll need about half a minute between each use, perhaps longer depending on the distance" Syura explained; Yami opened a portal, said portal took her to her home; she then used the time she had to freshen up, take a shower to get the blood from the Logwuuls off of her and change her clothes before teleporting back to Syura and Lubbock. "I said 30 seconds between uses Yami, not 30 minutes" Syura lectured.

"Took a break to freshen up; now Syura are you going to teach some combat techniques or did you never use this thing in a fight?" Yami replied.

"Oh, I'll gladly show them, but first I need you to prove how innovative you can be a in a normal one on one fight; first hand" Syura explained and they began sparing.

Back in Joyuu… "Aria-nii thanks for taking us to see the carnival" Luna thanked.

"No problem now let's have some fun" Aria explained, then looked around, amid the fair stalls, rides, and tents there was one big epicenter, a large series of tents a grand circus tent in the center of it; also a large billboard which had the circus's name and logo; the name of the circus was the Farrier Brothers' Circus Supremus, it also was rather grand and to Aria she noted admissions were big, Run took a good look at the sign too noting the symbol of two elephants playing with a ball while children danced in a circle. Ieyasu was more focused on the cotton candy.

"COTTON CANDY! MUST EAT!" Ieyasu yelled and charged followed by Fal and Air who equally shared his enthusiasm. The others followed behind at a relaxed pace and Aria purchased enough of the nice treat for all of them. "Let's go see that circus girls" Ieyasu remarked, he was the one who was dropping the hints, Aria wanted to go about an investigation without telling the three of them simply out of concern for their safety; Champ was fresh in her mind with the new developments and the fact that he had accomplices who added him in the mass rape and murder of innocent elementary school kids and Aria didn't want said accomplices to touch a hair on her sisters' heads much less rape them.

"Yeah let's go see a circus!" Fal cheered, they then went up to the gate which led to a low fenced field that separated the Circus from the rest of fairgrounds; mainly due to concern for the animals. They soon arrived at a ticket stand were a clean-shaven young man stood about to close up for the performance.

"Wait!" Aria shouted.

"Sorry ma'am tickets are sold out" the Ticket man stated; Aria pulled out a rather large sack of gold.

"This I'm sure will cover our admittance" Aria explained then put on her cute face with eyelash fluttering included.

"Yes, this will more then cover it; go right on in all of you; here are your tickets" the Ticket man stated and pulled out a ticket roll and gave a ticket to each of the six of them.

Aria took point and they managed to snag a front row seat with some well-placed money curtesy of Aria; if she had to use bribes to get her way in, she'd do it. She then sat next to Fal and Luna wrapping a protective embrace around each of them with either arm, their faces were sticky from cotton candy. "I wonder how long this will last?" Fal asked.

"I hope it doesn't get dark before the show is over" Luna added.

"Quiet they're starting" Air hissed. Indeed, the show had begun, the lights shinned on the center of three rings in which the ringmaster stood.

The ringmaster was dark-skinned man with short well-groomed brown hair, he wore a crimson flamboyant suit of the kind only a true ringmaster could wear, with a matching crimson top hat with a black band wrapped around it, which had the symbol of an elephant on it, he held in has a bejeweled staff, it was made out what appeared to be ebony ore and was topped by a large bright pink gem with a silver serpent wrapped around it, said serpent had eyes made of the same gemstone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, man, woman and child welcome to Farrier brothers' Circus Supremus: the greatest show on earth; with all the joys a circus should have. I'm your host and your ringmaster Karl Schaffer Farrier but you can call me by my stage name Chuckles the Joker, but please just go with Chuckles. Today we've got one amazing show for you; the wonders of acrobats, our jugglers, our wonderful animals especially our prized elephants, our magicians, our amazing clowns my true fellows at heart, and our grand spectacle supreme; all of this in one!" The Ringmaster greeted; the crowd cheered. "Now I'm sure you all think I've rattled on long enough and you'd be right! Let's begin with our opening act: Clowns Casa Grande!" Chuckles concluded, and out came the clowns with music playing in the background.

Aria and other watched the performance with interest Aria more so because she was looking for anything suspicious; granted looking for stuff out of the ordinary was easy at a Circus where you never knew what to expect; but something about the whole thing felt off; the music while eagerly played had some sort of foreboding to it, a feeling on the hairs at the back of her neck that throughout the performance Aria couldn't shake something black, twisted and dark, almost as if the whole experience was surreal hollow and like something out of a drug induced dream.

This feeling lurked throughout the entire performance and had nothing to do with eating more cotton candy then normal that was all due to pregnancy cravings; speaking off the only thing that kept her from drifting off in the allure of the circus were the infants in her womb. Something felt wrong in a way, also the unusual thing is that a number of children were preforming, 9 to 11 year old, granted it wasn't unusual for children to perform at such events, children worked at the Umatora Theater in Melitine after all but the children which were of both genders and had a myriad of different appearances and many colored clothing had something off; something about the eyes , in fact a number of performers had something off with their eyes.

However in spite of the weird things about they all eagerly did their work putting on an amazing show, Aria's focus however during the show happened to be one group of children; which seemed to follow the Ringmaster around; speaking of said ringmaster eagerly joined in on the shenanigans with the other performers especially the clowns whom he glad joined in, even going so far as to have changed into a proper clown costume. The best thing though was at the end, the grand finale, acrobats swing from traipses, some balanced above nets, elephants moved about playing with balls while lion tamers had their beasts perform tricks, jugglers juggled, clowns engaged in all forms of tomfoolery, and the Ringmaster in the center of it all gestured with his cane like it was a baton and he was conducting a grand orchestra. Aria focused on it all and when the show was over applauded because despite the aura of unease, she had the whole time she enjoyed the performance.

Shortly… "Hey guys let go congratulate the Ringmaster for this amazing show" Aria suggested.

"Yeah he was funny and he allowed everything to flow so well!" Fal commented.

"I think it would be boring, Ieyasu can you go take me to go find a dunk tank I want to throw stuff at people" Air remarked.

"Sure Air, as long as I'm not one of them" Ieyasu agreed.

"Now why would I do that, you're funny without that" Air replied, and the two walked off. Aria then went with Run, Luna and Fal towards an area where the Ringmaster was going thru and congratulating his performers on a job well done. Ringmaster Chuckles turned to notice Aria and the others.

"Well what do we have here?" Chuckles commented.

"Just some admiring fans wanting to wish you and the other performers a job well done, this was the best Circus I've ever seen" Aria explained.

"I can agree, you know I visited it last time I was here and it's gotten better each time" Run added.

"That was amazing what with all the animals, the acrobats everything was awesome" Fal replied.

"What about the clowns?" Chuckles asked and a few of the troop's clowns noted in attention smiling.

"They were funny; I loved the fake fire trick that was awesome! Also, I loved the juggling" Luna added.

"Thanks for your kind words, I'm glad to hear them, we do all this work for the entertainment of people young and old, my favorite joy is sharing this with children so that they have these memories for when they grow up and they can come again when they have to see the show once more" Chuckles replied.

"May I ask some questions?" Aria asked.

"For a fan of our work ask away; miss?" Chuckles replied.

"Mrs. Aria Grundel, this is my cousin-in-law Run, and these my adopted sisters Fal and Luna. So, I'd like to ask a few things, first off how long have you been the ringmaster and how long has the show been going on?" Aria asked.

"In terms of our wonderful Circus I've been the Ringmaster since it was founded 20 years ago, the show has been in Joyuu for about five years now with performances every day of the week; we used to travel around but we settled down here after I decided I liked this place; as to circus days well I've been a circus man since I was 10 me and my brother" Chuckles replied.

"So, this place is called Farrier Brothers' Circus where is your brother?" Run asked.

"My brother? Ah well I haven't seen him in five years now, we had some disagreements over business management, he wanted to keep moving the show about but I wanted to settle down here. My big brother Kyle and I joined the circus at about the same time, both of us started as stable boys but we eventually became clowns, we made enough money and 20 years ago we founded our own circus. Anyway Kyle was always experimenting with new methods to entertain, his favorite one was a strongman act which reminded of the fact he always stood up for me; he loved putting on a good show as much as I did but he never really wanted to grow up; he was always young at heart and always caring towards children whom he felt most at home with, I haven't seen him in years now I hope he's still bringing joy to the faces of the Children he loves so much" Chuckles replied.

"So, how'd you get the name Chuckles?" Fal asked.

"Ah stage names, like I said I was once a clown, my brother always was and hopefully still is one, I took the name because of my laughs and the jokes I made, some classic ones that everyone could enjoy and few of my own invention, they started calling me the Joker after that because I loved to tell jokes; and well that had an impact on people, I love Chuckles more than my birthname, Karl is a rather dull name by comparison if you agree" Chuckles replied.

"Yeah it is, so what was your brother's stage name" Aria asked.

"Ah that's a tough one, my brother Kyle was fond of changing it, especially depending on the performance: Warrior was his first name, then Champion, then Juggles-McGee, and later on Water Balloon Ned, the Chorkajork, then Champion again and goodness knows what he's calling himself nowadays, but to me he will always be my brother Kyle Champlain Farrier and I will never change the name of Circus regardless of whether he's with me or not; anyway what else do you want to ask?" Chuckles asked.

"I'd like to know why there are a lot of kids preforming alongside the adults, there are a lot of them" Aria asked.

"Ah yes, children are wonderful and number of the kids who show up have dreams of show business themselves; so I've created a program that give jobs and apprenticeships so they'll have a shot at that dream; children do grow up but they should grow up with happy hearts and fulfilling their dreams" Chuckles explained.

"That's a nice thing: Hey how would you feel about a sponsorship from my family the Grundels, we have a lot of influence and love the arts and caring for the common people how'd you like a partnership?" Aria asked.

"I fear I have to decline; as much as it would be a wonder to work with House Grundel this business is my own and I want to be a sole owner in absence of my brother; I want my business to be simple and that's the way I intend to keep it, here in this small town of Joyuu which is full of good people" Chuckles replied.

"So why Joyuu of all places I'm sure you heard of the recent history of the town?" Run asked.

"That is the exact reason I choose to stay here, after that horrible mess regarding the school and the children that attended it I resolved to have my circus stay here to give hope and joy to a town that underwent such heartache and to try and cheer up those who are left behind. I'm not sad about what happened, it's a horrible tragedy but grieving about the past clouds a person's enjoyment and goals in the present; as such I keep moving on; we all have a time when we go, but there will always be a way to remembered; I intend to be remembered as a man who brought joy to children and who'll be missed by the people of the town when I go" Chuckles replied.

"So, why'd your brother and you have a falling out?" Luna asked.

"Little girl, my brother and I had disagreements, big one being he preferred to impress the crowd to live in the moment rather than plan for the future, in a way he never truly grew-up, he could be childish, and well annoying at times, but our real disagreements happened after the School incident here in Joyuu, my brother took the events of that tragedy hard, to a point where he wanted to leave and put this all behind him rather than help bring joy to those who'd been affected, he and I disagreed over the decision to remain here and well after one heated argument with each other he upped and left and I've never seen him since, don't know where he ended up or how he ended up, my gut tells me that he's gone now, dead in this cruel world of ours just I have a feeling; ah well there is only so much one can do; I'll always have him with me in spirit" Chuckles explained, Luna cried at the sadness of the story. "Don't be sad, we all have those things we regret, those we lose to time, I barely remember our parents they died when I was 3 years old, I remember all the things my brother and I did to survive and I don't regret any of them, my only regret is that he's not here to share the ones I have now" Chuckles comforted. "Anyway this has all been fine and dandy talking to some fans but we have to get back to work our next show is in another hour and well we've got things to do; come on my fellow thespians let us prepare for the next show" Chuckles replied and he and other troupe members left.

Aria noted however one group of kids who looked at her particular, 2 boys 3 girls and one child whose gender she couldn't determine due a face mask; they all wore flashy red and blue clothes of the kind worn by the acrobats, jugglers and clowns. The Three girls were about the same age as Fal and Luna, being in the ballpark of 11 to 13 and all had a pale skin tone one girl had very long pink hair tied into pigtails and matching pink eyes, the other girl had short green hair tied with a red ribbon and matching eyes, the last had short blue hair with cowlicks that were in the shape of cat ears and eyes of a lighter shade of blue The two boys were noticeably different with one having short white hair with pale skin, grey green eyes with long eyelashes and was about 14 by the looks of him, the other was clearly 11-12 years old with spiky red hair and blue eyes and tan skin toned, he seemed more lively then the others but still had the aura of dread about him, the last wore a brown leather mask that was tattered together with slots for the eyes and was about 9-10, the eyes being brown but all other things about this child was mysterious, perhaps he or she had scars that required the mask but then maybe not.

However these kids were noticeably off; something foreboding about them, Aria noted that even under the make up their eyes showed grim sullenness those were the eyes of people who had scene abuse, also all bar one showed signs of a lack of sunlight as if they spent most of their lives indoors; something was rotten; Aria's gut told her that much, Run shared the same feeling and Ieyasu well he was busy with Air stuffing his gut with cotton candy and popcorn while Air mercilessly dunked the people in the multiple dunk tanks. "I think we need to look around" Aria thought. "Hey Run can you take my sisters on a head I need to use the bathroom; I'm sure I saw and outhouse nearby" Aria excused, Run nodded and took Fal and Luna with him to go find something else to do; Aria once the others were out of sight activated Noctis Wave's shadow cloak ability and vanished from sight making sure to take an altered course before heading towards the office of the Ringmaster.

Said office was empty, of human beings that is, but it was decorated with no shortage of photographs, prizes, trophies, plaques and other things along with rather pricy furniture of a fine craftwork. "He makes that much money, sheesh this is a red flag; no circus I've heard of that makes enough money to pay for this much stuff much less in a recession; these things are the kind furnishings I've been buying for Hearthome manor; speaking of where is Tatsumi when I need him?" Aria thought to herself, not knowing that at this time Tatsumi was in a brothel having his way with a certain purple haired western goddess of a temptress who had cost him a small fortune due to her being a virgin. "I need to stay focused Tatsumi's perfectly fine; he's probably enjoying himself right now that he gets to go a few days without having to kill someone; I don't get that luxury" Aria thought, then looked around the room and immediately noticed something of interest; a photograph on the desk of the Ringmaster of someone all to familer.

She recognized the person in the photograph immediately: it was Champ, the Butcher of Capital, Butcher of Joyuu; entertainer by day, pedophile serial rapist and serial killer by night, the monster she knew and on top of it he was right next to Ringmaster Chuckles in fact they seemed happy together; with arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Next to that on the desk was a newspaper headline: "Butcher butchered by Jaegers" with an article talking about the discovery made in his case and the breakthrough that lead to his downfall, the official version of course written by Esdeath's skillful manipulation of the facts; no credits to her for his torture or Lubbock for drawing and quartering nope all that there was an account of was an epic battle between Teigu users that never happened; fantasy at its finest. Also next to it was a small book; Aria opened it and found it was full of photos of Champ and Chuckles, all circus related, one of them founding their circus, as well as those of their more famous stunts, in fact a banner in one of the photos called them Champion and Chuckles the duo of laughter; the last was a photo clearly taken five years ago, the photo was of Champ frowning with the words 'Brother we now part our ways I've chosen my path you chose yours, hope they cross again someday' printed on it with Champ's signature, not of his stage name but his full given name Kyle Champlain Farrier in fine cursive.

"Things just got complicated, way complicated" Aria thought then heard movement outside the door and activated Noctis Wave's shadow cloak again this time maintaining the energy as much as Aria could; it hurt to use the ability for longer than a couple minutes at a time, longer than that and Aria would start suffering discomfort: she could though maintain control for about 2 hours before she was at risk of losing focus and passing out.

Moments later Ringmaster Chuckles walked into the room and took a keen look at the photographs; he was followed by the pink haired girl who shut the door behind her, leaving Aria to watch the scene that played out in front of her. "Kotoko good nobody is here; all that talking about my brother made me well more tense; ah Champ why'd you have to go off on your own, we had such a great gig here and I still have one" Chuckles commented then held up the photograph.

"Tense master? What is the problem?" Kotoko stated, Aria noticed now something was off the word master was completely wrong, also her eyes that were pink before now looked even more pink then before.

"The problem is that it has been six years since the incident since my brother and I found this town that's dirt poor, no real way of looking into disappearances or affording government administration, a town that wasn't able to find out who raped and killed an entire school's worth of children and 4 teachers even when the evidence was fresh; what fools; Champ you lacked vision, I was the one who came up with our Circus Supreme, with our operation, our shows our beliefs, hell I was the one who stopped you from killing most of our fellow slaves and helped us create out little cult of shared faith; too easy to rise to fame and now what happened over the years you didn't lose your touch but then what you made one little slip up, one mistake; you let one of your victims live and that man ratted you out; brought you to your death. Well that's what made us different you were always thinking three steps ahead and I was thinking six steps ahead, also while you killed your victims I didn't, not all of them no! the ones I like most survive helping me carry forth our ambitions; or mine now, you never grew up, I did and well you're dream of world without adults well Karl will see to that; children grow up but they can still be children in the end if you make them submissive enough; your Teigu was more for fighting, mine is for controlling" Chuckles waxed. "Kotoko remove your clothes; I'm sure you're in need of some fun; your mother loves it, and you do to" Chuckles commented; Aria's heart near stopped at these last words.

What Aria saw next would scar her for the rest of her life, in fact it scared me as a writer to visualize it; but I will summarize to an extent what happened however I will refrain from elaborate descriptions as to had happened in full to avoid scarring my audience. Kotoko removed the outfit revealing she wore no clothes underneath; Chuckles removed his clothes and sat on his desk, compared to Champ he was lean but brawny, were it not for the fact he were an absolute monster Aria would have thought he resembled Tatsumi in terms of his build though he was nowhere near endowed as Tatsumi but still blessed with something more; Aria winced as she watched Kotoko begin blowing him with slave like obedience it was like a worker drone in a hive tending to the queen, she tried to avert her eyes but couldn't as she wasn't able to, she also was struggling with her Teigu; and worried that the others might go looking for her. The monster inserted his taint inside the young Kotoko and Aria tried to avert her sight but couldn't she had to maintain the stealth field: no movement or she'd be as good as dead; she had to watch this to stay focused to live not just for herself but for Tatsumi and the world as a whole and the fact it wasn't just her life at risk but that of her unborn children in her womb, not that she knew at the time there were two of them in there. Kotoko was violated, vaginally, anally, orally hell the passion with which the monster did so was apparent with gross decay and jovial manner worthy of a Daemon of Nurgle but with the twisted sexual lust of a Daemon of Slaanesh. "Monster" Aria mentally kept saying to herself she wanted to kill him here and now but there was the problem that if she killed him his cronies would get away; also there was no guarantee that she'd be able to kill him with clean shot, not the girl though it was obvious she was being mind controlled and Aria knew it by the eyes which showed dark power controlling them and the girl.

She had to put up with this for 30 long minutes that felt like hours before the two were done; Kotoko giddily asked if she'd done a good job and Chuckles replied in the positive; both redressed and walked out the door leaving Aria alone with the whole experience burned into her mind. The words of the ghost were now clear: 'Champ was one of many' and 'Brother' the many being a circus of demons in human flesh and brother meaning Champ's brother who masterminded the whole affair; Aria dug in the desk and looked for diaries didn't find any but did find a small address book with the home address of the Ringmaster on the front page. "Time for a break in, especially now during the day when he's not home: but first I need to warn the others" Aria thought then put everything back where it was and crept out cloaked once again till she was out of the tent complex and then ran as fast as she could in a dress looking for the others.

Back in Melitine…. Ritone surveyed the office of Gensai the head of the White Brows, the man had taken a liking to Ritone and that while one-sided Ritone humored for the time being as it allowed him to go snooping around his office; where he found the letters of past contracts that had been fulfilled, and a moderately sized photo-album with pictures of the killers posing with the corpses of their victims, which were of various types; Ritone snagged the album and a number of the letters involving the kills many being children and woman slaughtered for the joy of some noble or for minor offenses the traditional reasons why people were murdered; and the most recent contract which was to kill a large number of people in broad daylight tomorrow morning for publicly protesting government corruption. Ritone took this information and left; dodging from street to street to throw off potential pursuers before arriving and Grundewick manor and rushing to the living room where Night Raid's residents of Grundewick manor were doing whatever they usually did while waiting for intel. "Here!" Ritone grunted then fell down exhausted. "I found these in the leader's office I think this is enough to justify a mission Lubbock" Ritone explained, Lubbock looked over the pictures and the contracts frowned and then made a face of resolve.

"Definitely enough, Yami it's time to see what your training can do; because of the urgency of this mission everyone in this room right now will be on the mission: Two teams; Me, Yami, Syura, and Leone will take the leadership, Mine you're with Sheele, Naomi and Sayo" Lubbock explained and then began drawing out a battle plan.

Back in Joyuu… Speaking of battle plans Aria was in the process of drawing one up herself, with her mother Angela. "Ok the time to strike is tonight when he's not expecting us; we have no time to lose, the longer we delay the more kids will have to suffer at his abuse" Aria explained.

"Aria, my dear daughter; I know you're concerned about this but so am I, this is a case of a dangerous enemy that we know little about and we can't just charge in blindly; there are too many lives at stake; the big ones being children's lives, we don't know the extent of the operation he has his claws in, I know the most expedient plan would be to attack tonight but we need to figure out who're his supporters, how to counter his Teigu and what are the extent of his crimes" Angela replied, Aria was angry.

"We can't afford to delay; mother I saw something I wish I hadn't seen; I saw that monster molest a little girl, someone about the same age as Air, Luna and Fal; it was sickening; I've- never seen something so vile in my whole life; he's as bad if not worse than his brother and he needs to pay for his crimes and die for them; the longer we delay the more people's lives are at stake" Aria replied her expression going demonic in anger at her Mother's suggestion.

"Aria Layeal Grundel! I know you're eager to stop this but rushing blindly against an enemy we know little to nothing about in terms of his abilities is foolishness it puts us at risk of losing and then no one can stop this monster" Angela rebuked putting on her own demon face. "We don't have a full Night Raid team! Aria all we have are you, me, Run and Ieyasu; and we're against an enemy who's as far as we're concerned has an army at his beck and call; rushing into battle without careful planning and without enough intel is risking defeat! We need more information; not only that we need to find out more about the Teigu he's using and how to counter it; also, we've got to avoid killing children; we cannot kill those who are victims of this monster and controlled by his dark powers!" Angela continued, Aria frowned and began to cry; Angela relaxed her expression and let her daughter cry into her shoulder. "Aria, don't worry, let it out, I'm here for you; I love you my sweet little angel you're rightfully concerned, were I your age and seen what you saw I'd have been much of the same mind, but I've had years of experience my sweet daughter and trust me we will deal with this monster and all those who support him; but first we need information; the best way to do that is by digging around; I'm sure that we can acquire one of his associates once we have that we can act on the information" Angela comforted.

With that conversation out of the way Aria and Angela explained the plan to Run and Ieyasu, who deferred to Angela and Aria when it came to the actual plan; both were of a similar mind to Angela in that while they wanted to take immediate action a plan and more information was needed. So began the next stage; Run explained the situation to his wife Chantel and Chantel gave them full power and access to any and all resources for the case.

The first step was looking into financial records; all citizens of the Empire that owned a business were required by law to keep a financial report of all profits per month as to assist in tax collection and economic censuses; said records were delivered to local mayors who delivered them to the Viceroys of the regions but maintained copies for record purposes. Because of Joyuu's proximity to the Capital, being about 50 miles from it the city had no regional viceroy and all records were delivered to the Emperor, Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Finance and the Treasury.

Searching thru paperwork would have taken longer if not for the fact that Chantel's secretaries kept through records and Chantel herself loved economics and kept very accurate knowledge of where the records were. Soon they found the records for Circus Supremus along with those of the management and employees.

"Hmm; the Circus is surprisingly profitable for a small town like Joyuu; last year's earnings report something in the ball park of 3 million gold pieces per month, which is a large sum" Angela remarked looking over the documents.

"Very suspicious; also look at the earnings of the management; the clowns too along with a few of the other big acts; the clowns in particular earn more than other performers, and nearly are on par with the income of the management" Aria noted.

"I can't believe I missed something so obvious, you're right Aria this is suspicious Ieyasu what is the finances for the first year of the Circus?" Chantel inquired, Ieyasu looked over the money.

"A lot less than the sum Aria is reporting, about 500,000 gold pieces per month" Ieyasu replied. "Something tells me there is a secondary business we don't know about here and that is likely not legal" Ieyasu commented.

"Definitely; now there are more questions, what kind of business makes the money to afford the goods Chuckles has, even with a yield of 3 million a month there is no way he could afford the things he owns and still be able to pay his employees" Aria asked.

"Slavery; think about it, children go missing, perhaps he doesn't kill all of his victims; he sells them on the black markets for the money to afford these luxury goods, and he gives a cut to his top subordinates for their part in his schemes" Run suggested.

"Good point speaking of how many children have gone missing over the years Chantel?" Aria asked.

"I'm not aware of the exact number; the chief of the local police doesn't really report information like that in terms of exact numbers, his focus is more on the number of criminals apprehended and crimes solved or prevented rather than on the unsolved ones" Chantel replied.

"Perhaps it's a good idea to ask him questions" Ieyasu suggested.

"I agree; also, the school incident, that's another question that needs answering, does the Ringmaster own any property in town?" Aria asked.

"Yes, he does, a decent sized house on the east side of town; the address is in his recorded census data" Chantel explained, Aria looked over the information noted the location on a town map.

"Well let's pay it a visit; he's not home during the day and breaking and entering is our specialty" Ieyasu commented.

"I'll do some more digging, check with the Chief of police on exact numbers also look thru the records of the associates" Chantel replied. "Are you sure you don't want me to send in the city guard to help?" Chantel asked.

"Too risky, people that are mind controlled by this monster could die, also this a personal matter" Run replied, Chantel kissed him.

"Please don't let your quest for vengeance cloud your judgement Run; I want you to come back alive, I wouldn't be able to move on without you my love" Chantel explained, Run hugged her and kissed her more.

"Don't worry I'll come home safe and sound; besides I'm not just doing this to give rest to my students I'm doing this save and protect children who are still alive and keep our own children from being at risk" Run explained.

"Still though be careful" Chantel replied; Run nodded, kissed her again and joined the others as they left.

Shortly… They arrived at Chuckles house which was a pleasant place in contrast to the demented owner; the door was locked but Angela easily handled it with skeleton key that she always carried just in case of these situations, they then split up, Aria with Run and Ieyasu with Angela; both teams would survey the place for any information they could use.

Aria and Run found the first place of note; Chuckles bedroom; which was rather well decorated as expected with more photographs of him and Champ; more trophies for outstanding performance not just for himself but also those that belonged to Champ; while Champ traveled light and left his old life behind him, well apart from his evil demented psychopathy of a kind that put most serial killers to shame, his brother was a man who clearly liked luxury and to surround himself with pride of his accomplishments. Also, from the state of the place the place showed no signs of a spouse which given his secret life wasn't a surprise because pedophiles rarely tended to be romantics. What Aria and Run found though that was informative were two bookshelves kindly marked journals with two shelves marking personal diaries but also those of Champ which to Aria's chagrin were likely accounts of previous deeds and surprised her given the fact that Champ had kept through records.

Run and Aria went thru said diaries, entries written in blood in the case of Champ but Chuckles used a fine type of ink of a strange verity; they read the entries learning full well of the extent of the crimes; and it turned out that the victims of Champ and Chuckles numbered in the hundreds of thousands; also a list of all their partners; each name Aria and Run recognized from the cast of the Circus; all of the Clowns were in on it along with managers. The big players being Big John, a towering clown who was found of bondage and in his cover, act was a strong man that replaced Champ. Giggles Gillian, a female clown fond of molesting boys which she called "Cherry poppers" and who was an apex juggler and ballerina. Chumps Trunk, a young man suffering from dwarfism who loved little girls because they were his size and enjoyed playing with hair and who in his stage job played with the elephants. Slim Jim a clown who resembled Enshin and was just as debauched and misogynistic. Then there were two clowns called The Parents a husband and wife couple who offered their sons to Chuckles as little playthings and their daughters as little brides; their stage job was to play the role of a husband and wife couple with comedic shenanigans. But the worse of them all was Dopey Dick; a young man who had been Champ's lover and Chuckles fond friend, this man was the worst of the bunch, engaging in mass rape while dressing as an incubus and who murdered his victims by flaying them alive.

But all this information paled before the one thing Run and Aria wanted to know most; how did the Joyuu incident occur and what did the monsters do and who was involved the most: and that information was a through. Apparently five years prior the Principal of the School was approached by Chuckles with an offer; an all-expenses paid field trip to see the greatest Circus on Eden; the Principal was easily convinced after receiving some encouragement with Mysmeria the Teigu of Chuckles, the brothers then focused on planning out the field trip to their specifications; Chuckles selected the Teachers who'd chaperone the trip focused specifically on the ones he found attractive enough to his standards, Champ selected each class based on photographs and the deal was sealed with additional funding.

The Week after the Field trip occurred and to their annoyance not everyone they had wanted to attend the trip was in attendance Chuckles apparently was annoyed the most by the absence of Lubbock whom he had special plans for; this made Aria pissed and made a mental note to take Chuckle's skull back with them for Lubbock to put on his desk next to Champ's. Once the crowd was in attendance they instructed their subordinates in their concessions to feed the people treats that had been spiked with hemclover the entire audience ate the treats that were on the house and passed out; as did the throw away subordinates that Chuckles and Champ had taken on for the purpose of the show.

Run then found out about what happened to his class first; his class had been the first to receive the treatment, his colleague and good friend Professor Aidua Lentagi who had chaperones and co-taught his class was gang raped by Dopey Dick and his subordinates in a brutal fashion first before being made to watch the 'show' as Chuckles called it. The boys of his class were given to Giggles Gillian who according to the account had them fill every hole in her body and when they had passed out, she cut their throats with a pair of scissors. The girls were given to Slim Jim who raped them in a fashion Enshin would be proud of before killing them in brutal fashions, killing some a lead pipe and cutting off the breasts of some to have them bleed slowly to death. Lubbock's class suffered a similar fate but that was all Champ entirely by himself; their substitute teacher being crushed to death by Champ with a sledgehammer after he was forced to watch Champ rape his entire class.

Chuckles himself had all the best as he called it to himself dressed up as the God Tariskath who was the deity of primal instincts and fertility with a brass mask while raping girls and boys. The whole incident lasted six hours before the victims were all dead; they then used their front people as mind-controlled slaves to bury everyone in a mass grave before having them drown themselves in the nearby Kakaki River just for kicks. A week after the incident Chuckles and Champ had a falling out, Champ wanted to move onto the next town while Chuckles wanted to stay in Joyuu as the failure by the local government to investigate to establish a large scale crime syndicate that trafficked in children, the two weren't able to reconcile their differences and Champ struck off on his own. Further journal entries described the connections Chuckles had in the local criminal underworld and his build up to a complete criminal monopoly; according to records all sorts of influence was going on, corruption of local officials, the local police, pretty much anyone susceptible to corruption was on his payroll and he was making billions each year with his enterprises.

When they finished their studies Aria and Run sighed and Run wept having found out what happened to his students. Aria took one more check and found out how exactly the Teigu Chuckles had worked and how best to counter it. Mysmeria was a Teigu designed on mind control and shadow manipulation, in a way it was similar in design to Noctis Wave in terms of abilities but it had some noticeable flaws. The weapon itself was Dragon Arm where Noctis Wave was a Dwarven Arm, meaning that the Dragon arm which had been made by humans was not as potent as Noctis wave as the human Teigu manufacturing process was not as good as the Dwarven process. Next its abilities could be resisted by people of strong willpower who could overpower the control. Its power could be broken by a Teigu of similar abilities in shadow manipulation if its user activated The Teigu's trump card.

Also Chuckles seemed to be interested in Teigus and had books on the subject; which Aria and Run ignored reading; they then restored all the journals back and met up with Angela and Ieyasu who had discovered a secret basement torture dungeon along with all manner of implements of torture; including some of the more exotic ones like the Judas Pear. With the information they gathered they left the home of Chuckles the way they found it and began to plan a battle strategy; one that would require bait to lure out the monsters and keep their victims who yet lived out of danger; in other words a trap of a grand scale was needed something that was too tempting for these scumbags to resist otherwise they would have to resort to picking off their targets one at a time which would take months they didn't have.

That Night in Melitine… the White Brows association was a group of skilled warriors however they were warriors that had never had to face Teigu users; let alone the White Knight; the plan was simple kill every last one of them. With that in mind the teams were ready; Mine took a keen look at the targets on offer and choose the one she considered the biggest threat; a large older warrior with battle scars. "You're Dead" Mine stated and pulled the trigger; the pink orb struck her target clearly; she then aimed again "You're dead too" Mine stated and fired again; Sheele, Sayo and Naomi launched their melee attack as the enemies came running out; while at the same time Lubbock with his team attacked from the back door.

Momentarily… "Hello! I'm going to call you Phil, as in Phil my fist!" Leone taunted and drove a punch clean thru a young recruit's skull then flung the body at two unprepared warriors while Yami blowed Scream to paralyze an oncoming group of five guards before readying Shambala.

"Shambala: Displacement!" Yami declared and two portals opened bellow the guards who fell into a volcano that Syura had informed her off before closing them an awestruck young warrior charged in Yami's direction she swiftly disarmed and disemboweled her opponent pulling him apart with her twin hooks; Lubbock and Syura darted thru the door; Syura teleported into rooms cutting down experienced warriors with ruthless abandon while Lubbock used Crosstail's strings to rip out the throats of his targets. Yami soldiered on into the main room where all the leaders of the group looked at her with lust.

"Boys someone wants to play" Gensai stated, Yami looked at them smirked.

"Shambala: Sky Portals!" Yami declared more portals appeared and dragged in every one of the 10 leaders of the White Brows association; depositing them airborne 20,000 feet above the street outside the building. Yami jumped out a window and looked for them as Lubbock joined them.

"Yami where did the leaders go, did they escape?" Lubbock asked.

"Nope; they will be making impact in about 5,4,3,2,1" Yami replied as Lubbock heard hoarse screams and winced as he saw 10 grow men go splat into the paved city street mangling them beyond recognition; the two were joined by the rest of the team shortly after as they had finished massacring the rest of the group; overall the 80 man group that was the White Brows association was now wiped out; the last step was make a dump of all the paper work and trash the place then plant evidence of a local guard battalion being responsible, said battalion was also on their kill list as they were part of Teketh's army.

"That was easy" Lubbock remarked.

"Yeah, I love the new Teigus did you see that splat; wow this is potent and I think I've found a go to combo; Scream to paralyze them and Shambala for a rapid surprise attack" Yami replied.

"So, are you glad you finally have a role on the team now?" Lubbock asked.

"Yeah; by the way this makes missions a lot easier, we can just show up randomly and kill our targets when they aren't expecting it; nowhere is safe for them now" Yami replied, Lubbock grinned and they returned to Grundewick manor.

Later… "Hey Syura that was well fun" Leone commented. "First mission fighting alongside your big brother and well that was epic" Leone complimented.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it; we should work together more often, hell if I knew you were my sister when I joined the group, I'd have insisted on us being partners" Syura replied.

"Yeah, we make a great team; so, what's your plan for the future, once dad is gone" Leone asked.

"My plan; Leone my plan is rather simple; once my mission is done I can return to Lady Asha's court and live with those I love; besides there really won't be much left after the war; you're capable of taking care of yourself and have Tatsumi to love, and Lily well she Tatsumi to protect her; besides I'm not one for politics I never was" Syura replied.

"Will you still see us?" Leone asked.

"Leone-Nii I'll gladly still visit; I'll keep visiting you to the year I die or you do; don't worry Family is important; the one thing dad was right about is that family should always be the first thing on your mind" Syura explained.

"Good; so, you want to have an arm-wrestling competition?" Leone asked.

"Oh! you're on sis!" Syura agreed and they readied themselves to arm wrestle.

Back in Joyuu… The carnival tents were darkened in the night and Chuckle's band of demented fellow monsters were ready to go forth and steal children and their families from their beds; Chuckles was accompanied by his personal entourage of small children which he fully controlled with his Teigu and used to lure in unexpecting victims, dressing them as beggars to elicit pity by some unlucky kind soul. "Alright my jovial band it's time for our fun and games; we've got much to do now that the others are asleep!" Chuckles spoke.

"Yeah but first boss lets head to the big-top for the big pep talk" Big John commented; a towering mass of muscle with light skin covered in makeup he resembled Champ wearing the attire of said monster.

"Yeah Chucky-muffin let's talk about our plan before we go get some cherry-pops" Giggles Gillian commented; the cute woman who was in her late twenties and wore the attire of a clown.

"Alright since we're all eager let's head to the big top for a pep talk and a warm up at the hands of my little Soldiers of Laughter here; pick your favorite girl or boy but Kotoko's mine" Chuckles replied.

"I'll take the sweet red-head cherry pop he's fun in the sack" Gillian remarked.

"I'll take the little green she's fun for tumble" Dopey Dick commented, the stout but slender man had deep blue eyes and yellow teeth clad in the attire of a clown which clung to him loosely, the others took their pick and held a child's hand escorting them off to the big top where Chuckles intended to do his usual warm up and rally of his troops before heading out.

When they arrived at the big top, they were surprised by four people clad in combat gear with weapons ready, two men, two women, each holding a different weapon. Aria held her Rapier in the direction of Chuckles. "We've been waiting for you Chuckles; tell me do you Fear the Night? Because if you don't well show you why you should Fear the Night!" Aria taunted.

"Night Raid?! What in that How the hell did you find out!" Chuckles replied.

"Yeah we have our means; by the way I should introduce myself the call me the Masked Warrior on my posters but I should let you know I'm very fond of torture, my husband calls me the Capital Angel, but to you and your henchmen I'm the Angel of Death!" Aria explained.

"You'll pay for what you did to my students" Run stated removing his mask. "Yeah is me Professor Run Arashi of Joyuu Free Learners Elementary History class; I'm after two of you in particular: though I'm looking forward to killing any of you monsters for what happened, but you two Jim and Jill I've got something special in mind: Jim I'm going to torture you make you suffer like you made my students suffered, Jill though I'm going to make you my bitch; you'll be my bed-slave for the rest of your life: Aria will lobotomize you; I'll show you both what suffering means" Run explained.

They cackled at the threats. "Laugh all you want clowns; want me to level with you, you're not as scary as you think you are and Belvaac is ready for a fight" Ieyasu stated and divided the axe.

"Ieyasu my love, please save some for me also if you think my daughter is scary, I'm truly terrifying" Angela remarked.

"Bring it then I crush you all!" Big John yelled and charged with a sledgehammer, Ieyasu flung one of the Belvaac axes and it cleanly decapitated the man who fell over limp.

"You fool: Divide and Conquer!" Chuckles Yelled and group split up to surround them. "Kids secure them!" Chuckles ordered and the group of children charged them with sticks and began whacking them with them.

"Noctis Wave: Wave of Confusion!" Aria declared and a number shadow clones of her appeared. "Detain!" Aria ordered and the shadowed picked up the kids slung them over their shoulders and carried them flying out of the room. "No leverage for you there Chuckles we planned for that!" Aria heckled.

"Have you planned for this then! Mysmeria: Dominant Mind!" Chuckles declared and his staff began to glow eerily but it had no effect on the four Night Raid assassins.

"Yep; planned for it too, you know you should have put a better lock on your door, also shouldn't have left all those journals of yours in easy reach" Aria replied.

"Yet I didn't write anything about my trump card: Mysmeria: Absolute dominance!" Chuckles declared and the staff glew brighter; all four of them now fought an onslaught of mental energy.

For Aria the scene changed and she was inside her mind. "You're mine now!" Chuckle's image shouted; Aria was compelled to walk towards it.

"No!" Aria yelled mentally. "I'm not going to be your plaything, I'm a woman, a mother in the making I have a reason to live I have a family of my own on the way and there is no way you're going to take that from me! Noctis Wave help me!" Aria begged.

A Beautiful woman a shadowy image of her mother appeared. "Then you have earned my power Aria Grundel: My Trump Cards; they will allow you to overcome the power against you" Noctis Wave replied. "Vesperus Makata! Imvarnia Mysmeria! KnIa Valkto Ranta! Kazakda Runi Embana! Shadows Reject!" Noctis Wave and Aria declared as one flinging back the energy back at Chuckles and out of her mind.

Presently… "Noctis Wave: Armor of Night!" Aria declared, dark midnight blue and black plates overlapped her entire body, her eyes turned bright red with the Headband of Noctis Wave turning into a full Bascinet Helmet with the normally blue ball now black as night on the side; Aria's face was now full demonic and her body was completely covered in armor. "Noctis Wave: Army of Shadows!" Aria declared and the shadows from the walls materialized in their hundreds seizing every member of Chuckles's entourage: Aria snapped her fingers and the shadows ripped apart all but the ones who deserved a long drawn out punishment: Aria held out her palm and Mysmeria went flying from Chuckles's hand into her grip. "This is yours no more! Its power will no longer bend others to your will nor lure those who are innocent to a life of torment and abuse: no it is mine I Aria of the Noble House Grundel, the Good Samaritans: Take Mysmeria as my own binding it to my will you serve me Mysmeria now!" Aria declared. The Teigu in her mindscape submitted eagerly "As for your trump card thanks for revealing it to me: Mysmeria: Absolute Dominance!" Aria Declared each of the enemies bent to her eyes completely pink forced to kneel by the shadows.

"Now for your punishments' Shadows restrain them mother get our bags we have a busy hour ahead of us and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it" Aria smirked and Ieyasu, Run and Angela grinned and the next hour was absolute pain and torment for the Monsters of Joyuu. Run was true to his word and did exactly as he said he would eagerly enjoy torturing Slim Jim to death; flaying him alive after gelding him, cutting his tendons, shoving a stolen Judas Pear up his rear and pulling it apart before slicing and force feeding him his Adam's Apple before he died. Then came Giggles Gill who he raped with eager dominance and all the ferocity she had his students; doing so until she blacked out; then Aria preformed an improvised lobotomy and removed Gillian's ability to resist making her completely submissive. Aria then tortured the Dopey Dick to death by using every single method in her book of torture implement plus a few more with the help of her mother; the Parents were ripped limb from limb by shadows and Ieyasu beheaded the various grunts with ease. At the end of it Chuckles was left jabbering like an idiot as Aria gave him the same treatment, she had his brother with addition of torture implements that she hadn't had the luxury of bringing with her but were kept in Chuckles's home; after it was done, she hands him to Run.

"For Joyuu" Run stated drew his Barretta and fired the first shot shattering Chuckles's left shoulder. "For Jaegers" Run stated firing again capping his knees. "For Esdeath" Run stated firing again shattering the right hip. "For my students" Run stated and emptied the magazine into the liver then flung the pistol to the side and picked Chuckles up by the throat; and pulled out a claw shaped double-bladed dagger. "For the Emperor" Run stated with finality and drove the blade into Chuckles's temples killing him without screams as Aria had yanked out his tongue, Run then removed the head from the corpse. "It's over" Run stated.

The following morning… The crackdown that followed afterwards was swift; all criminal connections that Chuckles had were rooted out and removed; Giggles Gillian was left in the custody of Chantel who was surprised by what Run had done but didn't lecture him for it; the woman had done the worst thing to his students and the fact that she was still alive was a testament to Run's limits; in this case Run figured rather than kill both of those people that slaughtered his students kill one and leave other broken, unable to escape and left as a trophy of his victory; granted at this point she was now a completely different person complete submissive and a servents; her past forgotten and Run gave her a new name: Gillian was dead; Lanya named after one of his students lived and would bare his children.

The rest of the trip to Joyuu proved to be enjoyable for Aria and the others after one last trip to Joyuu elementary where the spirits were put at ease, speaking of children, the 8 children who had been mind controlled by Chuckles in particular and who fought against them with sticks were all orphans, the masked child little brown haired girl, the Grundels adopted all of them.

Melitine a Week later… Aria turned to Lubbock. "Here I brought you a gift; closure; I'll tell you the story in full and then we'll tell Tatsumi when he gets back" Aria explained and handed Lubbock Chuckle's skull.

"What is this Aria?" Lubbock asked.

"The true Butcher of Joyuu; or rather the Mastermind of the Butchers of Joyuu; Champ's brother Chuckles; the brains to his brawn; his Circus of slaughter is no more and the dead can now rest in peace, I'll tell you more over dinner" Aria explained.

One Day Later in Najenda's office… "And that's what happened while you were gone" Lubbock explained to Najenda and Tatsumi.

"Well that was one interesting story; well we have a new day ahead of us and we'll enjoy it" Najenda explained. Little did they know it would be a last good day they would have for a week.


	48. I'm not Dead Please read!

**Author's Note: not dead**

 **Sorry Guys I haven't posted in a while I've been busy these past two weeks with a new computer also, this next chapter is one I want to factor in more of the suggestions from my Co Author Neo Byzantium so I have to wait in between messages, also this next chapter is pretty long but its also one where I'm having trouble ordering events but don't worry when its done the next chapters will be easier by comparison because I've been planning those out for a while now; though I may need suggestions for chapter 39 which is Doya's focus chapter so feel free to leave those, but I can now say who the last five focus chapters will cover: Mashiro with Womyn, Remus and Balluck, Ritone, Makoto with Fal, Air and Luna, Doya, and lastly Kurome. After the focus chapters are done we will advance the story with a game changing chapter 41 and begin the war in earnest; this war will have major differences from canon and will feature more fantastical elements as the Demons begin to threaten the world of Eden and Empire and the Revolutionary Army are forced to put aside their differences and unite behind the only leader who can unite them and stop Honest and the legions of the Arch Demon Valtor from destroying their world. When 41 occurs expect major plot twists and a few character deaths; no one from the main cast but a few characters will die to show off the threat; those that will die have already been decided and a recurring character will be among them I've already thought on his death scene and it is sad but it has to be done; I can say though everyone that is in the harem is safe as is anyone from Night Raid's team because screw canon killing them off randomly.**

 **Also I will note there is going to be a sequel to this and you will get hints as to what that may be in the next chapter and in chapter 38; I won't be naming names but the sequal will be a crossover, also there is going to be a second sequel in which I will undertake the Kuroinu Rebellion challenge; so yeah expect that in the distant future, 2020 most likely I'll probably start writing both after Empire's End and write the first chapter for both and decide which one I like better and then finish the one I like most first though I will hold a vote to decide which one you like better as I will upload the first chapter of both at the same time.**

 **Also I want to recommend my Winx Club fanfic because it is a story that is tied to this one; also the continuation of the final Sequel to Empire's End: World of Whispers will be in the works at some point I've got ideas for it.**

 **But that's all for now, any suggestions for the future chapters can be left in the reviews section; just don't ask for me to kill off any main characters because I won't do that or suggest Tatsumi cuck either Lubbock or Ieyasu because that will never happen, that's drama I don't need. So see you guys in the next chapter which if Neo's suggestions come in will probably done by next week at earliest.**


	49. Omake 8

Omake 8: Aria meets Starscream

"Hello everyone and welcome back to another omake, yeah its been awhile since we had one of these and don't worry the story isn't dead the author is working hard on the next chapter, and is taking in the suggestions of his Co-Author Neo-Byzantium to make this next chapter great. But where are my manners its me your favorite host and soldier for Justice: Seryu Ubiquitous!" Seryu introduced. "Today we have a special guest on our in studio panel outside, because reasons, and guest panelist; in leu of Tatsumi being currently in the clutches of a mob of desperate and horny fan girls his wife, my sister-in-law and best friend Aria Grundel will be filling in for him" Seryu explained and Aria entered clad in a flashy dark blue dress and her signature Teigu hairband but also wearing sunglasses. *Crowd cheers! *

"Hi everyone" Aria replied and sat down.

"What's with the sunglasses?" Seryu asked.

"They make me look cool, also I've set up some fireworks that should be going off in 3,2,1" Aria replied and multi-colored fireworks go off behind her to awe of the audience and everyone except Aria.

"That was amazing, hey you missed them" Seryu commented.

"I'm cool, and cool guys and gals don't look back at explosions" Aria replied removing the sunglasses. "So you said we'd be having a special guest today; and will be having a Q&A segment too?" Aria asked.

"Oh yes to both; now today's guest is an expert on well dying frequently, scheming, duplicity and humiliating slapstick; present our guest for today: the Decepticon Aerial commander, leader of the Seekers, frequent casualty and hater of all things alligator: Starscream!" Seryu replied and an F-15 eagle flies over the audience before landing a short haired brunette in a business suit climbs out of the cockpit, then transforming into a far too familiar robot (G1 Starscream)

"And fan girls; they will go to no lengths to find me" Starscream added. "My Human friend Alexis will be joining us on the panel; any questions you ask me will be directed to her as well" Starscream explained.

"Good now for today we have a special real we are going to run, a compilation of deaths featuring my friend Aria from all the various timelines in which she's died to ask hard questions about it; what is it that makes someone so disliked that their main purpose is to die repeatedly and in most iterations of the character and why is it their best iterations are when they aren't the bad guy" Seryu replied.

"Where did you get that?!" Aria asked pissed.

"From the writers of the various fanfics and of the 'Canon' Manga and Anime that comprise the Akame Ga Kill fandom" Seryu replied.

"Great: I thought I killed the writers of the 'Canon' Manga and Anime already?" Aria replied.

"No Aria you killed the publishers; not the writers; but if you behave well on today's show I'll give you their names and addresses" Seryu replied.

"Fine! But I'm going to hate this" Aria replied sitting down.

"I'll find this entertaining; I've always wondered how inventive humans can be when it comes to matters of killing and torturing their fellow humans" Starscream replied.

"Not one laugh at this montage or I'll let the fangirls know you're current position" Alexis replied.

"Why?!" Starscream replied.

"Because as someone who I know has died in practically every iteration he's appeared in, in some of which more then once, you can pity her" Alexis replied.

"Alright roll the clip!" Seryu ordered and the clip rolled. And the counter began showing each death; which has for the sake of the writer's sanity and hatred of wasted potential been censored and we'll jump right to aftermath.

20 minutes later… "I'll say I'm- shocked, she's died more times then me, and even Megatron wasn't that innovative; I'm still trying to wrap my head around the one with hair shaving, the one with the incineration, and that one with guiotenne; well I never thought someone would top my record of on-screen deaths but congratulations Aria, you've beat my record at least" Starscream commented. "But really your character in the source material killed people because of your hair?! How

"Please if you had hair you'd learn how frustrating it is; but me personally never, what idiot wrote that part? He's next on my list" Aria replied.

"Now what do you think it is that makes a character enjoyed the most when they brake the mold of stereotypical villain and become the fan favorite Anti-hero?" Seryu replied.

"If I had to be honest, dying frequently and being brought back for the same thing; that's the problem with being a fictional character; the writers have creative freedom and some of them are either geniuses or complete idiots and in some cases crazed mad-men who should be locked in an asylum" Starscream replied.

"Personally I think your best iteration was Armada, you had by far the best character arc of any Starscream character" Seryu commented.

"And he didn't come back for me as a side arc in Energon: really Starscream?" Alexis remarked giving Starscream a playful slap.

"Don't look at me; blame Unicron for wiping my memories and Megatron for making me his fanatic assassin; boy in Energon was I out of character and for once you had Shockwave acting like me in a tv series for once; for first time outside of the comics!" Starscream replied. "Besides it wouldn't work out unless I was a pretender" Starscream replied.

"You were once" Alexis replied.

"That was one off!" Starscream replied.

"Yeah, yeah, so was your death in Armada; sheesh and I wonder why we are still a thing" Alexis replied.

"Please because of the fans; now for Primus's sake can the fanbase ship me as a pretender with her; it doesn't work out as a full Cybertronion!" Starscream remarked.

"I'm interrupting this lovers bout as we are off topic, Aria what are you thoughts on character death" Seryu replied, Aria frowned.

"For me it's just being hated by such a broad swath of the fan-base to a point that whenever they try and fix what's wrong with the story they hate me to an extent that they don't try and change my character but leave parts of the original story intact even when it is some of the worst writing in the story; and among those writers that choose to go the easy way there is a certain portion of the fan-base that just hates me so much they think my death wasn't bad enough and would have me subjected to worse; sheesh give it up I'm not even the most evil character in the setting; save your brutal side for the likes of Champ, Zank or Enshin leave me out of that at least. But anyway the point I'm trying to make is what separates a good fanfic from a great one is that a great one throws away the original setting and re-establishes the lore and world from the ground up where a good fanfic tries to fix the flaws of the original story, and when it come to this setting there are few stories that fix the biggest flaw of the story itself and that is the beginning of it, but not just that the writers of the source material broke the number one role of a story and that was not having the main Character, Akame, actually there from the start, they waited too long to introduce her and to a point where the readers think Tatsumi is the main character and in way he truly is and his story gets twisted and ruined as a character by bad writing too. The deaths of Sayo, Ieyasu, myself, Bulat and Sheele make him even more detached and unrelatable, in fact that is the biggest flaw with this -ugh- IT'S NOT FUCKING CANON! Akame Ga Kill is that nobody is relatable to the audience and characters are killed off for shock rather than in ways that make sense also characters that should have survived like Sheele get killed off for shock value! Anyway I've rambled on but the problem I have is that the writers of this franchise's community both fan and official don't know how to use the characters and settings in a relatable manner and have essentially resigned characters to die out of a lack of imagination on their part: in two words characters like me are 'wasted potential' that rarely gets used right if at all and are confined to the role of casualties for the setting's body count" Aria replied.

"I know exactly how you feel Aria; a lot more because you only get the one episode/chapter before getting killed off me: I get a whole character arc and people hate my guts just because I was doing my job; for heaven's sake I wasn't and never was the bad guy; neither was Sheele we were both on different sides of the same war; and to me as a soldier she was no different from a terrorist; essentially my character has plenty of reasons to hate Night Raid, big one being my character's father getting murdered by them, then comes Ogre's death, which note that while he was a scumbag my character had no knowledge of this: overall character who can't be considered a true villain just someone on the wrong side and hated for not knowing it" Seryu replied. "Anyway, on that note lets move on to the reviews for a our Q&A and after that Starscream will watch Aria wrestle a fully grown alligator!" Seryu explained, and Fal rolls out the wheel of reviews.

"Well Fal spin the wheel and pull out our usual 3 questions for the week" Seryu ordered the wheel was spun, Fal then picked out at random three papers then handed them to Seryu.

"First we have a suggestion a new villain by one of our reviewers called guest? How unoriginal. This character will be used as the antagonist of chapter 37, one is needed, and you've filled that role perfectly" Seryu read.

"Second, we have Light8496 who asks when the author is done with Empire's End will he do the Kuroinu Rebellion challenge, the answer that question is yes as one of three sequels to Empire's end with Tatsumi once again as our main harem lead as he is trapped on Eostia which is Eve one of Eden's moons" Seryu answered with a smirk.

"COME ON LADIES I CAN'T KEEP UP!" Tatsumi yells from somewhere in the distance.

"Yep that's the fangirls, it will do you trouble, now for our final review and that is from Duckboi who asks if we are still taking suggestions for harem members and the answer to that is yes and no: yes but for the sequal as the harem has nearly been completed with a couple more additions as needs fit; but so far no additions beyond what the author has already planned; besides don't you guys think Tatsumi needs a break?" Seryu replied

"YES PLEASE!" Tatsumi replied from the distance.

"Who told the fans about where he was anyway?" Aria asked.

"Ieyasu and his big mouth" Seryu replied.

"HEY!" Ieyasu yelled.

"Please we all know you are a sucker for a pretty face" Seryu replied.

"Yep that was how you died in 'canon'" Aria remarked.

"Please that never was canon and never will be as far as I'm concerned" Ieyasu replied.

"Anyway Alligator wrestling time!" Seryu replied and Aria changed into a wetsuit before diving into a pool in which a full size Alligator lies in wait; Aria repeatedly wacks and then gives it the demon face before picking it up and throwing out of the arena.

*Alligator falls onto Starscream's face*

"AHH! GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Starscream yells and begins firing null rays.

"Well that's a wrap for today's Omake, this has been Seryu Ubiquitous tune in for future chapters and future shenangians; updates will likely slow down as we reach autumn when the writer starts college: until then expect updates whenever because nothing is regular here!" Seryu replied.

AND THAT'S A WRAP!


	50. Chapter 36 (It's Back!)

Chapter 36: Shadows of the Past, Preparations for the Future

Two weeks had past since Tatsumi's return to the Capital and things had been going rather well, his wedding to Shastavi had been a great and lavish ceremony which the two had been the main spectacle of and which caused Teketh no shortage of a headache to Tatsumi's enjoyment as he deemed the man deserved far worse but would be satisfied with humiliating him in any possible manner. Other things had gone much as planned; with the new Elite Seven at his own disposal and with information from Esdeath, Najenda and a few others on who the worst players in the Revolutionary army where he put out missions for the group to eliminate them.

Each mission had been successful thus far and Tatsumi was benefiting very much; granted the people he was having killed were lower down the chain of command but still removing them was to his benefit as it kept the Revolutionary army from obtaining major victories. On the flipside Night Raid missions had been making sure that the Empire didn't get a major advantage either; Tatsumi hated the fact that he had to prolonge a war in which people were dying in every day but it was a nessecary evil; because if either Honest or Falkland won the conflict they would murder countless more people in the wake of war. Thus, Tatsumi had to keep the two sides on an even playing field all the while in the background he built up his own personal military from troops in both factions with the goal of destroying the two and ending the fighting and killing for good.

The plan Tatsumi had come up with, with the help of Najenda, Aria, and Esdeath, was a multi-stage plan that required first there to be a deadlock in the fighting but also for some innovative tactics and most importantly Kurome to be on side which would require Dorothea to cure her of the addiction to and damage done by the drugs she consumed daily. Phase 1 of the plan was simple, expose Makoto to the corruption something which Tatsumi hated having to do but again necessary evil if the choice was A. A kid traumatized for life or B. let monsters win and destroy the world, it was an easy choice to make. After that was phase 2: assassinations; specifically getting Honest and all his top advisors into one place and using Yami's newfound Teigu abilities and a heavy Night Raid team to kill Honest and his scumbag advisors. Then came phase 3 seize the regency for himself and call in his supporters in the Revolutionary Army and kill Falkland; once that was done the war would be won and the killing would stop.

"If only it will all work out like that" Tatsumi thought, he was out on patrol with Seryu and Mez as was normal his focus being on any sort of scumbags that showed up in his path to kill. Well that wouldn't be the case today, rather he showed up at the scene of a crime with Seryu and Mez in to an noticed a conversation between two women, one a civilian the other a Captial Police officer.

The officer was a beautiful young woman about the same age as himself and Seryu; she had long flowing olive hair which stretched to her mid-section, her eyes were hazel in color, she was clad in the uniform of the Imperial Police with the armor as well, her figure was busty having e-cups that were bigger then Seryu's d-cups with an athletic hourglass build, she also had a high rank.

The other woman had short shoulder-length brown hair, her eyes were grey, she was beautiful but her body figure was that of a martial artist, granted she had a decent sized bust comparable in size to that of the officer, she wore the garb of a disciple of the Imperial fist, a black and yellow tunic with a yellow handband with black pants and long yellow sleeves, she also had on her right side a pair of Kusarigama along with a Dao sword above her left hip and slung on her back was a chain-whip.

The building they were in front of was clearly a small dojo temple for the Imperial Fist, it had its windows shattered and blood was in front of the place; along with the corpses of a few acolytes. "What happened here?" Tatsumi asked approaching the two women.

"Yes, what evil-doer is responsible for this?!" Seryu asked readying herself for day of Justice.

"Seryu?" the Officer questioned.

"Christine?" Seryu asked and the two looked at each other like they had seen ghosts then ran up to hug each other. "Christi-inni!" Seryu greeted.

"Seryu-maryu! I've not seen you in months now where have you been?" Christine asked.

"I got a promotion; I'm now a Jaeger and let me tell you it is absolutely fun; I've been thru so much fun its beyond belief" Seryu replied.

"Friend of yours?" Mez commented.

"Oh yeah: Christine here are my new friends; well new friend and husband" Seryu introduced, Christine looked at Mez and Tatsumi.

"Husband?" Christine asked surprised, looking at Tatsumi with interest.

"Oh yeah, Tatsumi come here" Seryu ordered and gestured to Tatsumi to come over.

"Hey; I'm Tatsumi, Seryu and I well we're a couple and married now, I'm a Major General in the Jaegers and Esdeath's right-hand man and husband; also if you don't believe me I've got pictures to back that up" Tatsumi explained and began to pull out his wallet.

"No need, I can tell you're being honest, and I've heard of you: Minister for Justice, that's a high calling, speaking of justice Seryu did they ever figure out who killed Captain Ogre?" Christine asked, Seryu frowned.

"I did, and- well its complicated- you see very complicated and I'd rather not discuss it here; anyway formal introductions are in order, Christine this is my Husband Tatsumi and this is is my sister-in-law and fellow Jaeger Mez of the Four Rakshasa demons ; well soon to be sister in law, the wedding ceremony is a couple days from now; her and Suzuka decided to tie the knot with Tatsumi" Seryu explained and introduced. "Tatsumi, Mez this is my friend Officer Christine Raldare, fellow soldier for Justice and comrade in arms, we joined the Captial Police at the same time and we've been friends ever since" Seryu introduced.

"Nice to meet you two as well, hey I've heard you Jaegers investigate hard crimes and I could use some help with this case especially you Seryu it will be just like old times" Christine replied.

"Gladly any chance to bring Justice to evil-doers is one I'll take; fill us in on the details" Seryu replied and the three grouped up.

"I will do that or rather have Rachel here do it, she's the only one left alive from this whole ordeal" Christine explained, and the other young woman came over.

"I survived by the fortune or rather misfortune of not being here: I'm Rachel Harding, disciple- now former-disciple of the Imperial Fist, my mentor Master Dersan and my fellow acolytes were killed, I found this scene when I came here this morning and- this is horrible, painful for me. Master Dersan was like a father to me, and the other acolytes like my siblings; now they're dead all of them and I- want justice and vengeance on whoever did this" Rachel explained.

"We'll take a good hard look over everything here; trust me Rachel whoever did this we'll find them and make them pay" Tatsumi replied, Rachel blushed looking at him.

"I'd be glad to help you in any way possible, do you happen though to know anywhere I can stay; I lived here and was out shopping when this whole thing happened I was gone for one hour and here in broad daylight everyone I cared for was murdered, I won't be able to live here anymore, not with the memories" Rachel explained.

"Hey you can stay with my wife Spear, she's a master of the Imperial fist and my instructor in it, she's also the former Prime Minister's daughter; you'd be more then welcome to stay with her" Tatsumi offered.

"Thanks, I'll take it, not like I've got any better options and she can help me finish my training" Rachel explained.

"I can do that too; I've nearly learned all Spear has to teach me and I can help you based on how far you've gotten" Tatsumi offered.

"Thanks- I'll take that offer too I'm going with you though I want justice for what happened here and I'm not going to pass it up" Rachel explained.

"Alright then; first things first lets investigate the crime scene" Tatsumi explained and they began a survey of the building; which had been ransacked; the but nothing of major value appeared to have been stolen which meant that whoever did this was in it for money; nope it appeared to have been personal.

Christine, Koro, and Seryu surveyed one part of the place while Tatsumi, Mez and Rachel surveyed another. Seryu looked over the bodies noting the method of killing; each person appeared to have been killed by a strike to the liver which had meant a slow painful death, the weapon was clearly a sword of some design, also the person who killed them must have been very quick as each person killed had died without a chance to react. "Hey I've found something" Christine remarked Seryu and Koro came over. "Look at this" Christine replied and indicated the corpse of an elderly man who was clearly the master of the dojo; he was clutching a photograph in his hand with a message written on it in blood. The picture was that of Rachel and of his other students the message however was short and clear. "I killed the others but left one alive, she was my target, I don't kill my targets, I let them live and suffer with the knowledge that those I killed died for them, Tormenter" the message read.

"Well this is interesting" Seryu remarked. "Looks like whoever did this has done it before, we're dealing with a serial killer; great another evildoer in the vain of Champ or Enshin" Seryu remarked.

"Champ? Enshin? I've heard of the second one but not the first" Christine replied.

"Champ was the Butcher of Captial and the Butcher of Joyuu; well one of them my best friend found out he was one of many responsible for the mass rape and murder; those responsible are all dead now" Seryu explained.

"So, you've had some interesting adventures since you joined the Jaegers, shame I'm not able to join by virtue of not being a Teigu user" Christine replied.

"I agree with that, honestly though speaking of what have you been doing these past couple months?" Seryu asked.

"Well since you joined the Jaegers, I took over Ogre's old position; I've since dedicated resources into the usual wiping out evildoers and criminals whenever they show up; granted not been easy without you but I've managed" Christine replied. "So Seryu how did you and that handsome hunk of a husband hook up?" Christine asked.

"Well Aria introduced him to me and well over time we grew on each other but what settled the matter and caused us to truly fall in love was the takedown of the Syndicate leadership, he saved my life from the leader of the Syndicate by taking a serious risk and getting extremely lucky with that risk. He also taught me what True Justice is, after that mission well we returned to Grundewick manor, we confessed our feelings and well we made love; about couple weeks later we married. Since then we've been having sex daily; I haven't gotten pregnant yet but I've got an instinct tonight will be the lucky night that he gets me pregnant; which will be a damn shame because then we won't be able to have as much fun in the bed" Seryu replied.

"So is really that good?" Christine asked.

"Oh yes, completely, he's definitely a total stud, knows how to make any woman tick and on top of it he's a master of many forms of pleasure; trust me when it comes to a husband, I couldn't have picked anyone better" Seryu replied. "By the way I can tell you're interested in him, advise is don't beat about the bush too long, when he proves himself to you take the opportunity by both hands and get with him, I promise he is abosolutely worth it" Seryu replied, Christine blushed.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi took a good look at the rooms of each of the victims looking for any evidence; he had split up to cover more ground with Mez surveying one set of hallways and him and Rachel surveying the others. "Stop" Rachel stated and indicated towards one room in particular.

"What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"There's some things in need to get out of that room, it's mine and I'd like to collect the more important things, then we'll need to head to my Mentor's room; if they haven't been stolen there are a few artifacts there that need to be collected for safe keeping" Rachel explained, Tatsumi nodded and followed her in. "You know I'll need your help carrying some of this stuff" Rachel explained then handed him a set of scrolls. "Don't read those, personal records; too important and private" Rachel explained and handed him a bag to put stuff in.

They quickly collected the important things that Rachel needed: some small statuettes to her patron gods and goddesses, a set of knives that had etched inscriptions and were made for ritual ceremonies, her jewelry, and a few other odds and ends. "What about everything else?" Tatsumi asked.

"We can come back for that later but for now I'm just making sure the important things are safe cutie" Rachel replied and flirted, then frowned. "Sorry if I may have offended you with the last part" Rachel added.

"Don't worry no offense taken; lets go" Tatsumi replied and then they went to the personal room of the master of the shrine; in it were a number of sacred relics that Rachel collected and bundled up along with a photograph of her mentor.

"Something's missing, there was a photo of all of us here and that's gone: I hope that we can find it" Rachel explained. "Now what was your name?" Rachel asked never having got it.

"Tatsumi, I'm well pretty famous" Tatsumi replied.

"Nice to know that; you know you're a really generous person offering to take a complete stranger into your home" Rachel replied.

"I'm just doing the right thing; Aria, my wife, told taught me that those who do good to others will receive good in return" Tatsumi replied.

"Well that's good, now I need to pay you for your kindness in someway I don't have much though" Rachel explained.

"Don't worry it's a gift of charity, just a simple ask of kindness I don't need a reward for it" Tatsumi replied.

"Really? Well I'm willing to give you something special for your kindness and your willingness to help" Rachel explained.

"I think it can wait till later, I'm sure you'd like to get settled in first before we do anything of the sort" Tatsumi replied.

"Sure; why not, heck I don't even know if this is too good to be true, but if it is too good and it's true well, I'll have something for you indeed" Rachel replied and they resumed their search for clue.

An hour later… The search bared little evidence beyond the note left by the killer; further investigation was handed over to normal police forces while Tatsumi took the case in a broader spectrum city wide; it was once again a needle in a haystack search and in this case the only option seemed to be to wait for the killer to strike again as much as he hated that.

Tatsumi concluded his patrol and headed for Night Raid HQ while Seryu and Christine escorted Rachel to Spear's place, the two then intended to look for more trouble. Tatsumi's arrivel was greeted by Merraid who kissed him on the cheek. "You know Tatsumi tonight is our date; 4:00 Tatsumi at the Silver Rose" Merraid replied.

"Thanks for the reminder; you know Merraid you're the first girl I met that thinks a brothel is a suitable place for a date" Tatsumi replied, Merraid giggled.

"I can't resist the lovely girls there; you can't resist them either so why not partake in that bounty of beauties" Merraid replied and kissed him on the lips before inserting her tongue into his mouth.

"What's going on?!" a familier voice shouted, Tatsumi and Merraid stopped kissing and noted Mashiro, clad in the garb of an instructer with the three girls from the Group of Terror behind her; Balluck, Womyn and Remus; all three of the trio of trouble as Tatsumi affectionately nicked named them for their habit of getting into it and causing it were beautiful woman, of similar build, strength, height and were the same age. Their figures were all compareable to Sayo's being of the same bust size, sharing the same curves and being compareable to Sayo over all, they also shared the same fashion sense between the three of them dressing in black shirts, white jackets, white skirts and long black stockings. Each though was a completely different person in both appearance and personality.

Balluck had light amber hair and maroon eyes, her beauty was serene; her hands graceful in spite of her atheletic build, her hair was long about shoulder length but restrained in a bun which was held by a scrunchie and a pair of knitting needles, at her back was a large military cleaver with a multi curved blade that was her Teigu Rompheia: Giant-killer; it had the ability to kill any target with a single hit and unlike Muramase which required poison to do the job Romphiea was pure unadulterated slaughter and was one of the weapons that had been brought by Cassandra.

Womyn had short bob-cut black hair and sweet green eyes of a darker shade then Tatsumi's own eyes, she wore a set of square black framed glasses and had at her side a Jian sword the Teigu called Jetsu: Weakness Bane, a sword that found the weak spots in any opponent's defensive position, which was a good thing because Womyn tended to be over eager and could easily extend herself into fights beyond her ability, this led to Tatsumi and Najenda to have her assigned to work with people that could temper her over eagerness; but Tatsumi worried that kind of behavior would get her killed; Martha told him that it nearly had in her first mission, if it hadn't been for a well-placed arrow fired by Martha from her bow an opponent with a great axe would have cleaved her in half.

Remus had blonde hair with an golden tint to it, her eyes were deep peridot green, said hair was long about shoulder length and she was perky over all; she was the youngest of the the group being about two years Tatsumi's junior; the fact that she had managed to survive as long she had was something of a miracle considering the fact that Martha had to twice overturn an ordered termination on her, managing to save the girl's life twice in the early days and allowing her to reach her potential after two bad preformances in previous missions. Her weapon choice was that of a bow, not different from Sayo however she lacked a Teigu; however she more then made up for that deficit with skill that made Sayo lose three times in competitions during practice; she also remembered her parents quite fondly and hated the Empire's leadership for ordering their deaths after the second failure.

Tatsumi's relationship with the three was a friendly one, all three respected him and considered him a dear friend for saving them from Mengele and Womyn had an obvious crush on him from the several times he had intervened to save her life on smaller missions. Granted between the three of them they weren't amazing fighters by any means; trained yes, skilled a bit, but serious threat to an experienced opponent no. "Get a room you two" Mashiro replied, Tatsumi noted her annoyance; Mashiro usually wasn't this moody but given that today was a day she had planned out in advance she was moody.

"Nice idea we'll do that" Merraid replied.

"Wait, Mashiro what are you doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Taking these three out for training; after that last near disaster of mission they need it; especially Womyn" Mashiro explained.

"It's not my fault" Womyn replied.

"Please we Womyn it was your idea to charge our target from the back, yelling sneak attack, if it hadn't been for my throwing blades we'd have been run down" Balluck responded.

"Hey at least I killed him" Womyn replied.

"Yeah you did, and alerted half of the guards in his immediate area; the goal of the mission was to kill our target without inflicting unnecessary casualties" Balluck replied.

"You two really know how to gripe" Remus replied.

"Shut up Remus!" Both said at the same time.

"Enough! Ladies I'm going to whip all three of you into shape: Tatsumi; you're going to help instruct them" Mashiro explained.

"What? Why me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because Tatsumi you are the best warrior Night Raid has and possess a number of different things you can teach them: starting with Womyn, she's the weakest link in this group because of her overconfidence I want you to drill that out of her" Mashiro explained.

"Right now?" Tatsumi asked.

"No tomorrow smartass. NOW! Not like you have anything more important to do" Mashiro ordered.

"Give me one hour; also need I remind you that I outrank you as a Major General now" Tatsumi replied pulling rank for the first time.

"Fine; but if you show up a minute late: I'll clobber you" Mashiro replied.

"Ok ease off" Tatsumi replied and eloped with Merraid heading to her room.

Shortly… Merraid caressed Tatsumi's nipples as she blowed him; Tatsumi smiled grinning as his Butterfly Queen caressed his length with her tongue and her lips licking the tip creatively before engulfing it into her mouth; sucking on it tenderly all the while smiling as she did so. "Merra" Tatsumi moaned. "Let me please you too" Tatsumi requested Merraid stopped.

"Gladly Tatsumi, my dear I love your tongue" Merraid replied, and angled herself allowing Tatsumi to get at her nether regions before resuming her own tongue work licking the sides of his length before wrapping her breasts around it and warming it in the valley of her bosom; Tatsumi at the same time inserted his tongue Merraid moaned into her blowjob as he did so; he caressed her ample butt cheeks with his hands. This was bliss to Merraid; while actually it was bliss when she was with any of her female partners but with Tatsumi it was pure unmitigated nirvana; Tatsumi could do things that none of her previous partners could do, not even Gil and Akame could do some of those things; granted a good deal involved him being a guy and having a penis but there were things that he could do with his tongue that he did so with gusto and ease.

Speaking of Gilberda she casually walked into Merraid's room the door having been left unlocked. "Hey love birds hope I'm not interrupting something" Gilberda greeted, both stopped.

"No you aren't really" Merraid replied sarcastically, Gil laughed and locked the door.

"Please I heard you two moaning and well I couldn't help but want to see who you were with, was it Akame or Tatsumi; because either way I was looking forward to it" Gilberda replied, and removed her clothes; underneath them she wore no bra or panties, but she did wear a set orange rose-patterned lace stockings and a garter belt in addition to a set of peculiar underwear, being it left her loins exposed along with her rear.

"We then feel free to join in; Tatsumi's full of energy; granted we've got about 45 minutes to work with until he has to leave" Merraid replied.

"I intend to; especially since I was looking forward to spending some time with you too Merra" Gil replied and climbed onto the bed she pushed Merraid upward and mounted Tatsumi's length. "Oaa!" Gilberda moaned as Tatsumi's length speared her she adjusted easily but still though each time she had to remember how big Tatsumi was.

Gilberda began bouncing, Tatsumi resumed licking and fingering, and Merraid captured Gil's lips in a kiss before using her tongue to lick Gil's left breast. "Ooh! OH! Ah! Merra- Tatsumi-kun!" Gilberda moaned as she was being pleasured, Merraid's right hand caressed her blonde hair Gil returned the favor by caressing Merraid's back; all the while going up and down on Tatsumi's dick with no sense of care for time. Tatsumi had been on the verge of an orgasm before Gil walked in she had just given him the extra stimulus needed to cause him to do so; and come he did filling Gil's womb with his seed.

"That was amazing Tatsumi" Gilberda remarked as they dismounted.

"I can agree Gilberda now why not show him what you can do with your tongue while I show you what I can do with mine" Merraid replied and they took an interesting position.

Tatsumi laided back with Gilberda laying back against him taking him in the reverse cow-girl position sitting up with his head on her shoulder, Tatsumi began to thrust in and out of her pussy while Merraid crawled over like a praying mantis before lowering herself to the front of them; she licked her lips and kissed both Tatsumi's length and Gil's outer folds and alternated between pleasing either partner. Gilberda turned her head to face Tatsumi, their green eyes looking at each other before they kissed a tender loving kiss. "Tatsumi-kun I- love you more then life itself" Gilberda confessed in between kisses. "I'd OH! So deep, deeper please Tatsumi-kun" Gilberda remarked. "I want to be with you all day please Tatsumi kun?" Gilberda begged.

"What about me Gil am I not good enough for you?" Merraid replied sarcastically.

"Please Merra we both know I want to just spend time with him; granted some of that time may involve some sex but I'm wanting to just spend time with him" Gilberda replied.

"And what are you going to name your children when you have them" Merraid replied, Gil blushed she hadn't thought that far ahead.

"I want my first daughter to be named Carolina, and if it's a boy Kaleb" Gilberda replied and moaned as Tatsumi went deeper; Merraid then palmed her nipples before pressing herself against Gil and Tatsumi rubbing her loins against theirs before kissing Tatsumi.

"I'll name my son Daniel after grandpa Daniel and my girl Babara after granny" Merraid replied then kissed Gilberda on the lips before turning to Tatsumi. "Hey Tatsumi, have you ever been in this position before?" Merraid asked.

"Not really" Tatsumi replied.

"I have an idea pull out of Gil" Merraid replied Tatsumi did so reluctantly, to Gil frowning. "Now let me and Gil rub really close each other" Merraid replied grinding her loins against Gil's. "Now put it in" Merraid ordered Tatsumi did so to moans from both girls; the angle they were at allow him to put his length into a valley in which he could switch which girl he was in by slightly alternating his thrusts; the scissor position merged with a form of double penetration; well if he manuveured properly which he did.

Both moaned repeatedly as Tatsumi alternated between them; every ten thrusts he switched going between two beauties; Tatsumi then adjusted the position further allowing him to be in between the two while his length still swaped between them; eventually he realeased again but this time his orgasm was at an angle in that the release went into both of their passages; getting both pregnant at the same time; granted Merraid was already but hadn't yet been showing the symptoms.

The next half hour was filled with fun between the three; of the two girls he loved giving it to Gilberda more but liked having Merraid give it to him in return with both loving everything he did to them, they finished with 5 minutes left to spare allowing Tatsumi and Gilberda to change into more appriorate attire for training; Gilberda leaning on his shoulder.

Tatsumi shortly arrived at the training ground with two minutes to spare and noted that Mashiro was putting the Trio of Trouble thru an intense regime of calisthenics to which he simply waved to them. "I'm here" Tatsumi greeted, Mashiro turned to him.

"Good and with two minutes to spare; now Tatsumi- good you brought Gilberda that makes things easier. Alright Tatsumi you're in charge of training Womyn, Gilberda you're in charge of Balluck, no flirting, and I'll instruct Remus now let's get to work!" Mashiro explained and they then went off to different parts of the training ground.

Shortly… "Hyah!" Womyn shouted and sliced at Tatsumi with her practice sword, Tatsumi dodged and parried the blade out of her grip with his own practice blade.

"Alright I can see what Mashiro meant when she said your too overconfident" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I've killed most of my enemies with attacks like that" Womyn replied.

"That's luck, moderate skill, and I'm guessing the enemies you were up against weren't exactly up to par; now how many times has someone saved your life from an enemy?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"Recently or since I first started fighting" Womyn asked.

"Recently first and overall after" Tatsumi replied, Womyn frowned.

"Six times; twice Mine sniped an enemy I didn't see, then one time Leone ripped apart an experienced guard who had me at bay with his spear, then there were a few others, Remus shooting another enemy I didn't see, Sheele cutting down an enemy who tried to knife me and well most recently you cutting down a noblemen with a concealed gun that he had aimed at me" Womyn replied honestly. "And I've been thru so many close shaves too, before all this" Womyn admitted.

"Alright now I see the problem, you're suffering from tunnel vision and your fighting skills aren't amazing by any means; you focus on your opponent and don't pay attention to your surroundings and your sword techniques are well decent at best and sloppy at worse and not good against a well prepared fighter" Tatsumi explained, Womyn frowned.

"Can you teach me how to do better? You know you're the best sword fighter in Night Raid except Akame but Akame scares me she always has what with how well emotionless she can be in a fight, but you Tatsumi you're way more approachable and don't like killing" Womyn requested.

"That's exactly what we're doing now I'm going to show the finer points of sword fighting; first I want you focus yourself think before acting" Tatsumi explained, Womyn calmed herself thinking. "Now don't hesistate, initiative is key and losing it puts you on the defensive as such I'm going to have to teach you defensive combat" Tatsumi explained and readied himself. "Now come at me" Tatsumi ordered and Womyn struck, launching a flurry of rapid strikes each of which Tatsumi blocked and parried knocking the sword out of her grip. "The key to a good defense is weathering your opponents' attacks and then using their own energy against them in effective counters; a good defensive fighter lets their opponent make the first move then takes measure of their opponent before countering them and striking them down" Tatsumi explained.

"That makes a lot of sense, I was told by my instructers that the best defense was a good offense, to go into a fight expecting to die and coming out alive" Womyn explained.

"Your original instructers were people that were training you as a a throw-away warrior, they didn't want you to reach your true potential; granted you made it into the Group of Terror which is an elite unit but you were nearly murdered by your superiors twice for failure and nearly died on a number of combat missions; they viewed you as a bullet, fire and forget, I don't view you like that Womyn. You are a strong, beautiful young woman with a great deal of potential, you just were never taught how to use it properly, surviving thru sheer luck and the support of others; in Night Raid sometimes you're alone against a number of enemies; we're outnumbered against an evil Prime Minister with near limitless resources and man power, so we need to make every one of our members worth a 100 of Honest's soldiers; no worth a 1000 of his soldiers" Tatsumi explained, Womyn hugged him to his surprise.

"Thank you for your advice and your kind words Tatsumi-sensai I will strive to prove myself worthy of your respect and well your love" Womyn replied and kissed him on the cheek. "You saved me and my friends from that monster Mengele and well we never got a chance to thank you for that, I want to thank you at least for saving us from that monster; but that can wait first I want you to teach me everything you can and I'll be the best student you've ever had" Womyn explained.

"I'm glad to hear it; you know you're the second person I've ever had to educate in the art of the sword and well I'm still learning myself but I'll teach you everything I know and help you to become a better fighter Womyn" Tatsumi explained.

Back in Melitine…

Syura took a good look in the mirror noting his appearance; he had just woken up from a nap and noted something. "I hate looking at myself; especially knowing the fact that so many innocent people saw this face as the last sight they saw as life left their eyes" Syura remarked to himself. "To think that death would change a person so deeply; well coming back from it makes you rethink your life" Syura added to himself. He saw in his minds eye the last person the monster that was him before his first death killed; well raped and murdered; she was a young girl about 16 and a pretty girl at that, he considered her a toy; to play with until that toy was broken and when he was done toss her aside. Her face haunted him; along with the hundreds of other woman he had abused and murdered. "I can't let it go; I really need to make amends: Lady Asha what do I need to do?" Syura said to himself; his door opened and Leone walked in dressed in more modest attire then normal.

"Hey big bro" Leone greeted, Syura turned to face her, his face still grim. "What's wrong?" Leone asked noticing his expression.

"I'm- sad; conflicted; I can't get them out of my head" Syura replied.

"Who?" Leone asked but knew who he was talking about.

"Those I killed when I was still a brute; father's favorite son, a monster who treated innocent women and girls like toys and threw them aside in brutal manners when I was done with them, but it's not just them but one in particular; her name well I never knew it I just called her Blondie because that was what she was; she was some slave our father brought to me for my last birthday; I enjoyed the time I spent with her, but when I was tired of her well I threw her away; I flung her from a balcony of my father's manse. I can't get her face out of my head; it happened the night before I died for the first time and well her face is scarred into my memory; you know I wish this resurrection had taken away those old memories but- I know they're there to keep me on the straight and narrow path; but still she haunts me; haunts my dreams; I- need to let go and confront my monsters" Syura explained.

"What you need is a day of cheering up; first things first you've been looking at yourself in a mirror you still see the face of a monster; well time to change the look; what you need is a new look; a new haircut, and well something distinct" Leone explained.

"Yeah you're right a new look would do me good" Syura replied.

"Yeah it would now let your little Leone-nii-chan take care of that" Leone replied then lead Syura to a parlor; she then had him sit on a chair in the middle and wrapped a cloth over his chest before fetching a pair of scissors. "First things first you need a new hairdo" Leone explained; and gave his hair a trim; shortening it to nice crisp short cut, it took her about ten minutes and when she was done, she handed a mirror to Syura.

"Well look at that; you'd never know it was me" Syura replied. "Still though this mug needs something else to make it well not look like the old me" Syura replied.

"How about something to show off that new religion you worship?" Leone suggested.

"Yeah that's actually a good idea; during my stay with Asha I met a man who had a spider tattooed on his forehead; he explained to me that spider was one of Asha's many creations in terms of races and was symbolic of her weaving of the web of souls; it's about as symbolic of my goddess as you can get, the man is the brother to Asha's consort and well an interesting guy in his own right and taught me magic; I think it would be a good symbol of my new found faith a release from my old past if we did that; you know though I'm going to need a new cover name we're going to have to go out in public and well I can't just use my old name" Syura replied.

"That's a great idea, as for a name why not call yourself by the name of the man who taught you, what was his name?" Leone asked.

"Arantir; yeah I'll just go by that name" Syura explained and summoned his faceless herald without speaking, the herald transformed from small bat to a figure with a mask like face, wings like those of an angel and covered in robes that concealed the entire lower half of his body; in his hands were tattoo tools of a magical origin, Syura leaned back and the faceless began his work which took only a few minutes before finishing, Leone held up a mirror again.

"Now what do you think?" Leone asked.

"I look like a completely different person, hell I don't think dad would recognize me" Syura replied and laughed knowing that Honest would recognize him with his eyes alone. "I think we could stand to do a patrol together; want to head out for a couple of drinks while we're at it?" Syura replied.

"Nah; as much as I'd love to I got a feeling I shouldn't especially since I may be pregnant with Tatsumi's child" Leone replied. "But after my pregnancy over you and I are going to do exactly that" Leone added.

"I'll remember, drinks on me" Syura replied.

"Right but first how about another arm-wrestling match?" Leone asked with a smirk.

"You're on, you beat me last time and I've been practicing" Syura replied then the went over to a nearby table and held out their arms beginning the match. Syura was strong but Leone was stronger; in fact, she was the strongest person he'd ever arm wrestled and he had wrestled his share of people that had a point to prove. Leone slammed his hand into the table and pinned it there for about 10 seconds, despite Syura struggling. "Damn sis never met a woman who could beat me at arm wrestling consecutively, in fact never met one who could do it at all" Syura replied. "Shame we're both related and you and Tatsumi are a couple we'd make a good one ourselves" Syura remarked Leone laughed.

"Yeah; if you were like this from the get-go in life; probably would have been better for you if you were" Leone replied.

"Yeah; well let's go" Syura replied and two left Grundewick manor.

Later at Dorothea's lab… Dorothea was monitoring Kurome's vitals; Kurome had volunteered for an extensive battery of tests to help Dorothea in the creation of a cure; Esdeath had acquired the resources needed for the creation of one true to form but Dorothea needed to note some missing variables; one being way to repair the damage done to Kurome's body overall by the drug; each step was one taken with caution but also one that Dorothea needed to take fast, she only had two months to develop a cure as Kurome's condition was worse then what she had originally thought when she first examined her.

Speaking of said drug, Dorothea had decided to have a secondary side project into investigating its creator; she wanted to find out who was responsible for creating that abominable chemical and permanently remove that person's ability produce other twisted things that no civilized scientist would do. Things got weirder when her door opened and in walked Tatsumi with Kyoko, carrying her as she still hadn't healed from her broken legs, and two other woman both of Dorothea recognized as Gilberda and Womyn; luckily Kurome was in a medically induced coma to allow her to focus on tests so that she wouldn't immediately jump up to wrestle and drag Tatsumi off to sate her sexual needs, the enhanced libido was an unfortunate side-effect that Dorothea noted was a result of an aphrodisiac that had been mixed into the later batches of the drug which Kurome had been given as she got older no doubt put in as means of creating a sex slave for high ranking scumbags to play with. "Tatsumi? What is it" Dorothea asked looking at him?

"I need some medical expertise, Aria is out and about, and Angela- well was in the middle of something private with Ieyasu and well I don't know or trust any other doctors and I need someone to look at Kyoko" Tatsumi explained making sure to avoid mentioning that he had walked next to Angela's room and heard her and Ieyasu making bacon in her room.

"Yeah I've not being feeling well these past few days so when daddy came home, I asked him if he could take me to see a doctor" Kyoko explained.

"Alright then; I'm one of the finest medical doctors in spite of my well focus on other pursuits I'll look you over" Dorothea replied, Cosmina came into the room and glomped Tatsumi.

"Tatsu-kitty!" Cosmina greeted and kissed him repeatedly covering his face with purple lipstick.

"Cosmina please air!" Tatsumi moaned and she let go.

"Sorry; I get over eager and oh its sweet little Kyoko-chan I love you my sweet" Cosmina replied and picked up Kyoko and hugged her gently.

"Hi aunty Cosmina; please put me down" Kyoko replied, Cosmina did so and Dorothea led them to a nearby room which served as checkup room; well for basic medical things; Toby and Mimi were in the room restocking supplies that Dorothea had taken out for Kurome's medical needs.

"Alright Toby, Mimi I need you two to go keep an eye on Kurome; I've got to do a quick medical test it should take me 20 minutes; if anything out of the ordinary happens to Kurome alert me immediately" Dorothea ordered, the two nodded, said hi to Tatsumi and the others with Mimi kissing Tatsumi on the cheek.

Tatsumi put Kyoko on the bed for the patient and Dorothea began to look her over; running the usual battery of things doctors do during a checkup; along with a few additional things. Soon however Dorothea identified the problem and frowned and teared up. "Tatsumi, Kyoko; I don't- know how to put this in way that will hurt less than it does but- Kyoko- she's pregnant" Dorothea explained.

Tatsumi was angry; angry not at Kyoko but at Teketh. "That Bastard! Great the worst thing to happen to Kyoko; not only does she have to go thru the trauma of rape at an age so young but also, she has to now go thru pregnancy at that same age to and become a child mother?! TEKETH!" Tatsumi yelled; then began crying. "I- that monster- how could he do this to you Kyoko?! It's bad enough that he raped you and broke both of your legs but he now his seed is in your womb; I'm not judging the child for the sins of the father but I'm mad as all hell that the suffering from his crimes is going to drag on: but don't worry Kyoko I'll be there for you, and everyone else; and when you child is born that baby will be born in a peaceful time and Teketh will be gone crushed" Tatsumi ranted, Kyoko teared up.

"I don't want this! Why?! But I'm not scared I'm going to have this baby and I'll be strong, but what if my baby grows up to bad like its daddy" Kyoko replied.

"Don't worry Kyoko, Leone was born from similar circumstances, and this time don't worry your child will have a large supportive family to help care for him or her and we'll live in a time of peace you child won't be a monster like Teketh who will be long gone and forgotten before then" Tatsumi reassured Kyoko hugged him.

"That vile scumbag; I'd love to see you give him a piece of your mind" Gilberda commented.

"Me too Tatsumi-Sensei" Womyn added; Tatsumi nodded.

"Thanks Dorothea for your help; I hate that this has happened to someone so sweet as Kyoko but well there's nothing that can change that now; I'm going now I've got other things to do; a case to crack and I promised I'd show Womyn some of the more 'interesting' techniques" Tatsumi explained; Womyn grinned at the mention.

"Interesting techniques?" Dorothea asked.

"The kind that involve a great deal of practice and privacy; yeah she's agreed to it and most of them involve some of Aria's techniques and a bit of Chelsea's" Tatsumi explained; he was actually referring to sword play but if Womyn who'd been staring at him with lust for the past month and half and who said she wanted to 'reward him' for saving her from Mengele wanted to well see what he could do with his 'other sword' he wouldn't turn her down.

"And I have a few things to teach her too if she's interested; we Oarburghs rarely share our secrets with people outside our clan but in this case with our clan's numbers stretched thin and because of Tatsumi I'm willing to educate Womyn and the other former Group of Terror members in my clan's fighting styles; the basics and a few advanced techniques as they aren't fully part of our clan yet; but it will be enough" Gilberda added, Tatsumi picked up Kyoko and let her climb on his shoulders.

"Yes, now let's get going, thanks Dorothea for the help" Tatsumi responded.

"You're welcome, I'm happy to help the man I love, anyway I have to continue my development of the cure; it's a good thing I don't need sleep thanks to my Teigu but even then I'm still up to arms in work; even with my assistants; well good luck I'm going to get back to work on that cure" Dorothea replied and the group began to go their separate ways. "Wait Tatsumi I've got something I want to show you real quick a new invention of mine" Dorothea explained, Tatsumi nodded handed Kyoko to Gilberda and followed Dorothea who led him to her testing grounds, with the usual testing pig carcasses ready for the test; Dorothea then pulled out a strange silver metal cylinder.

"What is that?" Tatsumi asked.

"This is the first stable prototype of a new weapon I've developed; I had some issues naming it, but I've called it a Lightsaber" Dorothea explained.

"It doesn't look like a saber" Tatsumi replied, Dorothea ignited the weapon and orange plasma blade buzzed forth.

"I've called it Lightsaber for a few reasons the big one in this case being first off it is lightweight, gives off light and has a saber's flexibility as a weapon" Dorothea explained and sliced one of the pig targets in half. "It's powered by a Rykbar crystal, orange in color, and uses an energy cell to power it; the crystal generates a blade of focused plasma capable of cutting thru pretty much anything as I've found in the testing; I consider myself a skilled swordswoman and the blade will be my go to should I close a distance; granted I've got plans to develop addition ones but this prototype took me about a decade to figure out and the actual construction is a painstaking task, one misaligned component and the weapon will likely explode; Tatsumi this is the future of swords granted it will be a luxury item given to only the best soldiers but it has extreme potential as a weapon" Dorothea explained.

"Wow: and I thought Teigus were impressive" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course the weapon has some limitations a big one being Teigus are completely resilient to it as I've tested using Heavy Pressure as a stand-in granted risky but I suspected that the Teigus would be able to take a hit, not even a burn mark on Heavy Pressure; also some alloys are resistant; mithril being one such alloy, the hilt is made of it, and is another reason why these things won't be mass produced any time soon" Dorothea explained.

"A Fascinating weapon Dorothea; however please focus on Kurome I don't want to lose her, speaking of how is she doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Considering the fact that she's had to tone back the amount of the drug she's consuming its having some effects on her mental state and for safety concerns I've had her secured here; if her condition deteriorates I will have to move her to intensive care; point being she's going to be out of action for a while and won't be leaving here until I can develop the cure" Dorothea explained. "Now go, I've got to continue my work on it; granted even working on the project 22/7 I'm still on a time crunch" Dorothea concluded, Tatsumi nodded. "And before you ask no I don't need sleep; not anymore thanks to my Teigu I'm more then capable of ignoring said needs; only taking breaks to feed; good thing I've got no shortage of pigs to feed on" Dorothea added, Tatsumi left and met up with Gil and Womyn then left.

From there they headed to Spear's place; Spear had indoor training dojo suited for Tatsumi teaching Womyn some of the more intensive techniques and Gilberda had plans for the evening when he and Merraid got back from their date.

Shortly… "Tatsumi you and I tomorrow night are going on a date; just you and me, no one else and we'll enjoy it" Gilberda explained.

"What exactly do you want to do?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I've got some ideas; Merra did suggest a few places granted not the Silver Rose as you two were going there yourselves after all; I'm a bit more picky when it comes to places to go; Umatora theater will do followed by time at the Sapphire Palace where you and I will spend the night" Gilberda explained.

"The Sapphire Palace?! Gil that's the most expensive pleasure palace in Melitine; it's in the heart of the upper district and a number of Honest's business associates go there" Tatsumi replied. The place had a reputation: the Sapphire Palace was the epitome of the place where everyone had a price, where any sort of comforts could be provided, it used to be one of the older Royal Palaces a few centuries back but when the present palace was erected over the Grand Hill of the Suns during the rule of Empress Yahana the Illustrious it became up for grabs; it was purchased by a number of powerful merchant families who held extreme influence in Melitine who did so in exchange for covering the expenses regarding the present day Palace. The Nobles did what the did best when it came to a grand structure: turned it into an epitome of decadence and luxury; a place where any pleasure of the flesh could be purchased and where people who enter it sometimes didn't come out at least not in the way they came in; wealthy merchants entered the place only to leave near bankrupt paupers. As to why Gilberda wanted to go there was beyond belief.

"I know it is, which means it has the best of everything; and because some of Honest's supporters go there it allows for some interesting potential killings; targets that aren't on our lists" Gilberda replied. "Besides I want to know if the place's reputation for the best courtesans in the Empire is justified; they say that they were educated in arts of pleasure passed down from Empress Merraid I the First Oarburgh Empress and I would love to see if any of them are capable of rivalling Madame Merra herself" Gilberda added, Tatsumi blushed; the thought of that made him all the more interested plus a chance to kill some of Honest's top supporters; that was almost too good to pass up.

"Fine well I'm going to now train Womyn in those more extensive techniques" Tatsumi explained.

"Go ahead; I'll keep an eye on Kyoko and Spear" Gilberda replied and left Tatsumi who went upstairs to the dojo; where Womyn was waiting for him.

The teaching of the more advanced techniques, which were a mix of Tatsumi's own adaptive fighting style with the addition of Imperial Fist rings, proved to be extremely difficult; it wasn't that Womyn lacked the euthusiasm it was rather she still left a great deal of openings in her defenses; and focused on offensive strikes which while effect wouldn't do her good against a more elite target like say and Empire General who led from the front or an elite mercenary warrior. Either way Tatsumi was determined to teach her defensive techinques and he made sure to teach her well. They spent two hours doing this and Womyn was better off then when they had started but still had a good deal to learn.

"This is tough" Womyn replied panting from getting up.

"It's meant that way; at least I'm not putting you thru the conditioning that I've been put thru; speaking of how did you manage to survive the grindor of that Imperial training you were put thru?" Tatsumi replied.

"Thru persistence, bravery, and dumb luck as you put it, that and teamwork I never left the group behind I always stayed with the team because with the team you survived in training and later on in battles; being alone is never a good thing in war" Womyn replied.

"Right, but sometimes you are on your own; look at me, I was with Ieyasu and Sayo on my way to Melitine for the first time but I was sepperated from them when we were attacked by bandits; I killed an Earth Dragon on my own; and a good deal of my fighting before I left my home town was done on my own; but you're right you should stick with the group when you've got one in war; but sometimes you're on your own which means you need to be able to take care of yourself you can't afford to take needless risks when you don't have someone to watch your back; which is where my training comes in" Tatsumi explained. "And for the moment we'll be focusing on defensive tactics until I'm comfortable with your knowledge and skills in them" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright; now I could use some motivation and like I said before I never did get a chance to thank you for saving me and my friends from that monster Mengele, you took a hard hit from him and I'd like to see that scar" Womyn replied and hugged him, kissed his forehead and began to remove his training Gi; underneath Tatsumi wore only a pair of black boxers. Womyn blushed as seeing his body, his toned physique, his abs, and shed a tear at seeing the large scar on his left shoulder joint where Honest's sword had pierced him. "Ouch, did Mengele do that to you?" Womyn asked.

"No; that was Honest's doing; speaking of I've never underestimated an enemy as dangerous as him before and never will again; Honest is arguably the most formidable opponent I've ever faced in my life; he nearly killed me and wasn't going all out where I was nearly going all out, I wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for Leone and Sheele forcing him to retreat or for Aria's medical skills" Tatsumi explained then turned to show his back; a large scar across it which had five clear claw marks from Mengele's attack was visible.

"That's the scar you took saving my life and everyone else from that monster?" Womyn asked.

"Yep: this one though took less time to heal then the one Honest gave me; that had something to do with the regeneration I gained during my fight with Mengele; Valruost granted me that ability from draining out his blood" Tatsumi replied, he didn't turn to face Womyn who he heard removing all of her clothing after she locked the door to the dojo; Womyn then leaned on his shoulder and kissed his ear.

"You did it for me; and Balluck, and Remus, and all those other women and girls you save; including those maids you took as concubines" Womyn replied. "You're the type of man who deserves special gifts, something I've kept for years but am going to give to you; my love, my virginity and my hand as your wife or concubine which ever you prefer; now though let me tend to your needs and mine too" Womyn seductively said in a soft voice.

She then got on her knees behind him and removed his boxers. "Wow what an ass; so cute" Womyn commented and fondled his rump, she then took her tongue and began giving him a rimjob; Tatsumi blushed and yelped a girl had never done that to him before and well he was enjoying it, he also enjoyed the softness of her hands when they clasped his erection and began a handjob. The caress of her tongue and the gentle massage with her soft hands was amazing to Tatsumi; soon she stopped the rimjob and moved in front of him and got on her knees and looked at his length. "Damn its even bigger than it felt" Womyn replied and wrapped her d-cups around the length and began to massage it.

Tatsumi was in a valley of pleasure with his length and it became better as Womyn caressed his tip with her tongue, licking the pre cum up before kissing it and taking it in her mouth; her soft lips working wonders. "Man she's good at this, I wonder if she's really a virgin" Tatsumi thought; she engulfed his length further easing it into her mouth and removing her breasts before deepthroating him; her hands fondling his balls before letting his length go and going down to said balls to suck one with her mouth before picking up the length again and deepthroating him once more. "Ah" Tatsumi moaned as Womyn continued suck, her lips going up and down as his length went in and out sucking it with gentle caress and licking it inside her mouth.

"Cumming!" Tatsumi moaned after 3 more minutes of pleasure; Womyn deepthroated him and swallowed the enter load, she then licked the tip on more.

"That was fun now show me what you can do with your lips" Womyn remarked and laid down; Tatsumi got down on her level and began to lick her vulva, caressing the folds with his tongue, before using two fingers to part the folds and enter her vagina proper. Womyn moaned as he did this and moaned even further when he placed his hands on her breasts and began to massage and grope them.

"Tatsumi-kun. Tatsumi-kun!" Womyn moaned as Tatsumi ate her out she clasped his hands as he continued his breast massage, Tatsumi noted that her barrier was indeed intact and kept using his tongue to the maximum; it was too much for the virgin Womyn to bare and she orgasmed covering Tatsumi's face in her juices. "Sorry, I'm a bit sensitive" Womyn apologized, Tatsumi blushed.

"It's alright? You ready for the main event?" Tatsumi asked, Womyn nodded.

"Do it; I'm ready for you, been ready for a month now" Womyn replied Tatsumi clasped her legs and placed them up in the missionary position as he entered her. Her lips met his in romantic kiss as he entered her, blood flowing as her hymen was shattered; Womyn kissed him harder as he did that opening her mouth inviting in Tatsumi's tongue which she met with her own locking the two as Tatsumi thrusted in and out of her at an even pace; going in and out of her, his phallus a sword and she its sheath. He broke the kiss and came down to her breasts and licked her left areola to stimulate the nipple before taking it in his lips and beginning to drink from her; Womyn wrapped her arms around him as he did this and giggled a pleasant giggle and kissed him on his left ear as Tatsumi continued, she also nibbled it gently kissing it licking it with her tongue before turning to his right ear. She then wrapped her legs around him planting them on his hindquarters as he gave her his best, he swapped breasts making sure her right got the attention it deserved before kissing her again as he came close to his limit. "Tatsumi I'm cumming" Womyn moaned.

"Same here!" Tatsumi replied.

"Fill me up stud-muffin Tatsumi-bun, give me all your cum the whole load" Womyn replied wrapping her legs around him tighter, as he came. Tatsumi pulled out and Womyn flipped over and readied herself. "Well then Tatsumi I heard from a little birdy you love to fuck girl's asses, well my cute little ass is begging for it" Womyn teased, Tatsumi oblidged and entered her again, in a different hole before thrusting back and forth Womyn moaned cuter and louder moans as he intensified his thrusts.

This went on for another hour before Tatsumi and her stopped; it was near 3:00 PM and Tatsumi had to get ready for his date with Merraid. Tatsumi for this occasion put on a fine orange and blue suit made of fine cotton and puffy pants of the same color he then put on a mask his Black Fox mask and looked at himself in a mirror. "Well Tatsumi you've sure out done yourself; this is a good measure so that no one will recognize you there; got a reputation to keep up and can't have Honest finding out I'm a fan of high-class hookers and fine wine otherwise he'll have assassins ready and waiting" Tatsumi commented to himself. "I hope Merraid has outdone herself too I love this masque and even better is that nobody will recognize me apart from Merraid" Tatsumi thought as he put on his normal sword.

He then left for the Silver Rose arriving at about 3:20 where Merraid was waiting for him and she wasn't alone. Merraid wore lovely indigo gown which covered with glitter she also wore a butterfly mask and her signature silver necklace, she looked radiant. However she wasn't alone she was accompanied by a familiar beauty in a red and black dress which was festooned with illustrations of nightshade and hemlock flowers she wore a red and black mask which resembled a scorpion, granted she was absolutely lovely and to other people an exotic nameless beauty but Tatsumi knew those blood red eyes and lovely raven locks anywhere. "Good to see you here early" Merraid greeted.

"And good to see you too, you look absolutely radiant in the winter sun: my Butterfly Queen, and you too my Black Rose" Tatsumi replied, noting Akame.

"Merraid told me you two were going off to have some fun and I just had to tag along; I refused to stay by myself when the two people I love most where having an enchanted evening with fine wine, overpriced caviar, salmon and pork, along with high class courtesans; some of my favorite things; all of them" Akame remarked.

"And I could just let my dear rose Akiri stay behind bored out of her wits; also, Mashiro hid all the bacon" Merraid added. "Besides its better an enchanted evening with my two-favorite people in the whole wide world and lovely women whom I can share with both of them; you did bring the money, right?" Merraid explained.

"Yep I did bring the money; a small fortune; don't ask how I managed to get here without being accosted by varlets in search of my fortune my dear butterfly" Tatsumi replied, this was a very good cover; as far as the people here were concerned the Minister for Justice and Fun had shown up with two exotic beauties that were obviously his paramours and for the sake of cover identities Merraid would be referred to as Madame Merra a rich heiress with exotic tastes specifically that of female company and Tatsumi being her sole male lover whom he was courting, which was the truth as while the Oarburgh fortune wasn't as massive as it once was it was still sizeable as good assassins were a prized commodity in an Empire with noble houses constantly jockeying for power and wanting to eliminate their rivals. Akame took the alias of Akiri the Black Rose a consort of Madame Merra and Tatsumi who would go by his own name. The reason for the masques in this case was to protect the identity of the latter two, Akame's hair was styled in ox-horn buns on either side of her head and she allowed herself to smile and produce a relaxed composure of a kind that was contrary to her usual cold ruthless assassin programing.

Speaking of assassins Akame actually had more freedom to maneuver then her wanted poster status suggested; mainly because her status was officially unknown; specifically her membership in Night Raid, her bounty was for desertion and murder of two high ranking Imperial Officers who had been assigned to manage the Elite Seven in the wake of Gozai's death, the two were nobles who had earned their positions based on their social status as opposed to any real competence which led to their deaths when the group deserted; also Akame's wanted poster didn't outline some key details and Tatsumi was in the process of having the appearances on the wanted posters altered to a point where each Night Raid member who had one could walk freely in Melitine without attracting any suspicion much like him.

In fact arguably nobody had any reason to suspect Tatsumi of being a Night Raid member especially the General public who as far as they were concerned he was one of the few good apples in the Imperial court and one of those that cared for the Empire as whole, and that he was loyal to the Emperor which was true; he was loyal to Makoto not the Revolutionary Army but wasn't loyal to Honest either; in a way he had created his third faction without ever really noticing it.

Going inside Tatsumi walked in with Merraid and Akame holding either of his hands; with the latter leaning on him as she did so; they strode inside and approached the madem who explained the business policies of the Silver Rose. Unlike other brothels in Melitine, the Silver Rose and other high-class brothels didn't have pimps, the prostitutes themselves were independent employees keeping their pay apart from that needs for operating expenses of the business and their own personal finances. The place was more similar to the brothels in Zartek, but without the exotic flare that came from Zartek's position as a trade hub and crossroads; the women and men who worked at the Silver Rose apart from a few Lizardmen and Lizardwomen from the Southern provinces were human; however while human they were a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities that came with the multi-cultural Empire that the lived in.

Tatsumi and his dates then went upstairs after Tatsumi took a good look around for any potential spies of Honest or any of the other major rivals he had made; the most recent being Lord Ricardo Estaban. Specifically because Tatsumi had been smitten with his daughter Isabella; her exotic skin and beauty was too much too resist and she was equally smitten with him when they were at a formal ball, which led to the two slipping away from the event and retreating to his chambers at the palace where she and him made passionate love and Tatsumi drank eagerly from her olive skinned E-cup breasts; of course her father found out and well in order to prevent a scandal married the two but he absolutely despised Tatsumi for this slight against him and depriving him of one his best political assets that being his daughter who was an excellent money manager and good at negotiating in addition to being a good choice for a potential alliance down the line.

Exotic beauties of course were Tatsumi's forte and when he and his dates headed upstairs, he was immediately smitten with lust upon seeing one. A lovely purple scaled lizard woman, with a fine lavender crest and long flowing mane like plume of soft crimson feathers; her breasts were ample and she was curvaceous; her soft lips too keen; and her eyes while crimson in color were too sweet to look at. "What an exotic sight" Tatsumi commented looking at her and speaking to her.

"Greetings warm-blood; and what handsome sight are you; I trust you want to see more; also, are your lady friends in need of company; there a few warm-blooded strong studs I'd recommend" the Lizardwomen replied.

"No such interest; I've- only got eyes for my beloved Tatsumi as far as men are concerned and my lovely black rose shares my opinion, however I am fond of women; I love the feel of soft breasts the feeling of two clits rubbing against each other or against a fine rump so soft and exotic; no pleasures are better save that which my beloved can offer me" Merraid commented.

"I agree with Madame Merra; compared to Tatsumi any other man would pale in comparison; but I love the softness of a woman's touch; especially that of my Merra" Akame commented and kissed Merraid on the lips, a kiss returned.

"My sincere apologies my ladies for assuming wrong your preferences; Tatsumi was it, I am Keti'Chaqua, the violet goddess, I'm new here and well I heard that there was money to be made for one of my kind here at the Silver Rose; call me Keti, my price is 5,000, an impressive sum especially given you'd be my first man; human or otherwise, as I am a what do your kind call it, virgin, I here a virgin in a brothel is a rare sight and as such one is worth three times that of an experienced bed-warmer" Keti explained.

"I'll pay you double if you not only spend the evening with me but also become my concubine; I'm sure that after you experience what I and my lovers have to offer anyone else would be unworthy of your beauty" Tatsumi replied then fished out as bag of silver coins. "Half now, half when we're done" Tatsumi explained, it was his policy. The purple beauty blushed at the sum and at his words. "Anyone else you can recommend I've brought a sizeable amount of Dukars with me, and my consorts and I have well a need for more women to tend to our needs; about 12 would suffice" Tatsumi explained.

"Don't worry I can help you there; I can see you are man of exotic tastes and your lovers are well likewise interested; I shudder at the stamina of a man that requires 12 women to keep up with him and the two women he brought with them; you know that could make a fortune here" Keti replied.

"You jest; I'd never spread my legs for money; I have a sizeable fortune, much less for any man who isn't my Tatsumi-kun, I'm his Butterfly Queen and as such he is the only man I'd spread my legs for, emphisise on man I'd spread my legs for any beautiful woman interested in me or me in them" Merraid replied.

"Likewise; granted Tatsumi was my first but he is still the only man in my heart, and Merra the only woman in my heart well apart from my sister but that's for family love" Akame added.

"You have a sister?" Keti asked.

"Yep, she and I well- its complicated, we haven't seen each other in two years now, we had a difference of opinion and went our separate ways; she's the only family I have left apart from my Tatsumi and my Merra, my parents well they are dead and well they were self-serving greedy assholes who had it coming selling me and my sister for a profit; my parents deserve to rot in hell for what they did" Akame replied.

"I see, I have only my brothers, spawn brothers born from our spawning; granted our kind are capable of reproducing normally but a great number of our kind come from the spawning pools; the old celestial beings who created our kind and shaped our world made us in that fashion" Keti replied, Tatsumi noted that information, Esdeath hadn't told him much about the culture of the Southern Lizardmen beyond what she knew which was limited, bringing Keti into his harem would be a fountain of knowledge on that subject. "Perhaps they can become allies in my war, after all they helped Esdeath when that time came" Tatsumi thought, thinking ahead as usual.

"After we are finished with our passionate love making, I'd love to learn more about your race Keti" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd love to tell you about it; my spawning brothers and sisters were those born as scholars and I am enlightened on the subject of our race though not as much as our Slaan Lords" Keti replied.

"What are Slaan?" Tatsumi asked.

"The greatest of our kind, they emerge only from spawnings and have not the gender of we the Sauros or of the Skinks, imbued within them is the knowledge and blessings of our creators, along with power unrivaled, they often spend long times in contemplation on the tablets and prophecies of the Old Celestials, and the Great Plan for our world" Keti replied, she led them around recommending the best women for their needs, Tatsumi paid them their payment and asked them minor questions before turning to Keti.

"What kind of prophecies? And what role to humans play in this Great Plan" Tatsumi asked being curious.

"Those of our creators, events in the future and past, some which have been fulfilled and those yet to come to pass; however among the sacred pacts one stands above the others; that of the race of humans: the prophecy of the Golden Dragon, the prophecy tells of a human, born of royal blood but raised among the common person, that human will unite all of Eden and lead us to an age of gold and into the stars; that human will defeat once and for all the demons that plague our world and other evils besides, he will live a long life, he sire many children and change the lives of every person he meets. Our people aren't the only ones to tell of the story the Dwarves tell of the Eighth Khazakar; the father of the race of men; the dwarves say that the forefathers of their race return to live among their kin every so often taking once more their ancient names; of which Mitsognier and Durin are the most renowned, but they tell of another one born of Human kind who will lead the world into an age of glory unending; the name of the eighth Khazakar is known only to their kind and then only the oldest of great clans. Also, other prophecies are told within that of every people and race of our world; they say also that when this Golden Dragon dies, he will be reborn once more but not in our world, but in another and with eternal life and the souls of those he loves most" Keti explained.

"That sounds like a wonderful prophesy; hopefully someday it will come true" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway, let us head to our room" Tatsumi replied with a wink, the scantily clad Lizardwoman smirked her lips opened to reveal fine polished fangs. "Also, when you give me a blowjob do so without biting me with those sharp teeth of yours" Tatsumi added, the Lizardwoman led him and his entourage to a large room.

The next hours were spent by Tatsumi, Merraid and Akame in various positions and enjoying the tongues and breasts and loins of the women employed to tend to their needs; Merraid getting a fine massage while licking out a brunettes clit, while said brunette gave Tatsumi head; Akame found herself in the middle of three beauties, a blonde and two redheads the first of which kissed her tenderly while the other two drank from her breasts and a fourth girl; a dark-skinned southerner ate her out; Merraid gave Akame some loving too while both of them received love in return from two girls each while the others were on the receiving end of the absolute beast that was Tatsumi. Tatsumi himself was glad to find out that Keti hadn't been lying when she said she was a virgin and snapped her barrier with passion while drinking from her breasts; which Tatsumi knew from prior experience did produce milk, the Sauros and Skinks tended to be more mammal then reptile with warm blood and having breasts which produced milk to nurse their young which hatched from laid eggs. Tatsumi loved the way her soft yet smooth purple scales rubbed against his skin and loved even more the wonders she could work with her tongue.

Later that Night… As Tatsumi was spending the night at the Silver Rose Honest was out and about with Teketh at his dark alter in the woods near the city; an alter he reached thru secret tunnels; which stretched under the Capital itself and led cavern network in the country side; he called this passage the black road which none should walk save they were permitted to do so or they would perish. The alter at the moment was in a state of readiness for rituals; Honest himself took a keen look around at the various things brought forth, but specifically the cages in which the evenings 'sacrifices' where locked in; much to the delight of the Prime Minister and not at all for the souls trapped with in; also each of these slaves had a mark tattooed on their forehead; this tattoo indicated their fate. The symbols were as follows: a dagger; which meant immediate blood offering which was to be killed with a ceremonial dagger before that person would be cooked along with other sacrifices to as an offering and meal for the parishioners. A tear which meant a sexual slave that would be raped by many of the participants men and woman alike before being awarded at a lottery to one lucky cultist as a bed-slave. A torch; which meant the person would be burned alive with the dead sacrifices. A hound which meant the person would be forced to engage in bestiality followed by gang-rape. The six tears which meant gang-rape along with several other tortures. And the most ominous being the Mark of Valtor itself; which meant that person would be dragged off by summoned demons to their lord bellow never to be seen again. There was also a variant of this with red cross which meant this was an offering in exchange.

"Well Teketh this our humble alter such as it is, we will begin your initation after the opening ceremonies and shadow prayers after those are done we will summon our lord or one of his herald who will take our offerings in exchange for whatever we desire" Honest explained, Teketh frowned expecting the group to be well larger.

"I expected there to be more of them" Teketh replied.

"Well our group has had a large number of involuntary removals recently; Night Raid you know" Honest replied, then adjusted his hood; Teketh dressed in black robes; solely the robes and boots; Honest himself wore similar attire but his robes were red and burgundy and he wore a number of accessories that indicated his position as high priest of this black cult. "Anyway I think if you're lucky Teketh you may get a chance to behold our Lord Below and if you bring offerings in the future a chance at well gaining his blessings; however you need the right sacrifices when you are dealing with the devil; all devils honor their contracts but they have high prices to fulfill them; you give up not only the offering but part of yourself as you do so" Honest replied.

"That would weaken me" Teketh replied.

"And make you stronger at the same time; Lord Valtor's powers have their price but the rewards outweigh the cost in my experience Teketh; also, don't get greedy to start out; start small and don't bother asking for your cock and balls back, Lord Valtor won't do it" Honest replied.

"Why is that?!" Teketh asked.

"First off you don't have the standing yet to do so, and if you did that well would take a heavy sacrifice, also Lord Valtor considers it well a bad idea because you have to explain to people why your cock is demonic in appearance but if you insist on it you'll need a great deal of things I don't know the specifics because I've never needed it nor are they set in stone; Valtor's prices vary even with the same contract" Honest replied; then sneered.

"I'll gladly take it; and my eye as well" Teketh remarked.

"Then you'll need a sizeable offering for both; also, once you make that kind of commitment your soul is even more his then before" Honest replied.

"How sizeable?" Teketh asked not caring that he'd be turning over his soul to a demon.

"Like I said the prices vary, you'll have to ask Lord Valtor on that subject, and you'll have to earn his favor before you can even think of asking boons of him" Honest explained then turned to the altar and gave a signal, dark chants began followed by sing of dark hymns to demons; then began the formal ceremony and Teketh's induction.

Meanwhile… Mashiro and the Trio of Terror were on a mission alongside Aria; their target a man named Hartan Lok, a slave trader and extortionist; this man had made attempts to try and kidnap children from Grundel Orphanages and as such he was marked for death after one of his snatchers was 'detained' and brought to Aria for 'interrogation' he cracked within the first 3 minutes and Aria gave him the mercy of a quick death by slicing his throat with one of her kukris. "Alright girls; grade A asshole and his gang of scumbags ahead; extra pay to the one who gets the most kills" Aria remarked; then activated Noctis Wave's cloak of shadows before silently dispatching the guards in front with simple slices from her kukris; then signaled for the attack to commence; Mashiro and the Trio of Terror charged in rapidly cutting down unaware guards before smashing down the door; where they then began to kill swiftly anyone that attempted to attack them. Swiftly they cleared their way thru the building before finding their target who was taking a bath; Aria disposed of him in brutal fashion by injecting him with carbolic acid solutions after a number of unpleasant tortures Aria had intended to use after finding out their target's crimes.

Everything had gone as plan; well now came the tough part of getting back to Grundewick Manor; in this case undetected; they went three blocks before this was ruined. Specifically, by Seryu and Christine who were patrolling the area in search of signs of the serial killer they were pursuing.

"Halt! What are you doing out so late and so well armed?" Christine asked, then noted the fresh blood on Mashiro's halberd which she hadn't had the time to clean off.

"Relax Christine, their friends of mine" Seryu explained, taking her friend a back.

"Friends of yours's? at this hour and with blood stained weapons?" Christine replied.

"The Capital is a dangerous place; trust me if they've killed someone or more then one person it was most likely an evildoer" Seryu replied. "Right Koro?" Seryu asked, Koro barked in agreement and ran up to lick Aria's legs.

Aria got down on her knees. "I love you too Koro" Aria complemented petting him. "Who's a good Teigu? You are" Aria baby-talked.

"Still though friends? Care to explain what's going on Seryu?" Christine replied even more weirded out by the situation.

Aria noted Christine and removed her masked helm. "Hey Christine" Aria greeted and walked up shaking her hand.

"Aria Grundel? What are you doing here of all places and out so late?" Christine asked.

"Alright Christine we'll let you know all the details but first we need to enlighten you on what's going on the city and where we factor into it; I know just the place to do so" Aria explained.

"Alright, is there some evil mischief I'm not aware of?" Christine asked.

"You have no idea Christine, you're in for a rude awakening when I show you how bad it has gotten" Aria explained and proceeded to show her the ropes.

By showing Christine the ropes Aria showed her the true rot in the Capital, the extent of the corruption as well as treated her to witness of the problems with the city first hand; Christine for all her bluster was legitimately horrified and scared to see the dark side of Melitine which she knew existed but didn't know how bad it truly was. By the end of Aria's tour of the state of Melitine and the Empire as a whole, along with explanations; she eagerly joined Night Raid without so much as knowing the extent to how bad it truly was; because Aria had only showed Christine the surface rot, the stuff that was easy to find and a constant problem, rather then the true horrors and twisted secrets kept by the monsters in human skin that masqueraded as caring public figures and ordinary citizens.

During this survey however as they were returning back to Grundewick Manor they found a shocking scene; a general store that was also featured an apartment was broken into with bodies of owner, his wife, of five children and his two dogs strung in front and about the building; the bodies didn't show signs of a struggle only that they had been killed swiftly and strewn in various positions to leave a message; also written on the wall were two cryptic words in blood; Gold Eyes.

"This was Mr. Yakimora's shop!" Christine replied and looked around, everyone else did the same and they searched for signs of any survivors or evidence. A quick search found a young girl, 3 years old, hiding under a bed with another six-year-old girl. "What happened here?" Christine asked.

"The bad man, the monster in a mask, he killed our family; killed mommy and daddy, our big brothers and our dogs; he- he- left us here alive- told us someone had to live to- suffer in misery" the six year old, a copper haired girl who resembled a young Seryu explained; Seryu picked her up and Aria picked up her sister.

"Alright its ok we'll take you somewhere safe; it would irreprehensible of us to leave you two here alone; don't worry Seryu Ubquitous and my fellow soldiers for Justice are on the case" Seryu explained and they carried the kids off to Grundewick Manor for questioning.

Shortly… "Alright now what did the bad man look like?" Seryu asked the older of the two girls.

"He wore a mask that covered his whole face, made of some shiny metal; his clothes were black apart from his cloak that was purple, he had a wavy bladed dagger and a sword at his side; his voice- creepy, he called himself the Tormenter; whatever that means. He said that he had killed everyone else but let us live to suffer from his actions; he said he enjoyed making people suffer. When I asked him why he said it gave him power" The older girl who was named Seri explained, her sister was named Natele.

"That monster what kind of person kills people watch their loved ones suffer?" Aria commented.

"A kind I've- heard of and seen before" Mashiro replied the whole situation had her on unease more than normal, granted Mashiro was always cautious when approaching things but this was another level of uneasiness.

"You have? Explain" Christine replied bluntly.

"Alright you want to hear it, fine; it happened about 3 years ago; I was do to be married to my childhood sweetheart we'd waited so long for it, we were perfect for each other; then on the eve of our wedding he was murdered and the bastard who did it made sure to make the point that he did it just to see me suffer" Mashiro explained. "Golden eyes though who could he be thinking of?" Mashiro commented. "Not me though; even if this is the same guy I doubt he's doing this kind of shit to win my heart; which he's more than wrong with because I don't date serial murderers much less people who do it for fun" Mashiro added.

"Whoever this monster is we'll stop him, just like we did Champ, Enshin, Zank and every other monster that has dared stalk these streets and commit crimes against the innocent; we'll make this new monster Fear the Night because if he doesn't and he clearly doesn't he should" Aria commented taking charge of the conversation.

Later that Night… Honest kept a keen eye on his new puppet; this boy, Kobi, was the spitting image of Emperor Makoto, the real trick was making sure that this new decoy was even more submissive and docile then the Emperor he was to 'replace' or rather take the place of until Honest grew tired of the charade and took absolute power. The brand of Valtor was new boon granted to Honest from his patron after a recent bought of sacrifices; the new ability allowed him to mark someone who was weak-willed with the brand of the demon lord bringing them under his sway; Valtor also explained to Honest that attempting to use it on people who are strong enough to resist the mark's influence would be a major error, also using the ability was quite taxing; but Honest only needed a little injunction for the broken Kobi who was now complete under his thrall. "Boy you are good at what I command you to do; I've got big plans in mind for you but for the time being you will serve as a body double for the Emperor and as such you will do as I say" Honest explained; looking down at the child.

"Yes Honest-san" Kobi replied in a thrall like voice; it was clear the mark on chest above his heart but that could and would be covered by clothing; no one need see the boy undressed save Honest for his twisted needs.

"Excellent; now continue to please me slave; put your mouth to good use" Honest replied and laughed.

The following morning… Tatsumi woke yawning noted the aromas of sweat and sex, but also of pomegranates and roses; he then noted his hands were wrapped around Akame who was asleep still while Merraid was using him as a body pillow; they had returned to the palace after their time at the Silver Rose, Tatsumi not wanting to take risks and the three of them had retired for the evening to his quarters; Esdeath and Sayo were in the middle of something intimate when he arrived so he didn't really have to worry about Esdeath's 'needs' and decided to tend to his own along with those of Akame and Merraid; both of whom had enjoyed it, now came an interesting idea he had; if Esdeath hadn't yet gone to start working he and Merraid could fufill Merraid's fantasy; the thought of which made him grin. As such he let go of the sleeping Akame and woke Merraid. "Hey Merra" Tatsumi whispered.

"Yes, my beloved?" Merraid replied.

"I've got an idea which I'm pretty sure you'll like but it may not be possible right now" Tatsumi responded.

"What is it?" Merraid asked with interest, Tatsumi whispered it in her ear and she smiled with glee.

Momentarily… Esdeath had woken up already granted though Sayo was there and she figured she had at least an hour before court preceedings so they may as well reenact the events of last night; Sayo was at the moment using her amazing tongue to please her loins much to Esdeath's enjoyment and Esdeath put her on par with Tatsumi in that department. The door opened and both stopped to look at the visitor.

"Tatsu-Bunny!" Esdeath yelled jumping out of the bed and glomping him in her birthday suit, Tatsumi blushed at Esdeath's breasts before breaking out of her bear hug.

"Easy on me Esdeath, I swear one of these days you'll break my neck in one of these hugs" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here I've got something in mind" Tatsumi added.

"Oh, and that would be" Esdeath asked then noted Merraid and yelped before covering her breasts and her loins.

"Please don't cover your beauty on my account Esdeath-chan; especially since we've met before" Merraid replied looking Esdeath in the eyes.

"Pray tell when was that? I don't recognize you but I trust you are one of the many lovers of my beloved Tatsu-bunny if so, I consider you my sister so there should be no bad blood or secrets between us" Esdeath replied noting Merraid.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember me; but I remember you fondly Esdeath, but perhaps if I tell you my name it will refresh your memory; does the name Merraid Oarburgh ring a bell?" Merraid replied, Esdeath frowned then remembered everything and readied an ice spear in her hands.

"Stay away from me you- you- pervert! I remember now fully you fondled me after a bought in the arena when I was 13 years old; you- what are you doing here?!" Esdeath replied.

"Hey Esdeath ease off the past is the past Merraid's changed since then she's not like that anymore; besides didn't we all make stupid mistakes as teenagers" Tatsumi interrupted diplomatically; Esdeath relaxed her weapon faded away into her essence.

"You're right Tatsu-bunny, we've all made mistakes, also Merraid's hormones were to be factored in I'm sorry now why is she here?" Esdeath asked.

"Oh Tatsumi-kun had an interesting idea involving a threesome between the three of us; if you don't want to, I'll leave you two be" Merraid replied.

"Three, three of us." Sayo interjected from the bed, not bothering to get out of it expecting that whatever the outcome of conversation she'd be getting Tatsumi's dick one way or another.

"Alright then Merraid I'll give you a chance but I have two rules first off I'm in control of anything you and I do, and secondly Tatsumi gets first dibs on whoever he wants to do first" Esdeath explained, Merraid nodded.

"Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!" Merraid replied repeatedly and giddly and eagerly removing her clothes, Tatsumi did the same and all three women looked at him with eager lust noting his full erection. Both Merraid and Esdeath slapped his butt-cheeks and led him to the bed where Sayo had already assume the doggy-style position which Tatsumi immediately went for allowing Merraid and Esdeath to begin; Merraid was pinned to the bed by Esdeath who grinded her loins against Merraids pressing her breasts against her and kissing Merraid passionately; Merraid just let Esdeath do her thing; Sayo had taught Esdeath well on how to please a woman having learned it from Merraid so now things had come full circle. Tatsumi watched the sight as he pounded Sayo's pussy and grinned as he saw his Butterfly Queen make out and bump and grind against his Ice Queen.

At this point Esdeath allowed Merraid to please Esdeath laying down and beckoning to her to lick her clit with hand signils Merraid did so a dream of her's finally realized and as she fondled Esdeath's breasts which had grown substantully since their ill-fated meeting when they were both 13, and which Merraid moaned gladly knowing both orbs were now Tatsumi's and she allowed her to share in those ample tits in addition to Sayo.

"Oh! Oh! Merraid!" Esdeath moaned as Merraid licked her out, Tatsumi unloaded in Sayo and came over to Esdeath putting his dick in front of her face; she eagerly began blowing him; while Sayo came over suckled her breasts.

Tatsumi used his hands to finger both Merra and Sayo simultaneously as Esdeath eagerly blowed him, sucking on it eagerly before popping it out and licking up his length the sucking on of his balls. Tatsumi moaned as all three women were being pleased by him wishing he had more then one body so he could fill the all holes of all three of his lovers; it was a case of three girls to one dick.

Even more so when Esdeath stopped sucking him and pushed him down; all three then came to it; Sayo taking his length while Merraid and Esdeath took a testicle and gave Tatsumi one of the best blowjobs possible: a triple blowjob. "I love all of you, so much!" Tatsumi moaned he was reaching his limit and soon he came, Sayo's mouth was overloaded by the seed and Tatsumi creamed all three of their beautiful faces, even getting some in their lovely hair which they didn't seem to mind.

"Hey Sayo, you have some of his seed in your hair" Merraid commented.

"So, do you and Esdeath" Sayo replied.

"Please it looks like snowflakes; after all isn't Tatsumi's seed the best hair gel" Esdeath joked and all three laughed, then pounced on Tatsumi. What happened after that was a blur, as every time he came he couldn't see who's mouth, pussy or ass he filled because someone else was on his face as he ate her out, also whoever wasn't getting his tongue or dick was eagerly tending to his balls with gusto. But what happened after that he remembered because he was pounding Merraid ass as she ate out Sayo who in turn ate out Esdeath who in turn was kissing him; her lips tender, her tongue moved with the grace of her sword skills and her breasts soft for his hands to rest on as hers held his.

The next two hours were followed by more passion and more positions about 64 of them and all four partners were finished after them with Sayo and Esdeath clinging to Tatsumi's arms as Merraid lay on top of him; his dick still sheathed in her pussy and her lips still kissing him as Sayo and Esdeath kissed him on either cheek.

Later… After Tatsumi finished his fun he left the palace and headed for Grundewick manor to find Gilberda for their day on the town but also to look for any leads regarding the mysterious Tormenter who now stalked the Capital. "Zank the Beheader, Champ, Richard, Enshin, Jamo. All of them monsters and all of them dead; this creep whoever he is will share their fate, no one who preys on the people of Melitine in that matter lives long, not with Night Raid and Jaegers around and especially not with me around" Tatsumi thought as he pondered the case.

Tatsumi had taken what was probably the least optimal path to Grundewick Manor but that was on choice; hoping he could find any leads; anything of note. What he did find was Christine who was on her own and decided to join with him for the time being. "Hey Tatsumi, tell me more about yourself, Seryu talks about you a lot and you've got to be one hell of man to earn her love; especially since for years I thought she'd never find a man for her considering how obsessed with her work she is" Christine asked.

Tatsumi blushed and smiled. "Well where to start; if anything else I consider myself a person who is both blessed and cursed; considering I've found myself great fortune, power and love, but all that comes with the trade off of no shortage of people who'd want to take that all from me just for being well me" Tatsumi explained. "I know that sounds cryptic but it's the truth; I was just a simple farm boy before I came to Capital, never knew my parents and I want to know them, then I came here with naught but my trusty sword that Clem made for me as a birthday gift, my clothes, my pack, my bracelet and my money the last of which I was conned out of immediately on my arrival. I then get forced to sleep on the streets of a park and as luck would have it or fate depending on which you think is more likely I met the most important person in my life, the person to whom I owe my life, love, and everything that's happened to me in this City to: Aria Grundel" Tatsumi explained, then told Christine more about himself, until she indicated to stop.

"You are easily the most interesting man in the world; Seryu and everyone else you love are blessed to have you; I've got no such man in my life; though I'd like to; my parents pawned me off to a nunnery when I was 12, I ran away; met Seryu in an orphanage and well became best friends; the Grundels provided me a place to stay, a job, and well the means to take care of myself." Christine explained. "You know I find this whole state of affairs hard to swallow, especially considering Captain Ogre was actually a scumbag I'd like to know though how he fell that bad" Christine added.

"Same here, granted I've found out how a share of the baddies I've killed and met became the monsters they were, and well I pitied them, except for a few; the worst of the worst: Champ, Enshin, Zank the Beheader granted I didn't kill Zank but I helped with that one, Jamo but above them all the one I hate most was that duplicitous bastard Richard; that man was evil incarnate. Granted not the most evil man I've ever met but still what he did was he made it personal on a level no one else ever did; he wanted to take away my best friends make Sayo as sex slave, torture Ieyasu to death and me along with him; in addition to taking my Aria from me; personally I'm glad Aria didn't give that bastard the satisfaction of her torturing him to death she just cut him and half was done with him; I swear people inviting me to have dinner and then trying to drug me with hemclover followed by wanting to kill me; they are the worst" Tatsumi replied.

"What about Honest?" Christine replied, immediately regretting the question as Tatsumi winced and pressed his hand to his shoulder where the scar from Honest's nearly fatal wound was, Aria told him he was absolutely lucky and that had that strike been one inch to the right it would have cut his corrated artery causing him die from a near instant bleed out.

"He's in a category of his own: he's also not to be underestimated, everything about him is a lie, his play of the jolly fat-man; not remotely; that fat isn't fat but pure muscle; his teeth are filled to points for consumption of his favorite meal: Human flesh. His eyes they are orbs of gold that are like goblin piss in color, his hands they aren't human anymore, every twist change deception; his Teigus are powerful and he is an absolute juggernaut in a fight, he wasn't even going all out in our first fight and he nearly killed me. The Man is pure unmitigated evil there really isn't a limit to how low he'll stoop and what depravity he'll engage, the man no longer human he's a demon in human skin; a spawn from hell itself, twisted and subservient to his master Valtor" Tatsumi explained waxing on the subject.

"Wow; I knew the Prime minister was an evil scumbag, but your description is well; shocking. Can I see it?" Christine asked.

"What?" Tatsumi asked.

"Your scar" Christine replied.

"Yeah but not here in public" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok, but you know I am interested in seeing way more than that scar of yours" Christine flirted; granted this was her first time flirting so she really didn't want to be beat about the bush.

"You sure about that because once my shirt comes off in private everything else soon follows" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah; if you're good enough for Seryu; not just good the only one for Seryu you're good enough for me" Christine replied then kissed him boldly on the lips; Tatsumi replied with his own lips and they kissed for a bit before breaking it. "That was my first kiss and it was epic" Christine remarked, Tatsumi blushed.

"Good well let's keep going when we get to Grundewick Manor we'll slip away into my room" Tatsumi replied and they continued onward.

Shortly… the round about route caused Tatsumi to pass Bols's home which in the absence of the Jaeger patriarch of said house Kije and Logue were busy gardening. Well Kije was because the moment Logue saw Tatsumi she shouted. "Tatsumi! Tatsumi! Come see me!" To which Tatsumi stopped and walked over to Logue and Kije, the latter of which keeping her daughter from bubbling over.

"Good morning to you too Logue, what is it?" Tatsumi asked with a smile on his face, he loved children, and Logue was a sweetie; he was even more glad to see her because her life hadn't been snuffed out or her body defiled by either of the monsters neither Champ or Enshin had so much as come close to touching a hair on her head.

"Hey Tatsumi, stay here I want to talk to you about something and I have something for you too I'll get it really quick" Logue replied then took off inside causing Tatsumi to look at Kije.

"Don't worry she's just wants to show her thanks and feelings for you Tatsumi" Kije replied.

"Feelings?" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi you've had a major impact on my daughter; she's- well super grateful for you helping keep her safe from the monsters that would've taken her innocence I'm grateful for it too; so is Bols and both her and me are glad that he has someone like you to be there for him" Kije explained then returned to trimming her tulip bushes or rather cutting down and killing the weeds which were attempted to smoother them.

Logue came running out of the house about two minutes later with a small box. "Tatsumi we need to talk; you've saved my life, my mommy's life, my daddy's life and kept me safe from monsters I didn't know existed" Logue explained. "With that in mind I can't think of anything to reward you with for; but this- my love" Logue continued and opened a box and Tatsumi shuddered. "I'm asking you to marry me when I'm big enough; so, I bought this using all my allowance to give you this promise ring" Logue replied, the ring was a small silver ring simple in design.

"Logue- I- don't know what to say" Tatsumi replied. "Kije are you and Bols ok with it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, if you are and when she's old enough to marry; look Tatsumi my daughter needs a man to look up to apart from her father and well you're it; I know it seems weird but it's her choice, are you going to reject her childhood crush?" Kije replied, Tatsumi looked at her then at Kije who was smiling so sweetly, it was cute and well he couldn't deny a sweet little girl her dream, especially when he had a protective relationship with her already.

"Alright Logue, I'll accept, when you're 16 and legal we'll marry; in accordance with Empire laws" Tatsumi replied, knowing the by laws.

"YAY! Thank you! Tatsumi-kun! I'll never forget it; now put on the ring" Logue replied handing the box to him; Tatsumi put on the ring and handed the box to Logue.

"Here keep it to remember our promise" Tatsumi replied, Logue took it and hugged him, Tatsumi got on his knees and kissed her. "I'll be there for you" he added.

"Thank you Tatsumi-kun" Logue replied as they hugged for some time, after this Tatsumi and Christine continued their way to Grundewick manor; without incident.

Shortly… It proved easy to get into Tatsumi's room without being noticed, the others were out shopping; Angela and Ieyasu were of course using their time for love, and the servants paid the two of them no head. Tatsumi helped Christine out of her armor and her uniform underneath it leaving her in rose red underwear which included nylons and a garter belt. "You ready?" Tatsumi replied removing his shirt.

"Fuck yeah; I'm ready and I want it hard and rough" Christine replied and eagerly removed her bra revealing her ample E-cup breasts to him, she then pulled off Tatsumi's pants and his boxers without hesitation then got on her knees and looked at his member. "Wow the gods have blessed you with a huge cock; just as much as they blessed me with huge tits" Christine remarked. "And now I'm going to fuck that cock with my tits and mouth" Christine replied and eagerly wrapped her breasts around his length and eager began blowing him; Tatsumi moaned as she did so; she was extremely eager and well she reminded him of Natsuhi's daughter Jessica who did the same to him without hesitation.

Also, for a girl who's first time it was she was doing this with surprising skill; likely Seryu's doing as after all the two of them couldn't go a day without rutting like rabbits, even with the fact that Seryu was now pregnant. Speaking of he was going to have to have threesome with her and Christine later on, tomorrow though as he had planned to spend the day with Gilberda; who at the moment was training Balluck.

Meanwhile… "Oh!" Balluck moaned as Gilberda licked her loins and fondled her breasts.

"Yeah you're good; Tatsumi will love you dearly you're a good student now show me what I've taught you" Gilberda replied stopping then laying flat on her back, Balluck did as instructed and began to lick Gilberda out.

Back with Tatsumi and Christine… Tatsumi was reaching his limit. "Christine! I'm cumming!" Tatsumi yelled and she then deepthroated him so that when he came his entire load went down her throat, well most of it as his length popped out of her mouth and cream pied Christine's breasts and cheeks.

"Well that was fun and just a warmup" Christine replied and removed her panties. "Now pick me up and fuck my cunt hard and rough standing up!" Christine demanded; Tatsumi obliged picking her up and spearing her vagina tearing her barrier before beginning a hard rough pounding, Christine aggressively kissed him and his hands fondled her butt cheeks as he inserted a finger into her asshole fingered it as kept pounding her striking with gusto and with speed while breaking the kiss and stimulating her breasts biting the nipples before drinking great drinks of her milk. "Yeah fuck Me! Fuck Me!" Christine moaned, then came but Tatsumi kept going.

Back with Balluck and Gilberda… Balluck put her bra back on as Gilberda did the same. "So how did I do Gilberda-Sensei?" Balluck asked.

"Great; Tatsumi will be quite happy when you and he go at it; I'm bringing you with us on our date; don't fuck up your chance; fuck Tatsumi and do so at whatever pace you are comfortable with he always allows anyone he's with to do that; by the way you were a quick study and fun to fuck" Gilberda replied and kissed the auburn haired girl on the lips. "Let's not hurry" Gilberda said breaking the kiss and removing Balluck's bra.

"Alright; but won't Tatsumi be worried if we're late?" Balluck asked.

"Yes but we won't and call it a hunch but my gut tells me Tatsumi's got someone else to sheathe his sword in at the moment and I'd rather not ruin his fun, so lets have some" Gilberda replied and removed the rest of the clothes she had just put on and picked up Balluck for some passionate sex.

During said sex Gilberda had questions for her. "Well Balluck I'd like to know why are so eager to go after Tatsumi-kun" Gilberda asked.

"Consider it mutual attraction, him saving my life and everyone else's, the fact that he's probably the only man I've met that is straight who's kept up with my kill tally and a guy who is good with a sword; personally when it comes to swords I prefer keen slicers like Falcattas and Kopeshs but he's mastered the art of the broadsword" Balluck commented.

"Kill tally?" Gilberda asked as Balluck suckled her breasts.

"I've got the highest kill tally of any group of terror recruit, I would have made the Elite Seven where it not for the fact none of the Teigus would bind with me; now I've Rompheia: Giant-killer I would have made the cut but nope; my big regret is Tatsumi will have to see my scars; my older brother he was a scumbag and used me as his plaything he never took my maidenhood but he did molest me and force me to give him blowjobs, my father was too drunk to do anything about it and my mother died when I was seven; I eagerly joined the group of Terror when my father sold me to pay of his debts and when I finished my training eagerly killed both of them for abandoning me" Balluck replied.

"So why are you interested in Tatsumi so much with that kind of stuff in your pass usually girls in my experience swing towards other girls after trauma like that" Gilberda replied, Balluck glared at her.

"Just because my brother molested me doesn't mean I gave up hope of finding love with a guy; Tatsumi is well the perfect guy, caring, brave, selfless and on top of that he hunts down monsters like my brother; just don't assume I'm doing this with you for attraction I'm not lesbian I'm just in need of a teacher that's all" Balluck replied, Gilberda mentally swore at herself for mentioning it granted they'd be sisters in marriage soon but that was just the way things went.

Back with Tatsumi… Tatsumi came once more filling Christine to the brim with his seed as he laid her on the bed. "Alright now fuck my ass!" Christine demanded and Tatsumi backdoored her with ease and enjoyment; riding her like he would a bull; fondling and squeezing her breasts as he fucked her ass with passion and speed; he fucked her hard like she wanted and a soon his limits were reached again after another good 20 minutes and he filled her ass with his spunk before taking her pussy doggy style; Christine moaned, swore, and yelled affectionate feelings for him as he did so and he kept going and going until his bedroom door which he forgot to lock opened.

"SNEAK ATTACK!" Leone yelled and pounced onto Tatsumi pushing him off of Christine and pulling him into her breasts.

"Leone!" Tatsumi yelled gargled by her boobs.

"Hey let your sweet big sis take care of you; well rather your sweet loving wife; I'm horny and when I heard your moans I just had to charge in" Leone replied and removed her top eagerly showing of her breasts, Christine spanked her. "Ouch!" Leone yelled and turned to Christine. "What the hell was that for?!" Leone asked.

"For knocking Tatsumi off in the middle of the best and first sex I've ever had: you blonde whore!" Christine replied only to receive a glare from Tatsumi for Leone to start crying.

Tatsumi then grabbed Christine by the hair and pinned her against the headboard. "Do not EVER call Leone that word ever again; she's special to me and she was my first and I hers, she's had a hard life and did everything she could to survive in this city and everything to prevent herself from having to sell her body for sex; never mention that again" Tatsumi explained firmly.

"Sorry Leone-san, sorry Tatsumi; just well you were rather rude" Christine replied.

"I know it tends to happen; I can't count all the times I've interrupted Tatsumi with another girl; now how do you feel about having your first threesome?" Leone replied.

"Fuck yes I'm up for it" Christine replied and eagerly helping Leone with her clothes, the blonde kissed her then Tatsumi who then laid flat.

"Now since you've had his dick to yourself for a bit I'll bet you haven't experienced his tongue; so I'll take his dick and you get his lips trust me its an amazing experience" Leone explained and before Christine could object Leone mounted Tatsumi taking him into her with a cat like moan; Christine shrugged and mounted Tatsumi's face only to experience first hand his skills with his tongue.

"OHH!" Christine moaned.

"My guess he already found your G-spot, I told you you'd love it" Leone replied and kissed Christine on the lips. "Welcome to Tatsumi's harem Christine" Leone added.

"I'm glad to have joined it; I've never experienced anything like it before" Christine replied.

"Trust me he's an amazing stud of a husband; you'll make a fine wife to him" Leone agreed and the three of them continued like this for a good hour before all three were satisfied and Tatsumi held both of them to his chest his length sandwhiched between their pussies their bodies covered in his seed as they kissed him, Tatsumi then took a power nap.

The power nap lasted for a good half hour before he was woken up by Gilberda and to his surprise Balluck in sexy underwear of the kind Merraid usually wore; it exposed their breasts completely and left their loins bare and they wore silken stockings, also Balluck had her hair in a bun with two sticks pinned in it. "Hello sleeping beauty" Gilberda purred.

"Hey Gil; Balluck?" Tatsumi asked confused by the auburn-haired beauty's presence.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun" Balluck greeted in as seductive a tone as she could measure.

"I know I said we'd spend the day with just the two of us Tatsumi but when Balluck approached and confided her feelings for you to me I just had to help her express them so she'll be joining us on our exotic adventures and since we have a good five hours before we need to go to Umatora Theater for the show we'd show her the ropes of passion and deal with her pesky virginity; after all she does love you and I'll let her explain why" Gilberda explained, noting his erection jerk to full attention underneath the blankets.

"Yep; what's not to like about you Tatsumi, your handsome, brave, caring, you saved my sexy ass a few times, you saved me from a monster and you took quite a hit from him too; speaking of you've got the finest ass I've ever seen in a guy; you're just too handsome to resist; also I've been looking for man like you for years and never have" Balluck explained.

Gilberda removed the blanket to reveal Tatsumi wasn't dressed and fully erect. "WOW!" Balluck replied. "And this is going to be in me well if you're interested in me" Balluck replied putting on a seductive face, Tatsumi nodded as he couldn't speak, he was too awestruck by Balluck's lovely amber eyes and her state of dress to say anything in depth.

"Yeah" Tatsumi stammered having not much to say especially given her state of attire.

"Well then I think we should start by warming him up don't you agree" Gilberda remarked, Balluck kneelled and wrapped her breasts around his length; they were E-Cups and the valley of her cleavage was warm. It became warmer when Balluck began giving him head; her tongue was skilled and her lips warm to the embrace; she took him deep, a third in down to where her breasts were wrapped around the rest of the length and sucked on it.

Gilberda in the meantime moved over to Tatsumi and let him lean his head on her breasts his right hand cupping her left breast and his left caressing Balluck's soft auburn hair. His lips went to her right breast, his tongue licked and soothed the aerola before licking the actual nipple which was now ready for him to begin drinking which he did eagerly as he was quite thirsty from his session with Christine and Leone.

"Tatsumi-kun" Gilberda moaned and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him as Balluck deepthroated him. Tatsumi took his time as he enjoyed the pleasure; he also thought hard about how he was going to include Balluck into everything and how he'd keep her identity a secret granted not that it was needed considering the fact that she, Remus and Womyn had been sleeper agents within the Imperial Army and rather successful ones too and when they had been caught it was assumed that they had been killed by General Mengele which was not the case; as Tatsumi, Spear and their team killed him before he got the chance.

Balluck on the other hand eagerly enjoyed giving Tatsumi head; and did so with methodical effort, each movement of her lips, of her tongue, of her breasts gave Tatsumi oral pleasure of the kind he wasn't expecting from a virgin. She did such an amazing job that when he came, he did so with glee shouting "Balluck!" repeatedly as he orgasmed covering her face and breasts with his seed, Gilberda kissed Balluck and helped her lick Tatsumi's seed of her.

Tatsumi laid Balluck on her side and readied himself. "You ready?" Tatsumi asked.

"Been ready for weeks now Tatsumi; now put it in" Balluck replied and Tatsumi obliged entering her with a swift motion snapping her hymen, blood flowed down his length as he captured her lips in a kiss; Gilberda not wanting resort to fingering herself gave Tatsumi a massage with her breasts as he took Balluck missionary for a bit before pressing her upwards so Gilberda could saddle herself on his face. His lips met her vulva and his tongue parted the folds and snaked its way inside; going for the spots that Gilberda loved most. Gilberda moaned "Tatsumi-kun!" as he did this then captured the lips of the moaning Balluck pressing her breasts against hers and hugging her as they made out.

Both women were like this for some time before all three partners orgasmed Tatsumi filling Balluck's womb at the same time as he licked up Gilberda's juices. Then they alternated positions once more and Tatsumi took Gilberda in the ass doggy style while Gilberda licked out Balluck's pussy as Balluck made out with Tatsumi who then drank from her ample breasts.

Their passions went wild and they tried numerous positions for a good hour and a half before all three were satisfied. "I don't know what was better; Balluck's blowjob or pounding your ass Gil" Tatsumi remarked; Gilberda giggled.

"Why not have both; you know I love giving you a good blowjob" Gilberda replied and despite her exhaustion and their finishing she took his still erect dick and gave him a blowjob.

"Personally, I loved doing this; first time giving a blowjob out of love as opposed to well being forced to give one or as a distraction" Balluck replied.

"But you were a virgin" Tatsumi replied.

"One who gave head a lot, mainly to distract my targets and when they were completely relaxed, I disemboweled them with my butterfly swords" Balluck replied. "It was quite effective" she added.

"I see, so did you enjoy it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Blowing them? No. Blowing you? Hell yes; by Akiri-Mazara you're blessed with the biggest dick I've ever seen or done so yeah never doing any other guy again; they all pale in comparison" Balluck replied.

"And you said you were forced to give some?" Tatsumi asked, Balluck frowned.

"My brother molested me when I was 7, touched me in horrible ways made me suck his dick, he never took my maidenhood because he feared the consequences, my mother died when I was 3, my father was drunkard who could care less for the responsibilities of raising kids and when his debts caught up with him he sold me to pay them off; I killed both of them Tatsumi when I finished my Group of Terror training; I would've made the Elite Seven if I could've bonded with one of the Teigus but no such luck; but outside the Elite Seven I'm the best assassin in the Empire; and I'll watch your back from now on even more so then before" Balluck replied.

"That's a sad story; so, what do you plan on doing when the war is over?" Tatsumi asked.

"Settle down with you, have at least I don't know 5 kids; I'd love to keep killing assholes and scumbags though I enjoy that very much; cleaning up trash like my scumbag brother and useless father" Balluck replied.

"No regrets killing them?" Tatsumi replied.

"None whatsoever, my brother was a sexual predator and my father was a drunken lay about who barely remembered I existed and when he did sold me to get his hands on more booze which is why I don't drink any type of alcohol; I'd hate to wind up like him" Balluck replied.

"So how did you wind up being held by Mengele?" Tatsumi replied.

"Well that's an interesting story but to sum it up it was Remus's falt; look she is my friend and honestly like a little sister that I wish I had, but she is a clutz and sometimes she can ruin our best laid plans by clumsiness; in that case it was her knocking over a stupid broom in Mengele's room waking him up when we intended to kill him; he woke up and overpowered all three of us; I half expected to die there and then but he didn't kill us because he 'wanted the sport of hunting us' and took us prisoner" Balluck replied. "Then about 4 days before you rescued us from that literal monster along with everyone else the bastard had imprisoned or as targets we were set loose in that private game reserve of his with only rags for clothes and our minds for defense; so we fled and hid in an underground cavern that happened to be in there, I went out collecting food during the daylight when Mengele wasn't out and about, we had a spring of fresh water in the cave; the night you showed up he got the drop on me and was prepared to rape me when he sniffed you and the rest of the Night Raid team; he let me go and once I recovered my strength went in search of you guys; you had blacked out from your injuries and I was shocked that someone would take such a bad hit and not just survive but do so for people he didn't know" Balluck replied.

"Interesting" Tatsumi replied then noted Gilberda still giving him head then moaned. "Cumming!" Tatsumi shouted and released in Gilberda's mouth as she had him deepthroated she swallowed the whole load.

"Delicious and delightful, now we've got about a couple more hours before we have to be at Umatora" Gilberda replied as they began getting dressed.

"Yep-"Tatsumi began to say when he heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Hey it's me Guarry; Lord Tatsumi a letter was brought to my men at the front gate and they brought it to me, it's addressed to you" Guarry shouted, Tatsumi put on his shirt and opened the door and took the letter which he opened.

The letter inside was printed on fine paper however it had the symbol of the Umatora Theater in the upper right-hand corner, the message was in fine ink and Tatsumi read it. "For the Minister of Justice and Fun, savior of Umatora Theater and patron of the arts Tatsumi, the Dazzling Goddesses of Umatora's theater troupe ask for you to visit us for a reward for your acts of bravery, gallantry and selflessness: the reward will be given on arrival to our gathering; look for me when you get there and I will escort you to your reward; We look forward to knowing better the man who saved our Theater five times over from various people who would've done horrible damage given the chance, signed Vanessa leader of The Fourteen Dazzling Goddesses" Tatsumi read; then thought on it; and showed it to Gilberda and Balluck.

"Well Tatsumi that's a booty call if I've ever seen one" Gilberda commented, then laughed. "You should go, we'll stay here and get ourselves ready for our dates; hopefully you get lucky and if you do, don't make the asses of those fourteen beauties so sore they can't perform" Gilberda added, Tatsumi rolled his eyes and decided to accept the invitation; there was the chance it was a trap but that happened to be a case with anything so he figured go ahead and go, worst case he'd have to kill some assholes who wanted him dead, best case scenario he'd get himself laid with 14 of the most beautiful woman in the Empire, if not the whole world and on top of it get his dick wet in a reverse gangbang.

Shortly… Tatsumi made his way towards Umatora Theater which was about 10 blocks from Grundewick Manor and was a sight to see even more so considering the fact he had saved it and the people that worked at it from being destroyed by monsters five times over; Enshin being the big one. Tatsumi smirked at his memory of Enshin's death the vile monster getting set on fire; it was too good to forget and one thing was for sure if Henrietta had been with him during that mission it would have been even more horrifying for the predator.

Speaking of Henrietta, he was surprised to see her coming towards him. "Hey Tatsumi-kun; my handsome husband" Henrietta greeted; she wore a lovely peridot colored gown, fine shoes, and a peridot studded headdress; her flame colored hair sparkled like fire.

"Hey Henrietta, what are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh, just seeing the sights; just finished watching the performance of Khalda and Khana; a very good play you should see it sometime" Henrietta replied. "So, what are you doing here?" Henrietta asked.

"I received a letter from the Dazzling Goddesses, they- want to reward me for saving them and the Theater, mainly for saving them from Enshin" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh I see a reward; well I won't stop you; just make sure to let me know which one you enjoyed the most; I'd love to talk her for some pointers" Henrietta teased; they kissed, a kiss that started chaste and quickly became fiery as Henrietta eagerly invaded his mouth with her tongue. She noted however his erection poke against her dress and broke the kiss. "Looks like I woke someone up" Henrietta replied and got down on her knees and began to undo his fly.

"Henrietta we're in public!" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't care; horny; besides we're both nobles and you're the Minister for Justice and the second in command of the Jaegers; anyone hassles us use your authority" Henrietta replied and opened up his fly and found her prize. "Good nice and warm now for me to give you a good fucking with my mouth and my tits" Henrietta replied and lowered her gown and her bra exposing her breasts and wrapping them around his length before giving him head.

Of course people noticed what was going on; but some were too transfixed by the sight to interfere and those that would've for public decency sake thought better of it by their noble attire; as far as the people were concerned if a noble couple wanted to get down and dirty right there and then they were ok.

And to add muster to this scene several women who were aroused by the sight ran over to them throwing off their clothes and removing the clothing of Tatsumi and Henrietta; the scene of relief between a married couple quickly escalated into a reverse gangbang in which a number of pretty women were engaging in sex with Tatsumi who as soon as he finished with one girl was passed to another; some girls were virgins and others weren't those being woman who's boyfriends either neglected them or had wasted their first time on someone unworthy to them; Tatsumi noted names taking each of them down; things got even more heated when three noblewomen who had been neglected by their husbands joined in; and from there it well ended when he was finished.

The crowd that gathered to watch the scene dispersed as all the people involved redressed; Henrietta then lead the women off to Hearthome Manor leaving Tatsumi to head into Umatora Theater in search of the Dazzling Goddesses who would note the smell of sex on him as soon as he arrived.

The Dazzling Goddesses' quarters at Umatora Theater were the largest; a large central lounge room surrounded by dressing rooms for all 14 beauties. Tatsumi didn't have time to clean off the lipstick from the scene outside which incidentally would be the talk of Melitine for easily the rest of the week or least until Tatsumi or someone else figured out a way to knock it out of the public discussion; it was now an open secret that women found him magnetic and that he was a womanizer. He also had a feeling that with the three noblewomen that he had banged would have husbands wanting vengeance for him cucking them.

But all that was irrelevant before the sight waiting for him; fourteen of the most beautiful women in the Capital if not a whole Empire sat waiting for him, each in varying attire that was as varied as their appearance; each was a goddess as far as beauty was concerned and each unique in a way.

In the center of them was the group's leader Vanessa: she had long wavy brown hair, EE-cup breasts like Sheele, lovely purple eyes, white skin, by appearances she seemed to have a half-western blood in her family tree and looked honestly like a child of his and Sheele's might look like in the future if the daughter inherited his hair and the rest of her mother's features. "Welcome, welcome Tatsumi, it's so good to see you here at Umatora, I'm Vanessa and these are my colleagues and fellow thespians" Vanessa greeted and then pointed to each member in turn.

"This is Mariel" Vanessa introduced. Mariel had long black hair which was tied in a ponytail with a ribbon, she had grey eyes and breasts of the same size as Vanessa's, she wore French maid's dress and her skin was light in complexion.

"Bonjour Tatsumi-kun" Mariel introduced "I look forward to knowing you better Tatsumi" she added and planted a kiss on both of his cheeks.

"Moving on, this is Rachel" Vanessa continued. Rachel was tall woman with long brown hair in a high ponytail, freckles on her cheeks, brown eyes and light skin with a nice slender body, her breasts were DDs much like Najenda's but she had very graceful legs of the kind Sayo had and her attire at the moment was a nice white and gold sundress. "And this is her younger sister Casey, mind you she is bit of a loudmouth" Vanessa added. Casey looked a fair deal like her older sister, short brown hair in twintails, freckles on her cheeks, brown eyes and somewhat tanned skin with a nice slender body, she also shared her sisters legs but her breasts were smaller being normal D-cups rather then the DDs of her older sibling, her attire consisted of a frilly blue-green blouse and short black shorts like to flaunt her legs.

"Am not!" Casey replied.

"Are too!" Rachel replied.

"Thumb wrestling contest!" Casey replied and the two sisters to his surprise began a heated thumb war.

"Moving on" Vanessa said with a shrug. "We have Flora; she's a sweetie and she loves flowers as you can tell" Vanessa introduced. Flora was sweet kind girl who was a gentle beauty, she had long wavy blonde hair, gold eyes, slightly tanned skin, a slender body her bust was comparable to Vanessa's and her attire consisted of a frilly pink dress with a band of flowers in her hair she also wore a rose hair-clip on the left side of her hair.

"Nice to meet you Tatsumi I hope we can- get to know each other better" Flora greeted with a flustered blush.

"She's a bit shy, but she's one of the nicest women in the world" Vanessa commented, then turned to the next person in line. "This is Anna, she's quite a sly girl but she's caring and charming" Vanessa introduced. Anna had long red/orange hair which was tied in a long braid, gold eyes, light skin, a slender body, her breasts were about average being modest CC-cups, her attire consisted of a soft orange dress and a pair of sandals.

"Nice to mate- I mean meet you Tatsumi" Anna greeted and blushed, Tatsumi's face turned red as Akame's eyes and the girls all looked at him with interest.

"Next we have Trixie, she's our magician and she's a great one; she's also kind and loves a good laugh though she can be a tad arrogant at times" Vanessa introduced. Trixie was a beauty; she had long white hair twin tails, blue eyes, a slender body with breasts of modest size being barely D-cups, her attire consisted of a familiar outfit of the kind he had seen recently: that of a slender one-piece body suit that exposed her legs but had long sleeves and rabbit ears; he had seen a similar outfit on Lilianna and Leone when he returned to Melitine from Zarteck; granted different colors as this one was a white and black while Lily's had been lavender and white and Leone's had been golden yellow.

"Nice to meet you Tatsumi; boy are you a looker" Trixie greeted and pulled out a deck of cards "Pick a card Tatsumi any card" Trixie proposed Tatsumi took one it was the King of Hearts. "Good now don't show it to me and put it back in the deck" Trixie replied and Tatsumi put it in the deck she then closed her eyes and caused the deck to his surprise to levitate in midair as she shuffled it three times before having it float to her hands; she then drew a card. "Is this your card?" Trixie asked and revealed the King of Hearts.

"Yep" Tatsumi replied in amazement.

"Not surprised; I always do well with it" Trixie replied.

"How did you make the card float around like that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Ordinarily I'd say a Magician never reveals their secrets but this one is well unique, I can move things with my mind I think; not just cards but other objects too" Trixie replied and then to Tatsumi's surprise she closed her eyes again and caused a bottle of wine to float to her. "I was born with this 'gift' I don't know what it is but I'd argue this is true magic" Trixie replied. "Anyway, you have other's to meet" Trixie concluded.

"Yes Tatsumi; now I've got a special treat, these are twins Trinity and Tally; their quite handful but I'm sure you'll enjoy them" Vanessa introduced. The two were identical twins; both having both have long straight blonde hair, blue eyes, slender bodies and breasts comparable in size to Leone's and Sheele's, they both wore swimsuits; soft bikinis of different colors, Tally's being green while Trinity's was red, they both were rather calm.

"Greetings Tatsumi" Both said at the same time then walked over to him and swayed their bodies in a seductive manner and kissed him on either cheek. "We look forward to seeing you often; all of you" Both said in either ear.

"Moving on you two" Vanessa replied blocking the two's advances for the moment, Tatsumi turned to the next girl in line. She looked a lot like Aria, with the same baby blue eyes and beauty, but her hair was longer and Aria's was short also she was slightly bustier and her ears were detached where Aria's were attached. "This is Ruthie; she's a bit of nymph, she likes both girls and men though the latter has been impossible to find until now; she like the rest of us has- well high standards when it comes to men" Vanessa replied.

"Nice to meet you Tatsumi, so you're the hero who's saved our lovely theater and our jobs five times over" Ruthie greeted. "I'm well impressed, and glad to meet you in person; you're quite the looker and hopefully quite the catch" Ruthie replied and noted his erection which had been steadly growing all the girls noted it and were restraining themselves from immediately pouncing on him and tearing off his clothes.

"Good to see you are enjoying him; moving on" Vanessa interrupted and indicated the next girl. "This is Janice, she shares the same preferances as Ruthie here but she's got quite a temper and well higher standerds then the rest of us" Vanessa introduced. Tatsumi nearly thought he was looking at Lila for a moment but her skin was lighter in complexion being as white as milk; her breasts were smaller about the same size as Akame's but in appearance she had short but feminine looking lime green hair, green eyes, a slender body, her outfit left her shoulders bare as well as her back along with most of her neck and she was quite in fine shape but not brawny like Leone, her outfit was interesting in that it was a special dress that left little to the imagination, a purple and gold Qarkasheen dress as it left one breast exposed completely but was short enough to flaunt her legs she also wore an interesting headband with the symbol of a woman's gender in the center of it.

"Greetings Tatsumi; you better be a kind caring man and treat me and the others with respect, there is nothing I hate more then a man who abuses or looks down on any woman; granted though I like women a lot actually much like Ruth and a couple others here" Janice greeted, Tatsumi kissed her hand. "Oh, a gentleman; that's nice good you've already crossed one tick off my list" Janice replied.

"Good to see you two already getting along, now for the next of my colleagues" Vanessa commented and introduced Tatsumi to the next girl. She had pale skin as she was an albino with long white hair and to his surprise red eyes of the kind Akame had; her figure was like Akame's too and she wore white tinted glasses as she was apparently near-sighted. "This is Gallia, she- doesn't talk much but don't let that fool you am I right Ruthie?" Vanessa replied.

"Yeah she is quite wild when you get to know her" Ruthie replied.

Tatsumi looked at her and got close to her. "Hi" Tatsumi greeted.

"Hi" Gallia said shyly

"So where are you from? I've not seen anyone like you in the Capital before?" Tatsumi replied.

"Me well- I'm from the north, I left my people behind when I found out about what our warriors did to the people of the Empire, I really pitied them and well went south; I was quite an actress already up north and when I came down here there were quite a few openings and well I joined my fellow Goddesses about a year ago, consider me their lucky number" Gallia replied then looked at Tatsumi. "He's so- handsome" she thought.

"Then we have two more girls: we have Emily and Wendy but I'll let them introduce themselves" Vanessa replied.

"Hey handsome" Wendy greeted quickly before running over to him and shaking his hand, she was a lovely woman she had medium length black hair but otherwise resembled Aria with the same complexion, eyes and figure in all regards. "I hope your reputation as a stud is justified, and that you're as fun as Ruthie and Gallia in the sack" She said rapidly, Tatsumi knew well now this was indeed a booty call and well he had struck gold with so many beautiful woman wanting his dick.

"How good are they" Tatsumi asked curiously.

"They and I treat each other with interest, the three of us have lots of fun." Wendy replied and clasped Tatsumi's erection boldly before being pulled off by Vanessa.

"Not yet, wait until I've finished introducing everyone and we ask him if he wants his well reward" Vanessa interjected. "My apologies she's a bit over eager and well she, Gallia and Ruthie just got finished before you arrived; if you had gotten here about 30 minutes earlier you would have seen them in action" Vanessa replied.

"I was preoccupied; a certain wife of mine was horny and decided I needed to give her loving in public; it escalated quickly" Tatsumi replied and blushed at the memory and he had barely had time to clean of the lipstick and it was a miracle none of his clothes had been taken by the girls, he also had a feeling that when he returned to Hearthome manor Henrietta would be waiting for him, with all of those girls and her sisters.

"It happens; I just wish I had a man like you in my life" Vanessa replied and playfully slapped his ass.

"Ahem!" Emily interrupted. Emily was the last of the Dazzling Goddesses she was a true beauty with long blue hair in twintails, green eyes, a nice slender body, her bust was comparable to Sheele's and her attire was similar to Cosmina's Tatsumi wondered if she and her knew each other though it had the allure of a magical girl and was quite revealing. "I'm Emily consider me the Fairy Queen of our group, I love faeries and elves and all the old stories of fay people so I dress up as them as part of preformances but I also love music" Emily introduced herself.

"So why did you all invite me here, but I guess this is a booty call of sorts right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Booty Call? That would be an understatement: Tatsumi you know what you've done for us and our theater: you've saved it and us from fates worse then death five times over, you've proven your smarts by coming up with that trap to lure in Enshin, not to mention helping to put down that horrible monster." Vanessa explained. "But that's not the only thing, you see me and the other girls share one unfortunate common problem, no man to give us love and affection and as such none of us has actually 'done it' with a man before, yeah some of us have done it with other girls but its not the same; you can't get children from it, nor can you do things that requires a man to do it, and we are all in agreement that no one but the best will do for us" Vanessa explained further.

"And you are the best; Its common knowledge that you are the best thing for a girl in need of a good time and well we invited you here for it" Mariel commented.

"If you'll have us of course because we're offering you in no uncertain terms our love; if you wish we can marry you or become you concubines but above that we are willing to give you our most prized possessions; our virginities." Janice explained. "If you'll have us of course" Janice added.

"I'll accept I hope you girls are ready for me" Tatsumi replied.

"Rather it is you who should be ready for us Tatsumi" Vanessa replied, and the girls surrounded him and carried him off to a secluded location; a rather large bedroom with a large bed. "Now Tatsumi relax, we'll tend to your needs, pamper you and give you all the enjoyment and all we ask in return is that you give each of us what we like most in a partner" Vanessa explained, the twins Tally and Trinity relieved him of his shirt while the two sisters Rachel and Casey removed his pants, the others removed their clothing leaving Tatsumi looking at circle of girls each beauties clad in only their skin and in a few cases stockings with a special mention of Mariel with her maid's cap still on, ample breasts and clean shaven vaginas in view.

"Look at those abbs, you could grade cheese on them" Casey commented, Tatsumi noted her body itself was highly fit with a noticeable six-pack of her own as she was clearly an avid sports enthusiast.

"Let's see what he has underneath those boxers of his" Rachel commented.

"Gallia you do the honors, and Mariel you help her" Vanessa instructed, and both the girls removed his boxers and every girls' jaw dropped at the sight in Tatsumi's pants.

"Holy shit he's huge!" Casey commented. "Well let's get to pleasing him" she replied after recovering from the shock. Vanessa held them up and decided to come up with a system to avoid crowding Tatsumi as there were 14 of them and only one of him; it was agreed that half would have the first go and then the other half would have the next go: Vanessa deciding to save herself for last to make sure everyone else got a fair turn with him.

The first group consisted of Mariel, Rachel, Casey, Emily, the Twins and Flora. Tatsumi looked and gapped at the lovely beauties who helped him up. He then stood in the center of the group the twins took one arm each and kissed him on the cheeks, Casey and Rachel tended to his pecks licking his nipples while Mariel, Emily and Flora tended to his loins; the first two taking a ball each in there mouth and blowing it while Flora gave him head. Tatsumi in between kisses drank from the breasts of either twin with Tally first and Trinity second sampling their milk.

As Tatsumi was receiving the caresses of the seven girls the others were enjoying themselves; Janice being the center of the attention as Gallia and Ruthie sucked her breasts while Wendy ate her out with her practiced tongue, Trixie and Vanessa played with each other as Anna fingered herself and restrained herself from wanting to rush Tatsumi and have him put his length in her.

Tatsumi moaned as the girls led him back to the bed and laid him back; Flora kissed him on the lips and whispered in his ear about how they had drawn straws to decide who got him first and that she had won the draw. With that in mind the Twins laided him flat before turning to his nipples; Flora readied herself and closed her eyes as Mariel and Emilly helped her ease herself onto his length which Casey and Rachel were blowing with talent and retreated to his balls as Flora impaled herself on his length; Emily and Mariel then went to Tatsumi Emily sitting on his face and Tatsumi began to eat her out, while Mariel and Emily turned to Flora's bouncing breasts and suckled them while Tatsumi upped the tempo which had been slow at first to the more moderate pace he usually liked to keep. Passion was wild and Tatsumi was in a cloud of nirvana and was of course now on full passion mode; his efforts to please Flora were more then she could bare as after he came out of his current position and focused on pleasing her specifically, he caused her to pass out from exertion.

He then turned to Casey who had her rear spread. "Come on fuck my ass hard and rough" Casey demanded Tatsumi smirked and obliged backdooring her; she let out a tirad of f-bombs as he snapped her black cherry; her sister Rachel kissed him while the other girls took stands to pleasure both Tatsumi and Casey; giving her a good deal to work with. Tatsumi rode her hard and rough treating Casey like she was Mine; and honestly, she loved him doing her like that.

He filled every hole Casey had to offer about twice before she passed out then he turned to her sister Rachel who began with a nice Paizuri in which she was joined by Mariel and Emily while the twins kissed him whispering suggestion of how they wanted him to take them next. "Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi-Kun!" Rachel moaned as he creamed her face and breasts, he then flipped her over and took her doggy style. "TATSUMI!" Rachel moaned as Tatsumi snapped her barrier and began gentle modest thrusts. Trinity and Tally kissed him on the lips with the later sitting in front of Rachel who began eating her out; Emily and Mariel kissed his cheeks and played with his nipples, he broke the kiss and began suckling Trinity's breasts, before switching to her sister's breasts then to Emily's and Mariel's breasts before cumming inside Rachel who went for another good three rounds before she passed out from exhaustion; he then turned to Mariel.

"Tatsumi, are you ready monoamine?" Mariel teased with her legs spread waiting for me. "I'm ready to serve you" Mariel added, Tatsumi entered her with eagerness kissing her before Emily sat on her face and kissed Tatsumi on the lips.

More positions, more energy; Mariel was done, then Tatsumi took both Tally and Trinity at the same time using the position he had learned yesterday from Merraid's invitation to come as close to Double-Penetration as he could with one phallus switching between their loins with each thrust while holding them against him; because of the position Emily who was the only one apart from the twins in the first group who wasn't out from Tatsumi's skills was left to massage his back which to be fair she did pretty good both with her hands and breasts; both blondes moaned sweet things as he gave them his best before cumming his seed going into both in a split load. He then laid back and all three girls gave him an oral experience; breasts wrapped around his length and tongues caressing his length as he ate out Emily with mastered skill. This oral sandwich went on for a good ten minutes before Tatsumi finished with the twins and gave Emily a good fun tumble; she loved every minute of it; granted he was her first man but not her first partner having joined in on some Janice's relief parties before.

The tumbling of Emily who moaned praises of enjoyment about how great Tatsumi was at every turn how he found places she didn't know existed before now. "Tatsumi you're a total stud- no other man could please me like you or any woman for that matter" Emily replied, Tatsumi kissed her and released as she passed out.

"Well who's next?" Tatsumi asked walking over to the group two which had pretty much devolved into a full mix of different positions. Ruthie beckoned to him wordlessly and given her resemblance to Aria he immediately went to her. "Oh you are going to fun" Tatsumi replied. "You know you look like someone else I know and love" Tatsumi added.

"I hope then I'm as good as she is at pleasing you, the question is can you handle me? I'm quite a handful and I'm always the last one awake after my threesomes with Gallia and Wendy" Ruthie replied; Tatsumi blushed and eagerly picked her up and thrusted into her taking her standing up, Wendy and Gallia came over and startling sucking on his balls while groping his butt cheeks; the other three girls took positions where they could; Trixie and Anna kissed his cheeks while Vanessa helped prop up Ruthie; as she took Tatsumi's thrusts with glee; granted Tatsumi was tiring at this point; but he still resolved to keep going.

And kept going he did; Ruthie passed out within five rounds and he turned to Trixie who closed her eyes and lifted him and Anna into the air and the two took the hint and went nuts; Tatsumi felt that Trixie's magic was well weird, just by raising her hands and focusing she was able to lift him and Anna into the air. Granted though that didn't stop him from enjoying the sex, he gave Anna a good five rounds before she passed out. He then turned to Trixie and took her standing up too, while Wendy and Gallia resumed blowing his balls and Janice caressed his back.

Tatsumi kept going and going Trixie changed to Janice who was far too eager to let him do his best; in fact the transition was happened somewhat quick as he was now going into the stage where he was losing a coherent memory of events as too many girls and too many positions overloaded his senses. Janice herself was someone though he treated quite gently as he wanted to show he was sincerely a gentleman even during sex. Granted that didn't mean Janice wasn't kinky with it; and Tatsumi spooned with her along with taking her from behind as she loved it.

When it was that Janice switched to Wendy Tatsumi couldn't remember, granted his future encounters with Wendy would prove she was a cougar with sex. Granted she was somewhat annoyed that he wasn't able to keep up but considering the fact that he had gone thru an orgy before he came into the theater and had just gone thru ten other girls before coming to her it wasn't surprising that he'd not be at his best, granted he was still hard but he was reaching his stamina cap.

Gallia proved to be more understanding by comparison, when Wendy passed out and she took her place she let him take a breather to recover his energy before giving her the best sex she'd ever experienced. "So warm" Tatsumi moaned as he thrusted into Gallia who made cute moans as he spooned with her.

"Few know how to warm a man better than we from the far north" Gallia explained, kissing him in tender kisses. For a girl who was a nymph, Gallia liked to be gentle and easy on new partners; granted Tatsumi being the first man to ever warm her loins it was a new experience in itself, so she had to adjust. "You know Tatsumi next time we have sex you will be in for a blizzard of a time" Gallia seductively said Tatsumi came as at this point as it dragged on, he was more sensitive, meaning that his orgasms happened more frequently. As his stamina began to give way he began to haze again, losing track of time as Gallia seemed to change to Vanessa almost as soon as he'd finished his next loud, and from there he blacked out.

As he blacked out, he dreamt, things were a blur, time seemed to contrast as different paths played out in his mind; Honest fortunately was unaware of Tatsumi's current status and thus couldn't really do much to change things. The clearest thing happened when he stood inside a hall of grand construction beyond that of mankind and heard the sounds of trumpets ringing along with the strumming of harps and lyres along with the sound of bagpipes and the singing of Dwarven voices. Then Tatsumi noted the scene shift and he was in a banquet hall and saw a meeting of dwarves and of men; clad in armor from a far past he was across from what appeared to be a dwarven king. "Umgi the time has come do you swear before Oathgold that you're kind will always be our honored allies, to use the powers of our creations for good, to wield the Damuk Bakar with honor and dignity and to never betray the trust given to your people by ours or abuse the knowledge we gave you to strike against us out of greed or guile" the Dwarven King asked.

"I so swear: Mighty High King of the Dwarves Durin Goldenbeard" Tatsumi said his voice not his own. "We shall never use the Teigus to harm our dwarven friends, I lay this curse on those of my race should they do, that until one of humble life rises again any who betray this oath shall be doomed to forget the knowledge of how the Teigu are made" Tatsumi swore again his voice not his own.

"Well-spoken Emperor Tatsumi, and any of your line who should betray this pact should know that a grudge of that magnitude would only be forgiven thru war and death: rule your Empire well and remember our meeting with happiness I will never forget you" the Dwarven King replied. The scene shifted again and Tatsumi saw a great battle between Men and Dwarves; both sides barring the arms of equal might, Tatsumi was surprised the soldiers while wearing imperial colors were clad in armor and used weapons of a distant past while the Dwarves were clad as short but powerful armored warriors with only slots for their proud, long and well-groomed beards; their armor and weaponry was ornate and far better crafted then any Tatsumi himself could have managed.

"UMBARAKI EMPEROR!" The Dwarves yelled.

"Give up the knowledge Bearded fools!" a man yelled, an emperor with a haughty face and clad in blood red armor with a cloak made of Dwarven beards on his head was the same crown Makoto wore meaning this Emperor was a distant relative. "I have the mastery in this battle and if you do not give it up your lands in my Empire are forfeit!" The Emperor replied.

"You lack honor Manling Umbarakai; but you are a ruler and I invoke the right of single combat; in the name of your ancestors who were righteous and honorable in their dealings with us!" The Dwarven King shouted Tatsumi noted that this was the same king as before only his face was angered; his beard stained with blood and in his hands a massive bejeweled and bloodstained Earthbreaker Hammer was ready for battle.

"I accept your challenge High King Goldenbeard; to the victor the spoils, should I win this bought you will give unto my people the knowledge to make Teigus once more and live in peace, should I lose you may keep your people's lives but you must leave these lands and never return!" the Emperor replied.

"I accept you terms; and with you death will right the grudge you've inflicted by your betrayal but know this, until the day a true Emperor or Empress reigns with the honor of your great ancestors your kind will never so much as glance as the means to forge new Dumak Bhakar save should the hosts of Hell itself pour forth on Eden" the High King responded, clad in his armor made of finer alloys then Tatsumi had ever seen and holding in his hand a massive hammer of a kind that was beautiful in design but terrifying in power. The battle between the two commenced Tatsumi could only watch as the battle waged on, the Emperor was young and a skilled fighter but the Elder Dwarven King was a force of nature unto himself, strikes came hard and armor was sundered before his hammer the Emperor fell to ground as helm was cloven and face marred by blood with a snapped neck. He still lived though. "Dwarven King: I- was wrong mad, my life- legends of the past I just wanted to be a great Emperor to be like unto my grandfather the Dragon Emperor Tatsumi the second, or my great grandmother Merraid the first; or even- even- even your dearest friend the first of our line Tatsumi- the -Golden- but now how will the remember me; a madman; a traitor, a fool Emperor Madak the Mad, the one who ruined- the greatest- friend-sh-" the Emperor breathed out and died, the armies of the Empire thru down their arms and wept.

"I'm sorry Tatsumi, Barzul! That such a day should come, but never again, the men of Empire I leave you to your own fate: we leave your lands and never return; know this though a day will come when our races will restore our friendship and I long for that day: Dwarves let us go now! Collect our dead and let the victory cry go forth!" The Dwarven High King declared.

"Khazukit-Khazad-Ahat!" the Dwarves boomed, and the world shifted again and Tatsumi found himself looking at the specter of his father in the green armor.

"What does all this have to do with me? And why is my name so important" Tatsumi asked.

"The Eye of Truth Tatsumi, the Eye of Truth, the Mirror that sees the past, only then will you know all" the Spector said cryptically.

"Who are you really?" Tatsumi asked.

"You are my son and I your father; that's all you need to know for now, my time has come awaken my child" the Spector replied.

Tatsumi's memory of events from there on was a bit hazy the next thing he remembered clearly was waking up to all 14 Dazzling Goddesses looking at him. "Wow! You were amazing!" Wendy remarked, noting Tatsumi had recovered.

"Well Tatsumi you've certainly enjoyed your reward and we were right to give it to you" Vanessa replied.

"What happened near the end I- blacked out" Tatsumi replied.

"Well you were an absolute machine of pleasure; nothing can come close to you" Janice replied.

"I- I've glad to hear that I've- got to go, I'll see you girls later at your show at five alright" Tatsumi replied and turned to dress himself only to realize the girls had already done that for him. "I've got a lot of my mind" Tatsumi thought, dreams were dreams but dreams like the one he just had were not normal ones.

Tatsumi left Umatora and headed to Dorothea's lab for a quick update on Kurome's status. Dorothea's lab was about a block from Umatora, so it was a simple task to find it. In this case he found Kurome passed out under more intensive care; clad in a white hospital gown she slept serenely as Dorothea monitored her vitals however Kurome was noticeable strapped down. "Tatsumi good to see you, here to check on Kurome's status?" Dorothea asked.

"Yeah, how is she doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Her current state is slipping in and out of consciousness, she's needing more of the drug daily then the rations allow and I'm having to short charge her on it: I've got her secured as her withdrawal symptoms are well violent; she broke a few non-essential tubes and bottles during one of these spasms" Dorothea explained.

"How violent are these spasms?" Tatsumi asked.

"Very dangerous, Cosmina nearly had her wrist broken trying to help secure her this morning; trust me she is a safety hazard at this point; I've been tempted to synthesize a substitute for the drug but I'm not going to do that as it may make her condition worse and may shorten her life-spawn further" Dorothea explained.

"Ouch, how is the cure coming along?" Tatsumi asked.

"Very close to being done, I need about a week and a half and it will be done" Dorothea explained.

"What's it made of?" Tatsumi asked.

"A few rare herbs, some specialized fungi that have been harnessed into proper medicines and the key to making sure all damage that has been done to her is repaired: Renewal" Dorothea explained. "Tatsumi I've got something important I need you test for me; its- well an interesting invention that I've just finished, and I think it will make your investigations easier" Dorothea explained.

"So, what is it?" Tatsumi asked and Dorothea went over to a nearby table and picked up a bag and a small device.

"This is a tracker; inside this bag are some basic tracking devices; about a 10 mile radius on them, don't worry I've got more where these came from; just plant them on a person of interest without them noticing and you'll be able to track them for a good 10 miles" Dorothea explained and handed him the device before pulling a small sphere out of the bag. "This large part is the tracker itself and the devices are these small balls, they've got a special adhesive that once they make hard contact with a target they release and attached to the target, they are hardly noticeable too and they attach via a series of clamps that stick to the flesh of the target; once you've marked someone with this its near impossible for them get it off" Dorothea explained.

"I'll put them to good use; if these work it could help my track down reclusive targets" Tatsumi replied, then took the bag from her too, he then kissed her on the lips. "I've got to go Dora, I've got a date with Gilberda starting in an hour, I'll check on Kurome again tomorrow" Tatsumi explained then left.

Meanwhile… As Tatsumi went on his way back to Grundewick Manor Mashiro and Remus has gone shopping, Mashiro wanted to purchase some new things, clothes mainly but also a good amount of flour for making dumplings which she loved. "How do I look in this lovely dress?" Remus asked coming out of a changing room, dressed in a yellow and red frilly dress Remus was quite lovely.

"Pretty good" Mashiro replied.

"Do you think Tatsumi will like it?' Remus asked.

"I'm not sure; Tatsumi will probably though like it- why are you asking me I'm not sure what Tatsumi likes or not" Mashiro replied and facepalmed.

"I hope he does; and I'm asking you because I've seen the way you look at him it's the same way all the other girls look at him; admit it you like, like him" Remus teased.

"Not like that I- well I- gods above Remus, I'm tempted to make you do a hundred push-ups tomorrow during training to make up for that question" Mashiro replied, Remus made a face at her, Remus despited the fact she was a grown woman could be childish at times. "Alright I'll level with you, I do have feelings for him; I'm just- afraid" Mashiro replied.

"Afraid he won't like you?" Remus asked.

"No, no, not that I'm sure he'd want to go out with me if I asked him, its just- well I'm afraid of losing him like my first boyfriend" Mashiro replied.

"How did you lose your first boyfriend" Remus asked and immediately regreted it when Mashiro teared up.

"He was murdered, that's what happened to him, I've never really been able to love another person like that since" Mashiro replied, Remus teared up. "Please don't cry Remus, I've long made amends for it: I'm just not sure if a new relationship is something, I can go thru with knowing the killer who killed my first love is still at large" Mashiro replied.

"Mashiro: You need to be with Tatsumi, if anyone can get you out of the slump and make you have love in your life its him" Remus replied. "That's what Womyn and the Twins told me anyway" Remus added.

"That's what I am afraid of, I'm afraid that if I go into a relationship with him, I'm afraid he'll die" Mashiro replied to Remus chuckling.

"Afraid he'll die?! This is Tatsumi we are talking about for run, also side note everyone dies Mashiro, would you rather die a virgin sulking on the past in old age or die a mother of a family of your own; personally I choose the latter: in fact I think I push past a hundred" Remus replied.

"Even with this war going on and your danger prone clumsiness" Mashiro responded.

"Please if I worried about dying in battle I'd have died a long time ago, every day of my childhood was spent trying to survive the Group of Terror's training program: Mashiro if you think your life has been harsh on you, my life has been way worse; I lost my parents because I didn't make muster the Empire killed my parents because they weren't able to and I quote 'euthanize me' which is just a nice way of saying kill me for fucking up a mission because of clumsiness: my life sucked growing up and Tatsumi wants to make sure future generations don't have to go thru the shit I did growing up: so Mashiro do yourself a favor; the moment Tatsumi gives his ok to date you and you get him alone; Fuck him; give him your womanhood and don't ever leave him" Remus replied. "Its what I'm going to do" Remus replied.

"You do have a point – I just- am not that forward I like to build up a relationship" Mashiro replied.

"Whatever you want just don't pass up your chance with him; I'm serious though the moment I get to be alone with him I'm throwing myself at him and hoping he accepts, I don't want to die a virgin and Tatsumi has saved me from that fate and not just that he took a fucking near deadly hit to save me I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him" Remus replied. "I'm getting this dress by the way I love it" Remus replied.

Mashiro blushed. "Alright you do have a point I'll try and interact with him, if he's actually my type and he accept me, I'll see where fate takes us; but I'm not going to rush into anything" Mashiro replied.

"That's the spirit Mashiro, now let's go onto the next store; we need all the ingredients for the cake" Remus replied.

"Right, the Cake; you really think that's the best way to get to Tatsumi?" Mashiro replied.

"Yep, besides everyone loves cake, now to the bakery!" Remus stated and readied the bags and charged to the counter and paid for their purchases before returning to the carriage loaned to them by Aria for shopping reasons.

As they were getting ready to go someone approached them. That someone was a man in his late teens about a year older than Mashiro, he had short blue-black hair his eyes were hazel and wore black square framed glasses, his attire was that of a merchant but he had the bag of a doctor in his hands.

"Excuse me is that you?" the man asked, Mashiro turned to face him.

"Rian?" Mashiro asked.

"Mashiro, yep that's me" Rian replied and the two hugged like old friends.

"What are you doing here in Melitine, the last time I saw you Rian you were busy searching in the woods for miracle herbs" Mashiro questioned.

"Business, I've become a doctor in, what has it been, three years: I'm also a merchant and rather well off" Rian explained.

"Who's this?" Remus asked.

"Rian Abrams, a childhood friend of mine" Mashiro replied.

"And you are?" Rian asked.

"Remus: I'm a friend of Mashiro; we're shopping" Remus replied.

"Good to meet you then Remus" Rian replied. "Now as to what brings me to Melitine, I'm hoping to expand my well theater of business, you see I found those miracle herbs, but not where I thought I would, turns out that it grows naturally in the lakes of Veruna province; it's got impressive healing properties, short of regrowing limbs and curing cancer there are things the stuff can't do" Rian explained.

"So why have you come to Melitine?" Mashiro asked.

"I'm in search of a respected scientist or enterprise to make my discovery mainstream and readily available to the public; this could make a big difference to medical knowledge everywhere" Rian explained.

"So, what's the secret?" Mashiro asked interested.

"Well I wouldn't tell just anyone about this but considering you are a good friend of mine Mashiro the secret is the water from the lakes of Veruna provience, they have the healing properties within it because of the plants" Rian replied.

"That's impressive; hey I know a good friend who'd be able to help with that: her name is Aria Grundel" Mashiro replied, Rian frowned as Aria approached from nearby at the mention of her name.

"Did you say Grundel, as in Grundel Kreig Arms: The Empire's largest weapons manufacturer?" Rian replied.

"We don't just manufacture weapons, my parent's company also has a number of large civilian industries too, including production of medical supplies, relief supplies and everyday goods along with being a charity that owns and funds a number of Orphanages, Hospitals, homes for the homeless, and every charity type there is under the suns; we are called the Good Samaritans for a reason" Aria replied walking over with Sayo and Yami at her side.

"I refuse to have anything to do with House Grundel; Period!" Rian replied becoming suddenly angry.

"Why is that?" Aria asked.

"Because I'm a doctor, a medical professional one who treats those injured by battle and I am a pacifist I refuse to have anything to do with the family who's company manufactures the arms used to cause many of the injuries that I have had to treat for my entire career and that profits from the Empire being at constant warfare! I refuse to associate with a noble family that makes those abominable weapons of war: you're worse than the people that use those weapons because you don't care who uses them!" Rian replied, Aria frowned, and teared up.

"You think I'm not aware of my family business? You think I actually am in favor of war!? I'm a doctor too! And I've seen first-hand what this war brings: it brings maimed soldiers, raped women, defiled and often butchered children and household pets gunned down by monsters! You think we like having to sell arms to make ends meet: War is cruelty! Weapons aren't the problem people are. For every monster that uses one Grundel Arms pistol to murder an innocent child, there are 10 law abiding weapon holders who would use that same pistol to put a bullet in that monsters head or need it to keep their family safe from similar monsters! My family knows what damage our weapons do, why do you think we have a tradition of supporting hospitels? Its not just to show we care for those injured by war, no its to make sure those injured by war are treated and given safe treatments paid for with the money made by the arms: yes it may be blood money, but its money made legally we aren't slavers nor are we elitist nobles who view the common people as inferior and torture them for sport! No we are true caretakers for those in need; more then often then not the victims of our own military products: We don't allow corruption: I understand you're against war and so am I, but I'm not going to stand for you lumping me: one of the most caring people on the face of Eden in with likes of monsters of the kind my family is in the vested interest of keeping away from the innocents! Now if you don't want to do business with me or my parents or our company that's fine but don't lump me or my parents or my sweet little sisters and brothers who are all adopted orphans taken in to my parents' care and adopted into our house, much less my sweet adopted daughters Kyoko and Mishi, the two of which lost all they had to a monster in General Tsunami, including Kyoko's innocence, virginity, and dignity who's now forced to bear a child of that monster! We aren't monsters! No, the monsters fear us!" Aria ranted in reply, Rian looked at her with shock and fear as she had manifested her demon face in her anger.

"I see- I'm not working with you not, with my beliefs; now I'm leaving hopefully to find a more respectable and less profiteering buyer" Rian replied and left.

"And Good riddance to you as well you asshole! Just remember we're one of the few families that would forgive you for your misgivings and there are plenty of others who would gladly see you dead, we aren't monsters: the monsters are out there and you'd best watch your ass before you find it having stuff shoved up it by monsters!" Aria yelled.

"And farewell to you too!" Rian replied as he faded into the crowd.

Aria turned to Mashiro and Remus. "Aria are you ok?" Sayo asked.

"Yeah; fine: just pissed: I've never had someone insult me and my family in such a manner, I've met people who protested my family's business before but those people were usually polite, they never made it personal by comparing me to the monsters I hunt to protect the innocent" Aria replied. "Also sorry if I may have offended you Mashiro by driving you friend off" Aria added.

"No problem; I thought I used to know Rian, but well he's changed, I've never seen him emotional like that before and I'm sure he'll regret what he said if he's anyway like the man I remember growing up with" Mashiro replied.

"How did you two meet anyway?" Aria asked.

"He's a childhood friend of mine, he recognized me when we came out of Ramandi's Raiment" Mashiro replied.

"And what was he like as friend?" Aria asked.

"Why do you ask?" Mashiro replied curious.

"Because I'd like to reconcile with him if we meet again: we may disagree but that shouldn't stop us from being friends" Aria replied.

"I see; well Rian was always the odd duck growing up, he didn't really like interacting with other people because of the fact they often teased him about his glasses, I never was mean to him and was there for him as a friend when he need me; we were great friends and well for a time we dated when we were teenagers but we really weren't that compatible as he wasn't the most social person and I like to be with people; so when I my other friend Kouga drew me we broke up on friendly terms and Kouga and I were a great couple, until on the eve of our planned wedding when he was murdered: it was a passionate crime of jealousy, they never found out who did it but the person who did wrote in my dear Kouga's flesh that he had been killed out of jealousy for our happiness" Mashiro explained, her tone became solemn and she frowned as she did so. She then began to weep. "Kouga" she moaned in grief and then began crying; it was a noticeable thing when a grown woman who was rather tall like Mashiro began crying; especially given the fact she was a person who was quite happy normally.

"I know how you feel" Remus tried to comfort.

"No you don't, none of you do- you've never had to lose the one you loved most on the eve of the best day of your shared life; to save yourself in both body and love for that one person and then have them be taken from you by a monster who hated your happiness! I've lost the person I've love most what have you lost?!" Mashiro replied suddenly angry.

"I lost my parents because I wasn't the best soldier! Mashiro, my superior officers had my parents killed because I didn't live up to their expectations in battle and because they were prevented from killing me: if I had known my parents would've been taken from me I would gave my own life in their stead" Remus replied.

"I lost my mother to people who did horrible things to her and nearly lost my sister to a monster in Bach and nearly my own life to the man I love most in addition to having my parents brought back by fell magic from their graves and having to fight for evil bastards!" Yami added.

"I've nearly lost my Tatsumi several times! Not the least of which to Honest: Mashiro we've all lost or near lost some of if not all the people that matter most to us: but we still have reasons to live" Aria explained.

"You're right, but still Sayo hasn't" Mashiro replied everyone glared at her.

"Seriously: look I may have all my relatives alive but my brother was near crippled by this war, I've nearly lost Tatsumi a few times; I was there when Honest nearly killed him: trust me Mashiro while I may not have suffered the loss you have I've come close to losing those who matter most to me" Sayo added.

"I'm sorry; it's just Kouga was special to me- I-"Mashiro replied.

"Need to move on; you need new love; dwelling on the past isn't going to bring him back: it sure as hell hasn't brought my parents back and sure as hell hasn't brought back the people that have been murdered by monsters: new love is the only thing that drives out the pain of grief and while that pain can't ever truly be healed having someone else to love and care for you helps a lot" Remus comforted.

"I- I- I need to lie down, think on all this: I'm sorry for my words girls: I wonder what Tatsumi is up to" Mashiro replied.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had arrived at Grundewick manor and found Gilberda and Balluck in quite interesting outfits; they both wore threaded dresses of the kind that showed a good deal of skin but weren't too revealing; Gilberda wore a purple gown and Balluck wore a red one, each dress had a gold fabric trim and each had the symbol of a dragon on it. They both wore matching dragon masks too.

"Well who are these lovely ladies behind the masks" Tatsumi flirted.

"You know us Tatsumi; I'm glad you like our outfits, granted you're only seeing the surface" Gilberda replied and both to his surprise removed the dresses to reveal underneath they wore rather skimpy revealing outfits of the kind usually worn by high-class prostitutes, beneath that of course their underwear, they then put the dresses back on.

"What are those for?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well we've got something similar for you too Tatsumi; well I did some digging thru the files of potential targets that frequent our second place we'll visit and discovered that three of them have special tastes" Gilberda explained then pulled out a bag of the kind usually used for marbles. "I've prepared two different poisons for this evening; for the main three targets I've got distilled Valigaii venom, a special poison that will induce fast heart attacks in thirty seconds. The other poison is Magvi Makti; also known as the Widower, it's a slow attacking poison that causes the failure of internal organs over a 24-hour period, the signs are subtle and our targets should die not knowing who killed them" Gilberda explained.

"So, a couple of questions A. What are the big three targets, and B. how are going deliver the poisons" Tatsumi asked?

"As to the method of delivery in the drink, Tatsumi we will infiltrate the Sapphire Palace and disguise ourselves as prostitutes, we will then proposition our three main targets and eliminate them; then we'll blend in as the normal clientele and have one fun night" Gilberda explained. "Now the three big targets only one matters to you: Duchess Josephine Anteylbat; according to Revolutionary Army spies she murdered her husband who was an supporter of the group, she's suspected of being a supporter of Honest: also she frequents the Sapphire Palace and really doesn't show any signs of mourning: You'll offer her the time of her life and put this in the her drink" Gilberda explained and handed him a small sphere made of a gel like material.

"Ok sound simple, am I allowed to verify that she is guilty of the crimes before putting the poison in the drink?" Tatsumi asked.

"If you want to: granted I don't ask questions about my targets I just kill them as we Oarburghs are known to do" Gilberda replied with a shrug.

"So, what are your targets?" Tatsumi asked.

"Mine is a fat priest who's been selling church indulgences for sexual favors and using the money for his own projects: Gilberda's is a local Imperial Guard Captain that has been using his position to get sexual favors and arrest anyone he doesn't like for fun" Balluck explained. "I've got a good idea of how I'm going to go about it and hopefully I won't have to blow the fat fuck's cock" Balluck added.

"Well we've got it planned out, what about the other targets?" Tatsumi asked.

"A few birdies of ours have infiltrated the staff; we just need to give them the poison and they'll do the rest" Gilberda explained; by birdies Gilberda referred to girls she'd seduced and who were willing to follow her orders to the letter out of love for her.

"Well that will do it then; we should get going, don't want to miss the show at Umatora" Tatsumi replied.

"Not so fast we have at least an hour before we have to leave, and we could use a warmup" Balluck replied and began stripping.

The next 20 minutes were spent by Tatsumi pleasing both girls, they then showed him the outfit he'd be wearing at the Sapphire Palace or rather lack their off, as if was simply a pair of black shorts, and an open black vest; designed to match his mask. "Really I have to wear this?" Tatsumi asked.

"It's either this or you wear option B which you wouldn't like" Balluck replied then whispered what that was in is ear.

"Fine I'll wear it, but never bring this up, I don't want word getting around I worked in a brothel, even if it was a one-night job" Tatsumi replied, Gilberda laughed.

"It's common knowledge that you visit them, whats the difference" Gilberda replied.

"I may be a nymphomaniac as Cosmina said I was but I'm not a harlot; hell she never even prostituted herself, also imagine what that would do for my image: the Emperor's Minister for Fun and Justice who is also a Major General and Esdeath's husband offering his body for sell for one night to any girl who'd have him; tell me is that not scandal inducing" Tatsumi replied, lying about Cosmina, Tatsumi and Cosmina had come to agreement that what happened to her in the past was a story that should stay buried.

"Good point which is what the masks are for" Balluck replied.

They then left for Umatora Theater and arrived with just enough time to get refreshments and get their private box. The performance for the evening was Hero of Kar-Media: a story about a heroic warrior who saved the city of Kar-Media from both a two headed winged Basilisk and a siege of powerful Raider Princes. Overall Tatsumi thought the play was as good as it could get but having read the novel it was based on he thought the book was better, granted though he couldn't take his eyes of any of the Dazzling Goddesses who noted his looks from the box and teased him in as much a way they could without detracting from the performance; also other Umatora Theater girls also seemed to look at him with interest. "Great I'm guessing word about my stamina got around" Tatsumi thought then noted that during a scene where one of the actresses was supposed to be knocked down, the actress who was clearly Gallia went out of her way to land in a way that she could flash her panties at him.

The show lasted a good two hours and once it was over Tatsumi insisted on hurrying out to avoid getting distracted by any of the girls that worked at the Theater.

They then went out of their way to take a elaborate path to the Sapphire Palace about 10 blocks from Umatora; they then snuck in via the staff entrence and hid their normal clothes in bags that if asked they would say were 'toys for their clients to play with' the poisons were then allocated, a small sphere would be hidden on them, in the case of Balluck and Gilberda it was in their cleavage and in Tatsumi's case in the pocket of the vest; they would offer to pour wine for their clients and while they were pouring the wine they'd slip the small sphere crushed into the drink of their target.

Once they had gone inside they looked for their targets: Tatsumi had been given a pretty good description of the Duchess Josephine and finding her proved simple as she arrived not to long after he assumed his post; which was in a longue near a room he had already prepared for the occasion. The Duchess was an olive-skinned goddess, with black hair in a bun and lovely green eyes, her attire consisted of a blue and orange gown and she carried herself with a sure posture and strode over to him after seeing him.

"Good evening" the Duchess greating.

"Evening, you are a radiant beauty, your eyes they sparkle like emeralds: I've never seen such a beauty before" Tatsumi flattered and kissed her palm.

"A gentleman, a true courtesan good: I'm Duchess Josephine Antelboyat and I'm here to celebrate, let loose, and you are?" The Duchess replied.

"Tatsuya; the Black fox: trust me you need hire no other man or woman, my skills are unrivalled" Tatsumi replied, giving his coverstory.

"You're new here aren't you; well I'm up for something new, anyone is better than my late husband" Josephine explained. "How much?" Josephine asked.

"How much are you willing to pay? I'm only here for tonight and I'm here for the highest price" Tatsumi replied.

"10,000 silver Dukars, you've peaked my interest and so I'm willing to pay a lot if you are good as you say you are" Josephine replied, Tatsumi blushed, 10,000 silver was nothing to sniff at, usually that was enough money to buy a good sized house and furnish it with luxury furniture.

"I'm humbled and at your service" Tatsumi replied and lead her off.

Shortly… "So, you said anyone is better then your late husband what happened to him?" Tatsumi asked.

"I killed that unfaithful wretch; I caught him in flagrant with one of our most trusted servants; I slipped a drop of Manticore venom in his drink and he ceased to trouble me" Josephine replied.

"He cheated on you?" Tatsumi asked now having second thought about killing her.

"With the house's steward, a charming young man but a man who's honeyed words masked his lies; he and my husband had been having an affair for six months, every day since my marriage to him; as the ruler of the city of Barcina I cannot stand my husband cucking me; it would be one thing if it was with one of my maids I would have given to him as concubines but it's another to find him cucking me with another man. So, I killed him; heavens above I don't regret it" Josephine replied.

"And why are you telling me about it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because I'm celebrating and you'll keep quiet about the whole thing, it's an open secret in Barcina and celebrated because everyone knew he was unfaithful pig I made no secret about it" Josephine.

"So that's the only reason you killed him?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, the man was fool; you don't cuck an Antelboyat and get away with it, especially if I happen to be the Duchess of one of the most important provinces adjacent to the Capital; charged with overseeing the Western watches" Josephine replied.

Tatsumi now was leaning towards not killing her but he had to understand her position. "So enough about it what do you think about the state of affairs in the Capital?" Tatsumi asked.

"You are inquisitive for a courtesan if I didn't know better I'd suspect you were a noble, but not it matters much because you aren't actively trying to kill me or report me to authorities: anyway personally as long as Emperor Makoto sits on his throne I really don't care who leads the Empire, as long as it isn't that pig Honest: the gall of that man: I actually married my unfaithful wretch of a husband to prevent him from using his authority as Prime Minister to force me to marry him: now I'm single again and he'll want to try again which means I'm going to have to find a young upcoming rival of his and marry him" Josephine replied.

"Well nice to here about that, what do you think of the Minister for Justice I here he's quite the charmer" Tatsumi asked.

"I've heard of him and he's on the top of my list, I actually came here to look for him he wasn't at the Palace earlier today so I'd figured I'd stop by here and celebrate my husband's death with a man who actually may give me a good time" Josephine replied, that clinched it for Tatsumi: he wasn't going to kill her, she'd killed her husband yes, but it had been because the guy had actively cheated on her and honestly Tatsumi viewed that with contempt, plus she intended to court him.

"Fine wine? Let's start things off with a drink; Chataue Brion 2342 vintage: fine stuff" Tatsumi replied and opened the cork.

"Why not? But only a glass I prefer to stay sober when I'm having sex, my husband always got me drunk before it and I'm sure that was to knock me out" Josephine replied; Tatsumi poured the drink.

"You are an inquisitive fox: I can see why you took the name" Josephine replied as he poured the drinks: Tatsumi took a drink.

"I like to think I'm a fox who outsmarts wolves in this city" Tatsumi replied.

"Really, the nickname is interesting; you share it with the Minister for Justice: I was there at Esdeath's ball last month" Josephine replied, she suspected him.

"How can I serve you?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well by taking of that delightful mask of yours first" Josephine asked and traced her palms to it Tatsumi wanted to resist but didn't because it wouldn't help him, she removed his mask. "Tatsuya the Black Fox, actually you are Tatsumi the Black Fox, the Minister for Justice" Josephine remarked. "Now what is Minister for Justice doing here as a prostitute in a brothel I wonder?" Josephine questioned.

"Spying on my rivals and looking for an evening with wine, women and song, my dates for the evening thought it would be a funny joke to have me do this" Tatsumi replied, half-truthfully.

"I see Tatsumi, a bold and risky strategy but one that I've expected of someone like you; your reputation proceeds you and well this feat of yours makes me all the more interested in a marriage with you" Josephine replied.

"And I'd like to work out the details; but wouldn't you like to experience my qualifications first hand; to see if I'm to your liking, you did pay for my services after all and I'm a man who does what he's paid to do well" Tatsumi replied seductively, she smirked.

"Gladly; we'll discuss the details of a contract afterwards" Josephine replied as she finished her drink and undid her dress: Tatsumi checked to make sure the door was locked then returned to Josephine.

"Would you help me with my corset? It's a two-person job; don't remove it all the way just loosen it" Josephine asked, Tatsumi helped her exposing her ample DDD-cups and contracting it to the mid chest above her navel and below her cleavage. She then slaped his butt and removed his shorts, nothing underneath.

"Well you are gifted: this is definitely an improvement over my husband; what is this 10-inches, all hard for me, not one of the other men in this place could compare to you; you'd make a fortune if you did this seriously" Josephine replied getting on her knees.

"I've got standerds" Tatsumi replied, she then smirked and wrapped her breasts around his length; Tatsumi loved the contrast of her skin and loved the feel of the valley of her cleavage.

"Oh it's so snug; lets see how it fits in my lips" Josephine remarked and then licked the tip as as she moved her breasts up and down at a slow gentle pace. She then took the tip in her mouth and sucked it with polished rhythm. The slurps and sloshes were soothing.

Tatsumi used this state of things to remove his vest and discreetly disposed of the poison sphere in doing so; the disposal flung it into nearby garbage can meant for the disposal of condoms which made sure it wouldn't ever be found. As he did this Josephine slid his length out of her breasts in order to properly deepthroat. Her mouth was warmer and more amazing then her breasts; the work she did with her tongue was a delight for his length.

The blowjob was slow and steady paced but led to him releasing sooner then he expected due to the quality of it. Josephine swallowed his seed, most of it the rest covered her ample breasts, stood up and kissed Tatsumi on the lips. "You are a true delight Minister Tatsumi, a truly worth husband for myself: now I must experience more of you" Josephine complemented seductively, then removed her panties before pushing him onto the bed. Josephine crawled to him and climbed onto him and kissed him seductively. "Good lips; now that you've experienced your cock with mine I'd like to see what yours's can do with my pussy, and well I'll resume pleasing it" Josephine replied and turned over placing her lower lips above Tatsumi's face before giving his erection a kiss and sucking it once more: Tatsumi licked her vulva and used his finger to spread them open and inserted his tongue.

Despite her not being a virgin Josephine was rather tight as his tongue found; his lips sucked her vulva as he probed for her spots, Josephine moaned as he did this and reciprocated by deepthroating him sucking with eager gusto and moaning loudly even as she did so. This passionate mutual oral pleasure was the best Josephine had ever experienced and her orgasm was greatly accelerated by this: Tatsumi of course sucked up her juices with thirst and his own orgasm followed as Josephine deepthroated him and the whole loud was swallowed by her.

Josephine sat up. "Oh that was amazing; I've never experienced something like that before: you are better than my former husband especially since I'm sure he was more interested sucking cocks then licking pussy" Josephine complemented and moved to his length; kissing him as she took him into her tight passage; Tatsumi moaned and kissed back lustfully clamping his hands on her butt giving it playful gropes. He then moved to his side spooning her and then suckling her breasts; the brownish nipples contrasted against her olive skin and he loved the milk that came from those breasts. Josephine moaned constantly and Tatsumi moaned in between drinks; his love for milk was something that made him the perfect partner for Josephine who loved and flaunted her bountiful breasts and loved the feeling of having her nipples played with; something she did frequently when masturbating and Tatsumi's hands did so on a level she'd never experienced. "Definitely my husband to be no disputing him" Josephine thought and kissed him on the forehead before nibble kissing his left ear.

Tatsumi was reaching his limit and due to come again, Josephine noted this and wrapped her legs around him. "Now you are going sow your seed in my womb Tatsumi; I'd like to get started on the future heir to my house as soon as possible" Josephine replied.

"Alright then; but I'm going to have spread and fuck your ass good before we're done" Tatsumi explained.

"Of course; I'm glad you noticed it; my husband never really did, well such is to be expected from an unfaithful wretch like him; after you've done that though I must be going; don't want to be seen here with you: oh and I'll pay you at our wedding ceremony as a gift from my household" Josephine replied Tatsumi came and she rolled off and lay flat on her back flaunting her rear. "Well lets see how good you are with a girl's ass" Josephine beckoned, Tatsumi spread her cheeks and her legs and entered her rear quite swiftly and rode it like she was a fine mare.

"Oh, so tight" Tatsumi moaned as he road her, Josephine smiled and closed her eyes and let Tatsumi do his work until he released inside her rear, Josephine smirked and turned over to kiss him.

She broke the kiss and looked at him. "We'll talk tomorrow at court, act surprised when I approach you, we'll make small talk and work out the details of a marriage contract: now is there anything I can do for you?" Josephine asked.

"What kind of influence do you have?" Tatsumi asked.

"I rule one of the most important provinces in the Empire: my home is within less than a day's journey of Melitine and is a major trade hub for five adjacent; also my family is traditionally in charge of the nearest relief armies for Melitine in case of a siege, also these troops are frequently campaigning in the western provinces to kill uprisings and bandits; they are veteran and battle hardened; do not underestimate them, now let that factor into your consideration" Josephine replied..

"I've plans to form my own faction; I tire of Honest's rule and hate him for the various crimes he did, including no shortage of attempts on my life and that of my family members: I despise the Leaders of the Revolutionary Army, there are good people in it but there are many bad in it as well that want an innocent 13 year old Emperor and his sisters dead for their own games: any organization that's leaders want to kill children are evil. As such I've decided to take the best of both the Empire and Revolutionary Army and form a third faction; loyal to rightful ruler of the Empire and dedicated to the overthrow and destruction of the monsters who want to ruin our society" Tatsumi explained.

"A noble goal from one so young; I'm very much in agreement; granted I care little who rules the Empire so long as they aren't pigs like Honest or crazed fanatics" Josephine replied hugging him pressing her breasts against his back. "Now we must get going, I trust I wasn't the sole reason you came here and I trust I wouldn't be missed if I departed besides it would be quite a scandal, a widowed duchess, recently widowed at that, in bed in a brothel with the Minister for Justice and Fun, along with the person who is essentially the second in command of the army." Josephine explained; Tatsumi got up and redressed opening the bag for his more traditional clothes: Josephine did the same and they took their turns departing the room.

Tatsumi soon rendezvoused with Balluck and Gilberda the two of which were relaxing on a couch while eating grapes given to them by escorts that were quite beautiful. "Hello my dear" Gilberda greeted. "What took you so long?" Gilberda asked seriously.

"I found the duchess to be quite; persuasive; she's a good kisser and good person who was a fun tumble" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; then I trust our worries were for naught?" Gilberda asked.

"There was more to the case then first appeared; I investigated the matter and found our worries were misplaced" Tatsumi explained, Gilberda and Balluck looked at him.

"And you sure this wasn't because she was a pretty face?" Balluck asked.

"She knows my true face, what I look like behind my mask my dear fox" Tatsumi replied.

"Interesting and she discovered this how?" Gilberda asked.

"Curiosity, and the fact that well I'm terrible with names as usual" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway, lets discuss this matter later I'm sure my dear Gil would rather spend the evening in my warm embrace, drinking wine and in the comfort of other beauties" Tatsumi replied. "I know I would" Tatsumi added, both Gilberda and Balluck nodded in agreement and dropped the issue for the time being and until they were behind the walls and snug inside Grundewick Manor where they could speak freely without fear of being found out and meeting a terrible end.

Tatsumi then went with them and purchased 12 exotic beauties and spent the rest of the evening with them and his two girlfriends.

That evening found Melitine unusually peaceful, for once the night life wasn't actively trying to ruin the peaceful evening; sleep was found, and for reasons unknown no criminal dared show themselves on the street.

That was for good reason as Leone and Syura were on the hunt for trouble makers and the fear of the Night was even more palpable with the two half-sibling monster hunters on the prowl; hell anyone who knew about the bounty of the White Knight and his habit of appearing and striking at random and then disappearing scared the average criminal in the city shitless; granted average being the word; there were some who didn't fear them; trusting in their security measures and secrecy to keep them safe; little did they know that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer. Guards could not protect them from a Teigu user and a Knight of the Eternity Queen's guard; such was the case of previous targets that had died.

"I think watching for trouble can easily be the most boring part of the job" Leone commented.

"I can agree with that; personally, I find this definitely dull and while my new body requires little sleep, I'd say there are plenty of other things I'd rather be doing at this hour then watching out for suspicious people and things" Syura replied.

"I can agree with you there: personally, I'd rather be laying back in a bed either asleep like a kitten or having my beloved Tatsumi-nii in me" Leone replied.

"I can agree; you know one thing I absolutely miss about my old life was if I wanted a beauty to lay with, I just had to ask, now its way more complex and well interesting" Syura replied.

"I can see that, so you think the girls you're interested in will like the new tattoo and hairdo?" Leone asked.

"We took a walk earlier today and you could tell the ladies looked at me with interest" Syura replied.

"Really I was too focused on shooting glares at guys looking at my boobs: you know I used to love watching idiots trip over themselves looking at them but now being married to Tatsumi I really want to punch them in the face" Leone replied.

"I can tell, also we shouldn't stay too close together in public; we're siblings not a couple" Syura replied.

"Yep; granted the only resemblance is the eyes" Leone replied.

"And the ears Leone; you and I have our father's ears" Syura replied and touched one to emphasize that point.

"I know but you really can't tell, especially with the fact that dad has hair the way he does you can't see them" Leone replied then noted something, and sniffed. "You smell that?" Leone asked.

"Nope, what" Syura asked becoming serious.

"I do, it smells like opium; someone is taking a smoke at this hour" Leone replied.

"Ek, Opium; never could stand the stuff, it smelled pretty bad and it dad told be me to avoid it as it dulled your senses in a big way" Syura replied.

"I'm surprised he actually cared about stuff like that" Leone replied.

"Considering the fact, he takes pride in his physical fitness and prowess it shouldn't be" Syura replied. "I'm not surprised though he keeps it hidden though, it makes people misjudge him; one thing about our Father that is constant is that he a deceiver; in fact his name is a lie" Syura explained.

"What do you mean?" Leone asked.

"Seriously you thought Honest was his true name nope, its Valdis; just don't use the name around him it pisses him off" Syura replied.,

"Noted I'll enjoy using it even though I knew his name in advance" Leone remarked.

"He's got a good reason to: he doesn't like being reminded of his origin and he doesn't like be reminded our oldest brother exists" Syura replied.

"What is wrong with Valdis?" Leone asked.

"Everything according to dad, he's way too much of a goody two shoes in his eyes, bro's basically what dad was in his youth, but he's better at it: even more so, basically he's got this hero complex who's wanting to emulate what dad was and who's more interested in being the perfect Paladin instead of well like us: he's a bit high strung; and if not for the fact he's always been tougher then me I'd have punched him in the face, granted though it was fun to prank him, I remember that time I filled his room with palace prostitutes, he saw the scene and freaked out: he's the biggest prude sis: I he'll get married to some bigger priss of a girl and have kids that are purdier then the two of them combined" Syura replied, Leone laughed.

"I get it; I'd probably annoy him to death" Leone asked.

"He'd have disdain for you: he doesn't like it when father sires bastards and he will go out of his way to tell him that; as much as dad hates the fact he's goody two shoes he can't bring himself to kill him: it was different for Eugene because he was a drunken lay about who never did anything productive or Satake who was born a bastard; but those of us from my mom except Eugene are something he can't bring himself to hurt; he values us too much" Syura replied.

"Great now my half-brother would think me a stain on the family, what happened to the vows of tolerance?" Leone teased.

"I never said he was a perfect Paladin, but he'd never hurt you he respects family more than anything else: that's the one lesson that dad drilled into everyone's head; that your family despite how dysfunctional it may be is the most important thing in your life, anything else is secondary before it" Syura replied.

"Then I guess he's not completely gone evil" Leone remarked.

"Too much of him is; if anything that good part is like a puddle of water in the hottest desert; slowly drying up" Syura replied, then they heard a yelp and saw girl being chased by a group of traffickers, they immediately pounded on the traffickers and destroyed them with ruthless speed and swift strikes.

"Thanks" the woman stated.

"No problem" Syura stated from behind his helm, the girl smiled at him.

"You know I'd like to reward you for your kindness, why not come by my place?" the girl asked, she was a pretty ginger.

"Hey, go have fun bro: I'll do the rest of the work for you" Leone replied.

"You're siblings?" the Girl asked.

"Pretty much" Leone replied and jumped back onto the rooftops as the girl led Syura to her place to spend the night.

The next morning brought a warm wake up to everyone in the city and everyone went on their business. Tatsumi's plans for today involved meeting with and arranging a marriage to Duchess Josephine, they also involved trying to figure out a way to show Makoto what was going on in the Capital without too badly traumatizing him, granted this was going to be a hard experiment but at least he only had to show Makoto and didn't have to show Koko or Lin, those sweet girls would be spared the horrors of the world growing up and have a semi-normal childhood; albeit with more traveling but always in safety and comfort. But all that was ahead of him, and his biggest concern was to deal with the monster praying on the people of the city.

To that end he'd need a good partner who could kick ass and break noses. Basically the best person for that was Spear; her martial arts skills would allow her to get information out of the more seedy people and help intimidate some of those into become his eyes on the street; in fact building a spy network had been his greatest feat but for catching a killer in plain sight those spies needed to grow in number; even with his sizeable network he didn't have all of Melitine covered, big trouble being the gang ridden slums: street gangs as a whole were a problem and Esdeath was planning a massive crackdown on the most serious areas, granted because this was being planned out as a surprise she had to go thru the efforts of selecting troops that couldn't be susceptable to either corruption or intimidation by the gangs; in this case foreign auxiluries from Esdeath's campagins and people from provinces hundreds of miles from the Capital: these troops didn't have to worry about either the risk of having their family being threatened by the gangs and held loyalty to Esdeath; however they were a very niche and elite group that was a minority in her army and as such she needed time to find suitable members.

Tatsumi's first stop for the day was to visit Spear's mansion where he found his wife relaxing on her bed in the nude; masturbating. This was something Spear did frequently and daily, granted secretly of course but it was a favored thing of hers. "My Tatsumi; good to see you; I've been warming myself up and good that showed up" Spear replied.

"Good I'm in the mood, you don't mind if we talk right?" Tatsumi asked.

"I do, sex now talking later: my pussy needs you" Spear replied and spread her legs and vulva. Tatsumi stripped and entered Spear's tightness with grace kiss her on the lips before suckling her left breast; his hands caressed her blond locks. "Tatsumi-kun" Spear moaned as he began his thrusts; Spear loved Tatsumi dearly but loved his bed prowess the most, because as much she didn't show it, she was a closet pervert and a sexual deviant. Spear's preferences were whatever she felt like on a given day, usually anal though: she also liked to put on sexy outfits trying to find new ways to make Tatsumi have fun. Spear wanted to do everything she could to to please her husband but was glad she wasn't his sole love interest because as much as she loved him he was too much to handle even with her endurance training, Tatsumi just had a stamina that was beyond belief and Spear attributed to his upbringing.

The big thing though that had changed for her recently was Rachel Harding; as soon as the two were left alone she had no shortage of questions for Spear regarding her husband and training her was easier to do when she chatted. Spear now had a plan; Rachel was obviously a suppressed virgin who never had a love interest and given the fact that she was an Imperial fist disciple who had to undergo a vow of chastity until they became a master it clearly left her wanting something. A normal Imperial Fist master would suppress this, but Spear wasn't the normal master; she favored the unconventional and Tatsumi did take a lot out of her. So, she had devised a plan.

Tatsumi thrusted in and out Spear bouncing up and down on his length moaning as he suckled her breasts, then her heard the door to Spear's closet open and out walked Rachel dressed in what Tatsumi recognized by Spear's Fairy of Passion lingerie with her fairy wings on. "Oh, look Tatsumi I brought a gift for you or rather a fairy has come to grant your wish could you please tend to her for it" Spear teased.

"Yes; for the man who pleases the fairy of passion gets whatever his heart desires" Rachel played along.

Tatsumi smirked and laughed "Sure come over then" Tatsumi replied.

"I've got another surprise too" Spear replied and whistled; the nearby closet door opened and out walked Sheele followed by a load of coats that she knocked off their racks.

"EEEGH!" Sheele yelled as she dug herself out of the fur coats, she was clad in her most revealing underwear and despite her pregnancy looked as beautiful as ever.

"What are you doing here Sheele?" Tatsumi asked.

"Being here and looking for you my sweet Tatsumi; waiting to give you some loving because I need it and you need it too" Sheele replied and immediately removed her limited attire and climbed onto the bed, Rachel followed suit both wore little but their skin and their stockings. Spear smiled as Tatsumi thrusted in and out of her, she was pregnant but neither her nor Tatsumi knew it yet; for now though Spear would get what she loved most: Tatsumi showering her with unconditional love and affection.

Until Rachel pulled Tatsumi off and began giving him head, an endevour in which she was joined in by Sheele; Spear smiled and wrapped her arms and legs around Tatsumi and kissed him all over his face and upper back; nibbling his ears in kisses while letting her lovely blonde locks be caressed by Tatsumi's right hand. Sheele and Rachel gave Tatsumi head in the cutest and most adorable way possible; Sheele's shy expression always translated well into sex in Tatsumi's experience even if Sheele was only faking it as part of her cover; after all no one would ever suspect a bumbling airhead of being the mastermind in charge of the world's oldest and deadliest assassin organization.

Tatsumi couldn't help but relax into the positions once again becoming the master of the many forms of sexual copulation. Speaking of the first thing he did when it came to taking Rachel's cherry was to pick her up and carrying her bridal style as he snapped her cherry. Rachel didn't wince, just kissed and let him work his magic; Spear and Sheele tended to eachother's needs in a lesbian sixty-nine which Tatsumi as soon as he finished with Rachel's first round turned to engage in snagging Spear and riding her rear like a stallion reverse cow-girl. Spear's loins were sooning being caressed by Sheele's tongue, something that came of her and Mine practicing in their spare time, while Rachel kissed Tatsumi and Spear suckled Rachel's breasts as she did so. Tatsumi's thrusts kept going as he upped the tempo to Spear's preferred level; Spear moaned louder as she orgasmed from a mixture of Tatsumi's pounding of her butt and Sheele licking out her pussy.

Sheele smirked after licking the juices off and kissed Tatsumi whom Spear also kissed and Tatsumi came swiftly filling Spear's rear. He then turned his attention to Rachel's rear. "Well show me what you can do Tatsumi" Rachel seductively requested Tatsumi backdoored her and she moaned very loudly, Spear and Sheele grabbed his arms and kissed him; Spear made out with him while Sheele played with his pecks; Tatsumi moaned at the pleasure that came from Sheele licking his chest and fingers that tickled him.

Two Hours Later… Spear looked at herself in a mirror. "How do I look Tatsumi-muffin?" Spear asked, she wore a lovely orange and red gown with a blue cloth sash worn over her shoulders across her chest, her hair was styled in a series of blonde buns and two braids on either side of her face, she wore silver laurel of victory along with a ruby brooch as accessories and her rank as Field Marshal was displayed by a golden braided shoulder pad on her right shoulder.

"You look radiant, so what's the occasion?" Tatsumi asked.

"The occasion is I'm getting more involved in court politics and well in our relationship in general, I've taken a good number of days off as a well justified reward for over 2 years of non-stop war under Esdeath and to adjust to our marriage, and apart from four Night Raid missions I've done nothing remotely dangerous and I've left political things to you: well that's not the case anymore Tatsumi: I'm sticking to you like glue" Spear explained.

"I- that's fine; its just-" Tatsumi replied stammering.

"Worried about my safety? Don't worry I've got that figured out Rachel and Sheele will be my protection and yours as well in addition to your four Oarburgh Warmaidens; speaking of where are they?" Spear asked.

"I assigned them to protecting Aria" Tatsumi replied, Honest had been doubling his efforts to kill Aria of late, mainly due to the fact he now knew about Syura's death at her hands thanks to himself: the attempts were more brazen then most and the most frequent; as such Tatsumi had changed the picture and assigned his four Oarburgh bodyguards to her security detail, not just to protect Aria but also her own security force which while elite didn't compare to the Oarburghs in any way.

"I see; well then consider me and the girls your replacement security force; well at least until you have the Oarburgh team back how long are you going to have them protecting her?" Spear asked.

"Until Honest gets tired of throwing money after Aria or until the new batch of Grundel guards are finished with their training; which will be about three days from now" Tatsumi explained, Spear smirked.

"Well then Tatsumi let's head out; you've been summoned for a council meeting which is unusual and Esdeath wants to discuss something regarding your plans for a takeover" Spear replied.

"Ok well lets go" Tatsumi replied.

Shortly at the Palace… Tatsumi and Spear arrived on time for the council meetings which hadn't started, Tatsumi noted Honest was suspiciously absent. "He's up to something" Tatsumi thought and laughed mentally because that was always a given with Honest, but when the Prime Minister wasn't at a meeting Tatsumi knew something that was going to be bigger trouble than normal was in the works. The meeting was held in the Council chambers rather than the throne room: Makoto sat on a throne that was smaller than the intricately designed Imperial Throne in his throne room, while to his side the Four Rakshasa Demons stood vigilant clad in ceremonial armor; something Tatsumi hadn't seen them in before and which meant something significant was about to happen. Spear sat to his left and Shastavi to his right with Esdeath to the right of her who sat to the right of the Emperor: Rachel and Sheele waited outside with the rest of the security details as only the Four Rakshasa Demons, Elite Seven, the Grand Marshal of the Military, Minister for Justice and the Emperor had the right to carry weapons in the room.

"Wonder what's taking him so long" Tatsumi commented.

"Yeah Honest-san said this was important to call everyone here to the council chambers themselves; which I think we need to be painted a different color black in my opinion because its supposed to be a secretive room" Makoto commented.

Honest soon arrived with General Teketh at his side but also a short hooded figure. "Your majesty I called this meeting for a matter of extreme importance to your personal safety" Honest explained.

"What is so important that I had to stop playing Dragons and Knights with Esdeath-nii Honest-san" Makoto asked annoyed as usual with Honest.

"I'd like you all to meet someone; someone important now to your safety" Honest explained. "Now in recent months there have been a number of assassinations, but the worry has increased that someone may attempt to assassinate your highness himself. Recently about a month ago a plot to do so was thwarted by the efforts of Grand Marshal Esdeath, the plan would have involved three simultaneous attacks on myself, your highness and the Grand Marshall, also this plot was only one of two; one was by one of your highness's generals and the other by the Revolutionary Army; since then I've had your security as my main focus and have spent the past month scouring the Capital and the surrounding provinces for someone that shares your appearance and I've done so" Honest explained, the hooded figure took off his cloak to reveal a young boy the same age as Makoto with the same appearance and clothes, the council was surprised.

"What are you trying to pull Honest?" Tatsumi thought; Honest in his opinion wouldn't do something like this out of the kindness of his heart; something else was at play; something that very much made him want to double Makoto's security and post a 24 hour guard at his room door that only answered to a few people and of whom Honest wasn't one of them.

"This is Kobi; he's a young boy about your age Makoto, now I've taken to the liberty of having him trained already; I say he'll more then be able to cover for you should any plots to kill you highness be discovered" Honest explained.

"Alright can we put him to a test? He looks like me, but can he act like and more importantly can fool most of the people here?" Makoto asked.

"Well your highness if you insist on a test well then we should discuss that matter between the two of us; but the jist of it is yes on a day of your choosing you will stay in your room for a day and do whatever you want while Kobi will fill in for you at court; now only your majesty and I will know the date in question and I'm certain nobody will be able to tell the difference" Honest replied.

"Alright Honest san but why can't Tatsumi-nii and Esdeath-nii know about it, and can I invite Fal, Luna and Air-chan to play with me on that day" Makoto asked.

"Yes you may invite them; as to your question regarding the day of the test I want to test how good Kobi is at his job: right now everyone in this room knows which is which but can you tell the difference if we were to change the venue on an unlisted day of the Emperor's choosing with only a select few knowing who the decoy is" Honest explained.

"The select few should by Imperial law include the Minister for Justice and Grand Marshal: Prime Minister, in addition to the Spymaster, minister for the Treasury and Chief Diplomat" Spear interrupted.

"Excuse me but I wasn't finished speaking yet, miss-"Honest replied.

"Field Marshal Spear Grundel, and its Mrs. not miss; I'm the second in command of the Army as Grand Marshal Esdeath's chief of staff and I've read the bylaws with regards to the Imperial court, that the top 5 advisors who serve the most important cabinet positions and at the Emperor's personal discretion should in addition to the Prime Minister and his deputy be informed of all developments with regards to security as should their second in commands" Spear replied. Honest frowned and noted that Spear was rather smart and had stopped him from being able to dispose of Makoto without the council noticing.

"Alright then: I will hold a meeting an hour from the end of this one to discuss the date specifically, other than that we will resume the meeting as normal" Honest replied then took a seat and began an hour long meeting during which Tatsumi took mental notes of anything important while Makoto played with a fidget spinner.

Then two hours later Tatsumi found out the day of the test, it would be the coming Friday and only the people in the room were to know about the test's date and that after the rest of that day's events it would be revealed to the rest of the Palace.

Speaking of the rest the day Tatsumi did his best to stay level-headed but also search for any clues: he also was met by Womyn who in addition to giving him a good tumble informed him that Najenda has assigned him and Remus patrol duty for the night for the hope of finding any signs of the Tormenter who's identity was still unconfirmed. In this regard Tatsumi took the trackers that Dorothea had given him which baring a failure to nab the Tormenter would allow him to trace him or her at the least. The clues he had so far was that the Tormenter was reclusive, killed specific people to cause suffering in the hearts and minds of his targets, and that whoever did so didn't really have a specific pattern that he could get a fix on. "So the only way I'm going to nab this killer is by chance which is awful, at least with Champ and Enshin they had a pattern that could be predicted and that they could be lured into a trap; it's a matter of me figuring out the killers identity and from there a trap" Tatsumi thought; however that was going to be the tricky part as the killers targets were random and literally all he could do was wait and see where the killer struck next.

An hour later at Grundwick Manor… Aria was busy; in this case considering her next target carefully; but also thinking about how to nail the Tormenter to a cross after giving him or her the full battery of torture implements which while she thought she was actively sorting. "Judas pear, flaying knife, water torture, acidic solutions; such wonderful toys to play with" Aria remarked to herself as she sorted her implements. "The question is who will be my next victim, the Tormenter or any of the six current targets on our assassination list" Aria asked herself, the door opened and Tatsumi walked in; Aria's toys were stored in a room that was concealed behind a book case in the family library, Tatsumi knew where to find her.

"My Capital Angel" Tatsumi greeted, Aria sat up and turned to him.

"My Tatsumi; good to see you" Aria replied, smiling, both stopped however when they made eye contact and knew that there was a sense of forboding.

"Well how are you doing?" Tatsumi asked.

"Pretty good, at the moment I'm considering which of my 'toys' I'll bring to bare on my next target; in addition to who that may be and what are you doing?" Aria asked.

"Trying to figure out how the nab this killer, so how has your day been so far?" Tatsumi replied, Aria frowned.

"I- met someone- someone that well said some hurtful things" Aria explained, Tatsumi hugged her.

"Don't worry; remember the things that person said were just words, words can't hurt you unless you let them, now who said these things and what did that person say" Tatsumi replied.

"The person who said these things was a man named Rian, he- well hates my family business; he's a doctor and hates my family's business because we manufacture arms and dirty little secret that is where real money is at, but he is one of those people that hates them because of the injuries they can cause. I personally wish that we didn't need to have weapons but this world of ours is too violent and hostile for that to ever be the case; the best thing to do is to arm everyone who can afford to and is able to bare arms to protect themselves against the horrors of our world" Aria explained. "But this guy doesn't see that, he sees only the aftermath of the use of a weapon, the injuries, I have seen them too but I don't blame the weapon that delt them for being the cause but rather the person who used it: Tatsumi in this world of ours people are the true threat; its something that I wish more people would understand and this guy doesn't. Not only that he's refused to acknowledge the good my family has done with our wealth; the fact that we always help those in need, that we are constantly trying to make amends for our sins: its- hard" Aria explained. "By the way this isn't he first time I've met someone that has these beliefs but it's the first time someone has actively gone out of the way to insult me and call me a monster which I'm not, the others I've met that had these beliefs well they're good people and agree to disagree" Aria added.

"Aria-chan; my lovely wife, you're the most kind-hearted person I've met; granted you've tortured and killed people but they were monsters who deserved it; in the end you're no monster; you're just someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the innocent" Tatsumi replied. "So anyway, that wasn't what I wanted to talk about, got any ideas as to whom this killer may be?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not much; apart from the autopsy my mother and I did at the morgue at the hospital the bodies of his victims were brought to; the methods of their murder were cruel, the killer killed them in a way they would die a slow agonizing death and the manner was clearly meant to maximize suffering; as to the weapon used it appears to be a pistol made by a rival company to my family's the name of which is Zeckler's smiths which is an Eastern province company: the rounds also use a jacket that's meant to cause damage too as the rounds bounced about the body and extra shrapnel from the jackets were also found" Aria explained; Tatsumi didn't know much about fire-arms but he did know the methods in which they killed thanks to Seryu and Tsukushi's training in the art of using the pistol, the extent to which the bodies had been damage too gave the name tormenter further standing as the killer seemed focus on causing as much pain as possible to his kills.

"Anything from the rounds?" Tatsumi asked

"Apart from the gun being a Zeck-and-Wesson C-2534, nope though the kills appeared to have been mostly from point blank so whoever this person is they like to get up close an personal" Aria replied.

"Great no leads there either; what about the two girls you rescued, did they get a good look at him?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes and no; yes they did get a good look, but no they wouldn't be able to identify him, the killer wore a mask and a black body suit of the kind used by executioners; there was nothing beyond a voice and well recognizing someone by voice in Melitine is well, doable but requires you to find the person in question which defeats the purpose" Aria replied. "Speaking of I've decided to take those two into our family I'm sure you don't mind but they need someone to care for them and they get along with Kyoko and Mishi" Aria added.

"Alright with me, I'm going to try and investigate further, the killer operates at night which means he or she is the kind of person to get hit by Night Raid op" Tatsumi replied, Aria nodded in agreement.

"Well we'll have to hope we run into him or her, they better hope I'm not in the team that he runs into or well its going to be well a rotten way to go for him" Aria replied then went over additional tools, Tatsumi left her to her sorting and went down the hall where he bumped into Mashiro knocking her down.

"Oh sorry" Tatsumi apologized helping her back up.

"It's ok, I wasn't watching where I was going Tatsumi-san" Mashiro replied then looked at him. "Hey Tatsumi-san can we talk for a bit?" Mashiro asked, Tatsumi nodded not having anything better to do and they went to Constantine's lounge where nobody was at during this time of day.

Tatsumi sat on a couch, the same one where Ieyasu had been sleeping on the day he arrived at the Capital, Mashiro sat next to him and to his surprise held his hand; not a romantic gesture but more something for comfort. "So what do you want to talk about?" Tatsumi asked.

"The recent events: Tatsumi I've got a gut instinct that the Tormentor is old enemy of mine; the man who killed the man I loved on the eve of our wedding, the way the people were killed it- matchs the injuries on my beloved, rest his soul, and the messages the killer has written the handwriting is the same as the killer's script" Mashiro explained. "Now since you've taken in on yourself to track down this monster I want to well thank you for it: Tatsumi you've taken on a thankless task and if the killer is the same person who killed my husband to be well I'm going to be all the more grateful to you" Mashiro explained.

"Grateful how?" Tatsumi asked smoothly.

"Well in any way you want me to- but I- well I" Mashiro stammered then blushed. "Look Tatsumi I'll level with you: you remind me a whole lot of my late Kouga, you're brave, handsome, charming but the eyes you share them with him the sparkle not the color and well you're also pretty funny at times as he was; you see what I'm trying to say is we- I- love you- but its not that simple as long as that monster is still alive I'll never truly be able to have a new relationship not without worrying my joy will be snatched away from me; in fact the reason it was snatched was because I had joy: well not again I love you Tatsumi but until this monster is taken down I can't in good heart act on my love" Mashiro explained.

"Mashiro; if you're worried about losing me then you and I may never love, I'm not going to stop putting my life in danger to save those in need, and well everyone dies some day; but I hope at least I can go down to my grave and die happy without regrets and hopefully not lose my Aria before then; I'd really hate to outlive the woman I owe my life as I know it to I'd- not be able to live more then a couple days without her" Tatsumi explained, Mashiro frowned.

"So does that mean you're rejecting me?" Mashiro asked.

"No- what I'm trying to tell you is that I accept your feelings but you need to act on them not worry about what may happen today or tomorrow, to show how much your love means to you; to show you aren't worried about loss anymore; Mashiro if I waited to act on my feelings well I'm not sure Aria and I would be as close as we are, in fact acting on my feelings of thanks for her offering to take me in saved my life; I really can't truly repay that debt and she and I share it: Mashiro if you love me you'll act on your feelings without fear of loosing me" Tatsumi explained, Mashiro stopped weeping and kissed him on the lips romantically wrapping her arms around him.

They kissed for a few minutes but as Tatsumi began to undo the clasps of her dress she stopped him. "No- I'm not ready to go there yet; kill that monster and we'll go there" Mashiro replied stopping him even though she felt his erection rubbing against her loins thru their clothes.

"Alright, whatever you're comfortable with Mashy" Tatsumi called her, Mashiro laughed.

"Mashy? I haven't' heard that name in three years now; my Kouga used to call me that, don't use it until I think you've earned the right to use it" Mashiro replied.

"When will that be?" Tatsumi asked.

"The minute after you pop my cherry; anyway, I think we'd better go I'd rather not have people thinking we did something when we didn't" she responded and the two sepperated.

Tatsumi spent the rest of the day planning out a patrol route for him and Remus to take; Remus herself was out and about shopping, the girl may have been a secret assassin, but she loved to accessorize and even more so to shop in general. Because of her air-headed nature she wasn't one for planning ahead, that was Balluck's expertise, in fact of the three Trio of Terror members Balluck was the most level-headed and focused in addition to being the reason the other two were still alive.

The patrol route would take them thru Melitine's lower east side and thru the worst of the slum districts called Roachtown for the conditions there; Roachtown was the best place to hide a killer, it was where Enshin had hid, and where Champ had first struck; the place also was adjacent to the two targets that had been hit so far and perhaps if they checked the neighborhoods around it they'd find the culprit in the act.

That Night… Tatsumi and Remus stood close each other Remus holding his hands; her idea for them had been to pose as a young couple out for a late night stroll which for the purposes of Tatsumi's plan worked perfectly, perhaps the Tormenter would attack them hoping that by killing either one of them that he'd be able to cause the other a great deal of anguish as was his goal with his murders. Both were dressed in their normal day clothes: Tatsumi clad in his favorite sweeter, pants, gloves, boots and trench coat with a sharp new porkpie hat. While Remus wore a black long sleeve shirt, purple skirt, black stockings, purple pumps and her own trench coat, along with a hairband in her long blonde hair, her hand felt soft. Both had a sword at their side. Remus favored a light broadsword which was a Teigu named Rashtava: Sundering Razor, which allowed her to rapidly strike opponents but had the ability to cut throw most armor like it was butter and the person underneath it usually with one strike.

"Tatsumi we need to talk" Remus whispered in Tatsumi's ear.

"Alright but not now, we need to keep our ears and eyes peeled for trouble of the unusual kind" Tatsumi replied, Remus smiled, she then kissed his ear to his surprise, Tatsumi turned to face her and she kissed him again on the lips causing him to go slack-jawed and Remus in turn to invade his mouth with her tongue; Tatsumi's surprise prevented him from even moving his own in counter the kiss ended swiftly however.

"Just us; now; here, lets find a nice secluded corner where you and I can get to know each other better" Remus flirted, Tatsumi was half-surprised but given the fact that Womyn and Balluck had already gotten laid with him it was only logical that Remus would try to do the same; as such she led him aside an abandoned flat which while still furnished had recently been vacated; such flats in the slums had no locks, a major design flaw because it didn't do well to keep out intruders; but the people who designed these buildings cared more about money then human lives; much less common sense. She then led him to a secluded room which had meager furnishings but one of those was a bed; a moderately sized bed for two people and covered with sheets which had looked like they had seen better days but were clean. "Nice quiet secluded place, perfect for a little love-making" Remus seductively said to Tatsumi removing his trench coat.

"This is, quiet, but what if someone lives here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Please Tatsumi the sign up front says for rent; nobody will interrupt us; now do you want this? Because sure as hell do; I've been- pent up, hot, and horny all day because of you and because of Womyn and Balluck telling how much of a stud you are" Remus replied and began stripping.

"I'm- ok with it; just we need to be quick, we have 30 minutes, then we need to get back on patrol and keep the people here safe" Tatsumi replied and helped her with her bra; Remus's perky C-cups were exposed and her nipples were rather pronounced with large areolas; curiously she had a tattoo around one of them and brass rings in both; the tattoo depicted a storm circle.

"They're all yours" Remus playfully teased, then remove his shirt getting a good look at his scar from Honest's blade. "Ouch" Remus commented.

"Yeah" Tatsumi replied and removed her sweats revealing white and red panties while she removed his pants leaving him in his boxers; Tatsumi then picked her up and carried her to the bed laying her flat before kissing her on the lips and down her body till he came to her panties which he removed exposing her waiting loins, they were clean shaven and bore a tattoo of a wolf; Tatsumi wondered how the hell she managed to get an artist that would do that while restraining themselves from trying to sully it.

"Womyn painted these tattoos; she considers it a hobby" Remus responded noting Tatsumi's interest in the tattoos. "Well don't just stand there, show me what you can do Tatsumi-kun" Remus requested. Tatsumi leaned down, placing his lips on her vulva, caressing the outer-folds, while at the same time his hands caressed her ample breasts; fingers tickling nipples. Remus moaned sweetly as Tatsumi's tongue entered her vagina proper and more so when he found her pleasure spots.

Tatsumi noted her barrier was still in place before turning his tongue to the side finding her g-spot and causing her to moan loudly; his hands continued their gentle caresses; Remus took a hand and placed it on the small of his back while holding his right hand with the other hand. Tatsumi's skill plus this being her first time caused Remus to orgasm; however Tatsumi noted that mixed into the juices was something unpleasant tasting and he pulled back going "EWH!" and used his hands to rub his tongue off.

"I'm sorry- my bad- I- probably should have gone to the bathroom before this I- didn't expect well to pee with my orgasm too" Remus apologized, Tatsumi blushed.

"Don't worry it happens not the first time this happened though first time I was on the receiving end with my mouth" Tatsumi accepted. Remus got up and went to a nearby privy to relieve herself, she then came back a couple minutes later. "Look accidents happen just- don't let it happen again" Tatsumi replied.

"Got it; now do you have to go?" Remus asked, Tatsumi shook his head no; he hadn't had to go since lunch and he hadn't had a drink of any kind since then, he wanted to get the patrol done and dusted before he had dinner. "Good; then that means I can see what you're packing" Remus replied and climbed back on the bed and removed Tatsumi's boxers, the last article of clothing apart from his socks he had on Remus blushed.

"Wow! This is big; I wonder if it will fit inside me" Remus commented, then decided it was best to test that; with her mouth. Remus took half of Tatsumi's length in her mouth without so much as thinking and without risk of gagging because she had suppressed that reflex long ago. Tatsumi moaned as she did this, and moaned louder as she took him deeper; Tatsumi was impressed that for a virgin she was doing this good; but considering the amount of girls she knew who had been with him he figured she must have learned how to please him, especially with Merraid and Gilberda around to provide 'lessons' and the effects of said lessons were pretty obvious, Merraid's go to efforts were obvious in her movements and the facial expressions she made earlier; plus the bluntness in her approach it was obvious she was taught.

It became even more obvious when Remus opted to wrap her breasts around his length moving them slowly and methodically, in the way that Akame usually did with her breasts; all her efforts were great and Tatsumi couldn't wait to show her what he was capable. First thing he was capable of was spraying a large loud when he orgasmed; Remus recoiled in surprise when he did so; and the gooey white substance covered her face, breast, shoulders and upper body as a whole. "Yeah that was my doing; thought you'd enjoy that" Tatsumi remarked looking at Remus's smiling face, she licked up the seed.

"Salty, yet with a twinge of sweetness that is all too easy to miss for an unrefined palette" Remus remarked. "Well now let's see if it will actually fit" Remus replied and climbed onto him kissed him and turned around presenting her to him; his hands clasped those cute buttcheeks as Remus inserted his length into her, she yelled as her barrier was torn without resistance and winced at the blood now flowing out. "That hurt" Remus moaned.

"Do you want to stop?" Tatsumi asked concerned.

"No- I just need a moment to adjust" Remus replied, she had her back turned to him so he couldn't see her facial tells, it did hurt, but Remus had taken way harder knocks and she hadn't really prepared herself for the pain like she usually did as part of Group of Terror conditioning. She smiled then began bouncing, up and down, up and down, up and down, first slowly, then quicker, and then to a moderate pace she was comfortable with, all the while moaning sweet moans and she turned around to look at Tatsumi her eyes sparkled with enjoyment and a flirty smile on her face.

Remus then turned her body around and kissed him on the lips, a romantic passionate lip-lock that was truly sweet. It became even sweeter when Tatsumi broke it and began tending to her needy nipples; first to the right one which was swollen and hard needing his lips to suckle. The sensation of Tatsumi drinking from her was one she abosolutely enjoyed sending her expression and body to cloud nine and pumping her with euphoria and his length. The ride was wild and Remus kept blushing and giggling Tatsumi's hands caressed her soft blonde locks as his mouth suckled her nipples as she bounced up and down faster and faster.

Tatsumi was soon at his limit. "I'm going to cum" Tatsumi warned Remus blushed and pulled off.

"Do it in my ass!" Remus ordered prepping herself this time ready for pain; Tatsumi backdoored her and rapidly thrusted into her until he blew his load inside it and pulled out. Remus looked at him. "You're still hard" Remus remarked, they had about five minutes before they should get back to their patrol. "Let me help with that" Remus commented and once again took his length into her mouth slurping it and sucking it with gusto; Tatsumi blushed and let her give him head for the next five minutes until he came, and they concluded.

Shortly… "That was amazing, can we- do so more when we get done with this patrol?" Remus asked as she put her coat on.

"Sure; where are you staying?" Tatsumi asked, it was hard to keep track of all the people he knew.

"Grundewick Manor, 4th floor, ten doors from the stairway; man, I'm sure that the Grundels' home is practically a hotel" Remus replied. "I've never met people who were that rich and well nice and caring- it's like it's too good to be true" Remus remarked.

"I thought the same when I met them but given how long I've been with them and well with Aria I'm glad that they are exactly what they seem, good people, granted they secretly assassins but that's fine by me because they only kill evil people" Tatsumi replied, then smiled at the thought of Aria. "Man I really should be thankful to Leone for conning me out of my money, honestly considering it got me a relationship with the most beautiful woman in the Empire if not the whole universe I'm definitely grateful" Tatsumi thought, then he heard screams; and he and Remus drew their blades, Valruost glimmered red in the night and Remus's blade was ready they then ran for the source of the noise and found a well-armed figure clad in black stabbing repeatedly a man down on ground while restraining a young and beautiful woman on the ground too. "HEY!" Tatsumi yelled and charged in the direction of the figure who dodged his attack and turned towards him, the figure's face was obscured by a kabuki mask of a Noh, the black cloak covered his body though Tatsumi could see a hint of an outline beneath it; also the man had a handbag attached to his side. Their swords locked and the Tormenter struck with alarming speed. The figure then shouted, "You dare interfere in this one's torment?" In a voice that was garbled by the mask which concealed his features even his eyes as if he was wearing some form of goggles.

"YEP!" Remus yelled and went to slice him in half but tripped over her legs and the strike that would have done him in struck his shoulder cutting down the side of his body and cutting the strap holding his handbag in place. The Tormenter shrieked then kneed Tatsumi in the shins before pulling out a something from his pocket. A cloud of smoke appeared and the Tormenter vanished into the night at rapid speed, faster then Tatsumi could blink.

Tatsumi then turned to the people on the ground, the man was dead, he was about his age and to his surprise a Capital Police officer. The Woman was still alive as he could feel by a pulse but she was out cold; Tatsumi sheathed his blade as did Remus and Tatsumi slung the unconscious woman over one shoulder and Remus slung the dead officer over her's before grabbing the killer's handbag,0 he and Remus then left; taking secret paths back to Grundewick manor thru the sewer system and emerging in the manor's sub-basement via a secret passageway; the sub-basement was also attached to The Grundel Training grounds where Tatsumi heard the shrill yells of someone being tortured. "Aria. She'll know what to do" Tatsumi remarked, Remus nodded

Momentarily… "YEEAGAHH!" a man screamed as Aria cut outer dermis as she flayed him.

"Now girls it is important that when you are skinning a target alive that you take your time but don't be slow; if you slip up its ok because your target will then die which means mission accomplished and you can head home but the longer you draw out the pain the more pain the bastard is going be in when he ends up in Hell" Aria explained, her demon face on, Fal, Air and Luna were doing likewise. "Now also important is that-"Aria stated hearing the door open thus turning to face and a result she accidently cut the main artery of the condemned criminal causing him to rapidly bleed out and die.

"You keep an eye on what you're doing?" Fal snarkilly asked.

"Yes" Aria replied and face palmed. "Tatsumi? What are you doing down here and what happened!?" Aria asked realizing who'd walked into her dungeon.

"Took the sewer paths; this man is dead but this girl's alive I need you to take care of her" Tatsumi explained, Aria stood up and shouted "This way!" and ran as fast as she could in dress and led them to an elevator which took them upstairs into the manor and from there to the medical wing.

Aria looked over the young woman as did Tatsumi; her body after a through survey by Aria didn't seem to have taken any major injuries or any at all beyond a few bruises. The Young woman had a tanned complexion with short spiky black hair, her figure was comparable to that of Aria but she was taller, her eyes weren't something he could gage at the moment but she was a beauty to look at. "She's unconscious but she'll be alright, now about the man" Aria asked.

"He's dead, thought we'd bring him here anyway thought just to make sure he didn't rot outside in the street" Tatsumi explained.

"Well good you did, take him out in the backyard we'll bury him tomorrow" Aria explained. "Now did you get a good look at the scumbag who killed him?" Aria asked Tatsumi half-smiled half-frowned.

"He wore a mask but- Remus managed to wound him and caused him to drop this" Tatsumi replied and held out the handbag which he had been carrying around with him, Aria looked at it with interest.

"Interesting this may help crack the case" Aria replied then looked over the bag, opening it, inside were medical tools and supplies. Aria then looked for a name which was actually in the bag on a label. "If found please return to Rian Abrams" Aria replied then smirked before showing her demon face. "That's the asshole who called me a monster, well how hypocritical of him: now I think we know what to do next" Aria replied.

Tatsumi grimaced, then remember this was the same guy who was Mashiro's childhood friend and on top of that he had insulted Aria with cruel abandon. "Mashiro isn't going to like this; but you're right, lets devise a trap" Tatsumi replied.

"Good, I'll be the bait, he hates me and my family much less my parents so would he pass up a shot to kill the daughter of the owners of a company he hates; I don't think so and that will be his downfall" Aria replied.

"Aria- in this case let me be the one to deal with him, don't torture him I'll do that this asshole insulted you and as your husband he insulted me by proxy, in defense of your honor I'll give this guy hell" Tatsumi replied his face showing anger at the thought of the killer.

"I'll grant it to you, just let me give you some pointers; he's insulted me and I'll help you devise the torments" Aria replied. "Speaking of catching him; I've got something special in mind" Aria added smiling.

"I see well then I'm going to retire for the evening, we'll talk with Mashiro tomorrow and ready the trap; any ideas on how to lure him?" Tatsumi asked.

"Mashiro can help with that; he trusts her so lets use that to our benefit; we'll go on a date the two of us; I know just the restaurant to go to and we'll eat outside under the stars, he won't be able to resist the chance to kill me nor you and then when he's fallen into our trap well we'll give him hell" Aria explained, the plan was very simple but simple plans were often the best as sometimes people who overthink things are prone to making errors in judgement.

Tatsumi then left Aria and the unconscious girl and led Remus to his room; they then made love once more taking about a good hour and half till dinner where upon they stopped and ate before resuming making love into the night.

The following morning… Mashiro approached Rian, she hated having to do this but she hated even more that someone she thought was her friend was actually a horrible monster. When Tatsumi had told her about it she was hesitant to believe him until he showed her the bag which was indeed his and that caused her to rethink the whole thing, she cared for her old friend but this friend had betrayed her trust, more then that this ex of her's had murdered her love out of pure jealousy which honestly should have made him a prime suspect in her mind years ago. But she was blinded by their friendship and when she left her village along with her sisters after killing imperial deserters who had raped her sisters she pushed him out of her mind.

But now she had to give him a taste of his own medicine, he had betrayed her and now she would do the same for the memory of her first love and for the sake of her new love. She found him at the market square purchasing a new handbag which confirmed further the state of things also noticeable was the way he clutched his side. "Hey Rian" Mashiro greeted, he turned in surprise.

"Hello Mashiro, what are you doing here this morning?" Rian asked.

"Looking for a new ring; an engagement ring" Mashiro explained, Rian's eyes brightened.

"Ah and who's the lucky man?" Rian asked smirking.

"A hot guy named Tatsumi; he's Lady Aria's husband and I'm wanting to join his harem" Mashiro replied, Rian winced.

"Well that's- are you sure about this, what about Kouga?" Rian asked, Mashiro frowned.

"I'm sure Kouga would have wanted me to move on and move on I have; which is why I'm going to marry Tatsumi" Mashiro replied.

"And how long have you known him?" Rian asked his voice tinged ever so slightly with jealousy, Mashiro glared at him.

"About a month and half, besides why do you care; are you jealous?" Mashiro replied.

"No, not for myself but are you sure this is what Kouga would have wanted? After all it would be tragic if you were to go thru the pain of loss again" Rian replied, Mashiro realized what he meant by that, he had killed Kouga and this was something that she had been denying but he had done so, out of sheer jealousy.

"Yes and I don't give a damn about what you think; now I'm going to have to think hard about the ring; besides Aria told me that the next date after hers tonight with him at Cake and Bacon was mine" Mashiro replied and stormed off, she had given him the bait now the question was would he take it.

Tatsumi meanwhile spent time with the girl he had saved last night, she was a grey eyed beauty named Natasha; the man who had died was her brother Ivan who had taken the blow for her and told him what happened in summery. Tatsumi was preparing himself for the date; choosing what outfit to wear when Natasha walked into his room to his surprise.

"Hey, Tatsumi was it, anyway I've not gotten a chance to repay you, you may not have been able to save my brother but you did at least save me and you gave him a burial; so I thought I'd repay that debt; in any way I can" Natasha replied.

"Is this what I think it is?" Tatsumi asked.

"If you want it to be, I've never laid with a man before but I'm curious and well you look like my type, handsome, brave, caring, I'd love to lay with you" Natasha replied, Tatsumi blushed walked over and kissed her on the lips, the kiss was tender and chaste and lasted a good minute before they broke it.

"I accept your offer" Tatsumi replied, Natasha blushed.

"I thought you might, I'll make sure we aren't disturbed" Natasha replied and locked the door to the room; soon their clothes came off and moans could be heard from the room; Tatsumi rode her cute ass doggy style as he fondled her breasts.

"Tatsumi-kun!" Natasha moaned as his thrusts went forth and back about 14 per second and as Natasha groaned under his weight, his hands fondling her d-cups and lips kissing hers. Their wild ride last a good hour and half before Natasha passed out; Tatsumi then readied himself for his date choosing out a nice red cotton shirt and black pantaloons he also put on a flompy hat.

Later… "How do I look?" Tatsumi asked, Aria laughed at him.

"Ditch the hat; it makes you look like a court fool" Aria replied, Tatsumi did so.

"You know one of these days I'll find a proper hat" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi nothing short of a crown would do for the love I have for you, plus that cowlick of yours makes any normal hat look silly, don't cover it up I like it" Aria replied, Tatsumi noted her lovely poison red gown, red as a warning; he noted her gloves and the concealed syriange filled with a potent traquilizer. "Now how do I look?" Aria asked.

"Like a poisoness flower, beautiful but deadly" Tatsumi replied, Aria smirked with the comparison, they then left being shadowed Mashiro and the Trio of Terror just in case of trouble; they were accompanied by Tatsumi's Oarburgh bodyguards but when they got to the restaurant he would dismiss them to eat; once their target was down the would rejoin them and help make sure that he was secure in the carriage baggage compartment. The traquilizer would last a good three hours enough time to put him at their mercy which for him they had none.

Shortly at the restaurant… "I'll have your orders shortly madam" the Waitress stated and went inside; Tatsumi had dismissed their bodyguards and Tatsumi looked out to see a shadowy figure creeping towards them, Tatsumi gave Aria the signil; she smirked then whispered; Noctis Wave glowed slightly. Tatsumi yawned as Rian approached.

"Prepare for Torment" Rian stated as he jumped over the small fence into the alcove; Tatsumi didn't even flinch just yawned.

"Welcome I've been expecting you, one order to go" Tatsumi replied, Rian stabbed at Aria only to find that his blade and arm passed thru her and embedded into the table.

"Impossible" Rian replied, then found his throat being grabbed, he turned and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was Aria, her face demonic in appearance, injecting a syringe into him. The Trio of Terror emerged from nearby and collected the unconscious killer and tucked him into the baggage compartment, Tatsumi and Aria resumed their date.

Later… The first thing Rian noticed when he came to was that he had no clothes, secondly he was dangling from a hook above the ground, the third thing he noticed was Aria, her demonic face on, accompanied by three girls who had the same face in miniature. The Last thing he noticed was Mashiro and Tatsumi.

"Good someone's finally awake" Aria remarked.

"You have a nice nap Mr. Bad Guy?" Luna asked snarkly.

"Where am I?" Rian asked.

"Welcome to Celler of Doom where I keep my most brutal torture implements, you were wrong to call me a monster; I'm not monster but what I am is a hunter of monsters: specifically human monsters like you" Aria explained and looked over her tools, Fal and Air offering her suggestions. "As much as I'd love to show you first hand what I can do I've decided someone else will deal with you" Aria added, Rian turned to Mashiro.

"Why Mashiro?" Rian asked.

"You killed Kouga and don't deny it; you were jealous so you waited until the moment before we'd know true happiness and you murdered him, and you did so with glee and made sure he died slowly and painfully" Mashiro replied.

"Yeah I did, and you know why, because you were mine, not his I wanted you for myself, then you ran away after he died, I never got the chance to make you mine: I regret it! But I don't regret making Kouga scream for your name, oh his last words: "Mashiro I- love -you" that's what he said as ripped his heart out!" Kouga replied then received a hard punch; it was metallic and the culprit was Tatsumi with a set of brass knuckles on.

"These were a gift from my lovely girlfriend Jessica; I can see why she likes them, now I'm going to make you pay, for everyone you've murdered and on top that calling my wife a monster" Tatsumi remarked and began the slow process of breaking his bones one at a time. Kouga yelled in pain as this happened he then turned to Aria who had prepared about a dozen tools of torture; the signature one being the Judas chair.

"Now you're going to have a seat and at the same time I'm going use this little thing to make you sing" Tatsumi replied his eyes glinting and face contorted in a way that would make Light Yagami proud, he then then lowered Rian onto the chair he screamed as the sharpened spike penetrated his rectum; Tatsumi then brought over an open metal Pear the kind that was usually shoved up a man's backside and stretched outwards. Tatsumi gave a curt nod to Air who brought over a cat of nine-tails. "Before I take away your manhood I'm going to have you scourged, Air make his back bleed" Tatsumi ordered, and Rian shrieked, a little girl was whipping him, with a whip designed for pain, and she did so eagerly, in fact she was enjoying it; of the girls this one scared him the most.

He received 80 lashes, Tatsumi then gave Air a look of your done and dismissed her dejectedly, he then clamped the Pear of anguish around his whole length and yanked violently; Rian shrieked as he pulled off half of his length. "Air get me a hammer crushing clamp" Tatsumi ordered Air grabbed on and Tatsumi clamped down on one testicle and squeezed it, crushing it to a high pitched shriek. Tatsumi then picked out a blade that was called a breast ripper; granted this wasn't the normal type of victim it would be used on but it would do as he sliced the remainder of Rian's junk off, then chopped off his toes. "Now I don't think you need both legs, I think you could do with one" Tatsumi replied and used the blade hacking off a leg which was a slow process that required multiple strikes but fortunately the leg bones were already broken and he made short work of the limb, Rian had stopped screaming at this point and Tatsumi turned to the next tool in his arsenal a simple metal vice called a Turcas and used to crush every single finger Rian had.

The torture lasted a good hour and Tatsumi was innovative and the last thing he did was to the surprise of Rian put a shirt on him.

"A shirt? What point is there in clothing me?" Rian asked.

"This isn't normal shirt; you ever heard of the Tunica Molesta; the burning shirt? My love Henrietta has and she gave me one for this occasion; she's busy with other projects at the moment but she'd sure love to watch it" Tatsumi replied, then Tatsumi nailed the shirt to him; the shirt was a coated with Naphtha and made of a magnesium coated fabric; in addition to that Tatsumi dumped a barrel of turpentine on him.

"Don't worry I wouldn't miss this" Henrietta remarked arriving she held a box of matches in her hands and lit one handing it to Tatsumi.

"Fear the Night Rian, you should've Feared the Night" Tatsumi commented and lit the shirt; the flames burned rapidly; Rian screamed as the flames gouged his flesh and burned harder and deeper. Soon his flesh was burned, followed by his organs though he was dead at his point after that Fal used an extinguisher to put out the small blaze. "I think that he learned his lesson Tatsumi remarked and dropped the body to the ground with an audible thud then drew Valroust and beheaded it. "Another skull for Esdeath's desk, another serial killer bites the dust; I hope Rian has an interesting conversation with Champ and Enshin in hell" Tatsumi added.

Mashiro looked at the charred corpse and kicked it. She then to his surprise grabbed a nearby axe and chomped it into chunks. "Kouga, you're avenged; Tatsumi has avenged you" Mashiro remarked then procided to chop the chunks into giblits and from there to bits and as soon as she removed all the flesh and muscle she smashed all the bones to dust with a hammer. "No buriel for him he needs none throw the junk to the dogs" Mashiro remarked.

A hour later… Tatsumi was in a large bathtub, washing the blood stains off of his hands and out of his hair. "I may have been over enthusiastic in my efforts" Tatsumi remarked to himself as he shampooed his hair making sure that it got nice and lauthered before rinsing. The warm water poured over as he washed the shampoo off, then as he did so a door opened and in walked Mashiro wearing only a towel.

"I'm ready for you now" Mashiro replied letting the towel drop and letting Tatsumi see her E-cup breasts for the first time she then eased into the water in search of his length with her hands while she kissed him on his lips.

He entered her snapping her barrier without any resistance and a lot of encouragement from Mashiro; as he banged her against the side of the tub. He then after a minute got out and instructed her to wrap her breasts around his length which was nice a clean with no soap in place; Mashiro's lips were as good at giving him head as she was at kissing which was to say very good; she took him deep and eagerly gobbled up his seed as he orgasmed. He then prepped her rear which was all lubed from lotion that Mashiro put on and while it had been somewhat rinsed off her skin was nice and tight and her rode her amazing ass with all the gusto it deserved.

Soon they dried off and retired to Tatsumi's bed where they made love further.

Meanwhile…. Ritone looked at himself in the mirror. "If Tatsumi can't appriciatte my beauty as a man well as a woman I'll be a true beauty; now the question is how?" Ritone asked, suddenly a portal opened and in walked a dazzleing beauty.

"I can help you with that in return for a favor" the woman had long horns but was a beauty to behold, her hair was blue and skin dark brown she had a set of wings and long tail; her attire was well revealing.

"Who are you?" Ritone asked.

"Khaneesha: Arch-Demoness of Nal-Galmorra; sixth circle of Hell, but more importantly I can help you with you problem I ask only two things in return" the Demoness replied.

"What are they?" Ritone asked.

"That you continue your efforts in helping thwart the efforts of my rival Valtor and his followers and that I get a piece of the action with that handsome stud you have your eyes on: agree to these terms and you'll have your wish; I'll turn you into an irresistible beauty of a woman, one Tatsumi won't be able to resist" Khaneesha explained.

"I- Accept" Ritone replied then fell onto his bed asleep.

"Good now sleep and I will work my magic: Valtor must fail if my kingdom is to rise I want my prize; a King worthy of me as his queen and one who will be able to allow my House that of Belethos to rise in station, no more shall we be in Abaddon's shadow no we will rise in the favor of our Emperor Lucifer; our Father below" Khaneesha stated to herself and worked her magic.


	51. Chapter 37

Chapter 37: The Succubus Queen

Ritone opened his eyes; looked at the warmth and felt satisfaction but it was that of a someone who'd been laid the night before; Ritone yawned and noted something was off, turned and noticed a warm body next to him which to his surprise was a woman; and he remembered his encounter last night with Khanessha however he hadn't remembered any kind of sex. Now that he thought about it, he felt- different. So first to do was to get out of bed; naked to no surprise the air in the room cut its teeth on his bare skin, then he noted the mirror on his wall and was- shocked.

The reflection was not that of Ritone, the warrior who considered himself an army unto himself but that of a beautiful woman. This woman had long flowing aquamarine hair, pink eyes that sparkled like star sapphires, skin that was light blackish purple, a set of massive F-cup breasts, a slender waist, and graceful hands. But all these seemed secondary to three notable changes. The first being a set of purple horns, similar to that of a rhino but narrower and slightly longer. The second was a long purple tail with spear point at the end of it, this tail flowed from above the hindquarters. The Last was a mark in the midsection above the loins, the mark was a pentagram in the center being that of a dragonfly with a woman's head. "What have I become?" Ritone thought to himself- no herself. "I can't call myself Ritone anymore that would be well wrong a girl with a boy's name: I guess I'll call myself Roxanna, that's a beautiful name" she thought, and henceforth would take the name Roxanna and be known as such from then on.

"Well it looks like the transformation worked perfectly; I had to enjoy myself you looked so beautiful as a Teifling" A woman's lovely voice complimented, Roxanna turned to see the Arch-Demoness Khanessha naked as herself.

"Teifling?" Roxanna asked.

"Yes, one who is half a human and half a demon; you have been changed I infused some of my own blood into you and altered your body accordingly, you are now completely female, a beauty worthy of your beloved Tatsumi, a strong powerful and fertile woman who will bare many children and live a long life" Khanessha explained.

"I see are there any drawbacks?" Khanessha asked.

"No: only you are beholden to the contract; as Emperor Asmodeus himself created, the only side-effect is that your soul belongs to me but also to Tatsumi as I've desire to stake my hands on his too; he'd be perfect to warm my bed" Khanessha explained. "But if you are worried that I'll eat your soul don't worry I will do nothing of the sort: I reward those who've given themselves to me willing with my boons: now down to business your new form will attract attention but I have a simple spell that will allow you to pose completely as a human" Khanessha explained then whispered a word in her ear, Roxanna spoke it and the appearance shifted to conceal the horns and tail it also changed her skin from the blackish-purple to a more exotic olive-light brown mix similar to those from the Spice Islands of Yakheena. "Now I while I desire Tatsumi don't desire his soul only for him to be my lover and to bare me a child: along with every other succubus in my domain: with these numbers I will be able to rise to prominence and bring my house to the forefront of politics in the ten circles of Hell and the 666 kingdoms that comprise it and take my place as one of Asmodeous's chosen" Khanessha explained.

"Asmodeous?" Roxanna asked.

"One of many names for our father below, the First Betrayer, the Father of deception, Emperor of Hell, First son of the Father Above, Lord of Pride and greatest of Devils, Demons and Daemons. Asmodeous is just the name called by those of my dwelling, in Demonis, in the sixth circle of Hell, but he has many other names: B'aal, Satan, Old Scrath, Beelzabub, but his true name is Lucifer the Fallen Angel and First of Demons he who's plan was rejected at the beginning by our Father in Heaven: you see there was a decision of what to do at the beginning of creation; some disagree, a third of those who dwelled in the pre-existence while two-thirds supported the Father, there was a Great War in Heaven and as a result those who fought against the father were banished, cast down into Hell their bodies which once resembled humans turned into abhorrant forms that evoke terror and disgust. However I am one of those unfortunates rather my people have a different story; that of another great war between Phoenixes, our race were once one and the same but as punishment for our rebellion against the Eternity Queen we were cast down into Hell's embrace becoming forsworn to Emperor Lucifer in exchange for power and glory, there were 250 Great houses and many more minor houses that caused the Third Pheonix War and they along with the lesser races that supported them were cast down. My parents were two such Pheonixes and shared this fate and small was their house that being House Belethos: but I intend to change it; my house deserves glory and I will bring it to them; for too long has my house been at the whims of House Abaadon, and because Valtor Abaadon is the patron of your enemy Honest I've decided that now would be the perfect time for my house to well rise to prominence to rival House Abaadon, the first of Great Traitor houses as such you find me trying to use that; I seek no quarrel with you or any of your friends, not even the White Knight Syura; the Templar Paladin of Asha in fact an alliance with her would be to my interest; for while the Eternity Queen may have banished us we have not forgotten her and know her interests is to keep hell divided and if alliances with demon houses are required to do then she'll make them" Khaneesha explained.

"So what do you want me to do?" Roxanna asked.

"For the moment I want you to try your best to get into Tatsumi's pants in addition to continuing your daily routine; also don't worry about people questioning how you suddenly became a woman I've taken the liberty while you slept to modify everyone's memories of you; save the men you banged when you were a guy, thought I'd leave their memories intact but for everyone else you know you have always been Roxanna" Khaneesha explained, then blew a kiss and disappeared. "Don't worry about Tatsumi I'll get acquainted with him: later" Her voice remarked mentally.

Shortly… Khaneesha had taken the form of an alluring beauty which only differed from her normal form in the concealment of her demonic features, she easily passed the gate guards who asked no questions and noted an interesting person: a tall man dressed in a purple leisure suit carring a briefcase and moving with luggage he wore a mask that concealed his face and gloves that covered his hands the only notable feature was his deep violet eyes; the man's soul she could see was rotten thru and thru also when the guards had asked him about his choice of attire he explained he had a skin condition that required coverage otherwise it caused him pain from sunlight. "Interesting looks like trouble is coming your way Tatsumi" Khaneesha thought then debated mentally about telling Tatsumi about the threat; yes she could but he'd require some convincing; she could also leech the man's soul from his body and feed off of that but draining souls was something she hated doing because it was more fun to torment a sinner's soul then to digest it.

"Soon I will find new victims; new children to prey on" the man's aura bragged revealing his thoughts. Magical creatures had the ability to see the aura of non magic users; allowing them to sense a person's thoughts and intentions long before they spoke, however magic users even those whose abilities had yet to manifest had the ability to conceal their aura, either instinctively or deliberately. The man's name was Vincent, he was a business partner of Chuckles, the recently assassinated ringmaster of the Circus of Nightmares as Aria had dubbed it and was now common knowledge to the general public, word having traveled fast as the story was so sensational that nobody in their right mind found it uninteresting.

Of course, Khaneesha had plans to deal with this monster so that she could immediately call dibs on his rotten soul and torment it to her heart's content. The way to do that was to place ideas into his head; ideas that would get him killed. Fortunately for her Aria and her sisters along with Mishi happened to be passing by in their carriage with the windows open on their way to Aria's favorite sights of the city. Khaneesha noted Aria's aura was a mixture of various different emotions and various feelings; her thoughts were clearly those of a person who was doing to do whatever it took to keep all three of her stepsisters safe in addition to the cute Mishi who sat in her lap. The three sisters had auras that were a mix of gleeful children and in the case of Air a desire to brutally murder any bad guy she got her hands on. "Bloodthirsty girl" Khaneesha thought, then noted Vincent's aura and his thoughts regarding the four children and decided to do proding, a great deal of it.

The proding had an interesting effect on Vincent in that it caused his mind to begin divising plans to go after them; little did he know that it would be his undoing, Khaneesha then vanished into the crowd.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had started the morning with time spent with Mashiro in reenacting the events of the previous night, then he left his room and began his morning excersize routine before heading of to Night Raid HQ. As he headed downstairs he stopped for a quick breakfast and found only Angela and Ieyasu at the table and pickings for breakfast being slim. "Hey Tatsumi, bro you over slept, luckily Angela-chan saved some food for you" Ieyasu greeted.

"Thanks" Tatsumi responded.

"No problem Tatsumi, you are my son in all but blood and also I never let anyone go unfed: breakfast is the most important meal of the day; also to show my dedication to that belief I made more cookies for you specifically" Angela replied and Tatsumi noted the large plate of peanut butter cookies.

Tatsumi sat down, ate up and noted the closeness of Ieyasu and Angela. "I'm glad to see him so happy, and her too, I never thought Ieyasu would get with a girl because of his perverted nature but now he's with six lovely beauties and one angelic goddess, and after what he's been thru he's earned it" Tatsumi thought as he ate. He then noted Angela disappear below the table and gave Ieyasu a thumbs up when he noted his pleasured face, it was clear as day to him t that Angela was giving him a blowjob and as he finished and walked out into the entry way he noted the two leave heading up the stairs and gave Ieyasu another thumbs up. "Man he's got it easy compared to me, all he has to do is stay here with Angela all day and go with her everywhere she goes, if only my life was that easy" Tatsumi thought.

He had only gone about three blocks in the direction of the south gate with his intention being to go on an elaborate route to Night Raid HQ when he was stopped by someone; that someone being a beautiful woman with exotic features and dressed in rather revealing clothes. "Hey can you show me the direction to the nearest inn" the woman asked, Tatsumi didn't know it at the time but this was Khaneesha in disguise.

"Sure its that way" Tatsumi explained pointing in the correct direction.

"Thank you, now could you be a gentleman and escort me there; I've- had to throw off some people who had less then noble intentions" Khaneesha asked, he also noted her luggage.

"Sure" Tatsumi agreed wondering why not.

Shortly… The man in charge of rooms at the Inn directed Khaneesha to the best room he had, Khaneesha insisted on Tatsumi helping her with luggage, and soon they were left alone in the room.

"Good we're alone" Khaneesha replied locking the door to Tatsumi's surprise. "I never gave you my name, well I am Khaneesha Belethos consider me well an interested person one who is interested in you specifically Tatsumi" Khaneesha explained, Tatsumi was surprised.

"In me, and – how the hell do you know my name" Tatsumi asked getting ready to draw his sword.

"Ease off Tatsumi, keep the sword in its sheath I'm not here for a fight, I'm here for you" Khaneesha explained.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked.

"Like I said Khaneesha Belethos, yes its an exotic name for an exotic person, you see Tatsumi I like you, I mean really like you, there is so much to like, but the thing I like most about you is that you have been a foil to the schemes of a rival of mine: constantly and without fail which makes you all the more tempting" Khaneesha explained.

"What do you want from me?" Tatsumi asked.

"I want you to give me a good tumble in return I offer you my aid in well making things difficult for our shared enemy" Khaneesha explained.

"Who is our shared enemy?" Tatsumi asked, the woman gave him bad vibes.

"Valtor, Valtor Abbadon, the son of Kha-Beleth Abbadon and grandson of the arch-demon Charon Abbadon, the Horseman of death and the leader of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse." Khaneesha elaborated.

"How do you know all that" Tatsumi asked, Khaneesha giggled and suddenly chains appeared on the door and the woman changed, she was already beautiful by her form shifted her skin became a dark brown, hair like blue as twilight as before but now a pair of long horns much like those of a ram graced her forehead, wings like a dragonfly, eyes aquamarine like a shining sea, and a long tail with a spear tip on the end of it.

"Because I am Khaneesha Belothos, Arch-Demoness of Caladdon; favored daughter and first born to Galdathia Belethos the grand daughter of our Matriarch Jezebel Belothos; sworn bannerwoman to House Abbadon and well the family that's sick of their crap; we only were doing our duty as their servents by fighting at their side in the Great War, but we were cast into Hell by the Eternity Queen we never wished this form: We wished to be true Phoenixes not be counted among the Damned and Forsaken. Because of this my family has never forgiven or forgotten House Abbadon who's betrayal along with three other great Phoenix families reduced us to these- pitiful forms; look at me?! While I may look radiant to your eyes to one of my original race well I'm a monster to most and those that look at me for my looks do so sololy for them not caring who I am I just- want someone to love, to call my Brood Mate, to sow their seed that I may bare their children and live together as a family for eternity; however that just hasn't happened I've never- been with anyone" Khaneesha explained.

"What do you want from me demon?" Tatsumi asked cautiously knowing that this was a being with far more power then he could ever conceive of having and a member of a race prone to deception.

"Demon? Ha I'm not a demon, I'm a devil, there is a distinct difference between the two, demons are beneath us, not smart and prone to acting without thinking, not me no, a Devil plots and schemes sows seeds that seem small at first but one suggestion can lead to ruin for a mortal's soul" Khaneesha explained. "But you asked me a valid question, what can I offer you, well a few things but not as many as Valtor offers your enemy Honest, for you see he signed a Contract, several contracts and those we are bound to answer; you see the contract was lord Asdmodeus's invention, the contract offers something in exchange for something else, usually the mortal's soul and in doing so the mortal is Damned for all eternity, however they get what they wanted and I can tell you aren't going to sign your soul over to me and I have no desire to that because well that would require me to torment you for eternity which isn't what I want from you; what I want is to be loved Tatsumi and I care not that I may have to share you so long as I have known love and that I may bare the fruits of your seed" Khaneesha continued. "Now for what I offer you: I offer you my assistance in ways that can be useful; tactics to defeat warriors of House Abbadon which will soon invade your world, knowledge of fighting styles not native to your world and an artifact of power, all I ask in return is for you to love me, to lie with me, to sire my children" Khaneesha explained, Tatsumi looked at her with surprise.

"How do I know I can trust you? You're a succubus aren't you, that's what its all about you're after my soul?" Tatsumi replied Khaneesha laughed.

"A succubus? Ha! I may look the part but I assure I'm not that type though I may some of their blood in my veins no I am no Succubus, also Succubi don't drain peoples souls, that's a misconception rather they feed on the energy generated by the passions of mortels: if one dies because of a Succubus that means that they either didn't have enough energy to handle her or she took way more then she needed; I don't want your soul. I want your cock: sheeved inside my virgin cunt, and the seed to bare me lovely Teiflings to treasure and love; because unlike true Demons or Devils we of the Foresaken Phoenixes are capable of those kinds of emotions and have well morals of sorts: They don't and honestly my family just didn't want all this will do whatever we have to in order to escape our cursed existence or failing that punish House Abbadon for dragging us down to Hell with them" Khaneesha explained, her clothing vanished for emphasise and Tatsumi couldn't restrain his erection but he could restrain his urge to immediately rush into the action via survival instincts: it was one thing to stick one's dick in crazy another to stick it inside a powerful demoness.

"If I agree I want to see what I'm getting out of the deal first" Tatsumi explained; Khaneesha smiled.

"There just like I wanted, a Man who thinks with his head, the big one with a brain in it: also one who is restrained I like it, lots of repressed energy by the looks of things; and handsome; all the cards are in your favor, fine I'll give you a sample of what I'm offering, apart from the chance to bang an Arch-Demoness of Hell, a virgin one I might add as crazy as that sounds but I have restraint to; so wait I'll be right back" Khaneesha replied then vanished thru a portal and returned three seconds later with an amulet held in protective gloves, the kind that didn't even remotely look demonic at all. "Family heirloom back from before we were demons; it gives the wearer a great deal of stamina but also allows for heightened senses; useless to me as well it's a Phoenix relic that hurts our kind to touch let alone use without some form of protection but to a human like you it will be of great use as you can use it without being well hurt: potent smithing, Darkar work" Khaneesha explained.

"Darker work?" Tatsumi asked knowing a good deal about Blacksmithing.

"Darkar, not darker, House Darkar is one of the most powerful Phoenix houses and one of the oldest, they are renowned for their skills at the smith just as much as they are renowned for their wisdom and their love of the underground that rivals that of Dwarves. It's rare their smiths forge jewelry as they prefer to forge armor and blades, but they aren't above crafting jewelry granted off the protective kind, also this may have a ward on it which basically gives you a chance that if something lethal comes your direction it may get blocked by what looks like an invisible wall" Khaneesha explained. "Now is this good enough of a sample for you? I have other things I'd rather give you and for us both to sample" Khaneesha teased, placed the amulet on a table which didn't immediately burst into flames and cause the gauntlets she wore to disappear leaving her completely bare once more and began slowly seductively walking towards him wagging her tail as she did so; also Tatsumi noted her feet were somewhat birdlike with notable feathers.

"Yes" Tatsumi asked his mind mesmerized at this point by her beauty, she pushed him onto the bed.

"Good I hope you love playing with fire I hopefully won't set the bed on fire" Khaneesha replied as she removed his clothes with magic: it didn't undress him like he would himself, more like the clothes were teleported off of him and were then placed in neatly folded stack. "My, my, my, what a sight- I- heard that a man's cock could be big but you, well you put most demons to shame let alone your own kind, of course I'm ready for you" Khaneesha said and pounched on him.

Her tail wrapped around his body and her wings too as she took his length in, Tatsumi was surprised she was a virgin, of all things he'd heard off and seen the least likely and most improble was that of a virgin demon, or devil or whatever she was. He kissed her passionately. "I can sense your thoughts; Tatsumi you actually love me: well you have a deal of sympathy for me in feeling unloved; but you'll do I'm with you for eternity even if you die I'll never lie with another willingly" Khaneesha explained mentally creeping Tatsumi out that she could read his mind. "You're scared, good you need to conquer that fear, Honest knows how to twist your fears and you know that; you must conquer your fears let them trouble you no more lest you hesitate: he who hesistates is lost" Khaneesha explained, he surpressed his fear and boldly kissed her, she responded by inserting her forked serpentine tongue down his throat while she bounced up and down on his length. "Ameianda Vasqa" she muttered in his ear, the result caused Tatsumi to enjoy what was a rather potent magical aphrodisiac, this boosted his stamina but dulled his senses of time, the broader impact on this being that as they had sex it time lost all meaning to him and it became like a dream-state.

When the dream-state wore off he was there with her in her human form her breasts pressed against him. "That was wonderful" Khaneesha remarked. "Oh I see you like this form of mine more?" Khaneesha asked noting his confused and aroused expression.

"It's beautiful, granted your true form was ravishing" Tatsumi replied, she climbed up out of the bed shaking her posterior at him as she redressed faster then he could blink using her magic. Then she brought over the amulet her hands protected by the gauntlets.

"Good that was a wonderful three hours; Tatsumi you and I will meet again, but in your dreams more often then physically, I'd rather not offend your friends and family with my- true form, but this form well expect it to be the source of all our physical visits; now I'm hoping our children turn out well, they'll look so cute with their little horns on their heads. but for now you can have the Amulet, it will certainly serve you well; I'll give you information from time to time in your dreams" Khaneesha explained and then vanished into a portal.

Shortly… Tatsumi had left the inn and wearing his minister's garb people moved out of his way and soldiers saluted him due to the Major-General's sash he wore over the ceremonial dublet and tunic with the symbol of Justice, that being a blindfolded beauty with scales and a sword engraved on a seal worn on his shoulder and his cap, a barrete. The plans for the day before he had been distracted involved getting people on his side that he knew he could trust and would be essential for the planned coup: the most important of these being General Budo.

As head of the Royal Guard and one of the Empire's most veteran and oldest generals in addition to having been in charge of the unit for over 30 years now Budo was argueably the most important military commander in the Empire as he was in charge of the force that protected Melitine the Capital of the Empire, the Palace and most importantly the Emperor himself. Only the Grand Marshal, Emperor, Prime Minister and Minister for Justice had the right to give him orders, not counting of course the two 5-year-old princesses Koko and Lin who also had the authority to boss him around but given the fact that said bossing was limited to having him bring them cupcakes every day at 4 in the afternoon and with breakfast they really didn't have much say over what Budo did. Speaking of Budo was more often then not watching over the two girls when Esdeath wasn't around and referred to him as "Uncle Budo" and could often be found when not in the company of the Emperor or on any important business playing with them, reading to them and watching over them like a Sheperd did his flock.

But Budo wasn't the only person Tatsumi had to talk to today, no there was someone more important to this plan, that being Makoto himself and well he had a plan about that but it required him to speak with Makoto in private, which was near impossible with Honest watching his puppets every move with his court spies or his own eyes. Speaking off it was extremely frustrating to Tatsumi to have to deal with the court spies of Honest and every other noble that wanted him dead because it made him over paranoid, to the point where he had stopped moving about the Palace by himself; someone was always with him now whether it was Esdeath, one of his wives, one of his concubines or hell even one of the new Elite Seven members or Mez and Suzuka. "I hate having my every move watched by people who want me to make one slip up so they can destroy everything and everyone I care for: I hate that the worst monsters in this world are the ones you don't know and I hate even more that it is an enormous task to convience good people that evil people who do evil things are willing to commit even worse abominable acts and that they should be stopped from doing so: permanently" Tatsumi thought then noted his bodyguard Saraya Oarburgh and her sister Taeko and their cousins the Twins Meela and Loris with looks of blatant concern and relief.

"There you are!" Taeko remarked then ran over to him followed by the twins who also ran and Saraya who walked, she kissed him then gave him a hard slap.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Tatsumi asked.

"For wandering off and getting Aria all worried, you got up and left without telling anyone where you were heading and have been gone for four hours: without body guards to watch your ass" Taeko explained.

"What?! Ieyasu told me I over slept?" Tatsumi asked, then realized that Ieyasu had been pulling his leg, he hadn't overslept he'd been the first one to get up and eat breakfast not only that he hadn't told Ieyasu or Angela where he was going, so it was only natural Aria would get in fuss. With this in mind Tatsumi was angry. "Not funny Ieyasu!" Tatsumi thought, this hadn't been the first time his best friend had pulled something like this, one time he convinced him that he had overslept and missed the autumn festival when he had actually been about two days early; the reaction he got from Sayo and Clementine had been enough to make him want to drag Ieyasu to the nearest Mountain bear and make him wrestle it as punishment. "That- man I can't believe he's my brother-in-law now, and on top of it going to be my father in law in a few years" Tatsumi thought and had the visual of Ieyasu laughing his head off with a sign that said "I never fail"

"Alright my bad: I should have at least told him where I was going, which was to the Palace" Tatsumi explained.

"And have you been there yet?" Saraya asked looking at him with a mixture of bemusement and contempt.

"Nope I got sidetracked" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Was it the two girls from the Sabatini show or one of those girls from Umatora Theater?" Taeko asked knowing immediately he'd been with someone; the bath he had taken at the inn didn't really do much to conceal the smell of the aphrodisic he'd been covered with by Khaneesha and the amulet on his neck was in plain view.

"No, it was- someone knew, she- is mysterious, beyond the normal levels of mysterious, all she wanted from me was some time in the sack and she gave me this in return: told me it would help me" Tatsumi explained vaguely.

"Mysterious how?" Taeko asked not liking the soud of this.

"Mysterious in a magic way; she appeared asked me to show her to the inn and help her move her luggage to her room and once I was there well what happened next felt like- a dream, and when I woke up she was gone and the amulet was there on the nightstand" Tatsumi concocted, this was more or less true he just left out the fact that the woman he did the deed with was an Arch-Demoness.

"Well then why did you help her? Were you thinking with your dick instead of your brain again Tatsumi? You know that's not healthy for you and could easily shorten your life span to a matter of minutes" Saraya commented.

"If I had to be honest well I was probably, half of the time, part of me told me to not help her when she asked for help with luggage she didn't have" Tatsumi replied, that made things even more alarming for them.

"Ok how do we know Honest is playing with your head again" Taeko asked.

"I'm still breathing for one thing, if Honest was behind this I'd most likely be dead already but so far I'm not" Tatsumi replied then felt something of as if time froze because in front of him was Khaneesha, everywhere at once.

"I forgot to mention one thing Tatsumi; while I may have not had you sign a contract there is a bit of catch to my deal in that aphrodisiac I used on you has a little bit left over and I've decided that your friend Saraya could use a bit of, how shall I put it 'Direct hit Cupid'" Khaneesha remarked then fired an arrow, reality returned to normal but Khaneesha whispered as it did so. "I'm still here farmboy, and you struck home by the way: and I can bring you back here anytime I choose to this micro-dimension"

To his surprise and that of the other Oarburghs Saraya lurched over suddenly as if struck by an arrow; as she fell Tatsumi caught her in his arms. "Ouch did anyone see that wasp?" Saraya asked getting back off. "I feel like I was bit by one of Merra's bugs" Saraya commented as she got back up.

"What happened?" Taeko asked.

"Like I said I got stung by something; so anyone see what it was?" Saraya replied.

"I didn't see anything?" Meela commented.

"Me neither" Loris added.

"Saraya are you alright?" Tatsumi asked, she blushed.

"Yes Tatsumi-k- Tatsumi, I'm alright; just my shoulder is a bit sore" Saraya added then returned to her brusk self.

"Did she almost call me Tatsumi-kun? Khaneesha what did you do?" Tatsumi thought.

"Hit her with a Succubi-arrow, she'll be drawn to you like a magnet now, the first chance she gets with you alone she'll get in your pants" Khaneesha replied.

"WHAT?! I didn't want that! You've drugged her" Tatsumi thought back.

"I figured miss tense and mighty virgin could use you in her life, besides you're fucking all of her sisters why not her to; consider this a help with your love life" Khaneesha asked.

"Well don't do that again, better yet undo that: I'm doing a great job with my love life on my own, the last thing I need is some sex crazed demoness firing mind control arrows at people; I want loving wives and concubines not sex-slaves!" Tatsumi rebuked.

"Alright I won't do it again but I can't undo what I just did; its- well a fire and forget process with no cure short of stuff that doesn't exist in your universe; and that I have neither time nor money to acquire for you; in otherwords your stuck with her now, and you better bed her quickly otherwise someone else will take advantage of her: also I figured you for the type against this kind of stuff, well I'm not above it I thought I'd help but nope, well it was fun at least" Khaneesha added and laughed her head off, turning into a chibified version of herself laughing her butt off in her demoness form, Tatsumi received a slap on the face.

"Hey dick-brain don't stare off into space, lets get moving" Saraya remarked, Tatsumi recovered his senses and moved on to the Palace.

Later… Tatsumi had gone out of his way to try and get Budo alone, which wasn't easy as he had to wait for him to finish the tea party with the princesses, Mez, Suzuka, and Esdeath who had been against her pride coopted into wearing a pink fairy princess dress and called Fairy Princess Cotton Candy for the duration of the events; for anyone else she'd have likely lopped her head off, but for the twin princesses whose birthday it happened to be she'd do whatever they wanted and even if it wasn't their birthday she'd have taken up the role of Fairy Princess Cotton Candy for their tea party anyway. For Mez and Suzuka it was easier as they loved this sort of time with the twin girls as it gave them an excuse not to act like serious bodyguards for once and embrace their feminine side: granted the both were tomboys at heart but the loved having the chance to act like little girls when they could, as I'm sure anyone who is an adult would want to act like a child for the sake of children they cared for.

Budo was the odd man in the room in that he was the only man and actually had to wear a pink apron over his guard uniform, granted this was because they insisted on it and he was bringing them refreshments as needed. "More sugar for Princess Sugerfist" Mez ordered, Tatsumi had to restrain himself from laughing at the get up Mez was currently wearing, it made her look like a steorotypical princess and was extremely conservative in nature, considering her usual attire it was funny to him seeing her dressed completely for once.

"Look my fellow princesses it looks like Prince Bunny-Candy has graced our halls" Suzuka replied to chuckles.

"Prince Bunny-Candy?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because Princess Cotton Candy calls you Tatsu-bunny all the time" Koko commented her mouth showed a few missing baby-teeth as a result of too many sweets. Tatsumi consided the two cute adorable angels that he wished he could hug and love and that they weren't in a world with the danger of any monsters like Champ or Honest wanting to destroy their childhood innocence.

"Come join us; we have tea" Lin asked, her teeth were still in place, apart from one in the corner right of her mouth.

"Alright I was hoping to talk with General Budo but I guess I have time for a Tea Party" Tatsumi replied sitting down in one of the smaller chairs, to his surprise Lin got up from her's put down her cup and moved to a nearby chest then having got something out of it came over and put said thing on his head.

"You can't be Prince Bunny-Candy without bunny ears" Lin commented holding a mirror to his face, Tatsumi winced mentally and the demoness in his head laughed at him, he was also unaware of something else she had done to him in his sleep which would become apparent later, he couldn't see what she did but that didn't mean the next partner he was with wouldn't notice it. Tatsumi sighed and was subjected to two hours of a princess tea-party with Esdeath giving him the look of "try to play along or I'll maim you" the whole time. Overall though it was rather fun as they did have a good number of treats of the kind Tatsumi hadn't gotten the chance to experience outside the palace, they were luxuries that required extremely talented chefs to prepare due to the complexity of the recipes. But that wasn't to say he didn't enjoy them he loved the treats but also the tea which was of a kind grown in foreign lands.

After the party ended Tatsumi took Budo aside Esdeath nodded as Tatsumi did this and he led Budo off to a quiet room. "General Budo, good we're in private; I want to discuss something with you" Tatsumi explained.

"And that would be Minister Tatsumi, what exactly do you have need of from me" Budo replied.

"I'm worried for the Emperor's safety, now I'm not impuning your skill as a leader of his majesty's guard I'm worried about internal threats; the Revolutionary Army isn't the biggest threat to the Emperor its those here at his court" Tatsumi explained.

"I trust you are referring to the Prime Minister, yes I am aware of his actions however the Emperor values his advise, I trust you understand it, now what do you need?" Budo asked.

"Look General Budo, I'll level with you, I have a plan one that if it works may end this civil war and restore peace to the Empire however there are people who have a vested interest in seeing the killing continue even after the war, my biggest fear is if either Honest or the Revolutionary Army win this war Emperor Makoto won't survive; also you know about the body double Budo, what purpose do you think a body double would serve Honest?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"A body double? Well that is a security precaution but one provided by Honest is one that always has strings attached, you're concerned he may use the double to replace Emperor Makoto and dispose of the real Emperor so he may have a puppet he can control? That thought had occurred to me as well but what can you do about Minister Tatsumi, now I've seen you pull off some amazing things or read about you doing so but what plan have you concocted, also where do your loyalties lie?" Budo replied sizing up the younger man, Tatsumi looked back at him, both had the gaze that came from people who had to kill to survive and had killed plenty of people, granted though Budo had Tatsumi beat on experience from age.

"My loyalties lie to the Empire and to its rightful leader the Emperor and his family, I also owe my loyalties to the people of the Empire whom I've sworn to protect; ultimately though what I want most General Budo is peace, for the killing to stop, for my family to live in peace and for me to die an old man at a ripe old age having done my part for the world I live in, to do the right thing when it may not be best path. Overall General you can trust me and I never betray those who I consider my friends, and above all else there is one thing that drives me the most that defines what a good ruler or leader is or a good nation: that is that anyone who considers it a just act to kill innocent child who has done no wrong is evil; that principle is my highest one, to protect the innocent from those who seek to harm them. I've upheld this principle since the day I first arrived in this city and discovered the problems it has, I've killed those who would dare harm innocent men, women and children, I hunt monsters not men General Budo; ultimately I make the monsters fear me" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, but what monsters fear you? I've seen you act at court, you're flamboyant, subtle and know where and when to speak, a few words here and there; you've got the Emperor looking up to you like an older brother or a father but you didn't tell me straight up are you friend or foe" Budo responded.

"I'm a friend Budo, if you want to me to be, I simply want peace and the killing to stop; it won't stop if either Honest or Falkland win this war; and I intend to kill both of them along with all the die-hards that support their evil ideals, both of them would kill Makoto for their own games, and Honest has raped and murdered children of both genders and all ages for fun while Falkland seeks to create his own regime that wipes away the old order, including you, Emperor Makoto, my wife Aria, her family, and anyone else who doesn't fit his view of a new world order; point being Budo there hasn't been a good side in this war until recently when I decided it was time to make one; I despise both of the leaders of both sides and many others share my views so I want a return to the old Empire, the one before I was born; the one that ruled over its people fairly and protected them from those who would do them harm and to do that Budo I will kill anyone that would harm those people I'm striving to protect: so Budo I'm friend, save you desire to harm an innocent because those that do I'm their second worst nightmare because I married their worst nightmare" Tatsumi explained.

"I see so how do you know so much about Boreth Falkland's plans, it is very hard to gage his intentions?" Budo asked.

"If I tell you Budo you may try to kill me; I don't want that" Tatsumi asked.

"Tell me, I won't try to kill you" Budo replied and handed Tatsumi his sword as symbolic gesture of sincerity.

"Alright General Budo, before I tell you who I am in full I'd like to know what is your view on night in this city" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"Night is a time where one shouldn't be out and about in Melitine, not now a days, there are many monsters out there in the streets after dark" Budo replied.

"Yes there are many monsters but they share one thing Budo: Fear, fear not of the dark but what lurks in the dark, they are monsters but they are hunted; they have reason to fear, for they Fear The Night, do you Fear the Night General Budo?" Tatsumi asked then looked at him with an impassive expression waiting for an answer.

"I don't fear the night Minister Tatsumi, I don't fear the monsters, I fear what hunts them, because those that hunt the monsters are hunters to be feared for their skill: but you should know that shouldn't you" Budo replied.

"I do, I'm one of those who hunts the monsters; I make them Fear the Night, and they never seem to learn that I'm a lot scarier then they are" Tatsumi explained.

"So you're Night Raid? I must say I'm surprised but not too surprised, you always had a knack for pulling off the impossible, and that group has done things that most would consider impossible. Now though last I checked Night Raid was part of the Revolutionary Army" Budo commented.

"Not anymore: no they are loyal to me, as are a number of others: many at court and number in the Revolutionary Army, and some you'd never expect like General Esdeath" Tatsumi explained and Budo laughed at mention of Esdeath. "I'm serious on Esdeath, now Budo are you with me or against me; like I said before I have a vested interest in keeping the Empire safe and Emperor safe, and in killing the monsters who drive this war, to end the killing." Tatsumi explained.

"Consider me interested now what do you have in mind and what do you need me for" Budo asked.

"I have a plan to remove Honest and restore the Emperor to power, if I can do those to things dealing with Falkland is easy, the Revolutionary Army is mostly compessed of Old guard who were opposed to Honest, those people would never dream of laying a finger on Emperor Makoto let alone killing him and if I exposed Falkland for what he is they'd kill him in a heartbeat. That being said there is the matter of Honest and his allies at court, now I've killed quite a fair few of them as have my associates in Night Raid, and even the Jaegers; but there is a core few that are essential to Honest's power and they never leave the Palace, but if I were to say gather them all into one place they could be eliminated. What I'm proposing is a preemptive strike, a coup if you will to oust Honest from his position: for this I need you and the Royal Guard, the first step I want you to take a hard look at its members and root out those loyal to Honest I want to make sure that only those loyal to Emperor completely serve him, also I want you to issue orders to ignore the Prime Minister's orders: I want to place the entire Royal guard under the command of four people, you, myself, the Emperor and Grand Marshal Esdeath. Then I want you to send guards to shadow the movements of Honest's advisors I've got a plan to plant false information to gather them all in one place, once there all there I will commit a Night Raid strike team to kill them all: If Honest survives this attempt I want you to issue an order that he is an enemy of the state and to removed from his position; Minister Chouri will assume the role of interim Prime Minister until a worthy replacement can be found; after Honest has been eliminated I will then send words to my loyalists in the Revolutionary Army, they will receive an offer of amnesty in exchange for the head of Boreth Falkland and his supporters. After that well we'll have peace" Tatsumi explained.

"I see but you are forgetting a few things; first off is that the Empire will still be at war on eastern and western borders, secondly there is the fact that you are banking on Honest getting killed by the assassin team which leaves room for a fallback plan and lastly there is one important thing: The Emperor; he needs to know about Honest's actions, not just that he needs to see evidence of what is happening in the Empire for himself and you need to be alone with him to tell him the truth; if Emperor Makoto doesn't believe you then your plan falls apart, you aren't the first person to try this" Budo explained.

"I'm the first person to have Night Raid at my command, I'm also the one who'll make this work, now Budo are you in on this; I know for a fact you aren't loyal to Honest" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm in on it, but you should inform the Emperor himself, I want him to know about this so understands what's happening when that time comes; also I won't take any actions until you've got his approval" Budo responded.

"Alright I'll see what I can do, the best time though for me and the Emperor to talk alone is tomorrow when the decoy takes his place at court, Honest will be busy as will a large number of courtiers with business; the Emperor will be in his room and being the only advisor who doesn't have to attend the Council meetings if I don't want to I won't be missed: honestly I won't get a better shot to talk to him alone after tomorrow" Tatsumi explained.

"Then I'll see to it that the guards at the door to his room allow you entry but you will have to try in the afternoon; Honest will have his spies monitoring the halls for you" Budo explained.

"Thanks for the heads up, don't worry I know how to make sure that Honest doesn't get suspicious I'll arrange a sleep over for my sisters-in-law they love being around him don't you agree" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright; bring them over by 7 tonight the gates to palace wing close at 8, I'll arrange for their usual quarters across from his room" Budo agreed, the two then shook hands and left. Tatsumi thinking over in his head the plans to dispose of Honest and what team would be best sent to take him down; also when to stage the coup and what his plan were in case of failure.

Meanwhile… Vincent had dawned his power suit, the goal was simple, nab the three girls he had his sights on, he smirked behind the mask thinking himself invincible then began his broad daylight attack going right for carriage. The strikes came swiftly, her overpowered the two guards on the right side of the carriage and jammed a pole axe from his more recent take down in between the wheels causing it to come to a stop, he then jumped onto the carriage roof and nabbed the other two guards slamming them into each other before backhanding the driver who had gotten off to fight.

Inside the carriage Aria had her hand on her rapier and another on a kukri while her step-sisters had luggers drawn and ready. "Hey Grace did you and the others take care of whatever ruffians are trying to rob us?" Aria asked, slipping her rapier out of the sheath.

"Yes I did" Vincent said in a mock woman's voice, Aria smirked knowing there was trouble outside and hoping that her guards hadn't been killed and were simply knocked out.

"Well I'm coming out to be sure" Aria replied grabbing Luna's lugger, smirking, she had who ever was out there where she wanted them. "Noctis Wave: Shroud Cloak Giga" Aria whispered as she turned invisible, the giga was formed a completely identical copy to Aria which went and opened the door. Outside was what appeared to be a man in golden rabbit suit.

"IT'S ME VINCENT!" Vincent yelled and pounced on the Aria copy only to fall flat on the floor the real Aria then pounced from her hidden position and drove her rapier into the killer's throat, before grinning demonically at him.

"You're a moron" Aria replied and fired two shots one for each eye before severing Vincent's head and kicking the body out of her carriage, she then handed Luna her gun back and took a pocket hankercheif and cleaned her blade before checking her guards; fortunately they were still breathing, and didn't appear to taken much apart from a few hard knocks. As they awoke from unconsiciousness they looked at Aria standing over the corpse of their attacker. "Are you alright?" Aria asked.

"Yes Lady Aria" one of her guards a young woman replied.

"Good Grace don't worry I had this all under control" Aria replied.

"Are you alright my lady" Grace asked.

"Yep, not even a scratch, can't say the same for this blackguard, and I'm surprised he actually thought to do this alone: well no problem we'll dump his body and head in an alley way and forget about him" Aria replied and smiled plesently the guards laughed and they resumed their daily activites.

Later… Tatsumi had left the palace and the city for somewhere to think; namely his favorite hot springs; he had to think about how he was going to explain things to Makoto. "I hate having to tell him what's going on in the Empire in all its gritty details but there isn't any other way, its either traumatize him by letting him know how much of what is going in the Empire under his nose or let Honest win and between the two I'll go with the first option, but the question is how am I going to explain it to him without him either not believing me or irrepairably scarring him for life" Tatsumi thought then leaned back as the warm steam eased in closing his eyes, as closed them he went into a brief catnap which was interrupted by splashing in the water. Tatsumi opened his eyes to find Saraya Oarburgh, naked as the day she was born smiling in front of him.

"Hey Tatsumi-kun" Saraya greeted sing-songly which was completely out of character for her.

"Hey Saraya, you know I'm nearly done if you want I'll get out" Tatsumi replied.

"Now why would I do that? Nope I've got you right where I want you" Saraya replied seducetively.

"What happened to the Saraya Oarburgh who wouldn't spread her legs for just anybody" Tatsumi asked.

"Just anybody, no, for you, someone who is the apple of my eye yes" Saraya replied, and kissed him assertively wrapping her arms around him.

"Enjoy yourself Tatsumi and you better do so before someone else enjoys her for you" Khaneesha teased him telepathicly, Tatsumi sighed and admitted defeat, if Saraya wanted this who was he to reject her, she may have been under a demonic influence but considering the fact it couldn't be undone he just had to accept her and well keep her safe from those who'd take advantage of Saraya in this state.

"Alright then; but you have to keep this well, private, I want to make sure this doesn't come completely by surprise; after this we act like we're just friends" Tatsumi explained.

"Friends with benefits?" Saraya teased and kissed him on the neck going down to his pecks.

"Sort of, on the side but we'll grow into an actual romance and then we can love each other fully I'm just well not ready to go all the way" Tatsumi explained.

"Well let me take you there" Saraya replied and kissed his pecks and down his body, then pushed him up above the water showing off his fully aroused length. "Oh yes that's what I want, I've never seen one before I didn't expect them to be so big" Saraya replied and then began blowing him. Tatsumi blushed and enjoyed her amateurish blowjob, it wasn't remotely on the level of those offered by her older sister and younger sisters but it was rather good. Tatsumi simply relaxed and hoped this whole experience was just a wet dream and he was sleeping in the spring. Saraya's cute moans and slurps were pleasant sounds, and the "Ahkap" noise she made as deepthroated him, then she wrapped her breasts around his length and rubbed them slowly and pleasantly all the while smiling much like Cosmina would in fact Saraya in this state was a lot like Cosmina.

When he came she grinned as her face was covered with his seed showing of her teeth, before licking her lips. "Yummy" Saraya remarked. "Now I want to see how it feels inside me" Saraya commented.

"Why don't I show you what I can do with my lips afterall you did a wonderful job with yours" Tatsumi replied she smiled and Tatsumi picked her up placing her on the edge the spring and began his tongue work. His tongue caressed her vulva licking the outer lips, he fondled her ample E-cups with his hands as he used his tongue to spread her lower lips further and enter it properly he easily pushed her to her limits as he found each spot, also her barrier before causing her to orgasm.

Tatsumi licked off of her juices and began to kiss up her body before easing her into the water; he looked into her eyes and clasped her lovely black hair before grabbing her rump elisitating another moan as he entered her. He held her on her left side propping one leg over his shoulders as he thrusted into her; he kissed her and drank from her breasts. "Tatsumi-kun" Saraya moaned repeatedly and this was pretty much her limit to the things she said apart from "deeper" or "faster" and number of moans and as he drank her milk. "drink as much as you want." How much longer he and her did this began to become a haze but after 10 positions she had passed out.

Tatsumi dried, both himself and Saraya, then dressed, both him and Saraya, then carried the sleeping Saraya back to her room at Night Raid base. "Hey Tatsumi what are you doing" Lubbock asked, Tatsumi gave him a look of don't bother me and carried Saraya to her room where she slept peacefully.

"So what did you two do?" Lubbock asked. "I saw Saraya go down to the hot springs and well here you both come back two hours later carrying her like bride" Lubbock commented.

"If you're wanting details Lubbock you're not getting them; my love life isn't your business" Tatsumi replied.

"So you and Saraya did do it? Wow you are a true man among men Tatsumi" Lubbock replied.

"Thanks I'll tell Najenda you said that; now Lubbock do me a favor if you want any advice for ways to improve you love life with Yami read books on the subject don't ask me" Tatsumi replied.

"I wasn't asking for that I just wanted to know how you two stand at the moment and what came over her" Lubbock replied.

"As to where we stand, friends with benefits, we may develop into something more, as to what brought this over her well I'll just assume its magic" Tatsumi replied.

"Speaking of where'd you get that amulet?" Lubbock asked.

"From a girl" Tatsumi replied and left his friend to think on who gave it to him, he then returned to his room hoping to turn in as he had a mission that night and wanted to be well rested for it.

That of course was the plan, but weird things happened and he found someone waiting his his bed, in risqué white lingerie, laying on her chest seductively. "Hey Tatsumi" Roxanna greated, Tatsumi sighed.

"You too Roxanna?" Tatsumi asked, he had no idea that 24 ago this woman hadn't existed and had been an entirely different person.

"Yep; let me explain I've- been attracted to you since me and my sis joined your team, its- well you've got so much on offer, you're a badass, your handsome, funny, brave, the ladies love you, and you have such a handsome tail; how could I not love you" Roxana replied.

"Great and I'm guessing Pais told you how good I was? Also does she know about it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh I know about it" Pais said coming from behind the door and locking it behind Tatsumi, she wore a similar get up only it was pink instead of white. "I just have to help my sister she's so lonely; come on Tatsumi she needs someone like you" Pais replied, Tatsumi had to wonder what the hell was going on, then promptly noted reality change as if it were a picture in a slideshow and Tatsumi was in Khaneesha's pocket dimension.

"You did this didn't you?" Tatsumi asked the smirking demoness.

"I may have had something to do with that, and to tell you truth I did it before we met" Khaneesha explained.

"What did you do? I told you I don't want women as sex slaves Khaneesha" Tatsumi asked.

"They aren't slaves Tatsumi, Pais was already in love with you for starters as for Roxana well lets play a name game" Khaneesha replied.

"I'm not in the mood for games what have you done?" Tatsumi asked.

"I granted a wish to a friend of yours, one who's love was impossible because you would have never gone ahead with a relationship originally, so I granted your friend his wish and now he is a she and now she can pursue a relationship with you, I did all this before we even met, all I wanted in exchange for your friend's transformation was that delightful tumble with you, which I received, now I hope you enjoy the one you're in for" Khaneesha explained.

"So wait Roxanna was once a guy?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"Yep so I turned Ritone who he was originally into a girl with my magic; its rather easy to do if you are part succubus, especially given true Succubi can change their gender on a wim: Incubbi and Succubi in their true state are one in the same, but not confused with the Succubi seen in your multi-verse no they are a different type, fallen humans who had signed contracts for beauty: no don't worry I signed no contract with your friend but I did change him into a her and I am bound to the letter of my agreement" Khaneesha explained.

"But you said you didn't sign a contract?" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm one of those devils who believes in freebies, especially for someone as fascinating as yourself; but I hope you enjoy Roxana as she is because she enjoys being who she is" Khaneesha explained.

"Alright I'll do that, just- she better be fully female" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh please like I'd saddle you with a futa? Tatsumi I know your tastes and sculpted Roxana's body to them: consider her body an amalgamation of all the other woman you love: she's got Sayo's hair, Cosmina's singing voice, Leone's strength, Esdeath's bust, Clementine's eyes, Najenda's ass, Sheele's legs and Constance's lovely laugh: her wish was to be an image of perfection you wouldn't be able to resist now I'm going to leave now oh and by the way enjoy yourself because you are already in the middle of a threesome.

"What?!" Tatsumi yelled as he realized he had been in his mind and returned to reality. Said reality found himself standing up as Roxana gave him a heavenly boob and blowjob, she wore only the stockings and panties while Pais kissed him romantically. Now having control of his actions Tatsumi simply went with the flow and with what his partners wanted.


	52. Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Innocence Lost

Makoto yawned bored, it was late evening and he tired of playing games that you did by yourself; solitaire was boring, moving his army men into mock battles was only fun if he had a second person to play with, and he could forget about playing chess or Knights and Dragons without another player. "Boring" Makoto sighed, he then looked in a mirror noted he was getting bigger. "I really don't want to grow up" Makoto said to his stuffed polar teddy bear Snow-Snow. "What do you think Snow-Snow?" Makoto asked, his bear just smiled as a stuffed animal you love does. "I miss Fal-chan, I love playing games with her" Makoto said.

"Don't you miss Air-chan" Makoto said to himself in a bear like voice.

"Yeah I miss Air-chan; she's fun to play with, she loves chess as much as me, and Luna with our play sessions, I love most our roleplaying sessions in Minotaurs and Labyrinths: I love fantasy; I want Fal and Air, and Luna" Makoto said to himself and sighed, then felt growing pains; he was getting bigger and well things just didn't feel normal to him; Esdeath explained that he was at the age where his body would change and he'd notice it, he'd grow bigger, he'd have feelings he'd never felt, and he'd have to wash more often as his pores would be acting up soon. Also, she had to explain deodorant and informed him that he'd have to start learning how to shave as he'd start growing whiskers. "I don't want a beard, Dad told me they were bad-luck; my uncle went missing not to long after he grew a beard and they had that picture of him painted, they never found his body" Makoto thought. "I want Fal-chan" Makoto said presently; he'd always felt love for his three friends and was willing to marry them he just had more feelings for them.

The door was knocked on. "Who is it?" Makoto asked bored thinking it was probably Honest.

"Me your big Esdeath-nii: I brought friends" Esdeath replied in her friendliest voice.

"We're here Makoto-san for a sleepover" Fal shouted and opened the door, the three Grundel sisters rushed across the room to hug him and he hugged them.

"I figured you could use some friends to play with so when Tatsumi brought them over I knew that you'd be up for some fun" Esdeath replied, she wore a conservative blue and orange gown and matching headdress. "Now you four have fun and don't get up to mischief, also I'll post guards at your room if you need anything tell them and they'll get it; I'm going to speak to Tatsumi regarding private matters; tomorrow though we'll want to talk to you alone about something important" Esdeath explained.

"What is it?" Makoto asked curious.

"Something that Tatsumi and I have been debating for months now; we'll tell you when the time comes just letting you know that when that time comes, you'll be making a life changing decision Makoto" Esdeath replied then knelt on the ground and kissed him on the cheek. "Now have fun and don't get into trouble: I don't want to be disturbed unless it's an actual emergency, also don't start any fires" Esdeath explained then left, rounding the hallway to her room.

"So now what are we going to do?" Makoto asked.

"I want to play chess" Air replied.

"I want to play Minotaurs and Labyrinths" Luna replied.

"I'm not sure what to do" Fal commented.

"I've got an idea, girls I want show you something I found a couple days ago" Makoto replied and lead them to book case; he then moved a book off of the shelve and pressed a button behind it, the bookshelf slid to the said to reveal a winding staircase, all three looked at it with amazement.

"Wow" Fal exclaimed.

"Shh! It's a secret; I don't know where it leads, and I figured the four of us would find out where it goes" Makoto explained.

"I'm not sure about this" Luna replied.

"You're always uncertain Luna" Air remarked. "I'm for exploring new places" Air explained.

"Me too let's see where it leads" Fal agreed.

"Alright I figured you three would be up for it, now let's get changed; we can't go exploring passageways in these clothes we'd get out best clothes all dirty" Makoto explained.

"Alright you have something in mind?" Air asked.

"Yep, now I'm going to put my crown here on my bed, and then I'm going to pick out some normal clothes for us to wear" Makoto explained, and began digging in his dresser for casual attire.

"You have normal clothes?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, Esdeath got me some just in case we for whatever reason had to escape the palace and blend into the masses; they'll do just great for this" Makoto explained and chose out some clothes for their group to wear. They then each took turns changing in Makoto's walk-in bathroom and closet and soon came out. Fal, Air, and Luna's clothing was near identical to the clothes Bach had bought for them, Makoto's get up consisted of a black shirt, sweats, white socks, normal shoes, a dark brown leather jacket and a blue barrette. "How do I look?" Makoto asked.

"Like a normal everyday kid" Fal commented, Makoto then grabbed his sword off the rack where Esdeath had placed it and attached it to his belt.

"Alright now I'm properly armed lets go; you never know what might be down there" Makoto explained. "Are you three ok?" Makoto replied.

"Don't worry we can take care of ourselves" Air explained, they then held hands as a group.

"Now into the unknown" Makoto remarked, then stopped. "I've got to get my flashlight" Makoto remarked and went to his desk and searched the drawers grabbing out a black and red painted flashlight. "Now we can go" Makoto explained, and they pressed onward into the passageway.

The passageway went down a long flight of stairs, in fact multiple flights of stairs. "I'm not looking forward to climbing back up these" Luna remarked.

"Me either; and all these cobwebs I don't think anyone has been down these stairs in years" Makoto commented. They continued their descent until the stairs opened onto a room; this room was bare apart from fine bricks but also marks. "Hey that's the mark of the Royal Family" Makoto remarked taking a good look at one of the bricks, the mark was that of a dragon with a sun shaped crown on its head. Makoto leaned on the brick; to his surprise the wall slides aside revealing an outer chamber which led outside. The sun had set, and Makoto was surprised. "Is that?" Makoto asked.

"The outside? Wow we've found a secret passage out of the Palace" Fal exclaimed.

"Yeah we did, I want to check this out" Makoto stated and the three looked at him with concern.

"Are you sure, it's getting late and it's not safe outside after dark" Luna explained.

"All the more reason to go out there and show that I'm brave; besides I'm armed and not afraid, I'll keep you three safe" Makoto reassured.

"It's not a good idea" Fal explained.

"Why? You act like there are danger beasts outside on the city streets" Makoto replied.

"No there aren't-"Air began explaining when Makoto decided to start walking away.

"Makoto-kun wait!" Fal shouted, they began to follow him, keeping close to him. The Sun had just about set and Twilight was receding into night, the light of lampposts was the only illumination in the gloom as the sky's stars and Eden's moons were covered under thick shroud of storm clouds. Makoto wandered with Fal, Air and Luna keeping a keen eye on him, they had to Makoto's ignorance weapons: concealed daggers and throwing stars and knives, in addition to their lugers which were fully loaded and they had three magazines in reserve; so they were not by any means defenseless; but there was the risk of them scaring Makoto by being so well armed.

Makoto's wanderings took them farther afield from their exit from the palace; Makoto noted the sights. "So, this is what Melitine looks like, I've always wondered what it was like outside my Palace" Makoto muttered under his breath.

Rain began to fall, and they went looking for cover. "We should have brought an umbrella" Fal shouted.

"Didn't occur to me; I thought it wouldn't rain" Makoto replied, as they ducked under a tarp from a store that had closed for the night, Makoto looked in the distance and noted that the palace was a good ways off, which meant the passage they had taken had gone a good distance from the city into one of the lower rings of the city, a moderately well off quarter. "This stinks I don't want to just stand here until the rain stops" Makoto commented.

"Me neither; let's keep moving rain or no rain" Air replied then all four of them heard the crack of a lightning bolt and saw it flash thru the sky and strike the cobblestone road about 20 yards away from them. "Ok Lightning is something else entirely" Air remarked.

"I'm not scared let's keep moving" Fal replied, and began to walk out under the tarp, the others followed. "Let's go to our house; it should be fun and that way we can have sleepover there" Fal suggested and they followed her lead.

This was a mistake as Fal hadn't the faintest clue of where she was going; which was why Luna should have taken the lead as they had a decent idea of the right direction from paying attention during Aria's shopping trips. After knowledge aside though they were unaware of the dangers ahead; and Makoto and Fal led the way.

Granted though it wasn't the usual parasites of Melitine that they had to worry about, mainly because the rain had put them under cover; nope there were worse things to fear in Melitine.

More lightning cracked and they ducked into a back alleyway to avoid a lightning bolt that struck on the other side of the city from where they were, but they didn't know this. In doing so they woke up a rather large group of stray hungry dogs that were not the least bit happy about being roused from their slumber; the dogs began growling at them and Makoto drew his sword standing his ground as he outstretched a Rapier in their direction the dogs cowered in fear though not of Makoto though but something behind him and the girls. "Back you muts!" a Woman shouted; she scared the dogs who ran off after a gun shot was fired in warning.

Makoto and the girls turned around to face the woman who was carrying a parrosell and standing next a carriage next to her was armed man with a long rifle, he wore the guard uniform typical of those who protected nobles and had has face concealed with a helmet of the kind the Grundel sisters were familiar with, that being the same kind worn by their bodyguards. She was also accompanied by another woman who resembled her but was younger, possibly a daughter or younger sister, both woman had blood red hair, green eyes and wore violet dresses of the kind usually worn by Aria or her mother.

"Thanks who are you miss?" Makoto asked.

"Lady Claudia Stella Audette, this my bodyguard Jaust and my sister Michelle; what are you children doing out after dark?" the Woman known named Lady Audette replied.

"Exploring we- "Makoto began to say but Air cut him off.

"We were heading home to our parent's place; this is our friend Makoto we decided it would be more fun to sleep over out our house then at his place" Air explained.

"Interesting, are you three girls related by chance?" Lady Audette asked looking at the four of them with interest; it wasn't a normal chance to see children out this late and in this part of Melitine as the people that lived in this part of the city were usually in doors by this time.

"Yep, we're from a manor; the name is Fal Grundel" Fal explained, both her sisters looked at her with concern.

"Grundel? Interesting, you must be Angela's girls I've played quite a few games don't worry I'll give the four of you a ride home and some hot cocoa; my sister and I were about to drink some" Lady Audette explained.

"Thanks" Luna replied and all four of them got into the carriage not noting the smirk that appeared on Lady Audette's face as they did so, climbing into the carriage.

Before they realized their mistake, it was already too late, Lady Audette threw a small sphere into the carriage and slammed the door. A deep purple gas was released, and the last thing Makoto saw before passing out was a smirking Michelle Audette with a rather evil look on her face.

Shortly… "Wake up sleeping beauty" a woman's voice cut in, Makoto was half out of it.

"Five more minutes Esdeath-nii-san tell Honest to go away" Makoto mumbled out, he then yelped as he felt pain a whip cracked into his back side and he woke up, clad in only a loin cloth.

"Good you're awake; the girls are still out but you seem to be a light sleep" Michelle Audette commented, her dress had been replaced by a black bodysuit and a wolf masque, but he recognized her eyes and hair.

"Who are you, what have you done?" Makoto asked and realized his situation. "Release me immediately, do you know who I am?" Makoto shouted with as an authoritative a voice he could muster.

"A cute little thing; something that my sister and I are debating on how much you are worth" Michelle replied.

Makoto was angry now. "Look at me: don't you recognize me I'm Emperor Makoto the First, the leader of the Empire: your liege lord, unhand me and I will forgive everything" Makoto yelled, he received another lash of the whip in reply.

"He's awake good sister" Lady Claudia Audette stated walking over in a black and red gown, with an expression worthy a black widow spider.

"Yep, and get this he thinks he's the Emperor; the gas must have done something to his head, I think you put a bit too many Woozeberries in it" Michelle commented, Makoto noted behind her were a number of other woman in similar dress to Michelle and besides them an number of strongmen equipped in the same gear as the guard he had seen earlier.

"That's because I am Emperor Makoto! Do you not recognize your liege lord?" Makoto asked.

"Impossible; Prime Minister Honest would never let you out of the Palace, after all he's got a good reason to keep the Emperor in line and inside" Michelle commented.

"Why, what reason?" Makoto asked and he heard the sizzling of an iron.

"The Iron is hot and ready my lady, a masked man wearing an executioner's cowl and garb explained.

"Good, give it here" Lady Audette ordered and strode over.

"What's going on?!" Luna exclaimed she, Air and Fal having woken up.

"Good you're awake to; Ladies secure them" Lady Audette ordered and a few woman went over and collected the three girls albeit with much kicking and shouting.

"Feisty girls, and dangerous too with all the toys we found of them sis: I've never seen 13-year olds so well armed" Michelle remarked.

"Never mind that hold them still!" Claudia shouted and Michelle propped Makoto up and towards her.

Makoto winced seeing the brand which had a seven-pointed star inside a circle as a symbol engraved in it and it was orange hot. "Don't worry this will only hurt a bit" Claudia remarked and branded him; twice; Makoto screamed. The First brand on his shoulder hurt like hell the second one his arm hurt worse. "YEAGAH!" Makoto screamed.

"Good now the other three" Claudia stated, and the three sisters wrestled to escape, their captors removed their shirts exposing their chests; Claudia then branded all three of them in the same places as she had Makoto, their shrieks were ear wrenching, Fal's especially. "Good now that didn't hurt much; now the question is what to do with you four and how much are you four worth?" Claudia replied, then leaned into Michelle's ear and whispered something unintelligible; she smirked.

"Right on it sis" Michelle replied and smirked and went to Fal, Air and Luna she then tore off the rags the girls wore, leaving them bare, she then touched them in ways they weren't meant be touched and, in a way, all familiar to them and noted something. "Oh, dear sis, check this out" Michelle replied looking at Fal's back, Claudia strolled over and noted the same thing her sister had.

That thing was mark, the brand of scroll and glasses, the mark of Bach. "Looks like we found some of Bach's former cattle" Michelle remarked.

"Oh Bach, Ha! That fool, oh it was so easy to get rid of him; I just let slip that he may be running one of the largest slaving operations in the Capital and Night Raid kills him three days later; anonymous tips to Night Raid are the best way to get rid of your competitors aren't they dear sister" Claudia replied.

"Yep and the way you took over his operations and those of his partners was just too easy" Michelle remarked and the two laughed maniacally.

"You monster you'll pay for this I'm the Emperor when I get out of here you'll be sorry I'll sick Esdeath-nii on you, not just her the whole Jaegers!" Makoto shouted.

"Silence your delusions slave: your word is meaningless here and even if you were the Emperor I could care less; to me that makes you all the more valuable" Claudia replied.

"If its money you want, I'll pay, the Imperial treasury will pay for my ransom; any price name it and they'll pay up, Honest-san and Esdeath-nii will gladly pay to free me" Makoto tried bargaining; that elicited laughter from both sisters and all of their cronies.

"Honest?! Prime Minister Honest? Actually, caring for someone? Now that day that happens, I'll be Empress; you really think the Prime Minister cares for the Emperor? He doesn't- not remotely all he is a puppet on the string, while he rules the Empire: also even if you were actually the Emperor I don't think he'd care less about purchasing you; if I wanted to sell you to him" Claudia replied stopping her laughter before bursting out again. "I mean seriously what slave in their right mind would actually want to see the Prime Minister; the slaves who see him don't ever see another master; in fact, they're lucky to live a year in his care" Claudia japed.

"What do you mean? Why would Honest-san buy slaves?" Makoto asked.

"You really are good at this Emperor act; sis can I keep him, he's so cute and I saw his dick I'd love to play with him and keep him as my little boy-toy" Michelle commented.

"I had that very thing in mind; you can have him; teach him his place; as to the Prime Minister: well those who end up as his slaves either have two fates; they are cum dumpsters for the rest of their lives however long that may be or their fresh meat for his meals; oh the Prime Minister loves the ladies; I hear he finds the Woman's womb suitable to his tastes; I'm sure of that after all he's made purchases from him before; and he'll occasionally tell me what he did to his purchases; he's my best customer" Claudia replied, Makoto began to weep.

"No! Honest-san- He'd never- he's always so nice- I don't believe you, in fact this isn't real none of it is I'm having a nightmare in my bed and Esdeath-nii is trying to wake me up!" Makoto ranted and wept, tears, and he felt a whip crack.

"Oh, you're in a nightmare alright 'Emperor' but there's no waking up from this one" Claudia replied and gave him a kiss on his forehead before turned to her sister. "You can keep him, if he is the Emperor nobody could afford to buy him, and if he isn't he's far too cute and too good at storytelling to sell for any price" Claudia replied.

"Wait what about my friends?!" Makoto asked as Michelle began to undo the chain his neck was attached to via a collar.

"Them? Well virgin's like them are worth quite a lot especially with their lovely hair colors; I'd have to find a rich buyer but when that happens you won't ever see them again; now Michelle enjoy yourself; my sister is very needy and if you satisfy those needs I'll have to take a turn with you" Claudia replied and Michelle slung him over her shoulder yelling "let me go!" repeatedly.

"Yeah I'll let you go on a bed; boy you have such a big dick for a 13-year-old; biggest I've ever seen I'm looking forward to seeing how it feels" Michelle teased and carried him off to a nearby room.

Makoto was scarred as she threw him on a bed and began exposing herself to him. "Oh boy toy you are in for a nice first time: I'm a beast and you'll enjoy it; all the boys enjoy me" Michelle teased Makoto screamed as his innocence was lost.

Meanwhile… "Is the Emperor alright?" Esdeath asked the sentries posted at his door.

"Yes, General we haven't heard a complaint or demand from him" the chief guard said.

"Have you heard from him at all?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not at all Minister" the Guard replied.

"I see, you men are dismissed, Rakshasa Demons assume your guard positions; you'll handle the first watch" Esdeath ordered and guards were replaced by Ibara, Sten, Mez and Suzuka who fell in lock step. "Now you men head off, also if the Prime Minister gives any orders verify them with me or with General Budo dismissed" Esdeath ordered and the guards left.

"Well now we should get some shut eye; we'll talk to him tomorrow" Tatsumi remarked.

"Yes, but first I'm going to give him a good night kiss from his big sister" Esdeath replied and opened the door, took five steps inside and screamed "YEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!" Esdeath screamed. "MAKOTO!?" Esdeath yelled and all four Rakshasa Demons along with Tatsumi and Sentries stormed into the room with weapons drawn.

The Emperor wasn't there; neither were Fal, Air and Luna, instead their clothes were in a folded pile next to the bed with the dresser wide open; also, Makoto's crown was on the bed. "The Emperor he's gone!" One of the guards stated, then something happened no one ever thought possible Esdeath walked over to his bed, knelt next his crown and broke down in tears; Tatsumi had never seen her cry in his life and part of him was wanting to join her but he had to be strong.

"Oh, shit this is awful, very awful!" Sten yelled.

"Quit whining we'll find him; now how the hell did he get out?" Ibara asked, and Suzuka looked to note the bookcase and the passage door.

"Look he found the Black Gate" Suzuka shouted, Tatsumi wondered what she meant but then noted the passage.

"Esdeath look!" Tatsumi shouted and Esdeath looked up.

"Of course! The Black Gate" Esdeath remarked coming to full composure. "Of course, he found it, damn it I forgot about that exit existed" Esdeath replied.

"What is it?" Tatsumi asked

"The Black Gate is one of the many secret passages out of the Palace it was built in and kept secret by the Royal family; the only people who know about it are the Ruling Emperor, Empress, and the Four Rakshasa Demons" Mez explained.

"Yeah and we never let him know about it; we did prepare for the unlikely case we'd have to use it" Ibara explained.

"Hey, he took the clothes for his disguise!" Sten remarked having been going thru the dresser.

"Of course, he did! Great went off with Fal, Air and Luna and is wandering the streets of Melitine; hopelessly loss and at night!" Tatsumi remarked.

"We'll organize a search; he can't have gone too far but I suspect he's already out in the city: Tatsumi I want you to get a Jaeger strike team and search for him; secretly. The rest of you I'm binding to secrecy; Rakshasa Demons at your post and act normal: we've got to keep this quiet" Esdeath explained. "Guards you are all sworn to secrecy: no one outside of this room is to know about what has happened I don't want to cause a panic" Esdeath explained.

"What about you?" Tatsumi asked.

"Take Sayo and get a team, find them; I'd love to go but I'm going to try and act like nothing has happened someone has to keep Honest from finding out what's happened" Esdeath explained.

"Alright good luck and be careful" Tatsumi replied then went to Esdeath room and woke up a sleeping Sayo, receiving a slap in the face.

"You better have a good reason to wake me up" Sayo explained annoyed at being woken from her sleep.

"The Emperor has gone missing; we need to get a Jaeger and Night Raid team together and find him" Tatsumi explained and Sayo got up and quickly dressed into her military uniform.

Shortly at Jaeger HQ… Tatsumi had gathered the Jaegers that were available at this hour while Sayo had fetched Aria and her team which consisted of Chelsea, Leone, Lubbock and Yami, the Jaegers that were available were Seryu, Wave, Run, Cosmina, and Dorothea.

"This is an urgent mission: the Emperor has gone missing and so have Fal, Air, and Luna: they left via a secret passageway in the palace and could be anywhere in the city we are going to have to search top to bottom and find them before dawn; otherwise Honest finds out the Emperor is missing and uses the duplicate to seize full control of the government: We'll divide into teams of three and search high and low; hopefully we can get a lead" Tatsumi briefed, the teams fell in and split up, Aria and Seryu were with Tatsumi with everyone else took their own partners.

Meanwhile… "Mommy" Makoto shivered holding himself.

"I'm glad you're still awake the adrenaline makes this all the better" Michelle replied looking down and holding him; giving him a forced kiss on the lips. "So good; you're the best boy I've ever had; and you're a virgin: hell, I wonder how hung you'll be when grow bigger then you are now" Michelle teased.

"Please stop I don't want this; this is wrong; dirty; your- doing things to me that are evil!" Makoto stammered.

"Oh sex isn't evil, its where babies come from, and by the amount of spunk you put in me I think one will be there; now I believe you and you are the Emperor as you say then I'll be the mother of a royal bastard I wonder who that baby with take after me or you" Michelle remarked and slide off of him.

"You're a monster, an evil person, whatever you're doing to me: its- its- evil! Please let this be a nightmare!" Makoto yelled.

"Oh, I already told you handsome it wasn't a nightmare now I'm going to put your dick in between my tits and well enjoy it" Michelle replied, Makoto screamed.

Outside the room… Air was fuming; angry. "Those cunts when I get out of here, I'll rip their throats out!" Air shouted.

"Shut up girl!" one of the guards jeered.

"You shut up you bitch I'm not talking to you" Air replied.

"Yelling at them isn't going to make thing better" Luna replied. "Besides aren't you afraid mommy will wash your mouth out with soap?" Luna asked.

"Fucking hell Luna? Really, you seriously think I'm worried about having my mouth washed out with soap. I'm more worried about being a slave! And I'm fucking terrified about what's happening to Makoto" Air replied angrily.

"Yeah can't you here the screams he's making from here?" Fal replied.

"I can hear them but what can we do?" Luna stated and broke down crying on Air's side.

"Don't you start crying on me! I'm not mom nor Aria-nii! I'm your sister now tough it up, you've been acting like a kid since the day our village was burned Luna, tough up now, we're growing up and we aren't kids anymore!" Air rebuked; Luna only seemed to cry louder.

"Yeah shut up you brats!" one of the guards a snarky mouthed lanky man remarked.

"Make me Asshole!" Air yelled. "I'm fucking tired of this! Of you and your nonsense Fuckers! I don't know what your boss is doing to Makoto I only know that whatever she's doing to him is evil and torture!" Air yelled.

"I'll shut that brat up give her something to shut up" the Lanky man commented.

"Like hell you will, if the boss finds you with your dick in one of those virgin pussies she'll cut your it off and gouge your eyes out!" one of the other guards shouted.

"Shove it! It'll be worth it, it's been while since I last got laid" the Lanky man said and came over and opened Luna's cell.

"Wait NO! NO!" Luna screamed as he began dragging her out by her hair.

"NO! LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" Air yelled and the anger flowed thru her and with-it power. The lanky man began to struggle for air as he was lifted up by some unknown power, his neck snapped but Air was hardly done her eyes turned towards her cell and she threw a wave of energy that sent the door to her cell flying at the wall, the guards rushed towards her with weapons drawn.

"Shoot the freak shoot her!" A Guard yelled.

"NO, YOU ALL DIE!" Air yelled and bolts of lightning crackled out of her hands, the lightning dark purple, the guards were standing in the path and they energy coursed into them consuming them as the lightning disintegrated them leaving naught but ash. Air then slumped and refocused seeing what had happened. "Did I do all that?!" Air asked.

"You sure fucking did!" Luna replied, Air laughed.

"I guess I did, now let's get Makoto and get out of here" Air stated.

"No" Fal replied.

"What?!" Both remarked at the same time.

"Think you two; I just saw you disintegrate about ten armed guards with lightning from your hands, we need help and your our best chance at getting it Air" Fal explained.

"Wait you want me to go off on my own?" Air asked.

"No, you'll take Luna with you" Fal explained.

"What about you?" Luna asked.

"I'll stay here, someone has to stay with Makoto; now you two go, find Aria-nii or Tatsumi-nii, or anyone Night Raid or Jaeger and tell them were we are!" Fal ordered, both looked at her in acknowledgement. "Just go I'll be fine" Fal reassured.

"We're not leaving you or Makoto" Air replied.

"We're leaving Air, we'll come back, now come on or I'll drag you with me" Luna replied and began running. Air followed her knowing that she had to keep Luna safe.

The two rushed down a long hallway, which had some sentries but Air snapped their necks with her new powers; it was random in the way it happened but her instincts were to kill anyone that was going to put her back in chains; she was angry, starving, dressed in a loincloth only and afraid for the people she loved most; Makoto and her sisters. And a pissed off-Air wrecked opposition but not just with her powers; her and Luna had grabbed swords from the dead guards and in the style of Aria silently and ruthlessly dispatched both the men and women watching the tunnels. Said tunnels ended at a door which led upwards to a warehouse at the docks.

"Holy shit" Air swore recognizing the place.

"Yeah this is that warehouse from our first mission" Luna replied.

"So, these cunts were behind that group too; figures man I hate this" Air replied.

"Could you stop swearing Air-Nii?" Luna asked, Air looked at her; saw Luna she was nearly naked, cold, afraid and her hair was a mess.

"Fine but you don't tell mom I was swearing at all; also, I won't tell her about what you said" Air agreed. They crept out of the warehouse which fortunately Air remembered the way to Grundewick Manor from; they had only gone three blocks before they ran into familiar faces and heard a familiar bark.

Koro barked loudly and ran. "What is it Koro!? Follow him" Seryu yelled and ran followed by Tatsumi and Aria and all three had tears in their eyes when they saw Air and Luna, both covered in dirt, blood, clad in ragged loin clothes and carrying bloodied swords which they dropped as soon as they saw. The two groups ran into each other and hugged in joy for a few moments before stopping.

"You're alive, but what happened to you and where are Makoto and Fal?" Tatsumi asked Air and Luna.

"What happened to you and who did this to you?!" Aria asked panicked and noticed the brands. "Shit!" Aria swore noticing the brands. "You've been branded!" Aria exclaimed.

"Yeah, by some messed up bitch: she and her sister are messed up, along with their possy and their guards; Makoto found a passageway and we went out exploring it, we got lost and were nearly attacked by wild dogs when this bitch Claudia and her sister show up with her guards and scare them off, they said they'd take us home, well we get in their carriage and they gassed us; when we woke up we were locked in a cage wearing rags; they already had Makoto out and well they had the branding iron ready then they branded him and us" Luna explained.

"Luna watch your mouth, but I agree but where is Fal and more importantly where is Makoto?" Aria asked.

"And where are these evil doers!?" Seryu asked her serious punish evil face on full display.

"Fal stayed behind when we managed to escape said someone had to stay with Makoto, and Makoto- Claudia's sister Michelle took him away called him her boy toy said she was- looking forward to 'playing with him' then she went into a room across the hall from our cages; we heard him scream and her making moaning noises: She must be torturing him and I bet she still is!" Air explained, that made Tatsumi snap and take off running. "Tatsumi-nii wait up I've got to show the way!" Air shouted running after him.

"Oh, my gods!" Aria shouted, and then began crying in front of Luna.

"What happened what's wrong, I'm afraid Aria-nii! Please tell me! What's Wrong?!" Luna asked.

"Makoto isn't just being tortured Luna we have to hurry he's being defiled!" Aria shouted. "Koro take Luna Find the others! NOW!" Aria ordered.

"Heketonchires: Berserker!" Seryu declared and Koro grew to berserker form he then picked up Luna and placed her on his shoulder. "Take her and find the others my good soldier for Justice Tatsumi-kun Aria-chan and me will handle these evildoers!" Seryu ordered and Koro took off running in the direction of Grundewick Manor with Luna holding on for dear life.

Shortly… Tatsumi had slowed down enough for Air to explain to him he was going off in the wrong direction, they then doubled back and met up with Aria and Seryu before Air lead them down the tunnel. As they walked down the tunnel Air explained in detail what they were up against. "Thanks for the info now how did you escape?" Aria asked.

"I'll explain after this is all over, it'd take me too long to explain Aria-nii-san" Air explained, Tatsumi had handed her his jacket which to her was a housecoat but it was better than being in her skin.

"Seryu, Aria you deal with the grunts: I'll handle the two crazy sisters" Tatsumi ordered.

"Make their deaths long and painful" Air commented.

"Oh no Air, I'm not going to kill them; I'm going to let them live but they'll be broken I'm going to give them a taste of their medicine: I don't want you to see it" Tatsumi explained.

"You sure Tatsumi? I can think of some unpleasant things to deal with them" Aria replied.

"It's the only way to get the message across, Aria Death is too good for them; too easy, I'd rather they live; broken and having known what it's like to suffer their abuse; for what they did to Makoto: I can't allow anything less for them" Tatsumi replied.

"That hardly makes us better than them" Seryu remarked.

"It may not, but our job isn't to be better than them Seryu, our job is to give them hell and give them a taste of their own medicine: and I'm going to do exactly that" Tatsumi replied as they continued their march.

"Here" Air explained and pointed to the turn off. "That's the one we came from I marked blood on it to remember" Air explained, and they went in that direction.

Shortly… the new guards were now coming on shift at 3:00 AM, and they were quite perplexed by what they found; several piles of ash and two open cages one of which had the door ripped off its hinges and was fused into the wall along with a dead guard. "What the shit happened here?" One of the Guards stated.

"Death: that's what happened; you guys better get the fuck out of here: The Night is dark and full of terrors, do you Fear the Night" Fal remarked cryptically having made a crude shiv from things she had managed to scavenge.

"Shut up slave: or I'll stick my dick in your mouth" the guard replied.

"What if she's right?" one of the guards stated.

"Fear the Night? What nonsense; come on let's give this cryptic bitch kid a good fuck" one of the other suggested and half of them began undoing their flies.

SLICE! A spinning blade tore into the throat of the lead guard before they could react a pissed off Tatsumi with Valruost and Smaug at the ready leapt into the group and butchered them, those who tried to run were cut down by Aria from the shadows and by Seryu who jumped into the slaughter. It was brief and about 12 dismembered guards now lay in piled mound on the ground.

"I told them they should run, they never listen" Fal replied impassively. "Hey Seryu-chan can you get me out of this cage I want to go shiv some of these bastards for what they've done" Fal asked.

"Coming" Seryu replied and extended her arm blades and broke the lock and offered her one of her swords.

"Keep it, I made this shiv for a reason I'm going to shiv me some slavers; about ten of them" Fal said getting up.

"Then take this at least" Seryu replied handing Fal her cape.

"Ok that I'll take give me a moment" Fal replied and took off the loin cloth she then tore chunk of fabric off and tied it around her head as a headband before wrapping Seryu's cape around her like a toga "Now for vengeance" Fal remarked.

"No for Justice!" Seryu yelled.

"Where's Makoto?" Tatsumi asked.

"The bitch Michelle took him upstairs said something about wanting to show him off to her sister; show her what she was missing; she didn't bother looking in my direction; she was too busy wrestling Makoto to care" Fal explained, her tone of voice was that of someone who was tired of dealing with all this and of someone who'd had a long day at the office.

"I'll go find them: Aria, Seryu, you two go with Fal, free any other captives and eliminate the grunts; go nuts if you want to Aria; also feel free to trash the place; I'm betting there's a mansion above us" Tatsumi ordered.

"Right" Aria agreed.

"Sounds like a plan, also Koro found the others" Seryu explained.

"How do you know that?" Tatsumi asked.

"He told me thru our mind link ok. For heaven's sake Tatsumi are you forgetting what you know about Teigus?" Seryu replied.

"Forget I asked; just let him know the address and leave some stuff for the others to deal with" Tatsumi replied.

"Got it" Seryu replied.

Momentarily…. "LET ME GO! RELEASE ME!" Makoto screamed.

"He is- ugh, quite talkative but so good I haven't had this much fun in months Ooh!" Claudia moaned.

"I'll shut him up" Michelle replied and was about do so when the door was smashed off its hinges. "What the fuck?!" Michelle swore and looked at a pissed off Tatsumi.

"Let the Emperor go!" Tatsumi ordered; his face stern.

"Tatsumi-Nii! You're here to save me! I knew you'd come where's Esdeath-nii?" Makoto asked, both woman got off of him and shoke in terror, and they would have wet or shit themselves if they had any in them.

"She's occupied keeping the rest of the city from finding out; she told me to deal with this: I'm loyal to you my Emperor and I've come to save you" Tatsumi explained.

"We didn't kn- "Claudia began to stammer.

"Shove it! You bitches make me sick, you and don't give me the shit you didn't know, I'm sure he told you about a hundred times he was the Emperor yet you either didn't believe him or did believe him and didn't care; but it's not just that you raped him! You defiled your Emperor this is the highest form of Treason: and both need to be punished" Tatsumi explained.

"You're going to kill us then? Of course, you are the law demands death for treason" Michelle stammered.

"Don't tell me what the law demands bitch I'm the law here I'm his majesty's minister for Justice and I'm Judge, Jury and executioner; and I'm not going to kill you; what you two did was so unconscionable that death would be too easy for you: nope what I'm going to do to you is give you a taste of your own medicine I'm going to break you and you'll know what it's like to be in his place" Tatsumi explained dropping his sword and grabbing both by their necks. "Your Majesty leave I don't want you to see this" Tatsumi ordered.

"No: I'm going to watch: for what they did to me I want to see them endure it tenfold Tatsumi; give them Justice and that is an Imperial Decree; I want them know what it feels like to be in my place to be on the receiving end of what I had to endure: and then I want you to make sure they live with that for the rest of their lives; but there is one thing I want you to do first" Makoto ordered.

"What is that your Majesty?" Tatsumi asked respectfully.

"Brand them: Like they did me and do it in a place they won't forget it" Makoto ordered, Tatsumi then knocked both women out by cracking them against each other; then he secured them via leashes that they had attached to the bed. Tatsumi and Makoto then left, got Makoto a change of clothes and came back with their branding Iron and where the Audette sisters had recovered from being knocked. "Good you two are up, well Tatsumi enforce Justice" Makoto ordered, Tatsumi did as ordered and Makoto watched, smiling as his rapists were themselves raped, he gave Tatsumi orders on what to do and by the end of it both sisters were muttering.

Shortly… "Kill me" Claudia moaned.

"No such luck" Tatsumi replied and placed his hands against both sisters' faces. "Valruost: Mazkhari Khanieve Vakanii Rozovii!" Tatsumi declared unleashing his blood brand. "Valruost Dominate!" Tatsumi yelled and both women's eyes closed and opened their eyes completely submissive as they knelt.

"How may we serve you master?" both sisters said at the same time.

"You can start out by getting dressed; you two are now under my control what you did is something that was only punishable by what I did in return: Justice is equal, and the law demanded you suffer what you get: forget about that now: you are changed women; you are devoted to me and you will assume your political roles; you will put forward a marriage proposal to me: both of you; but in that time I want you to clean up this place, break all those shackles melt them down; I want you to make full amends and when that's done I want you to track down every single device you used on a child and destroy it too; tomorrow you will claim that there was a Night Raid attack: it failed; official story: but before you do all of that rest and sleep, you awaken two new people tomorrow, the monsters that were inside you are dead: you serve me in blood until the day you die and you are bound by to my soul thru eternity; wherever I go when I do you two will follow" Tatsumi ordered, his eyes glowing red as he did so.

"Yes Master" Both said and fell asleep.

Tatsumi turned to Makoto who was smiling. "That was epic, you gave them exactly what they deserved I knew I made the right pick when I made you Minister for Justice" Makoto replied.

"Are you alright?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not remotely; I feel like I've been put thru hell and worst; I- I learned things I don't think a kid should learned but I'm not a kid anymore Tatsumi-nii, I'm no longer innocent: I'm a changed person and I have a lot of questions for you" Makoto explained.

"Alright ask away?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've heard things about Prime Minister Honest, from both of those women; they- were like angels compared to their description of him: is it true?" Makoto asked.

"Far more then you know, yes its true, also Honest isn't just a monster he's a demon, or rather a human turning into one" Tatsumi explained.

"Tell me more" Makoto asked "And what can I do to stop him" Makoto asked.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow when Honest's focus is on your body double; just to let you know though I have a plan to deal with him and I hope I can make it work" Tatsumi explained.

The following morning… Makoto yawned as he woke up, safely in his own bed but with Fal, Air and Luna sleeping next to him or rather Air on top of him and Luna and Fal on either side. "Good morning Makoto-kun" Air greeted and kissed him on the lips.

"Morning Air-chan, I'm sorry- sorry that I didn't get to give you my first kiss" Makoto replied.

"Don't be I just gave you mine: I'm just glad you're still alive" Air replied. The Door opened and Tatsumi and Esdeath walked inside with the Four Rakshasa demons, and all four of them hoped out of bed; Esdeath ran up to Makoto and picked him up.

"I'm so glad to see you awake and alive my Makoto-nii" Esdeath replied hugging him.

"And you too Esdeath-nii-san" Makoto replied. "Please you're crushing me" Makoto exclaimed and Esdeath loosened her grip and put him down.

"I'm just glad you're alive" Esdeath replied and kissed him on the forehead much like a mother would their child. "I love you like you were my own son Makoto and I don't want anything bad to ever happen to you again" Esdeath added. "Speaking off did those responsible for their crimes against him receive punishment Tatsumi?" Esdeath asked.

"Trust me I gave them a taste of their own medicine they'll live with it for the rest of their lives: you once told me some people don't deserve death for their crimes as it would be a mercy, too easy for them to get it out, no I gave them what they deserved and they'll never be able to do what they did to Makoto again" Tatsumi replied.

"Good; you've learned well from me, now we must talk with you Makoto here in private or rather Tatsumi will as I have a council meeting to attend" Esdeath explained.

Each of the Four Rakshasa demons then came over and gave Makoto a hug. "I'm so glad you're still alive kid" Ibara commented.

"I'm glad to be alive" Makoto replied "I just am well changed" Makoto added.

"Don't worry the past is in past just keep moving on; if anything, this will make you a better Emperor" Sten commented.

"Yeah you're right Sten" Makoto replied, Mez and Suzuka came over and hugged him and then planted kisses on his forehead.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you alive my little Makoto" Mez replied.

"I'm so happy to see you too Mez-nii" Makoto replied.

"I'm not ever letting you out of my sight again I'll be checking on you every day to see you didn't get yourself into more trouble" Mez remarked.

"And I'll be there to take the abuse and pain Makoto if you ever do get into trouble" Suzuka added.

"Four Rakshasa Demons come with me; we need to make sure the court isn't remotely suspicious about the decoy as such you have to perform your duties" Esdeath explained.

"Yes General" all four said then followed her out of the room.

"Tatsumi you stay with him until after the meeting then I'll have the four demons take up their positions" Esdeath explained as she left.

Tatsumi was now alone with Makoto, Fal, Air, and Luna. "So Tatsumi I want to know everything that's going on in my Empire, everything no secrets; I've been thru enough abuse to know that there is plenty of things wrong in it, also I want know your plan and what I can do to help" Makoto explained.

"Well your majesty that will be a long story" Tatsumi explained.

"We have all day, and please call me Makoto, always, to me you aren't just an advisor, you're my brother in all but blood" Makoto explained.

"Alright then, Makoto; I'll tell you everything, you'll want to sit down, and you'll have to pay attention: because this will be a long story" Tatsumi explained and began telling him the whole truth about everything.


	53. Chapter 39

Chapter 39: The Blonde Huntress

A new week dawned on Melitine with Tatsumi yawning from slumber in his palace bed; on either side two of his concubines slept and one slept on his chest; the three girls were Cassia, Lenny, and Sai; all three were from different provinces of the Empire, each had different skin tone, figures, hair color, and eye color, however they each shared a beauty that radiated from them; and importantly each shared Tatsumi. Tatsumi woke and kissed each of his concubines before redressing. Since Makoto's discovery of the rot in his Empire, and the fact that he found out in such a traumatic fashion, Tatsumi had been staying at the Palace with all the intrigue that entailed, but mainly making sure Makoto didn't do anything rash before Tatsumi was ready to act.

Speaking of being ready to act, his plan was nearly complete and in about a week he'd put it into play. The timing was crucial, but the key now was getting Kurome and Doya on side; fortunately doing so with the first was relatively easy consider Kurome's feelings for him, their relationship and her knowledge of the Empire's rot. Granted that required the cure for her addiction but Dorothea was about two days away from its completion. However, Kurome's condition had deteriorated, her mental state lapsing, and Dorothea had to restrain her as a result of fits of rage during one of which she struck Cosmina with a hard smack. Fortunately, she was stable most of the time, when she wasn't asleep due to sedatives administered by Dorothea for medical purposes.

Despite his other duties Tatsumi visited her every day; he loved Kurome and did so deeply; even more so knowing her tragic past. "I'm going to have to try my best for her; I can't let her down" Tatsumi thought. Then there was Doya: she was a wildcard because Tatsumi's knowledge about her was limited to what Kurome told him about her; that being she was Kurome's bodyguard and dearest friend, well that was living anyway, and in addition was that she was a deadly markswoman with her pistols and considered hunting her hobby. Apart from that he knew little about her; so, there was only one way to get to know her more; talk with her and get to know her better; perhaps go on a date as Kurome had been suggesting he do.

Tatsumi heard a knock on the door. "Who is it?" Tatsumi asked as his concubines finished grooming him.

"Me; Riji" Riji explained from behind the door.

"Come in Riji" Tatsumi invited and Riji came in; looking radiant as ever but far more so then when he first met her. Riji no longer wore the attire of a servant but the luxurious silks, velvets, and jewelry of the nobility; her face was covered in the finest of cosmetics, but she wasn't by any means a powdered lady; just well-groomed and beautiful. Her hair was still in the style she had it in when he first met her and she wore a luxurious silk and velvet gown which was purple, sky blue, and green in color with silver embroidery and gems woven into the fabric, it also presented ample cleavage with the corset; her jewelry was made of fine gold, silver, and copper with gems of varying types. "What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've got some information my love you'd be interested in but I have a price" Riji replied, she was his top spy and the head of his extensive spy network; this network was now larger then Honest's and unlike the Minister's stretched outside of Melitine to the surrounding provinces and even went into the Revolutionary Army's inner circle, it also consisted of a number of influential people both civilian and military and also was hidden in plain sight. Most of the servants in the palace were on his payroll as were number of courtesans and even the concubines, daughters, sons, and spouses of his major rivals were in on it. In fact he had expanded his plot; in addition to killing Honest and his top supporters with the Night Raid strike his other spies would kill other top rivals of his to make sure that there was no one to contest his coup; he also intended to sow chaos in the ranks of the Revolutionary Army to make it even more easy to finish them off. However, above all these spies Riji stood supreme and at the head of the whole network; she knew everything and every move and was devoted to him.

"Alright name it" Tatsumi replied, knowing what Riji meant by price; this was code for sex of Riji's preferred forms by themselves and for whatever time Riji specified, in addition Riji was in full control he had to do what she wanted; granted he wasn't against that by any means but the fact that she could be so 'controlling' really gave him worries; but considering the fact Riji was well closet pervert and closet nymph (Loyal to him of course) it was worthy investment of his time and stamina; besides he figured at some point he'd get her pregnant and she'd start giving him information for free.

"Dismiss your concubines and I'll give you the specifics; just so you know Tatsumi this is going to pricey because this information is very valuable; no sum of gold could pay for it." Riji explained and ordered, Tatsumi dismissed his three concubines; the three left and proceeded to go about their duties which was generally whatever they wanted to do: the only specifics was they weren't allowed to leave the Palace for their safety; the only time they could was with an order from him or Esdeath and that would only occur in the case of a situation where he'd have to evacuate the palace; such as Honest going for a full on coup of his own; or Tatsumi's own coup to prevent them from being in danger.

Tatsumi helped Riji with her dress; his attire was limited to his night shirt and a pair of boxers so he wasn't in a hurry to undress himself, but Riji's outfit was a bit more complex, with a number of different clasp and knots that needed undoing; especially with her corset, but in a matter of a minute and half he striped her down to skin and pair stockings which were wrapped at the top by a floppy wrap. He then carried her to the bed and kissed her as she relieved him of his clothing. "Boy are you hung this morning- wait you always are" Riji teased as she looked at his length. He then laid flat and she began blowing him; to which Riji did a great job at, as she could give him and had in the past given him amazing blowjobs.

"Riji your tongue- its- oh- so good" Tatsumi moaned and let out a loud moan; Riji turned herself around plant her loins over his face: Tatsumi then began stimulating her loins as well as she was doing his. Between the two of them it was only a matter of minutes before they both came and come, they did all over each other's faces.

Riji licked off her lips and her face. "Delectable" Riji commented then took his length into her loins faster than Tatsumi could react. "Ooh!" Riji moaned, Tatsumi silenced her moans with a kiss, a passionate kiss. His kisses set Riji's mind on fire and she intensified her own bouncing before wrapping her arms around him and flipping him over so that he was on top. "Fuck me like you would a palace whore" Riji begged and Tatsumi obliged giving her what she wanted; every part of her body knew pleasure as Tatsumi gave her his all; Riji produced her cutest moans and was completely submissive letting him do whatever he wanted to do to please her, and did so for a good hour and half.

"Ugh" Riji moaned. "My ass is so sore; don't be too rough in the future ok? Now for your information" Riji replied as Tatsumi climbed off of her.

"Enlighten me with it, I'm sure you found my payment quite satisfactory" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh indeed it was; now the info: word from your skylarks has come; the words being that Honest is so impressed by his new decoy puppet that he's planning a coup of his own; he'll be having a meeting with his top advisors next Tuesday, it will be quite the spectacle all of his top advisers in one place bar a couple" Riji explained.

"And the ones not at the meeting are?" Tatsumi asked wondering who'd be absent.

"General Teketh for military reasons as he's still 'pacifying' the west but trust me he's in for a shock, and General Degath for similar reasons; but other than that, all his inner circle and all his top allies will all be in one place" Riji replied.

"Are you sure the intelligence is trustworthy, and this isn't a trap; Honest is aware of my connections to Night Raid" Tatsumi replied.

"The intelligence is trustworthy and comes from three of Honest's chief mistresses, in addition to number of palace servants in earshot; including yours's truly: I'm impressed by the amount of things he's willing to talk about in front of people he thinks aren't a threat" Riji replied.

"A mistake that is easy to exploit; where will the meeting be held?" Tatsumi asked.

"In the Calverna Morbida Ballroom; eighth floor; it has a grand balcony and impressive stain glass window overlooking Melitine; I hope that your team doesn't completely trash the place it is one of my favorite rooms" Riji replied.

"Don't worry Riji; they won't trash it too much; though it will be a pain to get the bloodstains out" Tatsumi replied "Thanks for the information I've got to speak to Emperor I've got a- personal request that I need to make of him" Tatsumi replied.

"How personal" Riji asked intrigued and with her intrigue smile-smirk on.

"Most important thing I could ask of him" Tatsumi replied.

"I see well I shan't trouble you with the details; I trust its important enough for you my husband" Riji replied and kissed him on the cheek, his length popped back up. "You are one restless stud; now do me a favor and find one of the Palace courtesans or one of your concubines to relieve that problem; I'm still sore from that session we just had" Riji replied.

"Don't worry I'll find a way to work it out" Tatsumi replied.

"Good, by the way who do you have in mind for a team to crash that meeting and how do you intend to go about it?" Riji asked.

"The best are going to be sent; sans myself, and as to how I'll get them in and out; well I'll improvise but I've got a little ace in my sleeve that not even Honest could've planned for" Tatsumi replied then got up, changed into semi-formal attire and left Riji smiling on his bed whom he noticed curled under the blankets to take a nap.

Shortly… "Makoto" Tatsumi asked coming into the Emperor's room.

"Yes Tatsumi-nii" Makoto replied, his voice was less cheerful then normal a side effect of his 'mistreatment' at the hands of Audette sisters; granted he still managed to in the court keep up a happy face; but the scars were fresh in his mind and memory.

"I have a request I'd like to make" Tatsumi explained.

"Whatever you desire I'll grant it; after all you well avenged the wrongs done to me; speaking off how are those two doing" Makoto replied.

"Them well they've taken to their new lives and roles rather well; I really hate having to do this to them; regardless of how evil they were, but death just would have been too merciful for them considering what they did to you and not just you goodness knows how many other children were submitted to their twisted minds. But they are doing fine now; Claudia is more kind and caring and destroyed everything she used to torment people and sold off a good portion of her blood money bought goods and donated the money to establish children's hospitals and orphanages, while her sister Michelle is now a bubbly kind caring beauty, also well sex with them is pleasant now; but anyway I'm rambling I wanted to ask if I could have something specific from the vaults" Tatsumi explained.

"And what is it you desire I'm sure it isn't money though" Makoto replied, Tatsumi laughed knowing full well his finances were so secure that he'd still be rich even if he lived 10,000 years.

"Nope, not by a long shot; what I want Makoto is a Teigu; specifically, Kronos: The Mirror of Time" Tatsumi explained.

"I can grant that; though you already have two Teigus what do you need a third for?" Makoto asked.

"Answers; I want to know who my family was and who I really am; I- never knew my parents Makoto and you knew that, but I've been trying for the past couple months now to find out" Tatsumi explained.

"Why is this important to you" Makoto asked.

"Because about a couple months ago a spirit started appearing; a specter green as grass and clad in the armor of great warrior, he saved my life, repeatedly from enemies that would have killed me; not just that he helped on a few missions; but he can't speak; but he can nod and well he's my father; I don't know his name but I know who is but I want to know the truth; what happened to him? And my mother too, I've had nightmares with regards to her; memories I think from when I was a child; I- want to know" Tatsumi replied, Makoto nodded solemnly.

"Go right ahead; take this: it's a seal of my approval that will let you enter the Teigu vaults: only those with it can enter them" Makoto replied and handed him a jade seal with the royal crest adorned on it but with the crowned dragon clutching a sword and scroll in either claw. Tatsumi knelt and then took the offered seal and left heading for the vaults.

Momentarily… The guards stationed at the massive door that guarded the Teigu vault were clad in the finest equipment in the Empire's arsenal and stood at attention as Tatsumi approached. "Who goes there?" The Captain of the five guards asked.

"Major-General Tatsumi, the Emperor's Minister for Justice and Fun" Tatsumi explained.

"Greetings Minister; this is the Teigu Vault, only those with the Emperor's seal can enter" The captain replied.

"Emperor Makoto has given me his seal of approval" Tatsumi replied and showed them the Jade Seal.

"Excellent you may enter; not just that you can enter" The Captain explained.

"Can enter?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"The seal serves as a key to the Vault; the door won't open without it" the Captain explained.

"Thanks" Tatsumi replied and walked up to the door, he noted an imprint meant for the seal; he put it in and pressed the imprint inwards; he heard the clanking and clattering of gears and tumblers as the vault door opened inward to his surprise. Tatsumi then entered the Vault which was well rather spacious however it used less than 10% of the available room. Racks, display cases and small columns with pillows atop them bore a myriad of different objects each had names on engraved plaques, however there were a number of empty ones; a large number of them; mostly due to Teigus the were once there having been lost over the centuries for one reason or another.

Searching for the Teigu in question was surprisingly simple; the Mirror of time was easy to find; it was a large circular mirror about the size of a small dictionary; the glass in the frame was a deep jade green with a silver frame holding it in place; also notable was that the glass was somewhat outwards in a dome shape; as Tatsumi got closer to hit he noticed that the mirror was engraved with runes, Dwarven in origin, also the Mirror seemed older by comparison to some of the other Teigus in the vault as if it was made long before the others. Tatsumi looked at the plaque. "Kronos: Mirror of Time, the gift to see the treasured past and lens of truth. Beware mortals for the gift of seeing past is not a light burden, for to look too far in the past is to risk losing the present and yourself; somethings are best left forgotten, somethings are not meant to be known" Tatsumi read, he then touched the Mirror.

Almost immediately the sensation of pain wracked Tatsumi's body; his hands beyond his control grabbed the Mirror as reality fell aside much like picture in inter-dimensional slideshow. Tatsumi found himself in strange plain were the sky was green and glyphs of energy ran across strange structures of a kind alien to him, large hourglasses towered as black sand flowed into them upwards, clocks hung from large towers going backwards, and at the center of it all was strange figure. The figure was humanoid in appearance but had deep black and green skin with glyphs carved across his face, his eyes were blue completely blue without iris or pupil to be seen and he had jade hair, his stature though was that of a child; about the age of Mishi. "Greetings; it's been a long time since I had visitors" the child said in voice that was mixture of many voices as if it was once many different people.

"Hi; who are you?" Tatsumi asked.

"I am Kronos, welcome to my realm such as it is, I haven't seen a human for nearly 500 years and Dwarf in three times as long: I am one of the elder Teigus, Dwarven arms and don't let my young size and appearance deceive you am about 4,000 years old" Kronos explained, Tatsumi wasn't surprised by this revelation. "And you must be my new master; I hope you don't end up like my last master; he went mad when he looked too far back" Kronos explained.

"So, you are my third Teigu?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep; and must I say you a powerful human being to have three Teigus; though those you had before are Imperial Arms not Dwarven arms like myself" Kronos explained.

"What's the difference?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well Imperial Arms and I hope your friends Smaug and Valruost forgive me are- inferior to Dwarven arms; due to the fact that try as your race might they can never make these arms as well as those who taught them how to; speaking of your race lost that information, don't ask me how to restore it because that's not for your kind to know" Kronos replied.

"That's not what I wanted know I've- got something else I want to know" Tatsumi asked.

"I can tell I sense your thoughts and you want to find out who you really are; I can give that knowledge to you- but you'll have to earn it: you must first learn how to use my powers and look at the recent past; looking too far into the past without proper training can break a person's mind; much like it did my previous master; he was an Emperor; a relative of yours on your father's side, he tried to learn the knowledge of the making of the Teigus I refused to give him that information as it- is not in my directive; he tried to force the information out of me and I gave him it, the knowledge broke his mind and he died a few days later after he decided he could fly and jumped from a eight story balcony" Kronos explained.

"I'm willing to learn, how long would it take?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well considering you'd be looking seventeen years back in the past it shouldn't take you more than a few days to get the knowledge you need; looking back further would take longer, a 1000 years in the past equates to a year of training" Kronos explained.

"So, what should I start with?" Tatsumi asked.

"About three years ago; try that see what you can find; also beware; looking at the past sends you back you are there as a silent observer; you cannot effect events to those in the past you aren't there and you will pass thru them like a ghost" Kronos explained.

"Alright I'd- I'm going to hate myself for this, but I want to know how Honest took control and what happened to Makoto's parents; he's gotten me to where I am at the present and he has a right to know what happened to them" Tatsumi replied.

"Beware Tatsumi, that knowledge is dangerous especially to you however I will allow you to see it" Kronos replied. "Iquan Deah Hamak" Kronos chanted, and his eyes turned white and he held Tatsumi's hand; reality shifted once more and Tatsumi found himself in the royal chambers; a young couple about in their late twenties were talking to each other.

"Meko I'm so glad that we will have another child soon; Makoto will be happy too" The man commented he wore the garb of an emperor and had the jade hair Makoto had; his eyes being a different shade though from his son's, the woman was beautiful and to Tatsumi's amazement looked like Sayo, a lot in fact the only difference were her eyes were the same shade as Makoto's.

"Oh, Yoritomo we have so many wonderful children I'm so glad about the state of things now is the plan set?" Meko replied asking him.

"Yes, it is in place; soon Honest will be dead and the Empire will have a different Minister of the Treasury; he's wasted so much money over the years I worry what the Empire would be like if he were in charge" Yoritomo replied.

"He'd run it into the ground, also you know the level of his involvement in the government; you've sacked so many people for corruption that we are seeing all the money flowing into the Imperial treasury ending up in it" Meko replied, both laughed at that. Then the door was smashed down and in walked a group of black armored soldiers of the kind Tatsumi recognized from his only battle with Honest, the Emperor drew a sword from his sheath but was quickly disarmed; violently and completely at that as both his hands were cut off. Honest then walked into the room clad in the same armor he wore during his fight with Tatsumi.

"You know I don't like it when people try to kill me; as a father you must worry about your children being left parentless orphans" Honest remarked.

"Don't speak of caring for children, you eat children for your own sick twisted enjoyment" Yoritomo commented.

"Oh that I do, but I care for my family dearly, I may sleep with some of my daughters but it's all perfect consensual, but why am I wasting time talking with you: you've gone and tried to remove me which means you have to meet with an unfortunate end and I'll have to install a more 'loyal' puppet" Honest replied his grin displaying his teeth.

"You killed my brother, didn't you?" Yoritomo replied.

"Oh, I see, that is what you want to know, well I'll consider it your last request I do always give people that right" Honest replied. "Yes, I killed your brother, or rather my devoted fellow cultists of Lord Valtor did; and his wife and his child; they did their job well and then I killed them so as to tidy up loose ends" Honest replied. "Now how to make this look like it was a convincing assassination? Oh, I know" Honest replied and pulled out a straight sword. "It's only fitting that the blade that killed your brother be your end however I'm going to have you watch" Honest replied.

"Watch what?" Yoritomo asked.

"Well I'm surprised you used your last request to know your brother's fate you should have used it on your wife, at least then she would have died a quick death but now her fate well you'll just have to watch: because before I kill you Yoritomo I'll break you, and break her; as for you children they'll live I've need of a proper puppet and your son will do at least until he becomes uncontrollable and then I'll take those daughters of yours, those scrumptious morsels" Honest replied and licked his lips.

"NO WAIT!" Yoritomo yelled as Meko tried to run away running for the balcony hoping to fling herself to her death but to no avail, Honest moved with speed that was beyond a man of his age then snatched Meko by her long hair and dragged her to the bed.

"First she will be broken for me: men she's you knew toy; enjoy" Honest replied and his soldiers removed their armor and garb after shackling Yoritomo to a chair. Tatsumi tried to close his eyes but found he couldn't and was forced to watch he tried running towards the soldiers as they tore the Empress's dress to shreds, but he found he only passed thru them and couldn't hurt them

"I told you can't do anything, the past is set in stone Tatsumi, also you can't leave not until the memory plays out: I'd love to let you out of it but unfortunately I cannot, my- design forbids it" Kronos replied, Tatsumi was forced to watch the debauchery as the soldiers did all sorts of horrible things to a young empress who was about the same age as Sayo; it hurt him to see it. But what the soldiers did to her was nothing compared to what Honest did to her; he raped her, but did so passionately and with true demonic passion, after he was done he began gnawing off parts of her body slowly eating her alive; she screamed many times but Honest paid her screams no heed Tatsumi tried to look away but couldn't he wanted to claw out his eyes but couldn't do that either; and when Honest was done naught but a severed head with a scream locked in place remained of the Empress her eyes paralyzed in terror looking at her killer, who gnawed bones even going so far as to brake and eat the marrow from them; all of it raw, before turning to the Emperor whom he stripped and violated before taking the same sword Honest had before and drove it into his stomach.

"For the Empire" Honest replied and smiled showing off his bloody teeth his eyes rotten as urine and his skin that of a monster. Yoritomo fell back his face resigned to his fate as Honest drove the sword that killed his brother into his heart. "Join your brother and his bitch of a wife and your nephew, and this slut of a wife in wherever their souls ended up; give another decade and your son may join you" Honest remarked laughed maniacally he then proceeded to dress before drawing his proper sword and slaughtering his soldiers down to five men. "Dress these men in Imperial Guard armor; tidy things up to make it look like a failed Palace coup; I've got important business to attend to as the new Regent and Prime Minister" Honest ordered and the soldiers went and began tidying up.

Tatsumi noted reality fade and return to the strange space where he had first met Kronos; Tatsumi's face was grim, dour and lacked joy. "You see now that knowledge of the past is a terrible thing Tatsumi; you are strong, but you need about a week's training to be ready" Kronos explained.

"Thank you; I- wish I hadn't seen that" Tatsumi asked.

"As do I, but that is my purpose if I'd have given into despair I'd have gone mad long ago but the past is what it is Tatsumi, you can't change it; many have tried and failed, it is like trying to move a mountain" Kronos replied.

"I'll be stronger next time; next time I'll be stronger, when will my training begin?" Tatsumi asked.

"You've already started it, the training is that of the mind you must stay focused and remember that this is beyond your control you are just visiting looking into a mirror; now return to your body I can tell someone is in need of you that you've almost forgotten about with your delays" Kronos replied.

"Right Kurome- I've got to see her" Tatsumi replied and reality returned to normal Tatsumi picked up the Mirror of Time which transformed to a small hand mirror.

"Remember if you wish to enter me once more the words 'Ikani Ekvai Yowouse' will allow you enter my plane of existence" Kronos explained, Tatsumi nodded storing the words away for future use before leaving the Palace. Granted he was about to leave the palace when he was stopped once again; this time by Nea of all people.

"There he is" A young woman named Carla remarked, Carla was one of Tatsumi's concubines and Nea's valet, she had long violet hair in two twin-tails on either side of her head, pink eyes, and a bust equal to that of Leone's, she wore the crisp dress of a Valet along with the hat of one.

"Tatsumi-kun" Nea greeted, Tatsumi stopped.

"What is it Nea?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'd- like to spend some time with you alright; I'm sure you're busy with something but well I need you- need your touch, your love, your everything" Nea explained, Tatsumi could only smile, knowing that it was true, he hadn't been spending time with her lately and she deserved his love and attention.

"I've got the day off so why not?" Tatsumi thought to himself.

Meanwhile… Makoto moved his rook to check Esdeath's king. "Check Esdeath-Nii" Makoto replied, his face was still glum.

"I know that look, I know you aren't doing well; you want to improve conditions in your city I can tell" Esdeath replied.

"How many kids like me are sold to evil people every day in my city? One is too many; not just that there are gangs out on the streets, drug dealers selling bad stuff, murderers, rapists, pedophiles like those ladies who took me, all sorts of criminals and on top of it all the City Guard doesn't seem to care" Makoto replied, Esdeath moved her Bishop to block his rook.

"I'm well aware of it which is why I've decided today I'm going to deal with one of those problems: the street gangs" Esdeath replied. "The street gangs are the biggest threat because they provide the labor and muscle for all the other crimes; clean the streets of them and the rest become easier to control and destroy; to that end I've prepared a military crackdown: I'll be using Royal Guard troops and my own elite soldiers to kill as many of the gangs as possible; wipe them out, any that survive will be easy to finish off as to the city guard I've got purges planned for after the coup; there are a lot of other projects I've got in mind too that you can help with, however that will require Honest to not be in the picture" Esdeath explained, Makoto took her rook putting Esdeath back in check, Esdeath then moved her king behind a row of her three remaining pawns; Makoto delivered the coup-de-grace by moving his rook to the top row.

"Checkmate I win again Esdeath-nii" Makoto replied.

"Good game; you are quite good at this" Esdeath replied.

"I learned from the best" Makoto replied, Esdeath grinned as she had indeed taught him everything, she knew about that particular boardgame. "Esdeath-nii-san could you sleep in my room tonight; with me I need someone to cuddle against; like you did when I was little and afraid of the monster under my bed, which turned out to be just a plushie that had rolled under it" Makoto asked.

"Of course, Makoto; feel free to use me as a nice warm pillow; I'll keep you safe at night from the nightmares" Esdeath agreed, this wasn't new to him whenever he had nightmares he'd get up and crawl into her bed at night ever since his parents died. "I know how bad the trauma is; while I've never experienced what happened to you Makoto I know what it's like to lose your innocence; to have all that you thought was good in your world nearly wiped out; I lost my family to the Northern Savages but I never gave up; Makoto you need to use this experience to make yourself stronger, to try and change what's wrong; you want to stop slavery in the Empire: outlaw it, then order a strong crackdown on slavers; don't ever show leniency to them or they'll take it as weakness: not just them all those who harm or abuse children. Don't drown yourself in sorrow, that would be weak, and you are not weak Makoto Gildenstrom; you are strong, and you need to be stronger" Esdeath explained.

"I'm not sure I'm cut out to be Emperor" Makoto replied taking his crown off. "Tatsumi would make a better Emperor then me, or you Esdeath-nii, I was blind to all of Honest's abuses and the evil things he did and I don't think the Empire will know peace while I'm Emperor; I just wish me and my sisters weren't the last of our royal family" Makoto elaborated.

"I know Tatsumi has his qualities for leadership but the people of the Empire wouldn't accept someone not of the royal family as a ruler; it- just wouldn't work; even when the Oarburghs ruled the Empire they still had the blood of the First Emperor and to an extent do; would you rather Merraid Oarburgh be the ruler of the Empire?" Esdeath replied, Makoto giggled at the idea of Merraid in his crown, he had met her on occasion as she had been aiding Esdeath alongside Sayo.

"No Merra-nii would be a silly empress; I just- I don't know Tatsumi feels more like the other brother I never had; the Emperor that should have been I feel I've not done enough" Makoto replied.

"You are young and have many years ahead of you; besides the people will be grateful when you rid them of Honest's tyranny and restore things to the way they were before your father died" Esdeath explained, Makoto smiled.

Meanwhile in Tatsumi's quarters… "Ohh ugh, Tatsumi-kun" Nea moaned, Tatsumi's tongue was pleasing her in ways that nothing else could; she loved it; hated she couldn't see him; she'd love to, not just that to see so she could fight at his side. She wasn't the only one paying him attention Carla was busy giving him head her tongue sending his length on a joyride before her mouth sucked it with gusto, all the while being snug in between her ample e-cups which warmed him with joy; causing him to be even more active with Nea to more pleasure for Nea. "Tatsumi-kun I'm cumming!" Nea yelled and came; Tatsumi licked off the juices; then came himself spraying Carla with a nice bukkake.

"Come on I'll show you want I can do with my tongue Carla and Nea my dick is all yours" Tatsumi replied, Nea and Carla swapped places and Tatsumi entered her.

"Oh Tatsumi" Nea moaned then smile a rather goofy grin with her tongue sticking out slight from in between her teeth as began to ride him; she couldn't see Carla but felt her lips all the same and felt her warm embrace as she hugged her.

"You know Nea you have such the cutest grin when Tatsumi goes balls deep" Carla teased.

"Well you have a cute birthmark right here" Nea replied and groped her rear. Carla laughed at that knowing full well Nea was teasing her and couldn't see if she actually had a birthmark which Nea was right about, but it wasn't exactly where Nea had put her hand but up a bit higher.

"Oh Tatsumi- my- loving master give your worthy servant your love" Carla replied then smirked. "You know Nea between you and me I really am surprised that Honest isn't aware that over half of the palace girls have been in Tatsumi's bed at some point; you'd think it would be obvious that whenever he enters a room and the girls see him they blush and cheer" Carla replied.

"I'm sure Honest is aware that a good portion of the girls here are Tatsumi's spies and- partners. But I don't think he knows the vast scale of the organization" Nea replied. "I'm just glad that Tatsumi doesn't think less of me for not being able to see him I just wish there was some way to; I've got everyone's word for how handsome he is and I have faith that he is but I'd really love to see him for my own eyes just to know I married a looker" Nea replied, Carla giggled; Tatsumi thought about what Nea had said and stopped pleasuring Carla where she noticed it.

"Getting ready to cut down there?" Carla asked.

"Yeah but that's not just it" Tatsumi explained and Carla eased off of him.

"Give me your child Tatsumi" Nea requested; Tatsumi pinned her in the missionary position and kissed her as he came.

"Nea" Tatsumi said, Nea kissed him again, he pushed her back.

"Do you need breathing room?" Nea asked.

"Well not that; I just was thinking about what you said and there actually is a way to get your sight back, but I'd have to talk it over with someone" Tatsumi explained.

"Are you serious?" Nea asked confused.

"Yes; with that in mind I better take you with me" Tatsumi explained.

"Hey, don't forget about me Tatsumi-senpai" Carla teased.

"Of course not; you're Nea's valet and bodyguard I'd not leave the palace with her and not bring you" Tatsumi replied.

"No not that, I want your cock in my ass" Carla teased then prepared herself for it; Tatsumi shrugged and obliged; Nea crawled over and continued kissing him as he rode Carla.

They concluded the session about 30 minutes later, dressed in relatively mobile clothing which despite it being rather fancy was not cumbersome; they then headed to Dorothea's laboratory where Tatsumi entered to find Kurome in a weakened state, shackled down and with a pained smile while Cosmina monitored her vitals and Doya leaned at her bedside holding her hand, Cosmina pointed them towards Dorothea.

Dorothea was finalizing the cure and running a last barrage of tests in a secure area further into the lab. "Dorothea" Tatsumi greeted, the blonde turned around and looked at him after putting up a pair of protective goggles.

"You're here, good; I'm nearly done, about an hour later from now I'll have finished the cure and it will be time for the last tests before I give it to Kurome: her state is getting worse she can hardly move at this stage and I've stopped with sedatives, her state is critical and if I don't administer her this cure by the day's end she'll die" Dorothea explained.

"I see, well finish that up; I don't think you'll have time to administer final tests" Tatsumi replied.

"No worries, they are just minor things that will take about 20 minutes; in the meantime Tatsumi I've got something that needs done: I want you to take Doya, she's been constantly tense and she likes hunting Danger Beasts, I need a few Danger beast parts for my other projects after this one so I'd like you two to go ahead and collect the things I need" Dorothea explained.

"Alright, hey this is my wife Nea and- she's blind and I want to give her some Renewal to restore her sight" Tatsumi explained.

"Out of the question; I've exhausted my supply making the cure for Kurome; I'll need a few months to make more; but when I've made more, she'll be the first to receive some" Dorothea replied, then returned to her work. "Shoo, I need to focus, also Kurome needs you to tend to her, not her needs but to comfort her" Dorothea explained, Tatsumi left the room, Nea grinned.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience Nea" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry; Kurome needs it more than me; I'll just have to put up with being blind for a while more: I'm just- amazed that I'll be able to get my sight back" Nea explained.

"Alright, well Nea head back to the Palace; I've got work to do" Tatsumi explained.

"You do know that if I wasn't blind I'd insist on coming with you but I'm blind and I would be more likely to hurt you then any opponents" Nea replied, she then left Tatsumi followed her to the entrance and from there she and Carla left, Tatsumi then turned to Kurome who was in a vegetative state still conscious but weak.

"Kurome" Tatsumi greeted.

"Tatsumi- I'm- glad you're here; I'm- afraid; afraid things might not work out and if they do I- want you to take care of Doya and tell my sister I'm sorry" Kurome replied weakly, Tatsumi kissed her she kissed back weakly and fell back under; her eyes shut but still breathing.

"Doya: Dorothea said she wants us to go danger beast hunting; she made a list of the ones we have to kill and the parts of them we have to bring back" Tatsumi explained.

"Alright I'm always up for hunting beasts always up for it: so Tatsumi I'd like- to get to know you more then we have already while we're hunting if that's alright with you" Doya replied, then picked up her hat and put it one, she had taken it off out of respect for Kurome.

Shortly after leaving the lab and making sure to be out of earshot of any unfriendly people Tatsumi cleared his throat indicating he wanted to take to Doya.

"What is it Tatsumi?" Doya asked.

"Doya I'm going to level with you; in a week there will be a changing of regimes; I've made all the preparations and with Esdeath's and the Emperor's help we'll be driving Honest out of power" Tatsumi explained.

"That's- ballsy and well shocking; now how do you intend to go about doing that" Doya asked.

"It's complicated; first off though what do you think of the state of things in the Empire as a whole and Melitine in particular" Tatsumi responded.

"Well the Empire is a shadow of its former-self it's been that way for a long time but its seems to have gotten worse in the past three years; when I was younger the Empire was still a harsh place to live in but it was largely peaceful with the worst you had to worry about were Danger Beasts and the odd bandit raid" Doya replied.

"Honest is responsible for most of the problems plaguing the Empire; and I'm going to level with you, the Emperor only found out about this a couple days ago; what I'm telling you is secret but it's a case of how bad the corruption has gotten" Tatsumi explained.

"How bad is has it gotten" Doya explained then immediately regretted it when Tatsumi told her the full story of what happened to Makoto recently and what the Audette twins did to him; Doya's face contorted with both sadness and rage at how bad things had gotten; for the Emperor himself to be kidnapped and reduced to a bed slave to a pair of pedophiles was too much for her to bare. "Stop. I- see it has gotten horribly bad so Tatsumi who do want to take over after Honest is dead?" Doya remarked.

"The rightful leader of the Empire; I don't want either Honest to retain power or the Revolutionary Army to take power; either one of them would result in the deaths of countless innocent people; I've met the leaders of both sides and decided that for the good of the Empire and the innocent people of it that a third path be taken; I've created my own faction with the help of people: those who want the Empire to be better and to protect those who'd be harmed by the ambitions of Honest and Falkland, they come from both the Empire and the Revolutionary Army and all share the same goal, to restore power to the Empire's rightful leader and destroy those who seek to kill innocents" Tatsumi explained; Doya nodded.

"Well who's in on this?" Doya asked.

"Everyone in the Jaegers but you Doya; even Kurome is in on this, but she needs to be cured of the illness that plagues her first; not just them though Night Raid is in on this, as are a number of the Empire's more loyal generals, the Rakshasa Demons, the Grundels, the Chouris and a lot of noble families, merchant families, and lower class people; basically anyone who's suffered under Honest's rule and is loyal to the Empire's rightful ruler is fair game for admittance into my faction" Tatsumi explained.

"I see; well I tend to stay out of political games; not my interest; nor my family's, hell I completely take Kurome's views on the state of things, but she likes you and well I like you so you can depend on my loyalty" Doya explained. "So Tatsumi tell me more about yourself, you ever been on Danger Beast hunts? Serious ones I'm not talking about the small game, or just killing the big uglies if they come your way; I'm talking actually going out of your way to hunt and kill the biggest and orneriest monsters under the suns" Doya asked, Tatsumi smirked.

"Yes; I have, long before I came to the Capital actually, but recently I do it for combat training; my idea of training is to find most dangerous things I can fight and beat the living tar out of them; granted I never hunt alone and never have" Tatsumi replied.

"Do you have a dedicated hunting partner?" Doya asked coyly with a smile.

"I've had my share of partners, didn't have a dedicated one until about a month and half ago, when a 'close' friend of mine and I started to hunt Danger Beasts for training and fun" Tatsumi explained.

"And who is this mysterious partner" Doya asked intrigued.

"Let's just say you'll meet my partner soon I'll be having my partner tag along; until then thought I'll keep who my partner is a surprise, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, it's best to show you and prove it" Tatsumi replied.

"So, have you ever hunted people, bounty hunting work I mean?" Doya asked as they made their way into the central square.

"I considered doing so when I got here; about a day after; I saw some wanted posters for well local troublemakers; namely the masked assassin. Aria talked me out of it; told me it was way out of my league who I'd set my sights on and that the job she had in store for me would pay way more" Tatsumi replied.

"So, was she right?" Doya asked, holding his hand ever so softly, Tatsumi blushed.

"Considering the fact she later married me, I've made a massive fortune, have a harem, and hold most of the power in the Imperial Court, yep she was right; also I didn't know at the time but Aria was quite familiar with The Masked Assassin" Tatsumi replied and stopped by a wanted poster of said killer. "Notice how important it is for people who work for Night Raid to remain anonymous; and even more so those who lead, fund and support it along with providing the information they need to get the job done" Tatsumi replied.

"So how familiar is Aria with the Masked Assassin?" Doya asked but had guessed already.

"They are one and the same; everyone has their secrets Doya, you have yours, I have mine, and Aria has more skeletons in her closet then most people in the city granted though they were all of bad people" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm not sure I buy that, Aria is such a sweet woman, she's always perky smiling, she'd never be capable of such- well a grin like that assassin" Doya replied.

"You haven't seen Aria angry, it's a clear match; besides I am telling the truth: I'm Night Raid too" Tatsumi replied, Doya smirked.

"Well then, what's stopping me from turning in that bounty" Doya teased.

"Your sense of indifference towards politics, the fact that we're friends, the fact that you're Kurome's friend and she knows, the fact that you like me, and the fact you've been flirting with me the whole time" Tatsumi replied.

"Bingo Tatsumi, now you know a girl like me has her secrets; you've told me a good deal about you; I'll tell ya a good deal about me" Doya replied. "My full name and title is Lady Doya Calypso Wulfhart; my parents are nobles who earned their titles through merit unlike a good chunk of the nobles in the Empire; their names are Markus and Kalara, and the both come from a remote village on the northern border that no longer exists; they were the only survivors and well that led them to the chosen profession, monster hunting; killing any and all Danger Beasts that they could find; if there was a monster terrorizing some village my parents would be there. Overtime they fell in love and they received grander and greater rewards; eventually my parents earned noble privilege when the saved the late former Prince of Gallia from a massive Collosodan that he had been hunting. My parents accepted, they had me; and I took after them; I learned to use every weapon they did and a few of my own, my parents don't agree with my use of guns, my father thinks they are the lazy man's approach to hunting and that using the bow which takes you years to master is a true hunter's art which I can get behind he didn't have that luxury when he was my age, my mother on the other hand dislikes guns because she thinks them ugly weapons meaning she doesn't like how the look" Doya explained. "Well after I was old enough to leave I left home and went on my share of hunts; hunting both Danger Beasts and famed outlaws; about a year ago I met Kurome when she saved me from a group of bandits who had caught me and my employer by surprise on the road: I was the only survivor of that caravan and they were in the process of striping me when Kurome showed up and killed every single one of those leeches: completely massacred them; so yeah I was in her debt so I followed her and her entourage around; it doesn't really pay much but as long as I get to kill monsters I'm up for it, that Ape man of her's it's one of my kills; I don't care if she's got her zombie possy following her around as long as they can kill I don't care if there undead" Doya concluded.

"So, what happened to your parents' home" Tatsumi asked.

"It was stomped into the ground by a Cyclops; nothing as big as that behemoth of a monster that you and your team killed, about thirty feet tall; but dumber" Doya replied. "As for my parents they are still alive; no idea what they're doing now a days; once I turned sixteen, I upped and left; ain't no one going to tell me how to act" Doya added.

"Did you and your parents have issues?" Tatsumi asked, Doya chuckled.

"Only my fixation on firearms and the fact that my mother was hoping I'd be more lady like, but she gave up on that after I turned three and killed a rat with a kitchen knife. No the truth of the matter Tatsumi is my parents have an impressive legacy I have to live up to and as such I've gone off in search of the biggest monster; a monster that nobody could dispute was the toughest monster on the face of Eden still living and take it down" Doya explained.

"Well at least you knew your parents I never did, and well- I'm trying my dandiest to find out who they were" Tatsumi replied.

"Well I'd focus more on what you're doing today then what you've done or what's to come; spend time sulking about that stuff and you'll find yourself overstressed and unable to act: Tatsumi there are three things you can do in any situation ya find yourself in: the best is the right thing, the second best is the wrong thing but the worst thing you can do is nothing at all" Doya replied.

"Sound advice; but I've actually got the means to find out who my parents are thanks to the Emperor" Tatsumi replied and flashed the Mirror of Time to her. "This is my new Teigu, it allows me to see the past, in a week most likely right after the coup I'll be able to find out what happened to and who my parents were and I'll know for sure: I personally hope that when I do find out that it- well strengthens my resolve" Tatsumi replied.

"Well then let's keep going; I'm resolved to hunt Danger Beasts" Doya replied and the two went to leave the city.

Meanwhile… "You did well yesterday Kobe" Honest remarked patting the boy on the head.

"Thank you master" Kobe replied.

"I'm amazed it took me this long to find a perfect facsimile of my puppet; only thing left is to make him disappear and have you replace him completely: and well the Empire will be mine" Honest remarked, then cackled. A portal suddenly opened and out walked Valtor; in his human form; that of a light skinned man with long shoulder length brown hair clad in rather intricate outfit, at his side were two demons; both large in stature but both were geared in the equipment of personal bodyguards.

"Well that's quite an interesting development my servant" Valtor remarked.

"Lord Valtor" Honest replied and knelt.

"Rise Honest, you are my equal now: I've finalized your contract with the Emperor himself; you are now an Arch-demon or are in the process of becoming one, but remember though you may be my equal you are still sworn by your soul to me and House Abaddon: consider yourself favored as few mortals have ever gotten this far and you have risen to the highest rank in our society; as such I will be for the duration of your time on Eden and until you've formally ascended assigning two of my most trusted enforcers to your protection" Valtor explained and pointed towards the first of the two, a tall bestial demon with sharp horns and long mane of fiery red hair and was a massive mass of muscle and monster with long dragon like tail, wearing only a demonic brigandine and a black loin cloth and carrying a massive battle axe about as tall as Honest himself. "This is Graal, don't mind him he's a rather simple fellow, all you have to do is point him at something and he'll destroy whatever you want him to" Valtor replied.

"Graal want to smash stuff!" Graal shouted.

"Not yet my servant but you will be doing much smashing soon enough" Valtor explained.

"A rather simple addition, how do I keep him in line" Honest asked.

"You won't have to that's my job" the other Demon Warrior stated. This demon was shorter and less bulky then the bestial Graal, he had rather relaxed and imposing figure; he wore a set of demonic plate with a fiery red lash at his left side and a long broad sword on the other; unlike Graal he had wings and short tail, he wore over his horns a metal helmet with guards on it: he also had what appeared to be a set of dog bones on his hip above the whip. "The name is Lorhish, I'm the personal trainer of all the warbeasts of Lord Valtor's armies, also his kennel master and master of the Hellhounds and Cerberi, and Graal's keeper; demons like him require devils to keep them in line so they don't just go destroying everything; no point in conquering a world if you've killed everyone there" Lorhish replied.

"Graal hate Lorhish" Graal remarked.

"Shut up Graal, you too Lorhish, you work for Honest for the time being and you take his orders; also do not address him by that name address him by his new title: Arch-Demon Volgoth Ugor Lord of the Black Keep, the Valley of Torments and Arch-Legion commander of the 6th circle of Abaddon" Valtor rebuked. "Oh, I forgot to mention you have estates in Hell now, courtesy of myself you've proven yourself a loyal servant and an effective one so you've been rewarded accordingly; also you now have 50 Legions under your beck and call with more to come" Valtor added; handing Honest a whip.

"Any prices attached?" Honest asked.

"Nope; at this point as a vassal of my house you will receive all that is do to you; be that troops, commanders, influence, succubi call girls, whatever you want you can have it; just as long as you stay in my favor; and right now you are in it" Valtor explained. "Now how is your resident foil Tatsumi doing? I find anything he does amusing simply because he's humiliating you with ease" Valtor replied.

"Nothing major since we last spoke, he's been awful quiet of late, the closest I've gotten to interacting with him has been by proxy by Leone: he's up to something" Honest remarked.

"Good, I'm aware of what he's up to but I'll keep that a secret I want you to be surprised and me to have something to laugh at" Valtor replied.

"What's with the human look?" Honest asked.

"Oh this, well tis but my favored look in my main stomping grounds; now if you have need of me just ask, I'll be busy fighting my chief enemy: Darkar" Valtor replied.

"Darkar?" Honest asked.

"They are my family's rival; they've been rivals for a long time; before I was even born; and our feud is eternal; even when we became demons" Valtor replied.

"Became Demons?" Honest asked.

"You seriously think you're the first person to become an Arch-Demon? There have been many before you and will be many more after you; some were of the Lesser Races like you, but others were of the Elder races like my family; my fire has always burned hot and my family's fires burn the hottest" Valtor replied before vanishing.

"Well you two I've got jobs for you; I want you to pay a visit to a 'friend' of mine and test your strength: find Tatsumi and kill him" Honest ordered, both demons grinned.

"If they fail don't worry, they'll come back" Valtor informed before leaving thru a portal, both demons saluted as he left then turned to Honest.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi and Doya had just past the city limits and gone into the forest at this point for safety precautions he blindfolded Doya and led her to Night Raid HQ. On arrival he found Bulat asleep on guard as was normal; but given the fact that it was daytime and Merraid was at the palace he was the best they had. "Stay here, I'm going to go and fetch my partner" Tatsumi explained.

"How long will that take?" Doya asked.

"Depends on what my partner is doing" Tatsumi explained and left before she could ask a follow up question. He then darted around corners avoiding running into other members of Night Raid when he encountered them before arriving at Akame's room from which he heard moans, Tatsumi opened the door and found Akame still clothed but with her bra and panties moved aside so she could finger herself and play with her breasts.

"Tatsumi just in time; good now get your clothes off and help me, I'm horny and without Merra to tend to my 'needs' I can't think clearly" Akame explained, Tatsumi would've objected but Akame looked too tempting to resist at the moment and figured it was never a good idea to argue with Akame, in fact it never was worth it in his experience it just resulted in her not talking to him for a while. Tatsumi shrugged and stripped his clothes making sure to leave them nice and folded, he did keep a reserve set of clothing in Akame's room for such occasions also it helped to wear proper clothing for hunting instead of the more ornate noble threads he wore inside Melitine.

Tatsumi then climbed on the bed and removed Akame's panties leaving her bra on as it wasn't obstructing him from getting at her breasts then he entered her pressing his chest against hers before capturing her lips in a tender kiss. Akame wrapped her arms around his neck while Tatsumi used his right hand to hold onto her bum and his left to caress her raven-black hair which felt as soft as satin to him as his thrusts began.

Slow at first but they steadily quickened, Akame moaned as they kissed the kiss rather long and lasting a minute before Tatsumi turned to her breasts; his skilled tongue stimulated the areola of her left nipple before taking it into his mouth for a long eager drink. "Tatsumi-kun" Akame moaned before running her hand thru his hair stroking his cowlick as he fondled her breasts as he drank. "No staring at the ceiling for me; Tatsumi's too good looking to take my eyes off of" Akame thought then giggled as he switched breasts. "I love this, Merra does this amazingly but Tatsumi's just as good if not slightly better, definitely better then Gil is I'll bet" Akame thought.

As if physic Gilberda walked into Akame's room which Tatsumi had forgotten to lock. "Well, well, having fun you two?" Gilberda asked.

"Yep, want to join in?" Akame asked, Tatsumi not bothering to look up he was too enchanted by Akame to notice Gilberda and drank too loudly to hear her voice.

"Gladly" Gilberda replied locking the door and removing her clothes which at the moment consisted of a frilly blue blouse, a black skirt, and black slacks, underneath she wore nothing save a pair of white French maid stockings of the same kind she was fond of, her blonde hair was sleek but held back in geisha-style bun as part of a new look of Merraid's styling. She then dived onto the bed. "Well not paying attention and he hasn't noticed me, time to get his attention" Gil thought to herself then gave Tatsumi a rimjob, that got his attention and made him release into Akame.

"Gil?" Tatsumi questioned after turning around.

"Yep, you didn't lock the door and Akame invited me in" Gilberda replied. "You know over half of the girls here are pregnant because of you and I'm jealous so I want you to correct that: now" Gilberda added spreading her legs.

"Alright" Tatsumi replied but laid flat. "I'm still giving Akame her fun and I have yet to lick her other lips so mount up Gil" Tatsumi ordered, Gil obliged taking him into her with gusto while Akame mounted his face. Gil bounced and moaned, then moaned louder when Akame began fondling her breasts.

"Oh! Tatsumi! Akame!" Gilberda moaned she then returned the favor to Akame fondling her breasts too Tatsumi moved his hands to grope Akame's butt cheeks as his tongue went further into the depths of her vagina he was now in a state of bliss, for the next hour he was just a man locked in passion with two women he loved dearly and who loved him too, his other obligations were well forgotten. He simply enjoyed himself not thinking about what was ahead of him, nor what was behind him; just where he was.

"Is it just me or Gil tighter each time we bang" Tatsumi thought then laughed mentally as he noted his body was getting ready for another peak of pleasure as he came once more; this time filling Gil to the brim and fulfilling her request, at the same time Akame came as did Gil. Tatsumi licked up the fluids before pushing Akame off and grabbing Gil, bending her over.

"Take me; I know you love my ass" Gilberda teased, Tatsumi took her in that tight asshole and grinned as Gil produced an interesting set of moans; that were a mix of moans and glee giggles. Gil loved anal but she also loved eating out pussy, which was why Akame who hadn't had enough of that particular art planted herself in front of Gil implying for her to do just that Gil did that exact thing. Akame then captured Tatsumi's lips in a kiss before he looked at her.

"You know after I'm done with doing this to Gil you'll be in the same position" Tatsumi teased.

"And after that your cock will be sandwiched by both of our tits; trust me Tatsumi I'm glad you're obliging me, now what did you come into my room for?" Akame replied.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go danger beast hunting with me and Doya" Tatsumi asked.

"Doya? Isn't she my sister's friend?" Akame asked.

"Yep, so are you up for it?" Tatsumi asked.

"Always, you know how I love a good Danger Beast hunt" Akame replied.

"I'll tag along" Gilberda interjected stopping her licking before resuming. "Good pussy" Gil mumbled into Akame's loins, both Tatsumi and Akame giggled at that before resuming their kiss. Tatsumi grunted as he felt Gilberda's rear tighten around his length sheathed inside her.

"Man I forgot how tight Gil was, even with the fact we've been doing this about 5 days of the week" Tatsumi thought Akame inserted her tongue into his mouth and as skilled as Tatsumi was when it came to making out Akame had him beat and she quick invaded his mouth uncontested; Tatsumi planted his hands on Akame's ample butt cheeks and jiggled them up and down to Akame moaning into the kiss. Gilberda moaned loudly as Tatsumi reached as deep as his length could go and he intensified his thrusts.

"TOO MUCH!" Gilberda yelled and Tatsumi relaxed his pace, to her relief. Tatsumi was reaching his limit now and filled Gilberda's rear with his spunk pulling back and laying down. Akame and Gilberda smirked and wrapped their ample D-cups around his length and began pleasing it Tatsumi relaxed and let them do so until he released again; spraying their breasts in cream as his length went limp, they licked each other off before kissing each other: Tatsumi interrupted the kiss and kissed both in turn before wrapping his arms around them in a hug.

"That was fun" Akame stated smiling.

"Right now, girls get your panties on, and the rest of your clothes and get your weapons we're going danger beast hunting" Tatsumi explained. The three then went their separate ways before meeting up again in the main hall where Doya was discussing the state of economy with Bulat.

"Oh good, you're back, that took you what? An hour" Doya remarked to Tatsumi who had foregone his military attire for a set of armor and clothing that he wore when hunting danger beasts which consisted of red-leather gambeson worn with set of half-plate armor, this armor was bismuth titanium, a strong alloy that was favored by wealthy knights; his hair was covered by crested sallet made of the same alloy with brass trimming on the edges, he wore crossbow on his back and had Valruost at his side. To either side of him were Gil and Akame clad in similar gear but unlike Tatsumi they had their Teigus; Akame having all three of hers and Gilberda having her Teigu Glaive Shambarna: The Six Ring striker, she also had a set of hand crossbows, the usual mix of Oarburgh weapons: Needle dart daggers, a few bottles containing poisons made by the clan, her clan sword which in this case was a Falcatta, and outside of the to the surprise of Doya an antique crossbow of the kind that was intricately made and designed for precision and range.

"Well my partner and I had a talk and one of my lovers insisted on tagging along too" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright well which one is your lover, and which is your partner?" Doya replied.

"Both are my lovers but the girl with black hair is my partner: also, the deadliest assassin in the Empire if not the entire world: Akame" Tatsumi replied, at that name Doya shuddered.

"Wait Akame? As in Kurome's sister Akame?" Doya asked suddenly frightened.

"The one and only; how is my sister doing?" Akame asked non-challent, Doya looked grim suddenly.

"That- I'm not sure of at the moment: Kurome's in an intensive medical care because of the damage done to her body by her drugs; she's- got a chance to pull thru, but she wanted me to tell you that you were right" Doya explained, Akame teared up.

"I'm glad she's finally seen the right" Akame replied then recovered her composure.

"Let's go hunting" Doya replied and the four of them left the HQ.

Meanwhile… Dorothea looked over the final set of tests and found mixed results. "I'm not sure about the dosage" Dorothea thought; she hadn't once tested the cure on an actual human, all the tests she'd given had been to animals that were comparable to humans and in those tests the amount of the cure needed fluctuated. Fortunately, she had a barrel's worth of the cure already made for the purpose of this now the question was how much to give to Kurome. She wasn't allowed to think much longer when Cosmina rushed into the room panting. "Dorothea-chan! Kurome's vitals are starting to flat-line, you're out of time for testing!" Cosmina yelled, Dorothea flinched then filled about four syringes with the cure which she had dubbed Deliverance.

Dorothea then darted into the main room where she noted Kurome's vitals were indeed starting to flatline and she could barely hear breathing and heart beats even with her enhanced hearing and reflexes. "I'm out of time: It's do or die" Dorothea thought, then crushed her more scientific side that wanted to perform more tests and injected Kurome with the first of the filled syringes; immediately Kurome's vitals began to resume a more lively pace. "Cosmina keep an eye on her I need to run calculations; take these syringes; if Kurome's condition starts to deteriorate give her about half of the dose in the syringe: I'm going to run new tests to see if these results match up" Dorothea replied, Cosmina nodded then sat in a nearby chair before singing softly under her breath.

"All my friends are heathens take it slow. Wait for them to ask you who you know, please don't make any sudden moves you don't know the half of the abuse" Cosmina sung to herself. "I wish my life wasn't such a living hell" she remarked, then thought "Please Cosmina remember there are more miserable people in the world then you; yeah your life may be rough but I bet that in your next you'll be born to a happy family in an abuse free world and that you'll finally be able to be with Tatsumi for your first time."

"Tatsumi" Cosmina muttered, then noted Kurome's expression at saying his name and that it seemed at peace but troubled.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had gone a good ten miles into deeper more thick forest; he kind that was the preferred domain of nasty Danger Beasts. "So Akame does Muramase have a Trump card?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, but I will never use it and never want to" Akame replied.

"What does it do?" Tatsumi asked afraid he may have asked something too sensitive.

"Well to put it bluntly it makes Muramase's user the ultimate battlefield fighter and infuses them with the essence of the Teigu; but in order to use Muramase's Trump Card you must forgo your humanity; give up all emotion sever all attachments and become a machine of death" Akame explained. "I learned this from Gozuki who learned it from his mentor the previous holder of Muramase; Gozuki's mentor used the trump card and died from the grief it causes him; I could never forfeit my emotions or my humanity nor my attachments because in order to forfeit those you have to kill them and I won't do any such thing; especially since you and Merra would be those on the receiving end of such a decision" Akame explained.

"Alright, well then I hope you never have to use it then and never do use if you have to" Tatsumi replied.

"So, what are we after?" Doya asked.

"Something big: the locals told me about a massive cavern which was home to equally massive monster; this beast has made this part of the forest this close to Melitine impassable by its territory and makes the forest move with its steps; it's also known to have killed practically anyone or anything that has tried to hunt it" Akame informed.

"Wait Akame you didn't tell me about this one" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah I didn't: simply because I didn't want you going gung hoe and getting yourself killed trying to fight this monster by yourself; trust me this isn't a simple one: we are dealing with what may very be a Type S Danger Beast; which means that it is huge, dangerous, and smart" Akame replied.

"How can something this big live so close to Melitine?" Tatsumi asked.

"Please Tatsumi; some danger beasts are so old and lazy they can go for long periods of hibernation and be forgotten about; besides usually they tend not to leave their territory not even the S Types will go too far from home and definitely not on their one" Doya explained then tripped followed by the rest of the group as they landed inside a deep hole.

"Ouch, this is a big hole" Tatsumi remarked then got up and noted his surroundings also that said hole was not normal hole: Doya got up into a tree and looked down.

"Well you all ain't going to like this" Doya remarked.

"What is it?" Tatsumi replied.

"That isn't a hole Tatsumi: it's a very large footprint: and- strange at that" Doya replied.

"Strange how apart from the fact it's a giant footprint?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well I've seen tracks like these before and- well we're hundreds of miles away from what made these should be living in" Doya replied.

"Hundreds of miles away?" Tatsumi replied still confused, Akame and Gilberda were now climbing a tree to get a fix on the scale of the print and Tatsumi followed them up, then comprehended the size of the footprint.

The mammoth sized hole was about the size of a small carriage: the print looked to have been made by something reptilian as Tatsumi could tell from the type of feet and it scrambled his brain trying to imagine what made it. "Shit" Akame muttered.

"What?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've seen these tracks before; and they're fresh in case you've taken a look to the side" Akame replied, Tatsumi noted up ahead were a number of tracks of the same size as the one they'd just gotten out of.

"Where?" Tatsumi asked.

"In the Southern Jungles; I- I've seen what kind of thing makes them and well you'd better be even more worried because I've fought this kind of beast before and it was only thanks to Esdeath I survived" Akame explained. "It's a-"Akame was about to explain when a loud primal roar cut her off; it was extremely loud and was heard for miles on end and they could see the source from their perch albeit it was a good ways off.

The creature they saw was massive easily about a 100 feet tall and 200 feet across; it was reptilian with large scales and a gaping maw of sharp teeth but it was capable of swallowing a man whole without needing to chew, the eyes were small it had long legs thicker then tree trunks, scales harder than titanium with a skull stronger then diamond, it had no arms but its size meant it didn't need them: Tatsumi had never seen something this big but it was dwarfed by the Cyclops he fought but even that seemed like it would have a problem with this massive monster; also notable was a strange headdress placed on it. "Dreadsaurian: Type-S danger Beast; native to the Far south; how the hell this behemoth of teeth and terror got here is beyond me" Akame finished.

"Shit are you serious, we'd need an army to fight that thing; also, can it see us?" Gilberda commented.

"Not from this distance; they don't have the best eyesight; but keep your voice low they have great hearing" Akame whispered.

"Well now what?" Doya replied. "I mean this beast would put me above anything my parents ever killed but really I don't think it is possible" Doya added.

"We kill it, one strike from Muramase and poison will drop it" Akame explained coldly.

"I don't think that's a good idea Akame; even if you did get a strike on the thing you'd have to get past those scales and I'm not sure Muramase's poison will get the job done" Tatsumi replied. "I suggest we pull back and get a larger party; I'd rather not risk this; I'm worried about any of you three dying" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about them Tatsumi; I'd worry about you" a voice stated and Tatsumi and the others looked down and noted the two demons: Lorhish and Graal and noted the three headed pack of hounds at their back, he also noted that Graal was being held back by a chain.

"Demons? Honest sent you, and who the hell are you" Tatsumi replied.

"The name is Lorhish, Beastmaster to Lord Valtor and the keeper of the Cerberi; I was once a kennel master when I was alive but now, I'm even more influential" Lorhish responded grinning.

"Me Graal! Me SMASH!" Graal yelled, getting ready for a charge.

"Go get them you crazy dimwit!" Lorhish ordered and released the chained demon then turned to the Cerberi. "Sick em boys get them mortals; extra meat for the one who nabs Tatsumi!" Lorhish ordered and the dogs charged too following Graal.

Tatsumi reacted immediately jumping down from the tree followed by Gil, Akame and Doya. Their initial attacks killed the hounds with ferocious blows and striking vitals; those bodies simply faded out of existence but then came Graal. Doya unloaded both guns in rapid fire into Graal's chest before side-stepping and axe blow and falling behind Gil to reload. Gilberda began to fence with Graal using her glaive countering the wild strikes of the demon which despite their lack of discipline kept her from following up by the speed. Akame sliced at Graal using Muramase but to her chagrin the marks that indicated Muramase's poison didn't appear on the demon's flesh in fact the strike seemed to enrage him further and cause him to toss Gil aside and strike towards Akame; a strike that was parried by Tatsumi as Akame turned her attention to Lorhish who had now just closed the distance after making sure his hounds had fully committed.

The bought would have gone longer were it not for the large footsteps that rapidly thundered to their position Tatsumi and the others fell back while Graal readied to pursue; suddenly a roar was heard and Graal found himself flung into the air and into the jaws of the Dreadsaurian which had been attracted by the battle's sounds; the demon faded out of existence as he had been banished. "Well what have we here: Solg Vadak!" Lorhish remarked and chanted; the Dreadsaurian's eyes began to haze and turn red as the creature was now under Lorhish's control. "You may have bested my hands and Graal but see if you can best my newest beast!" Lorhish yelled as the creature roared and charged.

Lorhish laughed but his laughter was cut short by a round fired into his head; which caused him to limp over dead and phase out: banished back to Hell like his hounds and Graal. Doya's guns smoked and she took a good look at the Dreadsaurian and noted chinks in the scales: she fired causing the creature great pain and it roared turning towards her; she didn't have time to dodge. Suddenly Tatsumi pushed her to the side and dived into the beasts maw. "TATSUMI!" Doya screamed followed by everyone else when to the shock of everyone the beast's maw opened in a roar of pain. Inside the maw Tatsumi who'd avoided being swallowed had driven Valruost into the roof of the beast's mouth and was dragging it along the side. The Teigu cut deep as Tatsumi leapt up Valruost cleaved into the brain of the Creature and severed the central nerves: Tatsumi jumped out of the jaw as the creature let out one last primordial roar as it collapsed to the ground with a crash that shook the forest.

It was over. "Ok that was got to be the craziest thing I've ever done" Tatsumi replied.

"No shit! You could have killed yourself!" Gilberda replied.

"Indeed but Tatsumi you- saved my life for one, but on top of that killed a creature that very few have killed, not even my father or mother, on top of that I've never seen someone do something that bold to kill a Danger beast: you- have my undying respect and more" Doya explained.

"What's done is done Gil; Tatsumi survived like we both knew he would, and he killed a creature that only Esdeath would've been capable of handling; I think it's only fair that Tatsumi takes the trophy" Akame explained.

"Yeah; course what am I going to take that head is the size of a carriage and I'd bet I'd need a team of Auroches to hall that thing to Melitine" Tatsumi replied.

"You could take one of its teeth" Doya suggested: Tatsumi smirked and went to the jaw of the creature which was wide open he then cut two large fangs out of the beast jaw; each was as big as a longsword and weighed just as much and was stronger than steel.

"Make that two; I'll bet I can make something interesting out of these" Tatsumi replied and thought of the crafting that could be made out of Dreadsaurian teeth. "Now for the matter of those demons: I think it may be safe to say I doubt we've seen the last of them" Tatsumi added.

"What makes you sure of that?" Doya replied.

"My gut; plus, Lorhish didn't seem concerned when you shot him or when we killed any of his lackies" Tatsumi replied and they turned towards HQ and began the long track back.

Meanwhile underneath Melitine… Honest looked out a window at the sprawling undercity square; the undercity of Melitine had been built by the Dwarves during the age of the First Emperor; they had built the old city and the under city for their own kind to live in; but that was a long time ago and no Dwarf had lived in Melitine for over 400 years and the last inhabitants of the undercity were the Skaven some 200 years prior before the Vermintide that tried to sweep over the Empire was beaten back by Emperor Maoger the Skaven-Slayer who's efforts had sent their race hundreds of years back in terms of population before being assassinated by his daughter after he had slept with her against her will. Now however Honest was the only one who knew of the exact location of the cities along with a few he trusted, he found it about 10 years previously and used it for a few things: First to house the location of Izel's Laboratory and secondly to hide a massive army that Honest had composed of those fanatically devoted to him along with whatever Izel came up with, this army was there specifically to allow him to counter coup anyone that tried to over throw him. The undercity itself stretched under most of the old Quarter but not underneath the newer parts of Melitine; those parts had been sealed off by the Dwarves when they abandoned the Undercity Hold such it prevented access to the newer parts of the city. The Dwarves had done so to prevent anyone from following them down their underground road works to their new holds in Western Kingdom and to protect powerful forges and other innovations they had to leave behind from those who'd try and steal them.

Honest looked out on the hall which was not deserted; in fact, a massive army was gathered in the center and ranks paraded back and forth. "Father as you can see over 300,000 demon-infused soldiers are finished and 50,000 artificial human soldiers as well; more units are ready for action and I've got more things in store for the future" Izel explained.

"Good work my son; I'm glad to see my forces are ready; now how much longer is our 'special' project taking?" Honest replied.

"Much longer then you'd like or I'd like; the Primus Supremus still lies dormant somewhere in the Empire and I've yet to figure out its location let alone the means to access it; much less reverse engineer the Dwarves technology; I'm certain that War Titan will be a viable option but not in the immediate future; I am one man" Izel replied.

"Well it's not the news I was expecting but I'm grateful for your efforts so far; but soon you can expect your own research team for the project" Honest explained.

"Team?" Izel asked confused.

"I've got something special in mind but soon let's just say it will be much easier to run Melitine" Honest explained and grinned.

"I see then your plan is proceeding perfectly?" Izel replied.

"As perfect as possible; Tatsumi is to my knowledge unaware of it along with everyone else that could be a potential threat: also Izel I will be sending your sisters and younger siblings, both half and not, to join Valdis in Marekgard on the Northern border; its far enough from the Revolutionary army and the Capital that they will be safe" Honest explained.

"Is there a security concern?" Izel asked.

"Only that I've got plans that I don't want any of my other children to know about; so, it's best to send the ignorant to live with the ignorant also best for their safety in case things go- wrong" Honest replied then chuckled at Valdis's foolishness. "That boy would lay down his arms to save a kitten, for shame not even I was that gullible of a Paladin" Honest thought then looked at the army. "Soon Tatsumi, soon, soon Melitine and the Empire will be mine, and soon after all of Eden" Honest commented.

Later… Tatsumi eased into the hot springs; he had to wash to get the smell of Dreadsaurian mouth (That which consisted of various things eating by the creature) off his body; so, he borrowed a number of soups from his girls and started to take a relaxing bath. The smell of oranges came into the air as he opened a bottle of soap from Chelsea; he smiled when he thought of her smiling face. "Chelsea" Tatsumi said under his breath thinking of what he'd do with her later; he'd promised her a nice evening with just the two of them.

Tatsumi's thoughts were interrupted by the snapping of a twig and the arrival of Doya, dressed in only a robe and carrying a towel. "Hey Tatsumi-kun I- need to get something off my chest if you don't mind" Doya explained Tatsumi relaxed having a good idea where this would end up going and mental grinned that finally he'd have the entirety of the Jaegers on his side with no weak links or enemies; plus he'd be getting laid on top of it. Doya removed the bathrobe to reveal her bathing suit, a nice red and gold one-piece ensemble that was connected by series of metal rings and exposed her navel and most of her chest that had been acquired from the disguise department. "Mind if I join you in the water?" Doya asked, Tatsumi nodded and she entered the water.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Tatsumi asked having a good idea what it was.

"Us, but also more importantly what you did: you've become the most impressive hunter I'd ever met, and- I promised my parents that if ever I met a hunter skilled as me if not better and who brought down a creature they'd never seen before then I was to marry him; as soon as possible. Now I'm not one for long dates over a period of months and I've been on enough to know what type of a man you are Tatsumi along with having seen you; so, I'm going to frank with you, will you marry me?" Doya asked.

"Yes Doya" Tatsumi replied, and she swam over and kissed him; her lips pressed against his and she felt his loins already erect rub against the fabric of her swimsuit.

"Ooh someone's eager down there, and I'm not one to beat about the bush; even though I've never been with anyone before; so, how'd you like to see me without clothes on?" Doya added.

"About as much as I'll bet you want to see what I'm packing down there" Tatsumi replied, Doya giggled kissed him again and undid her swimsuit before swimming over the water's edge and putting it next to her towel and swimming back over to him. Doya kissed him hard pressing against his body not even giving him a chance to move before forcing his length into her loins; she smirked as she felt her barrier snap and she broke the kiss.

"Well I'll be, that didn't even hurt at all, and oh is your dick big I feel- pressed" Doya explained then kissed Tatsumi again taking full control. She was determined to show him who was the best and ride him like he was her stead; Doya learned from her mother that its way more fun to be the dominant partner especially when it came to your husband. "Oh yes! Yes", Doya moaned as she bounced up and down before pushing him up onto the hard ground and mounting him again reverse cowgirl. Tatsumi was shocked by Doya's strength and her brazenness in fact she was easily the most forceful partner he'd ever had and possible the strongest as he could tell from her abs that were usually hidden but those weren't his focus no it was right now her ample ass he fondled with his hands; Doya had an ample set of D-cups but her rear was where she truly shined having a bigger tail then Esdeath's.

Tatsumi moaned as Doya rode forcefully and roughly all the while moaning a number of words to non-cohesive that they really can't be put into righting because of their scattered nature. Eventually however Tatsumi was pushed to his limits cumming first into Doya's womb and to her smirking face. "Well done Tatsumi, you've gotten me filled up with your spunk; now I want you to ride my ass like you're riding a bull; don't worry though I won't buck you off" Doya replied then flipped over presented her all too ripe ass to him; Tatsumi didn't even hesitate and gave Doya what she wanted; her first and best anal experience.

"Ok now that actually hurt!" Doya moaned as Tatsumi entered her; but then smiled and drooled as he went deeper. "Oh yeah that the spot; deeper, deeper" Doya cooed out as Tatsumi entered her; to Tatsumi this was his go to position to Doya this was better than any massage she'd ever had and she'd had quite a few; while she didn't hire prostitutes at brothels like Kurome would sometimes to satisfy the urges brought on by the drugs Doya did hire massiuests to give her sooth massages; and a few pussy lickings; for a virgin Doya did know at least how to have sex which was why she was so brazen with Tatsumi, that and he was her real actual first and she didn't consider those flings to be anything but educational.

"Oh Doya; you're so- deep and tight" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you like it; my ass is all yours which means you get the fulfill the fantasy of any guy who's ever seen my rear: I'm your mare and ride me" Doya replied, moments later she came having actually reached her limit but it was satisfying in that she'd outlasted Tatsumi who was now half-way to his limit. In Tatsumi's mind this scene had played out differently but he had misjudged Doya's preferences and now he was doing his best to please a girl who honestly was enjoying the kind of rough sex he reserved for girls like Suzuka; and she didn't even seem phased by how rough he was in fact she enjoyed it. But it mattered little for his thoughts soon gave way to reality as he came again. This time after he finished, he picked her up and held her by her legs upside down.

"Suck my dick and I'll suck your pussy" Tatsumi ordered; Doya eagerly took his length into her mouth but bit it hard for Tatsumi bossing her around, Tatsumi had expected that and returned the favor by doing the same to her pussy before eating her out. Doya enjoyed the upside-down 69, Tatsumi did too as this was the first-time, he employed the position however he fell flat as Doya slammed his knees causing him to land his butt with her on top of him.

"That was for bossing me around, I'm the dominant partner here partner and you don't get to tell me what to do; but I did enjoy that so I'll give something else" Doya replied getting off of him before turning towards him; she then wrapped her breasts around his length and rubbed them up and down, quickly and with a good deal of varying movements; this boobjob felt like a Shiatsu massage on his loins. Doya continued doing this until he came again, and she swallowed his seed completely. "Oh, that was nice; now back in the water for more" Doya replied and pulled him into the springs and then poured more soup into the water as the spring bubbled with more soup she then took full control of him doing everything she wanted to do to him.

Back in Melitine… "Kurome" A woman's voice stated; Kurome shook and turned. "Why? Why my child did you do this" the woman stated and Kurome turned around to see the figure of her mother grinning dementedly, next to her father both of whom had a large gash across their chest.

"You were a monster; you sold me and Akame into slavery; for your own profit; you were already rich and you two wanted more! You cast me aside and consigned me to a life of slavery; where I was later drugged, beaten, and when I was older forced to prostitute myself to perverted men and women for their own sick amusement!" Kurome yelled back.

"Not just us daughter but all of us" her father said and Kurome turned as saw hundreds; people that were in states of death but still alive; everyone she'd killed in her life as an assassin there and ready with swords drawn and she was chained down. She awoke and say her mother sitting on a chair.

"Kurome?" her mother stated, and Kurome snapped, she broke the restraints holding her and summoned her sword from where it lay nearby and sliced her mother across the midsection, above the stomach and below her breasts as she slumped over with a loud scream; Kurome torn off the chains that she saw wrapped around her and smashed down the door seeing daylight but more people, more men and women she had killed!


	54. Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Kurome's Rampage!

Shit was the only word that came to Cosmina's mind at the moment and another was Agony; double problem: First off Kurome had snapped and that wasn't supposed to happen, secondly, she had tried to kill her and escaped into Melitine! "DORA! DORA!" Cosmina screamed, clutching at the gaping wound in her chest; fortunately the wound had missed her womb sparing her unborn child and also fortunately had missed her stomach and other vital organs by inches; and she had cleaved too low to damage Cosmina's lovely figure. "Shit what I'm doing thinking about my looks when I'm badly injured" Cosmina thought after examining her wounds. Dorothea charged into the room, then swore a series of curses too fast for Cosmina to recall with any accuracy and thus impossible to put into print.

"What the hell happened Cosmina!?" Dorothea asked.

"Kurome: she- snapped her bonds she slashed me with Yatsufsa and escaped; also she tore off all her clothes: I don't know what she's doing next" Cosmina replied Dorothea immediately bandaged the wound and then looked at then began thinking hard.

Meanwhile… Kurome saw a red haze; blood everywhere and then saw a man reaching out for her: the pervert Kald who was one of those guards of a target she killed some 5 years ago; she decapitated him without question then ran; kept running heading in whatever direction she felt like: killing anyone who got in her way. "Monsters! Monsters EVERYWHERE! Puppets Come to me!" Kurome yelled then drove Yatsufsa into the air; a purple light went out and all of her puppets came running from Jaeger HQ; she then charged driving Yatsufsa into anyone in her way; their bodies joined her legions. "Come my army of Undead! We will destroy the monsters!" Kurome yelled then laughed maniacally unstably.

Shortly… Tatsumi had returned to the city with Doya and Akame accompanying him with the purpose of checking on Kurome when he noted the panic of a crowd of civilians running into the central square. "Run for your lives! She's Mad SHE'S KILLING EVERYONE!" a man yelled he was horrified as were the 30 or so behind him.

"HALT!" Tatsumi yelled authoritively, the crowd stopped. "What in the name of all the gods is going on!?" Tatsumi asked.

"Crazy naked woman; she's gone mad, she's got a sword; the dead follow her around she's killing everyone that gets in her way: nothing can stop her; the city guards are useless she's ruthless!" one of the people shouted.

"That can't be" Tatsumi thought. "What did she look like?" Tatsumi asked.

"Black hair, short, grey eyes, completely nude and she had this glowing katana and she was followed by an entourage of the dead: human and danger beast alike" the man explained.

"Shit! I'll handle this: I'm going to have to lure her into a place with less people" Tatsumi explained. "Now people get out of here, hide; the Jaegers will handle this" Tatsumi ordered and the crowds dispersed heading in different directions not needing to be told twice.

"This can't be happening" Doya stammered. "It can't be- can't be Kurome" Doya added.

"There's no debating it: unless there happens to be some other girl who wields a sword that controls the dead: Doya get the other Jaegers: Akame you're with me" Tatsumi ordered, Doya bolted in the general direction of Jaeger HQ.

"So what's the plan?" Akame asked.

"We need to lure Kurome into an area where she can't harm innocent people: preferabally gang territory; if she's going to go on a crazied rampage she best use her anger on people who actually deserve it: after that we'll have to subdue her; you and I both don't want to kill her and I'm going to try my best not to have to kill her" Tatsumi explained rather simply.

Meanwhile… Esdeath was ready for the fight; it would be simple to kill the gangs but because she hadn't had a good bought in some time she was eager to lead her troops to victory even if it was against common criminals. "Soldiers of the Empire: I know that today we face unworthy foes not even worthy to touch the ground we walk on and breathe the same air we breathe but this work must be done: in the name of our Emperor. Only one thing needs to be done and that is slaughter every crook and cutpurse in this district of Melitine: then we can continue the long process of purging the corruption and crime that rots the Empire's heart!" Esdeath spoke presently rallying her troops; suddenly Mimi arrived rushing in her direction.

"General Esdeath!" Mimi shouted.

"What is it Mimi?" Esdeath asked.

"General Esdeath: Kurome- she's gone crazy the treatment it's- caused her to go on a rampage: she's killing everything that moves and does so in her general direction: Cosmina barely survived a sword strike from her and that's not even the worst part; she's naked and has an army of undead at her back!" Mimi stammered out.

"Well that complicates things: Soldiers!" Esdeath ordered. "New orders; I want three units to break off and cut off paths in Melitine; I want you to heard Kurome to this location; you are not under any circumstances to harm her: she's clearly not in a proper mental state, as such your orders are to contain and dissuade her into this district: I'm going to kill two birds with one stone, Kurome will use her rampage to kill all criminals in this district and hopefully that will exhaust her enough to subdue her" Esdeath ordered, the disciplined soldiers nodded and broke rank into the groups; the three units moved at a run heading to lockdown locations; among these were cavalry that Esdeath had intended to use for rapid strikes but would do good enough at fast deployment to begin building entrenchments. Esdeath turned to her subordinates and focused on her immediate leaders. "Captain Vark take a message to General Tatsumi inform him I'm aware of the problem and I'll need his help to subdue Kurome: Commander Seryu you are in charge of the unit being deployed to deal with gangs" Esdeath ordered; the captain nodded and mounted up riding in search of Tatsumi.

"You're still intent on the attack here?" Seryu asked.

"Yes: we need to flush the scum out so that Kurome has actual threats to kill" Esdeath replied.

"Aren't you worried we'll lose troops doing that?" Seryu asked.

"Yes; but these troops signed up knowing that was a potential scenario; their jobs are to fight to defend the Empire from its enemies; even if they have to lay down their own lives to do so Seryu; remember though the number one goal of a soldier shouldn't be to die but to make the enemy die" Esdeath reassured; she then unsheathed her rapier and adjusted her hat. "Though you are right I think it is best if we avoid needless casualties to that end I think some decoys are a good idea" Esdeath commented then outstretched her empty hand and said words in a foreign language and summons human like constructs of ice about a battalions worth; she then issued commands in the same language ordering them to go forth. "Follow your frozen comrades men: let them be your shield and the tip of the spear, kill every criminal in the district; the only target I forbid you from harming is Kurome" Esdeath ordered, the troops saluted and followed the ice warriors with Seryu leading them. "Now to see to Kurome" Esdeath thought to herself and then allowed her senses and instincts which were heightened by her Teigu along with life experiences to find the direction Kurome was in and then left.

An Hour later… Kurome breathed. "They're everywhere; they're out to kill me; we'll kill them all" Kurome chattered insanely to herself, her puppets nodded in drone-like obedience. Kurome's phase shifted and once again she saw the world in hazier red with more people in front of her. "Them!" Kurome thought and recognized the gang of kids that had tried to kill her during Elite Seven training; all of them mocking her; though they seemed older bigger. She lunged and, in her haze, wandered into run-down slums and saw troops in front of her. "Western soldiers! You'll die! Die for the Empire!" Kurome yelled then charged into the mass of disciplined soldiers which to her surprise didn't put up much resistance, each yelling mercy and some her name.

But that didn't save the 'Westerners' from Kurome's onslaught; her blade moved with speed that was comparable to a whip with strikes that cleaved grown men in half both vertically and horizontally; to her lucid reality the only thing that remained consistent were her puppets; but that consistency was ruined rather abruptly as new corpses joined the fray in their state; Kurome then charged forward into brigands from her campaigns in the southern border provinces before the war with Southern Tribes. Each strike of Yatsufsa tore through her opponents cutting them down; some enemies even shattered; she heard the crack of gunfire nearby and ran towards it where she found more brigands being mowed down by 'westerners' and she lept in killing both sides.

"KUROME!" Tatsumi yelled as he, Akame and Doya rushed in from a corner; Kurome turned but didn't see her friends no she saw dark twisted illusions of friends. "Natula! You and the others kill them!" Kurome yelled and the puppets charged at Tatsumi, Akame and Doya. Tatsumi and Doya showed restraint but Akame didn't and cleaved down Kurome's puppets with all the grace and skill of the master assassin she was. Soon only Natula and Kurome remained and Tatsumi advanced forward with Doya and Akame holding back to kill the oncoming puppets Kurome had summoned.

"Go away Monsters! You'll die! Natula kill him!" Kurome ordered and Natula lunged toward Tatsumi who dodged the strikes and decapitated Natula's undead corpse with a swift blow from Valruost before turning to Kurome. "NATULA!" Kurome screamed then her face twisted to even more despair and horror, one that made Aria's demon face seem like Aria's normal smile and made Tatsumi wince. "I'll take care of you myself!" Kurome yelled then lunged.

(Song Begin: Whatever it Takes by Imagine Dragons (Tatsumi's theme)

Defense. That was the only tactic Tatsumi could employ defense; stonewall the frenzied onslaught. The strikes from Yatsufsa came as a whirlwind with the gleam of the adamantine Teigu blade sheeming bright purple. "Attack! Attack!" Valruost screamed to Tatsumi who disregarded his Teigu's advise and parried every blow with firm counters; leveraging himself as a stonewall. "Can't give in not even an inch" Tatsumi thought. "KUROME ITS ME! TATSUMI!" Tatsumi yelled, to Kurome it came in garbled but to her Tatsumi wasn't the Tatsumi she loved and cared for no he was the Tatsumi she thought he was when she joined Night Raid, and Tatsumi's cries to bring her to heel and reason didn't help in fact they only intensified her strikes.

Kurome's strikes however began to tire; Tatsumi noted that the the fight was draining her stamina as her attacks became less focused and more flailing, It was then he went on the offense though not with Valruost but with his legs; as he noted Kurome's posture was weakened rather significantly and he parried a series of strikes before advancing leaning back and under cut her legs with his right leg; causing her to fall it was then he caught Yatsufsa and flung it the sword embedding itself into a nearby wall and then he dropped Valruost and began wrestling Kurome. "Alright Kurome you may be an amazing swordswoman that's nearly my equal with a blade but I'm an amazing wrestler without my sword" Tatsumi thought and began using his arsenal of non-lethal strikes to disable Kurome.

But as he did so she summoned Yatsufsa which came flying from the wall and causing Tatsumi to dodge and roll out of the way as Kurome got back up ready to drive her sword into him "YEEEEACH!" Kurome Shrieked and got ready to bring her sword down when suddenly a blast of ice knocked the wind out of her and froze her to a nearby wall in shackles of ice as she blacked out.

"Esdeath?" Tatsumi asked getting up and noticing her along with Akame and Doya.

"Yes; good job keeping Kurome distracted: now we need to get her out of here and fast; back to Dorothea this time with stronger restraints" Esdeath explained. "Now for that purpose: Enchant Ice Sphere" Esdeath declared and trapped Kurome in an ice sphere. "That will keep her contained; don't worry I've simply stopped time around her; when she comes to hopefully she'll have recovered her senses" Esdeath explained and the four of them left.

Later at Dorothea's Lab… Esdeath hadn't stayed after Kurome was secure: in fact she had to leave immediately to conclude her crackdown on the gangs and come up with a cover story for Kurome's Rampage; it really wouldn't be too difficult to do what with the circumstances; had this not been the case a cover up would be all the more harder to stage. But fortunately that was not something Tatsumi had to worry about no he had to worry about Kurome's health fortunately she was now under a good deal of sedatives to make sure she stayed asleep and was restrained by extra strength titanium shackles in place of leather bindings that had kept her to her bed before. "She's alright right now" Dorothea told Tatsumi who was still tense.

"Will she recover also what caused her snap; did the cure do something to her?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes and no; I did an analysis and it turns out that the original drug Kurome was given had a how shall I put this counter for when a person was cured; apparently the person who developed the drug in the first place wanted the people that consumed it to be dependent completely, to a point where if some cure was developed it would cause the mind to fracture and spark hallucinations and madness: fortunately I've adjusted the cure ever so slightly to deal with this issue and will be administering the new vaccine to Kurome now" Dorothea explained and readied a syringe; held it to the unconscious Kurome's side and injected it. Outwardly to them there was no obvious effect but inside Kurome's body the changes were rather apparent; to a point that Dorothea required a number of medical tests to verify.

The Cure in this case now not only was removing the drug from Kurome's system but repairing the damage from it and not just from the drug: Kurome's entire body was undergoing extensive repairs; every injury, every scar, everything that had been lost by Kurome over the years was regenerated as good as new; and her body's growth was reenergized along with a number other things.

This information only came to light a couple days after, during this time Tatsumi was constantly at her side along with Akame both wanting to be there when she woke up and a day later, she did.

Melitine, Dorothea's Lab, three days after Kurome's rampage… Tatsumi yawned and looked at his watch; it was only 3 in the afternoon, so he had a while before he'd have to go to sleep when he heard a groan.

"Uh" Kurome moaned softly, she stretched then yawned as if waking from a long nap. Tatsumi turned to her immediately and he woke Akame from her nap just to see Kurome open her eyes. "Tatsumi-kun? Is that?" Kurome started to question. "Am I dreaming; is that Nii-san?" Kurome asked hazily.

"You're fully awake Kurome-nii" Akame replied and then leaned on her sister and kissed her on the forehead.

"Nii-san!" Kurome shouted and began to get up when she realized she was chained to the bed. "What are you doing here? And why am I shackled to the bed?" Kurome asked.

"Long story if you want to here it I'll have to take a raincheck right now I want to make sure you are fully alright" Tatsumi replied then held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Tatsumi asked.

Kurome giggled. "Three Tatsumi-kun, three, and- you're quite cuter then normal; in fact the lighting in here brings out your eyes" Kurome replied.

"Alright, now tell me what you see around you" Tatsumi asked.

"Dorothea's lab, you, Akame-Nii and a number of medical devices" Kurome replied. "Seriously though I feel fine; like well I'm a whole new me" Kurome added. "Now where's Doya?" Kurome asked.

"Trying to find a taxidermist brave, patient and ambitious enough to preserve a Dreadsaurian" Tatsumi replied.

"You're pulling my leg" Kurome replied.

"Yeah I am, we did kill one her, me and Akame, and I have the teeth to prove it; anyway Doya is busy helping the rest of Jaegers on damage control" Tatsumi explained.

"Damage control? What happened?" Kurome asked.

"We'll tell you later but right now I want to know how you feel: Dorothea gave you the cure and I want to make sure that you're feeling good" Tatsumi replied then began asking her a number of medical questions Dorothea had prepared for him to ask her; he also had Akame unchain her because it was clear she was stable mentally. The questioning proved fruitful too in fact Kurome stated she fealt like she could do things she hadn't done for years.

"Alright Kurome I want you to see if you can stand up" Tatsumi couched and Kurome stood up and found to her surprise she was- taller, about 4 inches taller. "Tatsumi I'm- taller" Kurome remarked noting that her legs were longer and she could walk at a posture she hadn't had the chance to use in years; Dorothea walked into the room. "Dorothea can you measure me?" Kurome asked.

"Why not Kurome; I'll do that and a few other medical tests; Tatsumi, Akame I'm going to have you two step out, I'm going to take an hour" Dorothea replied and sent Tatsumi and Akame out of the room.

That hour was spent by the two checking up on Cosmina who had made a full recovery but also figuring out how to best explain the rampage that happened. "I'm sure she'll be alright but I'd rather not get into the specifics on how many people died alright?" Tatsumi replied.

"She deserves to know the full truth" Akame replied.

"That she does, but how we explain it to her has to be careful I don't want her to try and kill herself over what happened; especially given not just a lot of good people were killed but all of her puppets were destroyed in our battle with her" Tatsumi explained, the last part was going to hard especially given that Natula had been the last of her original team to fall and it made it all the more painful that Tatsumi had to be the one that ended that particular Wight, that was ironic and grimly so especially given that Natula had been her original love.

Later that day… Kurome eased into warm water; Tatsumi had decided that he, her and Akame would go to his favorite hot springs with the goal of giving Kurome as much relaxation as possible before they explained the whole rampage to her. Fortunately her puppets had been her least concern, also Yatsufsa was kept under analysis by Dorothea just in case the Teigu had been a contributor to the rampage but also because Dorothea just wanted an excuse to examine Yatsufsa much like any other Teigu. "This is such a good place to relax, Tatsumi how often do you come here?" Kurome replied.

"Come here well daily; I like this place and come here whenever I get the chance; it allows me to think clearly" Tatsumi explained "And frequently get laid" he added in thought.

"Alright Tatsumi I want to know what is the big secret you and Nii-san are hiding from me; I have the right to know what happened" Kurome replied.

"Well relax and get used to the water it will be a summery for now and I'll go into the exact details later, we're still trying to 'clean up' the aftermath of what happened" Tatsumi replied and explained the rampage she went on; Kurome broke down in tears after he finished.

"Why?! Why!? I killed innocent people!" Kurome stammered and weapt, Akame comforted her with a hug.

"You weren't in your right mind Kurome-Nii, you were under the influence of the drugs that you've been on for years it was some sort of fail-safe made by their inventor in case someone ever did cure you; you weren't in your right mind, at all and we completely forgive you for it?" Akame replied.

"What about the people I killed? How can I ever make amends for that; those innocent people- the soldiers, the citizens- how can I ever repair what happened" Kurome replied. "Also my puppets what happened to them?" Kurome asked, Tatsumi explained what had happened that none of her original puppets survived her rampage and had been destroyed in the process and that after the fight their bodies were burnt to ashes.

"No- Natula! I failed you, not just you all of them" Kurome wept.

"You didn't fail them; Kurome Natula died three years ago, what was lost was just a cadaver, an empty body that won't have the old soul returned to it in any near future; in fact they were all just that bodies; you told me that he wasn't the same when I asked you about him and if you worried about being alone you're not: I'm here for you, Everyone is here for you, all the Jaegers everyone in Night Raid hell you even have Akame back" Tatsumi replied. Kurome turned to her sister.

"Kurome-nii: I'm sorry; I wasn't there for you when I should have been I'm sorry for everything that's happened since we were first sold; I'm sorry for it all" Akame apologized, Kurome teared up, wept and then raised her head resolved.

"You don't have to apologize, you were right Akame-nii, you were right: about everything I just was a fool to stay behind" Kurome replied. "And you're right too Tatsumi, Natula was long gone; I was just holding onto what could have been, I've got to let go of him, I've got you now Tatsumi and I don't need another man for me; in fact I don't need those puppets I'll just get new ones; better ones at that and I'll make up for everything I've done, just I'm not sure how" Kurome responded

"You can make it up by choosing the right side: we have to get rid of Honest and the rot in the Empire, then we can track down who ever it was that made that awful drug and give them hell, but right now we've got our full future ahead of us and you can make it up to both me and Akame by promising us that if you need help you'll ask us for it" Tatsumi explained.

"Then I'll do my best Tatsumi; now I think I'll let you in on the effects of that cure. According to Dorothea the cure completely repaired all damage done to my body along with killing my addiction, everything Tatsumi is repaired which means I'm growing again, my bones are not fragile anymore, I'm fully fit, but most importantly Tatsumi I'm fertile again and I'm a virgin once more" Kurome explained, this news took both of them by surprise because when they asked Dorothea she told them it wasn't up to her to say other then that Kurome had completely recovered.

"How is all this possible?" Akame asked.

"With Renewal, or rather as Dorothea called it: Salvation" Kurome replied. "Now that I'm back and can have kids I want to start it here and now; you know I figured you'd come here which means I can have my real first time as the new Kurome" Kurome replied then swam up to Tatsumi and kissed him on the lips noted his length rub against her stomach. Kurome broke the kiss "I need this" Kurome remarked seductively.

"As much as it would be fun to do this here Kurome I've got somewhere else in mind" Tatsumi replied then smirked deviously.

Later… Tatsumi took Kurome and Akame to a special place; a private suite in the royal palace; a few doors down from the Emperor. Tatsumi smiled as Kurome lifted herself up and impaled herself on his length; blood indeed flowed out and Kurome was not remotely phased in fact she smirked and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. Akame tended his balls which she licked and sucked gently before braking her sisters share kiss to mount Tatsumi's face Akame pressed herself against Kurome and hugged her sister; held her close and kissed her cheeks before just hugging her as they both relaxed letting Tatsumi do his work. "He is amazing Akame-Nii, I'm still jealous that you got first dibs" Kurome replied.

"What gave you that idea?" Akame asked non-plused.

"Easy he told me you and him did the hanky panky with Merraid Oarburgh; which I'm shocked sis I never took you for someone who like girls" Kurome replied.

"Please I like guys and girls; or rather Tatsumi and girls: I'm Bi Kurome and what are you?" Akame replied and was surprised when her sister nursed from her; something she hadn't done in well years.

"I'm Tatsumi addicted and I don't need anyone else in my love life but him and whoever else he brings in to by my sister by marriage; speaking off when are you two going to tie the knot?" Kurome asked.

"Whenever Merraid can get me and all the other girls she's fucked over the years together in one place to marry him: boy that will be an orgy to end all orgies" Akame replied, Kurome laughed. "What I was serious" Akame replied.

"Yeah you were, but whole thing is still hilarious; ogh- Tatsumi deeper" Kurome replied. Akame suddenly hazed and got off rushing to a nearby bathroom and came back a minute later to find Tatsumi riding Kurome doggy-style in her ass.

"Akame are you-" Tatsumi asked and stopped much to Kurome's dismay.

"I think I am Tatsumi; and-" Akame replied, Kurome interrupted.

"You're shitting me? You're already pregnant; damn it am I the only one in this harem who isn't?!" Kurome ranted.

"I can correct that if you want" Tatsumi joked.

"Come here and do so; fuck me until you've put enough seed in me: and I hope Dorothea was right about me being fertile again because I want kids! Also Akame I get to be the first one to hold my niece slash nephew after you alright: I'll be with you the whole time" Kurome ranted Tatsumi went back over did exactly what she wanted.

Meanwhile…. "We're sorry for our failure Lord Volgoth we will try to do better in the future" Lorhish apologized, he and Graal had returned after an extensive restoration of their bodies.

"Nothing wrong with that; I was expecting you to fail, I was testing the boy's ability and your own skills and I'm sure there was no planning for the Dreadsaurian; no at this point it will soon be irrelevant; in a matter of weeks Melitine and the Empire will be mine and under the dominion of Lord Valtor and then- well from there the whole universe is at my finger tips" Honest explained then cackled maniacly unaware that in a few days everything would change; for everyone.


	55. Chapter 41

Chapter 41: The Coup and the Truth

Melitine: 9:00 am, 4 hours from the Coup…

A yawn, and light came into Tatsumi's eyes as he opened them; he smiled then looked to his side as he felt long blonde hair rubbing against him, he turned and found his lovely wife Spear Chouri fast asleep in her burgundy nightgown her hands were wrapped around him as she used him as a body pillow. "Spear" Tatsumi thought and looked at her and kissed her forehead. "Safe and sound; a beauty unscarred, no harm come to her" Tatsumi thought, he had decided the previous night which was the day before today's planned coup to stay at Spear's place; granted he was so exhausted that he had passed out in their bed alone and Spear had obviously come in some time in the night. The previous night he had carried out what he hoped would be his last Night Raid mission: that had been to kill the last of his remaining political enemies: in order for him to allow for a smooth change of regime he needed to deal with any other threats apart from Honest beforehand also it put Honest in a false sense of security; well as false as his nemesis would allow himself to have.

Spear yawned and opened her eyes. "Good morning Tatsumi, my loveable husband" Spear greeted.

"Good morning Spear also today is the day which means we'll need to put on our best" Tatsumi replied and got up from the bed then stretched before heading to the bathroom to shower. He was joined shortly in said shower by Spear.

"So, my husband what role do you think I'd have in the new government?" Spear asked as she leaned her head on his shoulder and press herself against his back.

"That really depends, personally I'm in mind to give you a military position" Tatsumi replied.

"Try again; I may be Esdeath's second in command, but I've got an extensive skill set" Spear replied.

"Minister of the Treasury?" Tatsumi replied.

"Nope; that's taken by Aria's father, try again" Spear replied, then kissed his neck.

"Minister of Foreign affairs?" Tatsumi replied.

"Nope: don't like traveling; seen enough for one lifetime in my army service" Spear replied, kissed his ear.

"Minister of Intelligence" Tatsumi replied.

"Really you take me for a spy; you know I'm not that subtle" Spear replied.

"Alright then Master of the Imperial Fists" Tatsumi replied and Spear grinned.

"Nope; guess again I think I'd like a bit more control" Spear replied then walked in front of him; despite being two months pregnant Spear was still a beauty with all the curves and contours to give her that appeal.

"Regent" Tatsumi replied, she nodded.

"You're right" Spear replied and knelt on her knees. "Really hard already? You just woke up" Spear commented.

"All of me is alert and ready Spear" Tatsumi replied.

"I will say this if Honest was woman you'd have probably already won long ago" Spear replied then began licking her favorite treat.

"Don't put that in my head, the image of Honest as a woman is well unsettling at least and abhorrent as most; besides woman or man Honest is still evil- ugh- incarnate" Tatsumi replied then shut up as the only things that came out of his mouth from then on were moans has he and Spear lost themselves in an even steamier then normal shower.

After finishing the shower, the two took turns getting dressed. For Tatsumi today required his best clothes; worn over his best armor; that being a set of Jaeger Plate armor that he wore underneath the ceremonial robes and finery that were red and gold in color; it was an ornate ensemble and importantly light weight; the materials his Jaeger plate was made from were top notch in terms of durability and weight; his attire made of soft lightweight silks that were reinforced with raw cotton as per his specifications and the hat well it suit the get up in that it concealed the helmet he wore underneath it albeit it was floppy. "You really don't look great in a hat" Spear commented, she had changed into a fine crispy military uniform underneath which was her armor but she also wore the coat that she had worn when he first met her granted she wore a different hat; the uniform was the same Jaeger Blue and Green Esdeath sported now. Tatsumi grinned and strapped Valruost and Smaug to either hip.

"Yeah I know hats and me don't go well together but I've got to hide the helmet somehow" Tatsumi replied.

"You really are worried that this coup might fail" Spear replied.

"That's always a possibility, the whole thing is designed to make sure Honest dies; if he survives it doesn't matter how many of his cronies, we kill then he'll try and bring the whole thing as a trial of court and accuse me of Treason" Tatsumi replied.

"And you're worried you wouldn't be able to defeat him in a match of words: Tatsumi you have the advantage of the Emperor being on your side completely; plus most of the court is in your pocket or on your side: if anyone is in danger of being accused of treason and tried before the court its Honest" Spear replied.

"Still it never pays to be too careful: remember Honest still has near endless resources even without his inner circle and he's smart" Tatsumi replied then looked at his sword. "Speaking of being careful take this Spear" Tatsumi replied and handed her his sword; the non-Teigu blade made for him by Clementine that had never failed him.

"You know swords aren't my preferred weapon" Spear replied taking the blade.

"Yeah I'm aware you favor the glaive but try explaining that to the guards; they're fine with swords but a glaive; besides if it does come to a fight our way out of the palace my longsword will be a better weapon for close quarters" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah you got me there; I would look conspicuous carrying a glaive; but I've worked with my fighting style for-"Spear replied.

"For years now Spear, and I'm well aware that with your instruction and that of other martial arts that the Imperial fist is best when you use it with any weapon; rule number one of warfare ANYTHING is a weapon" Tatsumi interrupted.

"I trained you for heaven's sake Tatsumi, why are you-" Spear replied then stopped herself; yes she had trained Tatsumi in the Imperial fist; completely and he mastered it in two months; all nine rings of the Fist while training in a number of other martial skills with Sheele, Esdeath, Gin, Akame, and Martha; plus gun training with Tsukushi and extensive poison training with Aria, at this point Tatsumi was easily the best fighter in Night Raid and the best fighter in the Jaegers apart from Esdeath and that was near contention with his Teigus. "Yeah you're right it pays to be open to new tactics; I think I've been relying on the glaive too much I need to broaden my skillset" Spear replied.

"Yes, you do; we all do in order to survive; but let's not continue this conversation and have breakfast then we'll head to your shrine for some morning prayers because I'm going to pray to all the gods and goddesses for a victory and baring that survival" Tatsumi responded. Tatsumi took one more thing and looked at his arm and put on his lucky bracelet then they headed downstairs where an elaborate breakfast was waiting for them along with Kurome, Aria, Najenda, Seryu, Mine, Sayo and Esdeath.

"Good morning Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted, Mine giggled, Esdeath frowned and then smirked and Mine found her chair rather cold.

"Hello, my lovely girls" Tatsumi replied and sat down in between Esdeath and Mine the latter of whom moved over to avoid sitting in the cold chair any longer. Tatsumi at least tried to when he slides of his chair onto the floor. "Ouch" Tatsumi replied getting back up.

"Oh, Sorry Tatsu-bunny; I- sometimes my powers do interesting things" Esdeath replied removing the ice on his chair.

"Apology accepted besides you just did that to freeze Mine's ass for giggling at the nickname" Tatsumi replied.

"Why do you call him that anyway?" Mine asked.

"Pretty simple, he's cute and soft like a rabbit" Esdeath replied.

"Oh, I thought it was because he's more prolific then a rabbit" Mine replied.

"Now I gave him the nickname before I realized how many girls he'd been with- any way this is nonsense Mine we have more serious things to discuss" Esdeath replied. "Besides it's not like I wear my hair in pigtails" Esdeath remarked.

"What's wrong with the pigtails?" Mine asked rather angry all of a sudden.

"Please; in a fight you'd have someone grab you by them" Esdeath responded.

"Come on and your hair isn't; besides I'm the Goddess Sniper my job entails me being as far away from the enemy as possible if the enemy is on top of me that means something went horrible wrong" Mine replied.

"And what if you were caught off guard, suppose you're ambushed, or someone catches you by surprise what's next pinky-tails? Easy some guy grabs you by your hair and either beheads you or takes you prisoner does whatever he wants to with you then kills you when he's done" Esdeath replied.

"URGH! ICE-BITCH I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK OF MY HAIR NOW DROP IT!" Mine yelled.

"3 silver pieces" Tatsumi remarked.

"That-I- stop yourself Mine no need to make yourself poorer to Sheele's jars" Mine replied. "Alright then Tatsumi what do you think of my hair?" Mine asked.

"Personally, I love it when you let it down" Tatsumi replied.

"You- mean that?" Mine asked surprised.

"Of course, you let it down on your wedding day and it looked amazing" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright then" Mine replied then undid her hair letting it slide down, without the tails it easily reached the small of her back. "Now no more talking let's eat!" Mine replied and then proceeded to devour the bacon on her plate. From then on there was no more small talk and everyone was focused on filling their stomachs; granted Tatsumi less so as he was still thinking about the potential ways his plan could go wrong; but this was just too good to pass up because there was no telling when Honest would call all his top advisors to the same place again.

One hour later… Tatsumi sat in front of the Chouri household shrine; it was a rather modest ensemble with a set of 20 statues depicting the major gods and goddesses of the Empire and number of smaller statuettes that depicted lesser deities. Tatsumi knelt and was joined by his harem in prayer; prayers to each deity, each about a minute long then Tatsumi looked at the shrine once more. "Well let's get going" Kurome remarked.

"Wait" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok why?" Kurome asked.

"Yes, Tatsumi we've prayed to all the major deities if you insist on praying to all the minor ones we'll be here for an hour" Aria added.

"There is one more goddess I need to say a prayer to" Tatsumi replied and fished out of his pocket an amulet, the amulet depicted a crowned white phoenix with a rainbow tail sitting in a spider's web. "Asha the Eternity Queen" Tatsumi explained.

"Did Syura get to you?" Aria asked.

"Not necessarily from a conversation more his- powers and action and the fact he's been brought back from death; I think that she's worth a prayer to; especially given all the stuff we've gone thru and well it's never a bad idea to take a chance" Tatsumi replied and the girls nodded and rejoined him in kneeling. "Eternity Queen; I know not what prayers you accept so I'll just ask for your boons; I ask for safety to my friends and family, also that should something go wrong I'll be delivered from the clutches of Honest along with those I treasure. I don't know if you are listening so I'm just going to assume you are; also, if you have any wise advise you'd give to me; give it thru Syura" Tatsumi prayed. "Amen" He ended and was joined in that.

"Ok are you sure this will help?" Mine asked.

"I don't know but it was worth a shot I'm not expecting an army of divine beings to appear and destroy Honest and his minions I'm just hoping for things to go right and if things go wrong, we can survive without me losing any of you or any of our friends" Tatsumi replied, they smiled at that.

Meanwhile… Syura looked out the city from his windowed room at Grundewick Manor. "What's wrong?" A girl asked, her name was Gladys and she was one of many lovers Syura had taken since he arrived in Melitine, clad in a white bathrobe Syura wore nothing else, where Gladys wore only her skin she wasn't the only woman in the room three others lay on the bed still passed out from the events of the previous night.

"The day ahead is going to be a rough one; stay here please" Syura replied.

"Ok whatever you say my white-haired rapscallion, what's out there anyway that's got you worried for me and the others" Gladys remarked as she put on her underwear.

"The truth Gladys; Melitine is in danger if things go wrong; in a matter of a few hours events will happen that will if they go wrong result in a threat to entire city" Syura replied.

"You in on some sort of conspiracy?" Gladys asked with a shrug.

"More than that I'm part of an elite group that's going to set those events in motion and the threat that threatens us all is- not of this world; a dark cult has been undertaking black rituals" Syura replied. "It's too much explain the specifics suffice to say you and a good number of the people of the city are in danger if things go bad: there is war brewing and one far more deadly than any of the conflicts the Empires has ever fought or is fighting right now" Syura explained, Gladys nodded.

"Alright then Syu-kins I'll stay here and have the other girls do the same just whatever happens promise me and the others you'll come back alive" Gladys replied with a smile, she smiled quite lovely and her curves and long blonde hair reminded him of someone else- someone he had when he was different man killed after using her like she was a doll.

"I promise; if I don't my soul will be doomed to Hell's embrace; I've- it's complicated I was a different man, an evil monster, then something happened: I was changed; and for the better; I'm now devoted to righting the wrongs my family has committed" Syura explained, she pecked him on the cheek.

"I don't care about who you were, I'm in love with the man you are now, and I want you to come back safe and sound" Gladys replied.

"I promise that; I swear it in my own blood" Syura replied then clenched his fist; she kissed him again and removed his robe; then led him to bed where the other three girls were awake. "Might as well have some fun before I face my father" Syura thought then grinned as the lovely ladies surrounded him and tended to his needs.

Meanwhile… "Prime Minister the meeting is rather important do you have any things we need to take care of we've got only a few hours" A tall balding 40 year old man stated to Honest, the man was his personal schedule manager and his name was Korijo Utume; the man was a predator who prayed on young girls mainly young children, he also was Honest's personal record keeper who kept track of each of the people the Prime Minister either killed or wanted dead and that list was rather extensive.

"Not much beyond a rather balanced meal and well some preparations: also draft a message to General Teketh for a report on the meeting's topics; and on top of that make sure that a good meal is prepared for my cohorts, and make sure my security personal are alert and ready; Tatsumi has been awful quiet of late and I'd rather not take chances" Honest replied.

"So, you're focused on him above any other rivals?" Utume replied.

"None of my other rivals compare to the brilliance and unmitigated destruction to my plans that Tatsumi has wrought; that boy is knowledgeable beyond his years and is- almost if he was born to lead, how much digging have my spies been able to do into his background? I know I ask this frequently, but I want to know everything!" Honest replied.

"Nothing new bar one detail, we managed to find out where he came from; an examination of the finances by Minister Dousen revealed a substantial tax break was given to the village of Karsawa, this along with other facts such as his wife Sayo winning an archery contest under her own name and the fact that Grundel put this tax break specifically on this village has revealed that this is indeed his home" Utume explained, Honest grinned.

"Well then, that's useful information: very useful information, in fact begin drafting orders for the Jaegers; they are to prove their loyalty by wiping that shithole off of the map; if it was ever on one to begin with" Honest ordered.

"Yes, Prime Minister it will be done" Utume replied.

The Imperial Palace: 10:35, 3 hours from the coup…

Tatsumi now was taking the final steps those being to have important loyalists his cause begin taking subtle moves; first being the silently evacuate the palace civilians: courtiers, maids, butlers, servants, courtesans, chroniclers and practically everyone who was at risk of being harmed had to be quietly escorted out of the palace in a matter of 3 hours before the Night Raid attack would begin. Tatsumi had planned the attack to start ten minutes after the meeting started, to both guarantee all targets were there and that they were off guard.

With this in mind he sent each of his wives, apart from Spear and Kurome who went with him, to give the go ahead to different officials that he had full trust in, while he would go to the two most important people for this plan, apart from himself and Esdeath; those being General Budo and Emperor Makoto himself. The first of the two was in his office reviewing the Royal guard's finances and overlooking a number of things.

"General Budo" Tatsumi greeted.

"Minister Tatsumi; you've arrived I trust this is about the operation?" Budo replied.

"Yes" Tatsumi replied and stepped forward to the man's desk. "The most important duty you have at the moment after the guard has been deployed is to protect the Emperor" Tatsumi explained. "I've recalled the Elite Seven to assist in security and am ready to begin a slow evac of the civilians in the palace" Tatsumi added.

"Don't worry the Emperor will be protected at all costs; I'll-"Budo began then noted the bracelet on Tatsumi's arm. "Where did you get that?" Budo asked.

"What?" Tatsumi asked.

"That bracelet" Budo replied.

"This thing? My village elder gave it to me when I left my village, he said it would bring me good luck and told me that it was important to me not to lose it" Tatsumi explained.

"Tatsumi that bracelet, you don't know what it is do you?" Budo replied.

"I assumed it was a village relic" Tatsumi replied.

"It's no relic, Tatsumi that- that is Bracelet of Emperors; that artifact is old beyond measure; it was gifted to the first Emperor by the Dwarven High King as a reward for saving his life. That's- not possible" Budo replied.

"How? I don't understand?" Tatsumi replied confused.

"It was lost with Emperor Isshin and his wife Empress Akame, and their child; they never returned from there tour of the Empire; no one knows what happened to them; tell me more about yourself were you always from Karsawa?" Budo asked.

"Well no, I was told by my adopted parents that my father had found me in the woods in my mother's dead arms; near the road" Tatsumi explained.

"Your mother what did she look like?" Budo replied.

"My father didn't say much other than he was saddened that someone of such beauty had been taken from the world so violently" Tatsumi replied. "I did ask the elder and my parents more about it, but they always dodged the subject I think there is more to the story" Tatsumi replied.

"There is more Tatsumi, you see Empress Akame had a son; a child of six months, she gave him the name of Great Emperors a name born by The First Emperor, his son the Jade Emperor, the Dragon Emperor, the Pearl Emperor and a number of great monarchs, I don't think it's any coincidence that the year that Emperor Isshin and his Wife Empress Akame go missing that you show up in a remote village; especially given one more detail; that bracelet can only be worn by those of royal blood: it is a soul-bound relic similar to the Teigus it was made by the dwarves and the Golden Emperor swore a blood oath along with the High King of the Dwarves that none save he that had his blood in his veins could wear it, then there are your Teigus, I know them as the blades of Dragon Emperor and only one of his blood could wield them" Budo replied.

"Budo, you can't mean- I can't be, that- how?" Tatsumi replied.

"It is highly likely that you are; that you are the son of Emperor Isshin II the Lost, the evidence is likely and- your name is the same the Emperor gave his son: the name Tatsumi is a special name one kept secret and only those of the Royal Guard and the Royal Bloodline know its true significance and give it only to those who the portents say is a child of destiny: if anyone else bore this name I'd assume they were of the Royal Guard's descent, but one with the blood of the Dragon Emperor and who can wield both of his Teigus along with the Imperial Bracelet: that means you must be; you have no idea the significance of this" Budo replied.

"Yes, I do; if this is true then- well Makoto and I are cousins" Tatsumi replied.

"Not just that; if true your claim to the throne is stronger and you are the rightful Emperor; I don't know if that is the case but I've got something; I wouldn't give this to anyone else but Emperor Isshin before he left and his brother after him tasked me with guarding special treasures; the possessions of past leaders and those of their heirs; the royal documents, lines of authority, lines of descent, birth certificates documents, and photographs" Budo explained then turned to his desk and pressed a button to open a secret compartment, inside it a small chest about the size of a good sized dictionary was removed.

"The contents in this box are the truth; you must know but wait until after the coup; such information if true could result in a rift at court, it would be a risk Makoto's safety and your own" Budo explained and handed him the chest Tatsumi took it.

"Alright: Spear hold onto this for me, later I'll open it" Tatsumi replied, Budo handed him a small key too.

"Of course, my beloved I'll guard it with my life" Spear replied.

"Don't do that you're pregnant and I don't lose you or our child but especially not both" Tatsumi replied, Spear nodded.

"Alright then, anything else Budo" Spear asked.

"Nothing of import I'll go and prepare the guard; if you have anything you want to do now is the time Tatsumi for you to do it; I'll handle the other things" Budo explained.

Tatsumi nodded and left along with Spear then thought long and hard then moved out of earshot. "You think it's the case that you're the rightful Emperor?" Spear asked.

"I'm- not sure what to make of it; I've got to know the truth for myself, I've spent a good amount of time training with Mirror of Time and now with all this information I've got to see for myself" Tatsumi replied.

"I hope you're actually the rightful leader you'd actually get things done if you're in charge" Kurome remarked breaking her silence.

"Alright then Tatsumi well let's do that, we've got about three hours before action time" Spear replied, Tatsumi nodded and the two went to find his other wives and left for Spear's manse where Tatsumi had left his mirror.

Spear's House, 10:45, 2 hours and 15 minutes from the coup…

The mirror of Time was a Teigu Tatsumi didn't bother carrying with him out of practicality's sake it wasn't a weapon, however he did take it whenever he left for Night Raid HQ as he didn't like leaving the thing in the city even if it was somewhere safe. "Mirror, Mirror on the table who is the fairest in all of Eden?" Spear commented.

"Not funny Spear, it's not only not that kind of mirror but you didn't even remoted rhyme, besides we all know that Tatsumi won't answer that question" Seryu commented.

"Quite I need to concentrate" Tatsumi replied then took the Mirror and went a small carpet and sat down, Esdeath sat next to him. "If I look like I'm in danger hit me hard: my Teigu said that it was the surefire way to break me out if go too deep in time" Tatsumi ordered.

"Can do my dear Tatsu-Bunny" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi took a deep breath and muttered the words to activate the Mirror. Immediately reality shifted as he found himself once more in strange realm of Kronos; the Teigu itself in the form of a young boy waved as he approached.

"Hello Tatsumi, what do want to look at today?" Kronos asked in a happy tone of voice.

"How far back can I look now?" Tatsumi asked.

"20 years before you risk going into atrophy and getting lost" Kronos replied.

"Good I only need to go back 18: I want to know who my parents are, all the details from the day I was born today I arrived in Karsawa" Tatsumi replied, Kronos frowned his normal happy demeanor replaced by one of sadness.

"I- will allow you to see it; I've seen it already in fact not to long after you bonded with me; I will grant it but remember Tatsumi what you see is set in time and nothing you do can change the past" Kronos replied.

"I know; I hate that fact but it's something I've got to know; I must know who my parents are; now more than ever" Tatsumi answered.

"Very well Tatsumi, or should I say Tatsumi Gildenstrom; I'll show you the past" Kronos replied and his eyes glowed green as reality shifted Tatsumi found himself in a royal bedroom where attendants, doctors and nurses stood next to a bed as a woman; radiant with lovely green eyes and long brown hair much like his own was pained by the pains of childbirth.

"Push!" a doctor yelled, screams more pain and out came a child; the doctor picked up the child which cried as he was exposed to the world; the woman passed out from the pain. Sometime passed before she awoke, and the doctors gave space to a bearded man clad in the garb of the Emperor and wearing a regal crown.

"How is she?" the man asked.

"Healthy and stable just passed out from the labor your highness Emperor Isshin" The doctor replied.

"And my child?" Isshin asked.

"A healthy baby boy your majesty he is in good health" the Doctor replied

"I'm fine Isshin come here and see him" the Empress replied.

"Of course, Akame I'm looking forward to meeting my son and our future" Isshin replied and walked over to the bedside; the infant suckled from her left breast. "He's adorable; he- looks a lot like me but he has your hair" Isshin commented.

"And I wonder who's eyes; yours or mine; we'll have to wait and see, now what will we name him?" Akame replied.

"I'm- you've seen the portents; the Star of Camisha flying in the sky, the words of the priests and the fact you gave birth without any trouble; this child is destined for greatness: he is child of destiny" Isshin replied.

"A child of destiny; are you sure about those portents personally I'm not sure I by them; but I do have a mother's intuition that our son will do great things" Akame replied.

"In that case only one name would suit him" Isshin replied, both looked at their child and Akame looked at Isshin with amazement.

"You mean?" Akame asked weakly.

"The name of the Great Emperors; the name of the First Emperor and of his son the Jade Emperor and of our shared ancestor the Dragon Emperor: Tatsumi" Isshin replied.

"Tatsumi it is then Tatsumi Gildenstrom; look at him; he's so cute and well hungry" Akame replied. "Also do not pawn him off on the wet nurses or any of your concubines I will nurse my son myself" Akame added.

"I wouldn't dream of it; besides no one else would be able to care for him as much" Isshin replied.

Some time passed; about a few months; Tatsumi looked at his infant self who was now about three months old, he could see his eyes had now taken their shade of peridot green, at this moment his mother held him close as his father sparred with one of his retainers whom he defeated using a tactic Tatsumi had often used in sparring; feigning a gap in his defense and countering with a rapid parry. "Isshin you've done enough training for today" Akame replied.

"What I've always got to be ready? You never know when a random assassin may show up" Isshin responded and sheathed his sword before walking over to Akame.

"You know I'm tired of being coped up in the palace are you feeling the same?" Akame commented.

"Yeah; it is rather dull; that and the matters of court; why my father had to eat so much is a mystery to me: I really wish he had lived longer" Isshin replied.

"I know I wish you didn't have to have the burden of governing the Empire; it's a heavy burden" Akame replied, the infant Tatsumi giggled and looked up to her.

"Mama" Baby Tatsumi cooed, both parents immediately looked at him.

"You said your first word; oh, Isshin our son can talk now!" Akame rejoiced, both parents grinned.

"It figures you'd be his first word Akame, I need to spend more time with him" Isshin replied.

"I know but your duty as Emperor comes first" Akame replied.

"Still I wish Prime Minister Chouri could do more of the work" Isshin replied.

"Don't push him too hard the man did just lose his wife" Akame rebutted.

"I know, and she gave him a daughter; hey maybe one day she'll marry our son" Isshin replied.

"Isshin you're already thinking of marriage contracts; wait until he's older; we've got so much time till we have to worry about that" Akame explained.

"Still- you know what, I'm tired of being coped up her too, what about a Royal Progress of the Empire; we can see all the great cities of our wonderful Empire and visit the noble families" Isshin replied.

"I love that idea, let's do it" Akame replied both of them grinned then kissed each other.

"It'll take a week to prepare all the stuff: who do you think I should leave as regent in my absence?" Isshin asked.

"Constantine Grundel, he's a good sort and he just had a daughter; I think he'd be a great regent" Akame replied.

The two left the dojo and met with a young Constantine Grundel, Aria's description of her father in his youth were spot on as he had deep black hair but still sported his mustache and his hair had some grey starting to appear. "Your majesties" Constantine greeted and knelt before them.

"Rise Constantine, I've decided I'll be going on a royal progress to tour our realm I'm going to make you regent in my absence; my brother Yoritomo is a bit too young to govern" Isshin replied.

"He is 15" Constantine replied.

"Yes, but he's more inexperienced then me; trust me I want him to be kept a good eye on; help him while I'm gone" Isshin replied.

"You can depend on me" Constantine replied and a door to the room opened and in walked a familiar face to Tatsumi granted he was younger in his late thirties but still Tatsumi recognized Honest anywhere and at any time.

"Your majesties I hope I'm not intruding on a conversation" Honest replied.

"No Minister Honest, in fact its good you showed up because I was going to have to give the news I'm going on a Royal Progress; and as my Minister of War I want you to select my best soldiers for the retinue" Isshin replied.

"I see, well that can be arranged your majesty I will take care of the preparations; now I must discuss something with Grundel" Constantine replied.

"Oh, then be my guest Minister Honest" Isshin replied, Honest stopped to look at Tatsumi.

"What a handsome baby" Honest replied. "look at this cheeks; look at him looks almost good enough to eat" Honest remarked looking at Tatsumi, both parents glared at him. "It's a figure of speech; your son is a great child, hopefully he'll be a great person one day" Honest replied.

"He will be, our Tatsumi is destined for greatness" Akame replied.

"Indeed" Honest replied and grinned.

A week passed and Tatsumi noted that he saw a well-guarded carriage that was making its way through woods he found himself inside the carriage where he as an infant slept in his mother's arms. "I'm glad we aren't out in the rain my love" Akame replied.

"I'm glad you're here with me; granted I wish that the carriage had more room" Isshin replied.

"We are nearing a village it should be a good place to stop for the night" Akame replied and both heard the crack of thunder. "That storm is a horrible thing its good we're nice and dry in here" Akame replied.

"Indeed" Isshin replied and the carriage suddenly stopped.

"Your majesties, there is a big log in the road" their driver shouted.

"Clear it" Isshin ordered.

"You heard him men let's get this tree out of the way" the driver stated and Tatsumi looked outside and noted the royal guard troops who were well armed and armored, they moved toward the log as lightning cracked again in the sky. One of the soldiers took a good look at the tree though realized something was wrong, the tree was not burnt and clearly lightning hadn't caused it to fall over and it show signs of being cut. The soldier didn't get time to think as an arrow tore thru the air and killed him with a shot to the eye.

Yelled were heard as well armed soldiers rushed out from the woods, sellswords rather than brigands who attacked the surprised guards. The Emperor heard the commotion and got out the carriage while Empress Akame got out the other. "Run!" Isshin yelled and she took off into the woods. The guards were cut down as Isshin joined the combat, clad in only his imperial robes he drew his Katana and charged driving his blade thrust he gaps of the armor worn by the mercs.

He fought with brave fury slicing down mercenaries by the dozens, with every strike of his sword and enemy fell dead in some gruesome manner. The strikes of his sword however availed him not as a bolt pierced his shoulder, still he fought on killing two more mercs as another bolt struck his abdomen in the stomach; still he fought but with great pain and not with the form he had before. Another bolt tore his leg and another his knee as he fell to the ground on his knees. A spear wielding mercenary with dark skin indicating a southern heritage stepped forward clad in scale mail worn in the south and drove his spear into Emperor's chest all the way through him. "Ugh" Isshin growned. "I'm sorry Akame, I'm sorry Tatsumi, I failed" Isshin said bleakly.

"No, you died for a 22 silver ingots paid to my band; with a lump sum in advance; you killed many of my men; but alas you are doomed" the Mercenary stated. "Any last requests?" the Mercenary asked.

"Grant me a warriors death" Isshin replied.

"Granted" the Mercenary replied and took Isshin's sword and beheaded him.

As Isshin made his final stand Akame ran; ran as fast as she could in a dress. "Damn it, damn it all" Akame swore. Tatsumi looked at her. "It will be ok, I'll head for the village" she reassured and ran; she was being followed by a few archers, she heard the arrows and ran going from side to side as the arrows shrieked through the air; falling short of her mark. She kept running; the trees gave way to an open game trail which she ran down heading back onto the main road still behind her. "Must survive, can't let my son down" Akame mumbled to herself an arrow flew near her hitting a tree and she kept running; running as the archers behind her kept firing, firing however their quivers dried up and they drew their blades Akame ran, ran further, then noted the path closing on a village the lights of the houses shined in the night as fires lit homes; she ran kept running but stopped to catch her breath that was when they caught up. But before their swords could strike, she heard an arrow; one of the mercs fell dead with an arrow in his throat, then another; and then the last of the three men died with arrows. A young man about her own age walked up to her.

"Who are you and who are they?" The man asked, he has short brown hair and green eyes like her own.

"Akame- those men they wanted to kill me- I'm- well was Empress Akame but considering the circumstances and the fact that my husband no doubt is dead I think its best if I leave that title behind; so just call me Akame, in fact I better leave that name behind too: just call me by my middle name Kirai" the Empress replied. "Those men were assassins; I don't know who hired them, but I know they were meant to kill me, my baby, and they- killed my husband" she added.

"Don't worry Kirai I'll keep you safe, your secret is safe with me; let's see the elder, are you sure you don't want to head back to the Capital?" the man asked.

"Yes, it would be too dangerous both for me and my son; there are people that want me dead and for his safety its best if I keep him safe" Kirai replied and handed him her child and removed her jewelry and crown. "Better hide these bury them: apart from this" she explained and removed her bracelet.

"What about that?" he asked.

"That depends is the Elder an honorable man?" Kirai replied.

"Yes, I'd trust him, my father is definitely a good man; the name is Gideon by the way, Gideon son of Johnathan" the hunter replied.

"Thanks, hey do you happen to have a wife?" Kirai asked.

"No, why do you ask?" Gideon replied.

"I need someone to fill the role of father for my son and while I will take care of him, he needs a father to look up to" Kirai explained.

"I'll help him I'll take you to wife and keep your son safe raise him as if he was my own" Gideon replied.

"Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me, I- don't have really anything to repay that debt apart from becoming your wife" Kirai explained.

"Let's go see my father, he'll want to know what happened" Gideon explained.

Tatsumi then cried tears that could not be heard. "Mother?" Mother!" Tatsumi yelled at the top of his lungs. Time passed and he saw the two meet with Elder; Gramps as Tatsumi knew him, they decided to keep all this hidden, his mother's jewelry was buried near his adopted home; her bracelet however, the Bracelet of Emperors was given to the Elder for safekeeping. Tatsumi watched himself grow up and the love between his adoptive father and his birth mother, and though it bloomed they devoted their time to him even when she was with child; having his three half-siblings that Tatsumi recognized. It was enough; and when he noted his mother's past up to the day, he left Karsawa the memory ended.

"My mother- she's still alive" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes, she is, you knew her your whole life" Kronos replied.

"I see why she chose to hide her identity I- see the reason for secrets but I've got to know who hired those mercs, show me that" Tatsumi explained, Kronos eyes glowed green and Tatsumi found himself taken to a forest grove not too far from the ambush sight Tatsumi recognized the black armor clad figure immediately, clad in the armor and his signature fur coat his arch-enemy stood next to a number of soldiers that were clad in the armor worn by the troops that fought alongside him in their one fight.

The mercenaries approached with his father's head held by the leader. "Your enemies have been dealt with" the Mercenary leader explained, the same armored spearman who killed his father.

"Excellent, yet I see only one head, what of the Empress and her son?" Honest replied.

"Some of my boys chased after her, they haven't reported back; perhaps they ran into danger beasts; now where is our pay; I've lost 30 men to the Emperor and his entourage; most of them to his highness himself; I want the pay that you gave us for committing high-treason" the Mercenary replied.

"Your pay?" Honest replied a look of amusement on his face. "Where is the Empress and her son?" Honest replied.

"Dead in the woods; besides what does it matter their helpless in these woods and she wouldn't dare return to the Capital not with what happened to her husband and not if she values her life" the Mercenary replied.

"Well you are right, especially since as far as I'm concerned there won't be anyone to verify her identity" Honest replied.

"Now pay up" The mercenary demanded this time getting really annoyed.

"Oh, I'm afraid you've not understood the contract you see my contract was for the Emperor, his wife and child, you killed one out of three" Honest replied.

"Well then I'm sure people at court will pay good money to know what happened her" The Mercenary replied.

"You didn't think that occurred to me? I'm sure you'd make a fortune with that information, but you see the problem is you would and well you see I don't leave loose ends" Honest replied then drew his sword faster than mercenary could react and decapitated him. The other Mercenaries drew their weapons and began to charge but before they could move, they found themselves paralyzed. "You know I don't like my enemies to fight back I rather they die quickly" Honest replied behind each mercenary was a shadow clone of Honest with a sword to their throats. "Kill them" Honest commended and Ephialties shinned as the clones beheaded each merc.

"Now what Minister Honest?" Youkan remarked Tatsumi recognized that voice but noted that he was younger.

"Forget the corpses leave them for the vultures" Honest ordered.

"And the Empress?" Youkan asked.

"No longer a threat; if she values her life, provided she survives the danger beasts in this wood she'll never show her face again the same for her child, he'll grow up not knowing who he is and that makes him no threat" Honest replied.

"Well that will teach that peasant filth to dare marry the Emperor; she sullied the blood" one of the other men commented, Tatsumi recognized a noble lord that was clearly Honest's brother in-law Iokal whom Mine had blown the head off of with a single shot from over half a mile away not to long after he joined Night Raid.

"Indeed; now she can live with the hicks here along with her spawn; now let us leave I think Yoritomo will be a more reliable Emperor" Honest remarked and laughed.

"HONEST!" Tatsumi yelled and drew his swords in rage and charged Honest, the blades and himself passed thru him like he was a ghost.

"There is nothing that you can do to change the past Tatsumi" Kronos replied.

"Shut the Fuck up! I know that, but now- I don't know how to describe Honest now; he murdered my father, drove my mother into hiding, killed my aunt and uncle eating my aunt alive! HONEST!" Tatsumi yelled then knelt and cried, tears of rage and grief. "I'm alone now thanks to him my dynasty a family I never properly knew about, a dynasty that has ruled the Empire for over a thousand years reduced to me and three kids one of which has been tormented by evil people and two of which are innocents" Tatsumi mumbled.

"You aren't alone; your mother still lives Tatsumi, you have a wonderful new family with many women who love you, your cousin Makoto is alive, his sisters are alive; you aren't alone Tatsumi you've never been" Kronos replied, Tatsumi still grieved but the words lightened his pain; somewhat.

The world shifted and Tatsumi found himself sitting before the mirror on the ground once more, his eyes still filled with tears. Tatsumi had during the time of his journey showcasing his emotions visibly and his lovers noticed this.

"Tatsumi did you find out who your parents were?" Esdeath asked simply from next to him.

"Yes" Tatsumi asked simply, he was still overwhelmed by the knowledge. "I'm-" Tatsumi began then stopped having to think of how to best explain this and still trying to process the truth he had found out: that he was a Prince not just any prince but the rightful Emperor and Makoto's cousin, that his father had been murdered while his mother escaped and lied to him about his origins to keep him safe something for which he had to talk with her about, and that Honest had been responsible for all the hurts he had endured in his life that Honest had been responsible for the murders of his father Emperor Isshin the Lost along with his Uncle Emperor Yoritomo and Aunt Empress Meko, in addition to goodness knows how many other relatives of his in Honest's quest to rule the Empire himself.

"You're what? Are you ok" Aria asked and looked at him with a doctor's concern for health?

"I'm- a prince" Tatsumi replied and then broke down and explained everything he had witnessed and after doings so broke down and cried in grief, his wives and Kurome huddled around him hugging him in comfort.

Tatsumi still wept but received a slap in the face and noted Aria glaring at him. "Pull yourself together Tatsumi; you may have lost your family but you didn't lose them all your Mother is still ALIVE, Makoto is ALIVE, Lin and Koko are still ALIVE, and more importantly me and everyone else you've married or hold dear in love are still ALIVE, as are most of our families and more importantly you've got children on the way; the Imperial Dynasty may be down to three but in a year that number will go up and in a decade it will be thriving again, but only if you stop drowning yourself in self-pity and grief and step up to the task: you think I gave up when I found out my father had cancer or when you nearly died fighting Honest, no I've never given up and you shouldn't either" Aria confronted.

"Tatsumi I know you've taken some hard losses but you are not alone and you've never been alone: I've been there for you since we were both little, so has Clementine and even Ieyasu, but especially your mother; you had a normal childhood in Karsawa, a life that most people experience; you've lived like the people in the Empire that your true family has ruled for centuries; you need to pull yourself out of this funk and set things right" Sayo reassured.

"Tatsumi, you are just and kind soul, you everything that your father would have wanted you to be, you know what it right and while you may not rule the Empire you've done more for it than any Emperor in the past three centuries done more than your father and uncle could have ever dreamed of; you Tatsumi are the future of the Empire, a true champion of Justice; a soldier for right and the person who will change our world, change Eden for the better" Seryu reassured.

"Tatsumi; you changed my life, you've saved countless lives, your actions are everything a true Emperor should be, you've protected those you love, you refused to give in to evil, you even refused an order from the Revolutionary Army's leader to his FACE, to his fucking FACE, and not just that you've given me reason to hope again; our child will live in a peaceful world but only if you keep on fighting for what's right" Najenda comforted.

"Tatsumi, you're a savior of those in need, the common people of the Empire, the good souls and the innocent, your everything the people need, you saved my life from that monster Nyau, you saved numerous women from being raped by that monster Enshin, you saved my father, you kept me from killing innocent people, you helped me find myself and live up to all the virtues of the Order of the Imperial Fist; you're the future and we need you, the Empire needs you, everyone needs you" Spear reassured.

"Tatsumi you you dumbass, get your head out of your ass and listen: you think it's hard not knowing about your family try living the life of a nobility I hated every minute of it, why do you think I ran away given the chance: your Mother had you raised among the common people for a reason: that reason being to appreciate the people of this Empire; to appreciate people like Sayo, Air, Ieyasu, and every one of the everyday people who live in this Empire. I married you for love and love you the most for your selflessness and I doubt you would have had it if your mother hadn't raised you the way she did: and she kept all this secret to protect you from the monster that is Honest, to make sure that one day you'd put an end to him once and for all" Mine comforted.

"Tatsumi, you gave me a second chance at life, you undid all the grievous harms done to me by drugs thru not giving up on me, you restored my faith in humanity, and allowed me to have what I've wanted in life: a family of my own besides Akame; and you've got me and my sister reconciled, don't give up, not even for a minute" Kurome comforted.

"Esdeath?" Tatsumi asked, Esdeath looked at him.

"I know full well your pain Tatsumi, don't forget I too lost my father to monsters, I lost my entire people my clan, I've had to fight every day since then and I lost a good deal of my morals; but you restored my sense of good and evil, you've given me love, you've given me everything that I've lacked, you are truly stronger than me, you are the strongest; you survive and make the weak stronger for your strength you hunt and kill those who would prevent the weak from becoming strong and more importantly you've given me my clan back; everyone here is part of it now, all of you are Patras, and every child you and I bare will bring my family and people back" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi smiled.

"You're all right, I shouldn't give up, especially not this late in the game: I told Honest everyone needs to hear my words and I was going to change this world and I will: and if I have to I will take up my birthright to do it: speaking of I've got to let Makoto and his sister know this, they need to know they aren't alone that they still have family" Tatsumi replied.

"Well lets go see them" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi got up as did everyone else but first he took a hard look at the box.

"Should I open it now?" Tatsumi asked.

"No; wait until after the coup, the Empire will be shocked enough by Honest's death, you revealing your heritage to the people on top of that may cause more people to be your enemies, people that don't have to be" Esdeath explained.

"I second that, Esdeath is right Tatsumi, the Mirror's showing of the past is enough to prove to Makoto your true identity without whatever is in that box" Spear added.

"Alright, let's go" Tatsumi replied.

Imperial Palace, Makoto's chambers, 11:23 am, 1 hour and 57 minutes from the coup…

Tatsumi walked into Makoto's room with his entourage, with Esdeath and Sayo on either side of him and the Mirror of Time in hand. "Makoto-san" Tatsumi greeted and Makoto looked up from a book he was reading to Lin and Koko.

"Tatsumi-nii!" Makoto shouted and got, up the twins did to and hugged him along with their brother.

"Hey, you three stop I've got something important to tell you; Makoto to show you specifically" Tatsumi replied.

"What is it Tatsumi?" Makoto asked.

"What is it Tatsu-nii" Lin asked.

"Yeah tell me Tatsumi-nii" Koko asked.

"Well it's kind of a long story but I looked into the Mirror of Time to find out who my parents were and- long story short I'm your cousin" Tatsumi explained.

"What?!" All three said at the same time.

"Here Makoto hold my hand and I'll show you" Tatsumi replied he then put the Mirror of Time on the table then held Makoto's hand as he said the words that took them inside the realm of time. Kronos was waiting for them and Tatsumi showed Makoto all the things he'd seen, granted there was a lot for Makoto to take in but Tatsumi showed him every detail about his heritage, about his parents and everything regarding them that he could see.

"Tatsumi" Makoto commented after seeing the past.

"Yes?" Tatsumi asked.

"I want to know what happened to my mom and dad, I've- got to know how they died, I don't want Lin or Koko to know about it but I've got to at least see; and don't try to talk me out of it, I went thru hell with what the Audette sisters did to me and I don't think anything could compare to it" Makoto replied.

"Alright, but I'll warn it's going to painful to see" Tatsumi replied.

"I know, but like you I have to know" Makoto replied, Tatsumi agreed, and showed Makoto what happened; Makoto cried when he saw what happened to his parents but especially his mother; he had been told her body had taken too much abuse for him to see but seeing Honest rape then cannibalize her while she was still alive was very painful and gave him true hatred for the Prime Minister.

Shortly… "I cannot believe I trusted Honest; after all he's done I- can't think of words to describe how betrayed I feel nor my hatred for him, I can't even think of a punishment that would fit his crimes their so atrocious and vile" Makoto explained afterwards.

"I know that feeling completely, but it's completely different to me: I've had to deal with the pain of keeping his crimes secret; you'd have never believed me if you hadn't seen what happened he's done and what all evil monsters in the Empire have done firsthand. And on top of that I've got to deal with the extra weight of protecting people from him and his cronies; but soon it will be over" Tatsumi explained.

"Tatsumi- I- don't want to be Emperor anymore, I've failed the Empire, and not just that I'm not the rightful Emperor, Tatsumi you are: you're the leader the Empire needs and deserves; you're the person who should have been on that throne and should wear this crown: you are what we need and after this is over I'm giving the throne to you; you're the rightful leader and the leader Empire needs" Makoto explained.

"I- don't want to be" Tatsumi replied.

"Neither did I, but if you aren't who will be; you're the leader we need, and you've got all the makings of one" Makoto replied.

"I- you're right, my father would want me to, I can't let the people of this Empire down not after I've fought so hard to make their lives better and who would rule the Empire? I can't think of a better option, and running away from my responsibilities is wrong: I've never done it before and I'm not going to compromise my principles now: I'll be Emperor and I'll be the best one the Empire's ever had" Tatsumi replied embracing his heritage; fully, even though he didn't want to he wasn't going to leave the position to someone who'd not be able to do it, he was the one who should've been Emperor and needed to be; it would be hard but to guarantee the future of the Empire, its people and his family he had to take the path, especially since his family was his greatest treasure.

They returned to the normal world; Makoto looked at his sisters. "Tatsumi is our cousin, I've- seen for myself; with that in mind I'm- abdicating the throne to him; after the coup Tatsumi will be Emperor; he's the leader we need and deserve, he's the one we all need and importantly he's as much a father to us as our dad ever was" Makoto explained, everyone was amazed by this.

"Makoto are you sure?" Esdeath replied.

"Yes Esdeath-nii, I told you Tatsumi should be Emperor and not me and now that he's family and not only family the rightful Emperor he will be: I'm not changing my mind on this, besides I never wanted to be Emperor anyway it's so boring and stressful; I'm Prince Makoto now; Prince Makoto, not Emperor Makoto" Makoto replied, then took off his crown to hand it to Tatsumi.

"Keep that on, Honest isn't gone yet and we don't want to start anything yet" Tatsumi explained.

"Yeah you're right, let's just pretend for next few hours that this conversation never happened and that we were playing" Makoto replied.

Imperial Palace, 12:10 PM, Zero hour… Honest looked around at his inner circle. "Ah my friends the time is near at hand when the Empire will be ours, I will rule and you will serve as my advisors and in your case Saikyuu my heir; as off this moment you are legitimized" Honest spoke, his son grinned.

"Thank you, father, this is a great day" Saikyuu replied.

"Gentlemen a toast: to Valtor and to me!" Honest replied and raised a wine glass as did everyone in the room. (Song Begin: War of Change)

Suddenly a portal, no two opened simultaneously, a loud noise came, and the guards found themselves paralyzed. Viceroy Lok one of Honest's puppet governors found himself strung up and disemboweled by strings as Lubbock swung in. Youken drew a sword from his cane only to have it yanked from his hand by a hooked blade and have his leg pulled out from under him, he looked up and saw a lovely dark-skinned woman who quickly eviscerated with her twin blades. Saikyuu was all alert his sword drawn when an armored warrior with two swords came face to face with him.

"My father trained me in the way of the blade I'm not afraid of you" Saikyuu taunted.

"Eliminate" Akame stated monotony then struck, her strikes quickly overwhelmed Saikyuu's defenses and two strikes from Murasame injected a lethal dose of poison that cause him to collapse blood frothing from his mouth.

The fat minister Gebezi tried to run but found himself sliced in half at the midsection. "I'm sorry" Sheele stated then sliced down three more of Honest's Advisors before using Extase to block machine gun rounds.

"I'm out of here!" Marshal Koukai yelled and ran like the craven he was only to find his body bloat up.

"Worms like you don't get the chance to wriggle away: speaking of wriggling your skin is crawling with them" Merraid replied then gave him the kiss of death and the Marshal exploded into gore. Honest's scribe tried to drive a dagger into her back but found a rapier pierce his neck and decapitate him.

"Watch your back sis" Chelsea commented, two guards dropped dead with needle blades in them.

"Speak for yourself" Taeko remarked, then decapitated Dousen with a swing of Shamshir.

General Noukan put up a struggle being the only one of Honest's advisors that was armed in this case with a Greatsword, but that availed him little when the White Knight sliced the blade clean in half before slicing him down without a second thought. Honest's other advisors were cut down by Night Raid, Bulet driving Incursio's spear form into five of Honest's ministers in a shish kabob before Leone pulverized Honest's two remaining body guards.

(Song end)

Shortly all bodies lay did and Night Raid team stood ready, they heard clapping as Honest appeared from nowhere his sword at the ready. "Well done indeed Night Raid; nice job; now I'll have to kill you all here and now: Ephialties Shroud of Night!" Honest yelled and a dark cloud materialized however before it settled in a bright light dispersed it and the White Knight stood with his sword ready.

(Song begin: Wrong side of Heaven)

"Well aren't you a killjoy" Honest replied.

"Yami, get everyone else out of here, this our fight" Leone ordered, and the rest of the team departed via Shambala.

"Two vs one? Leone I'm surprised you are so sporting and sent your friends away" Honest replied.

"Father you seem to be forgetting something this is personal, a family dispute" Leone replied readying her Teigu. "Lionelle: Pride of Nemea!" Leone yelled her trump card, fusing into a cat form, her body was covered by a catsuit of golden fur and her ears were now prominent and tail longer than normal.

"Family matter? Yet the White Knight is still here, why does he remain" Honest replied.

"Because Asha's justice brings me here: Father!" Syura yelled lifting up his visor to Honest's shock.

"Impossible!? You're dead your head was posted on a stake! Syura!? This can't be it must be a trick!" Honest yelled.

"It's no trick: I did die, I saw and experienced hell, Asha gave me a second chance and now it's time to our family wrongs to bed, with your death: Tatsumi's orders!" Syura replied, Honest's face contorted with rage his shroud revealing his true form now nearly fully demonic and his black armor dark as the abyss of Abaddon.

"You're grounded for Eternity!" Honest yelled and charged, both swords clashed, the Realix blade met the Teigu Darkblade and Honest unleashed his full form, Syura did not hold back striking with a lightning storm of sword strikes, the speed was moving faster than anyone else could comprehend Leone could see clearly and began to move as shadow clones of her father materialized. "Don't think I forget about you daughter!" Honest's shadows yelled.

"I didn't by the way I've got something new" Leone replied, and large Warhammer flew thru a window: Zargannath: Hammer of Magma. "It's hammer time! Zargannath: Ignite!" Leone yelled and the hammer ignited and smashed the shadows with ease.

Honest kept up the onslaught sending more clones not leaving any opening for Syura but any strike he Honest made did not phase the armor; to his shock armor that could withstand a Teigu was one thing, but the armor didn't even have a scratch from the blows did get thru. "DIE! DIE MY TREACHEROUS SPAWN!" Honest yelled attacking with rage, blinded in his fury he kept trying to break thru and slammed Syura into a wall but before he could capitalize on momentum that had knocked Syura's helmet off a hammer strike knocked him to the side and Leone who had tossed the hammer aside wrestled him sending Darkblade out the window.

Leone's fists no claws like a lion, mauled thru the armor, her tore his coat apart as he lunged with strikes with his own demonic claws any injury healed instantaneously Leone delivered a beatdown of the kind Honest hadn't experiences since his first sparring match with a master of the Imperial Fist; in fact Leone had taken full advantage of his fighting style, in fact Lionelle was the basis of the art. Leone's strength then punched thru his armor, chest out his back. "I'm sorry father but you died long ago" Leone replied and flung him out the ballroom window to a massive drop outside.

(Song End)

Honest fell, the 10-story drop was hard but he felt pain. "LORD VALTOR!" Honest yelled, the arch demon appeared flying in his human form. "The time has come my master" Honest replied.

"Indeed: allow me to complete your transformation" Valtor replied, Honest blacked out as his body morphed in the air, his remaining human traits vanished, his skin turned the dark red of demons, his chest healed his armor repaired and fused to his body along with his crown; he grew long bat-like wings: a tail sprouted and his teeth grew longer as his features while they retained some human traits were now fully demonic, all that remained were his eyes but now the scalara had turned blood red. He took flight next his master getting used to the wings.

"You are Honest no more: you are Volgoth Ugor fully now: embrace your name and forgot who you were, you now serve me and will do so for eternity!" Valtor replied then branded his mark on Honest's forehead.

"I AM VOLGOTH!" Volgoth yelled. "The time has come I need no puppet; I need no weak human advisors I am Arch-Demon now and the Legions of Hell itself will pour forth and Eden will be MINE!" Volgoth replied.

"Go now my servant and wreak your vengeance: kill them all" Valtor replied.

"Kill them all, kill that whore Esdeath, kill the traitors, kill Makoto, kill that BOY TATSUMI!" Volgoth replied, then smiled thinking up a plan then ported to his underground lair and readied his minions. "The Time has come my servants to the throne room"

The Throne room of the Imperial Palace, 10 minutes after the coup… Leone walked into the throne room the guards raised their weapons. "Stand down!" Makoto ordered.

"It's over" Leone replied, cheers went up she hugged Tatsumi and everyone grinned.

"Now for-"Makoto began but the throne room door slammed open, much to his shock and Tatsumi's because usually this was his thing. "Hello there" Honest stated walking in, Volgoth had assumed his old form and was now accompanied by his soldiers, both Lorhish and Graal were concealed from sight. "Emperor you have a traitor in your midst: kill Minister Tatsumi, Jaegers destroy his village Karsawa!" Honest ordered.

"No such thing will happen I know full well who you are monster: you murdered my father! Ate my mother alive! Killed my Uncle! And have defiled my Empire and allowed it to be robbed by enemies within and without: no Honest, not even Prime Minister anymore; your supposed to be dead and on top of that you're fired Imperial decree, and on top of it all you are sentenced to death for treason" Makoto replied showing a face of anger and defiance.

"You'd really think I would have complied with that order anyway" Esdeath added.

"General Budo arrest him!" Makoto ordered.

"I figured you'd react that way; you have broken your strings my puppet just like your father before you, and will share his fate, but first I'll do something I've wanted to do to you long ago I'll make you my buttboy but before that I'll rape those sisters of yours and eat them alive right in front of you! I no longer need you, nor them, nor anything the Empire is mine: Honest is dead boy, he has been dead since he ventured into the ruins of Vol'da'koth 20 years ago: I am the almighty Volgoth Ugor now and forever!" Volgoth declared and threw back the shroud revealing his true form also revealing Lorhish and Graal who were grinning. "Begin the Purge: KILL THEM ALL!" Volgoth yelled.

(Song Begin: Carnivore by Starset, Honest's theme)

"Guards! Rakshasa Demons! Elite Seven! Protect your Emperor!" Esdeath ordered and drew her sword: Mine readied Pumpkin, everyone drew their weapon, the royal guard soldiers, 80 in all formed a defensive phalanx.

"We'll wreck him!" Ibara yelled and Sten rushed forward, followed by Jauss and Fritz going to flank them.

"Graal deal with the Elite Seven, show them your fury I'll deal with these insolent fools!" Volgoth replied.

"WAIT!" Esdeath and Tatsumi yelled at the same time, too late, Ibara and his three compatriots had already charged forth, Sten spinning his flail demolishing the grunts the dead sprouting forth demons, Fritz and Jauss charged towards Honest.

"GRAAL SMASH! GRAAL KILL!" Graal yelled as Lorhish unleashed him from his chain, he cut Fritz in half with a single strike from his great axe that he wielded with a single hand before picking up Jauss with the other and beating him to a pulp. Sten knocked Lorhish's feet out from under and flung his flail at Volgoth who grinned caught the head and dragged Sten to him and quarter him with two strikes from Darkblade. Ibara enraged charged him Honest drove Darkblade into the floor and stopped Ibara with his claw.

"You want a piece of me you ugly son of a bitch you want one?!" Ibara taunted.

"No, I want you in two!" Honest yelled and ripped him in half before chomping his head clean off with a jaw of teeth comparable to a dreadsaurion's bite in force. "KILL THEM ALL! EXTINCTION TO ALL WHO OPPOSE ME AND LORD VALTOR!" Honest yelled and charged followed by his soldiers.

"Rakshasa Demons! Elite Seven get the Emperor out of here!" Esdeath ordered and Makoto hit a button on throne opening a wall behind him, Mez and Suzuka ran out carrying him with the five remaining elite seven behind them. "Go Tatsumi Najenda Budo and I will handle him!" Esdeath ordered.

"I'm not leaving you!" Tatsumi replied.

"I'LL KILL YOU BOY!" Volgoth yelled as three eviscerated corpses flew in their direction hitting the wall in a blood mulch.

"No time GO!" Esdeath yelled and Najenda and the others dragged Tatsumi off, Budo and Esdeath stood their ground.

(Song End, Song Begin: New Divide by Linking park)

"Army of Winter!" Esdeath declared and ice construct warriors appeared to replace the fallen guards who had been slaughtered to five as more of Honest's warriors rushed in to replace the fallen. "Icicle Storm!" Esdeath declared a barrage of Ice shards impaled rank after rank of soldiers as Volgoth charged her, Esdeath side stepped and began a dance of swords. Her rapier was broader then most and reinforced, the blade moved with high speeds but Dark blade moved faster, still Esdeath was a formidable swordswoman about Honest's equal, she tapped more draw strength from her Teigu, summoning a second sword of ice as she incased herself in raw ice armor, thicker than two icebergs; yet still Volgoth kept striking blade met blade, and Esdeath found herself getting overstretched as she used more energy to keep up her defenses.

That was when a strike came her Rapier shattered like glass from a direct hit from Darkblade and Honest swung once more. Esdeath yelled in ancient language "Mahāpadma!" and time froze using her trump card as she black flipped out of the way of the strike as time resumed. "DIE ICE BITCH!" Volgoth yelled and charged towards an exhausted Esdeath only to be tackled by Budo.

"LEAVE!" Budo yelled and Esdeath for the first time in her life ran from a fight not looking back and using her Teigu to collapse the passageway behind her as she ran to meet up with Tatsumi and the others who had in the time they had been waiting for her gathered up Makoto's sisters and looted the Teigu vault of every Teigu there to make sure they didn't fall into Honest's hands.

"Let's leave now!" Tatsumi yelled and they charged down the Black gate out of Makoto's room running hard. Syura then appeared mid-way through the passage and opened a portal to Grundwick Manor.

(Song End)

Back in the throne room… (Song Begin: Doomsday Clock by Smashing Pumpkins) Budo readied his poleaxe and summoned lightning bolts. "You will DIE!" Volgoth yelled.

"Yes, that is my duty! My duty to the Emperor, to his father and mother whom you murdered" Budo replied.

"I didn't just murder the Emperor, I raped his wife in front of him and ate her alive afterword, and before that I killed his brother: and you think that boy Makoto will amount to anything: USELESS!" Volgoth replied.

"No, my duty is to the rightful Emperor: Tatsumi son of Isshin the Lost and Cousin to Makoto: I die for him and I know I can't beat you but at least I die in the line of DUTY!" Budo yelled and Volgoth charged enraged; not just by Budo's defiance but the knowledge that his mortal nemesis was the boy who got away all those years ago.

"DIE!" Volgoth yelled and began the onslaught, his demons circled around the fight ready to strike. "STAY OUT OF THIS HE'S MINE TO KILL!" Volgoth yelled and the demons backed off, Volgoth's sword cut through the haft of Budo's pull axe which Budo discarded using the half-staff as an axe and picking up the spear of one of his fallen soldiers driving it at Volgoth who simply shattered it, Budo then grabbed the machine gun of one of his warriors and fired away, the bullets bounced off the armor uselessly.

"RAGE OF HAMMON!" Budo yelled and surge of lighting struck Volgoth, the electric energy hurt horrible, but the demon powered on, Budo drove his pull axe into the shoulder the weapon shattering on impact as he then attempted to wrestle with Volgoth. A fatal error; Volgoth dropped his sword and caught both Budo's hands with his claws and crushed them, bones snapping and blood exploding out of them Budo shrieked in agony.

"I'll Eat you alive!" Volgoth yelled.

"Forgive me my Emperor I've failed" Budo muttered, Volgoth tore his throat out then devoured him.

Back at Grundwick Manor… The Demon tide was going to rise soon and the swift thinking Constantine already had a plan, he then press a button on an the mantle revealing a strange machine behind it, her pressed another button and the machine buzzed to life, energy poured forth and generated a shield: this energy shield of Dwarven design surged over Melitine's west, southern and mid-town quarters, the shield covered everything Tatsumi and everyone else had visited, the Mansions of his friends and relatives, homes of many people, the Umatora theater, the shopping districts, Jaeger HQ, Dorothea's Lab, everywhere important even the Clock Tower though barely. "That should keep the city safe" Constantine replied.

"I pity those outside" Aria replied.

"I know but where did you guys get this thing in the first place?" Tatsumi asked.

"Dwarven gift, it's an old family heirloom and in case the city was ever in danger of falling this shield would protect most of it" Constantine explained.

"Now what, we've failed" Tatsumi replied.

"Keep moving: We need an army; Tatsumi you're the leader we need, and I'll be there to help you plan, first however we should reconcile, also see if you can cheer up Esdeath" Spear replied.

Tatsumi went to go see his Ice Queen who was in the process of cutting her hair, he winced as he saw those luscious locks fall to ground. "I've failed Tatsumi" Esdeath replied then cried, Tatsumi held her close.

Back in the palace… "Volgoth, the time has come for the conquest of Eden" Valtor replied.

"Indeed milord: the time has come; now what do you bring me?" Volgoth asked.

"An Army" Valtor replied as the sky outside went red and portals began opening throughout Melitine, the legions of Hell were unleashed. Valtor grinned in the throne room as six great Arch-Devil Generals marched forth at his side and behind a Pit Lord clad in armor of demonic wrath.

"And they are?" Volgoth asked.

"Your generals, and a relative of yours, it's been a while since you've seen your son and he has finished his training and earned a new name: Volgoth Ugor meet your son: Argardon Ugor" Valtor introduced.

"Father" Argardon, once Eugene greeted.

"Good to see you once more my child" Volgoth replied.


	56. Omake 9 (Happy Halloween)

Omake 8: Nightmare or not (In honor of Halloween also known as Empire's End Tatsumi meets and wrecks 'Canon' along with banging 'canon' Aria)

"Asha whistles on the throne, looking at the spheres of world before getting up get a drink of fresh Luman Star-grape Wine, as she does so one of her world spiders messes up with the web of souls, swapping two souls to the wrong worlds. Consequences are sure to ensue and this is the story of Tatsumi's Worst Nightmare." (Evil spooky laugh) Scene change to Seryu setting in a chair in a vampire dress with Koro on her lap and a circle of kids around her. "Ok my children of Justice the time has come for Halloween and in loo of that spooky scary time of year I am going to read you the story of your daddy's worst nightmare" Seryu replied reading from the book.

"Ooh I love that story Mommy, tell us" A copper haired girl exclaimed.

"Glad you asked Christy, yes indeed the story of Tatsumi's worst Nightmare is a story your father told his chronicler and is kept in his records of side stories, real or imagined" Seryu replied. "5 years ago on a night like this: your daddy went to sleep with Aunt Aria and Aunt Sayo on either side of him, as sleep took him he found himself in a weird world much like our own but twisted and wrong, like the spawn of bad writers and those who delight in misery of human beings: or in another word huh? 'Canon'? What the- no- no- no! Erasiel Darkar! You need to read a dictionary canon is- well forget it! Forget it, moving on with the story" Seryu read and ranted.

Scene Change… "Now where was I, on a Halloween eve your father dreamed a dream too real and too familiar one that always has troubled his sleep and even years later does on occasion" Seryu narrated.

"Tatsumi wake up! Blood!" Valruost yelled thru Tatsumi's mental link Tatsumi opened his eyes noting his swords on a nightstand and that he was dressed in clothes from years ago.

"What the-? Hey when did I get into the Guest room at Grundewick Manor?!" Tatsumi replied.

"No Idea Go! Fight!" Valruost yelled, Tatsumi picked up his swords and dawned the dragon armor looking out the window seeing somethings that were off.

"Ok something is wrong Eden has three moons, there is one outside and it looks nothing like any of them" Tatsumi shouted to himself then looked out a window and heard gunfire. "Ok! That clinches is something is wrong and bad!" Tatsumi yelled and immediately jumped out a third-floor window landing safely in the manor backyard. He heard yells and rushed towards Aria and two of her guards who raised their weapons. "Hold it! Hold It! It's me!" Tatsumi yelled, both guards lowered their weapons.

"Oh good, Tatsumi, where in the world did you- never mind there are assassins here they're coming for us!" Aria shouted in a panic.

"Great don't worry I'll protect you" Tatsumi replied, Valruost began to say something but Tatsumi cut him off mentally. Suddenly both guards were quickly decapitated and Tatsumi barely blocked a sword blow that would have decapitated Aria and saw a quite familiar assassin.

"Eliminate!" Akame yelled and clashed.

"Whoa! Akame! Knock it off have you gone insane its me! Tatsumi!" Tatsumi yelled as he parried each of her strikes with ease.

"You are not the target stand aside" Akame ordered in a cold voice.

"What?! You have lost it are you trying to kill Aria?! What the Hell!? You've gone nuts and what the hell is happening!" Tatsumi replied and kept up the attack unaware that as they fought they neared a shed.

"Whoa! Whoa! Akame Ease off!" Leone yelled coming over. "What the hell? Oh its you, Akame ease off I owe him a favor" Leone replied.

"You sure do; Leone help me secure Akame she's gone mental and- I have no idea what I'm doing at Grundewick manor? How the hell did that happen!?" Tatsumi replied.

"Look alright just move aside and let us deal with our target" Leone replied.

"Not you too come on this is nuts!" Tatsumi replied.

"Alright maybe this will change your mind and she bolted past him to smash down the shed door, inside were a hell of a lot of bodies.

"Oh shit! I knew it! I knew IT! No wonder you are all acting crazy I'm having this nightmare again for the 21st time!" Tatsumi replied.

"Nightmare yeah" Aria stammered out and clung to him like he was a shield.

"Tatsumi is that you?" a voice groaned out.

"Yep its this nightmare again, I know exactly how this plays out and I've been forced to follow it out five times till I learned how to control nightmares: It goes like this, dying dream Ieyasu tells me Aria tortured Sayo to death, Aria goes nuts and you beg me to let you kill her, then I kill her. Nope, I've seen this show before and am fucking sick of it get out of here nightmare" Tatsumi replied to confusion of all three people who were perplexed by his state of mind. "Alright traditional dream logic dictates in face nightmares turn nightmares into good dreams by bringing out things you like: in this a case I'll go with a wet dream: Akame, Leone, Aria get your clothes off and lets have fun" Tatsumi added.

"Have you gone insane, no way!" Akame replied.

"I may like you but not like that" Leone replied.

"Right, uh let me try" Aria replied thinking hard and hoping to survive Tatsumi didn't know this was real and she had figured out this was different Tatsumi then the 'hick' she had picked up a couple days ago.

"Enough Eliminate" Akame yelled and went to attack again.

"This is a dream because if it wasn't I wouldn't be able to do this!" Tatsumi replied and delivered a forceful counter attack with Smaug and Valruost that shattered Murasame in a single strike; to the shock of Akame.

"You- broke Murasame like it was twig!" Leone replied backing off.

"Yep, in a dream I'd be able to do that because the real Murasame is unbreakable; also there is only one moon: Eden the real Eden has three!" Tatsumi replied and pointed at the sky. At this point he had confused all three people into a state that they began to contemplate reality.

A pink blast knocked Tatsumi back into a shed snapping all three out of the daze and Tatsumi jumping back up in front of Aria. "What the hell! Mine! We Already tested this 20 times the Dragon Armor is immune to Pumpkin's rounds no matter how many shots you hit it with!" Tatsumi replied, also Bulat in Incursio and Lubbock arrived on seen followed by a confused Sheele.

"What is going on here?" Lubbock asked.

"I've been asking that exact same question; Now since I've had this dream before I know exactly what all of you were doing before this: Sheele you cut Angela in half, Leone your mauled Constantine to death without mercy and the rest of you killed the guards; come on this shit show of a nightmare is so predictable" Tatsumi replied.

"He's gone nuts" Leone explained summing it up.

"No you all have, and this is a dream! How many times do I have to explain that concept- you know what forget it! Aria we're leaving, you're the only one that realizes this is a dream and we're out!" Tatsumi replied and then grabbed Aria. "Smaug: Dragon Flight!" Tatsumi yelled and the dragon armor dawned wings everyone else was too shocked to do anything Tatsumi then sheathed his swords and held Aria close to his chest and flew away.

"AHHH!" Aria screamed.

"Yeah I know I didn't do this with you in real life!" Tatsumi replied, Aria covered her eyes. "Well benefits of dreams you do things that are completely nuts and haven't done in real life!" Tatsumi added flying hard for a good mile and half to a part of Melitine he was sure was secure.

Meanwhile… A portal opens up next to a still perplexed Night Raid and a shattered shed. "Ok where are you?" Erasiel Darkar remarks coming out with Linzi at side.

"What the hell?!" Leone commented.

"ALIENS!" Lubbock yelled and fainted.

"Great, yet again always happens, inter dimensional travelers ok, I prefer that term for starters, secondly have you seen a brown haired green eyed man? Dressed in well simple garb and packing two swords" Erasiel asked, nods of agreement came.

"How did you know?" Leone asked rheotorically.

"Because I brought yours back; one of World Spiders mucked with The Web of Souls AGAIN and swapped two sepperate versions of the same persion from seperrate universes: now I'm going to have to fix all of this" Erasiel replied.

"Ok?" everyone replied confused. Erasiel turned to each member in turn.

"You let me fix that" Erasiel replied and picked up Murasame and repaired it as good as new with a spell. "Now two important things: One DO NOT under any circumstances kill Esdeath: if you do that the world will fall into Chaos, seen that timeline not good for any of you" Erasiel explained then turned to Leone. "Beware the Prime Minister's Crown, it can break Teigus which is a Bullshit ability I know but do yourself a favor and have Mine snipe him" Erasiel explained then turned to Bulat. "You stay clear of the Dragonship, if you go on it you will die and everyone will be sad!" Erasiel replied then turned to Sheele and Mine. "You two, Find Seryu Ubquitous and expose her to Captain Ogre's corruption BEFORE you kill him; if you don't do that you'll both end up being killed by her: you'll die by become a Koro chew-toy and you by being killed by shrapnel" Erasiel explained, Mine glared at him. "Don't you try the Tsundere glare on me it isn't going to save you from getting killed, doing what I said does" Erasiel explained, then turned to Sheele. "You watch yourself you die and everyone cries" Erasiel added. "Also preemptively kill Syura you'll save lives, oh, don't kill a man named Bols that causes a few of you to die longterm, and kill the creepy clown named Champ ASAP that man is a monster: oh and leave Doctor Dorothea alive she may have ethical issues but her work will save lives; don't kill Mez, don't kill Cosmina, just- I have list and I something else" Erasiel replied and looked at the portal out of which walked an annoyed Sayo and Aria carrying an unconscious Tatsumi.

"He's yours, no returns and he wasn't ours to begin with" Sayo commented.

"Alternate timeline; no time to explain we just need to get our husband back wherever he is" Aria remarked and both flung Tatsumi at Mine and Akame to groans of ouch from both.

"Now we'll be leaving you, REMEMBER everything I told you and take this it will clarify why" Erasiel replied and handed them a hardcover with a Warning label saying "Warning horrid plot writing read at your own perial" "Now I'm going to find our wayward friend before he causes any lasting damage" Erasiel explained.

"Wait what about our target?!" Mine asked.

"Forget about it: where she's going she won't be a problem; not to you or anyone; especially not after what you guys put her thru" Erasiel replied. "Got all that Linzi?" Erasiel asked.

"Yep, everything written down for the book" Linzi replied, the halfling grinned at that.

"Good now lets find our wayward Tatsumi" EE Aria replied, Erasiel grinned.

"Kerborg find him!" Erasiel ordered, his faceless herald then flew off. "Now while we're waiting for him to find Tatsumi I'm going to review all of this again" Erasiel replied.

"Hey guys what did I miss?" Lubbock asked waking back up.

"A lot" Erasiel commented Lubbock fainted again. "Does he do that often?" Erasiel asked, everyone shook there head.

Meanwhile… "Too good! Tatsumi-kun" Aria moaned as she bounced up and down on him, Tatsumi kissed her cheek and changed form once again to Missionary.

"Yep it is, I love dreams especially when they are so real: man I could only dream of taking your maidenhood twice: if only I had two of you in real life" Tatsumi commented Aria giggled.

"Well enjoy the dream while it lasts Tatsumi-kun" Aria replied then smirked. "I'm definitely enjoying it" she thought unaware of a black bat flying by.

Momentarilly… A portal opened. "There you are- I-" Erasiel replied then facepalmed before everyone else followed him out then did the same as they saw the scene; clothes all over the place and Tatsumi riding Aria-B doggystyle. "I'm- not sure what to say- I thought I was a smooth operater" Erasiel replied then laughed hysterically.

"Tatsumi What the hell?!" Sayo remarked.

"What Are you doing!" EE Aria asked.

"Hi; enjoying my dream while it lasts; hey Erasiel, hey Linzi, great now I have two Arias can this dream get any better?" Tatsumi remarked, facepalms galore and Erasiel stopped laughing.

"Ok first off Tatsumi you aren't dreaming" Erasiel replied.

"Oh great here we go again" Tatsumi replied.

"No, let me rephrase that; you're awake and you've been transported to an alternate universe" Erasiel replied.

"What how?" Tatsumi replied pulling out of Aria both now well and confused.

"Get dressed: NOW, and I'll explain when we get back to your proper timeline and universe" Erasiel replied.

Momentarily back in Tatsumi's actual universe… "Alright lets go thru this again, some spider sent me to alternate universe and this whole thing wasn't a nightmare" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes: I found out after your counterpart from the other universe woke up and freaked out that he was in bed with both your universe's Aria and Sayo naked next to him: it didn't take me too long to figure out what happened from there it was a simple matter of tracking you thru the multiverse" Erasiel explained.

"So wait if that means-" Tatsumi replied and looked at Aria from that universe.

"Yes I did and I have no regrets- well forget it I do considering the fact EVERYTHING I had has been taken from me apart from my life and this- abrasive hair! Why do other girls have such soft hair!" Aria-B replied going demon face.

"Great. Just great." Tatsumi remarked. "Oh crap that means- damn my libido!" Tatsumi commented.

"Shit I forgot: completely I- oh double shit not only did I throw away my maidenhood like a common whore but I did a countryside-hick!" Aria-B replied.

"No you didn't well not the second part" Erasiel commented.

"What explain that to me? How the hell does anything make sense also am I alive is this the afterlife and I'm being judged for what I did while was alive?" Aria-B replied.

"First off, Tatsumi in this universe not sure about yours, is the Emperor: not just that is the Rightful Emperor and was born such" Erasiel explained. "Second you are being judged but I'm not making the call as it isn't mine: Tatsumi that's yours to make I'm going to go to bed and hope when I wake up in the morning this was all a dream" Erasiel replied. "Come on Linzi" Erasiel added.

"Coming along, besides I know what will cheer you up" Linzi replied and gave her husband a slap on the rump.

"Those two are weird" Aria-B commented.

"You don't know even the half of it- never mind Tatsumi what are we going to do with well her" EE Aria commented.

"Hopefully the world won't explode if you two touch" Sayo replied.

"Won't! The multiverse and timelines are so distant it doesn't matter" Erasiel commented still within earshot.

"Ok, now what" Sayo replied.

"Great, this is it, I die now, well at least I'm not going to die a virgin" Aria-B replied.

"Nope" Tatsumi replied.

"WHAT?!" All three women said at the same time.

"Not a chance: so what if you killed Sayo and Ieyasu in an alternate timeline, in this timeline both are safe and alive; I've been thru this Nightmare too many times and I am NOT going to kill Aria again, especially not in real-life: It would be the same as killing the Aria of my universe" Tatsumi explained. "Nope the crimes you committed in your universe could only be fairly judged in it, as such I cannot judge you for them here; consider it like asylum: now I'm in a bind, I can't just let you loose on my world goodness knows what you'd do if I let you off on your own Aria, but I won't kill you or lock you up, the former for obvious reasons and the latter because I've got enough trouble explaining the two Arias to everyone without locking one in prison. Nope for you Aria; in fact come up with a different name I can't call you that otherwise I'll get confused" Tatsumi explained.

"I can't change my name" Aria B replied.

"I'm not changing mine" EE Aria replied.

"Enough I'm going to refer to you as Aira form now on ok? Or better yet I'm just going to do this" Tatsumi replied and Blood branded her. "There now your Arianna; much easier" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes master" Aria now Arianna replied.

"Call me Tatsumi: Always call me Tatsumi. Now that this is out of the way you will live here in the Empire in my universe for the rest of your life: there punishment for your crimes exile from your home universe: pretty simple and no one can say its not a valid punishment ok? Now I'm still horny and I'm tired and- forgot it" Tatsumi explained and immediately kissed the new Arianna on the lips and carried her away.

"Good morning Sayo, Aria what did I miss" Seryu replied walking in in a green bathrobe.

"Well that's a long story" Aria replied.

Presently… "And they have so far all lived happily ever after the end" Seryu replied and looked at the kids; she had left out the sex of course.

"Boring so that's daddy's worst nightmare; that's stupid" One of the kids a girl replied.

"Yeah I know Justice that it is stupid; but it's a nice story because it has a happy ending" Seryu replied.

"But we wanted a scary story" Another kid said.

"A shed full of dead people isn't scary?" Seryu replied.

"Not when its unrealistic" the same kid commented.

"Alright you want to here a real scary story? Well I'll tell you the story of monstrous clown so evil and so dangerous to kids: that Lubbock tore him to shreds" Seryu replied.

"YAY!" the Kids celebrated.

"AND THAT'S A WRAP HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!" Seryu added.

 **Seryu note: Hey this Seryu and I'd like to apologize for the lack of Omakes but the Author has been focused on the main story but he would like to thank you for over 50,000 views and consider this chapter a gift for your support.**


	57. Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Plans and the Journey to Tokorra

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Volgoth grinned as his new commanders approached the throne. "Introduce yourselves: I'm interested in knowing my new subordinates" Volgoth commented.

"Of course: introductions are indeed in order" The central General stated, he was humanlike in appearance but you couldn't tell what he truly looked like as he was clad head to toe in bright red armor the color of molten magma, his face concealed by helm that menaced with spikes and two long horns; in his hand was a staff. "General Agrael: Supreme General of Abaddon's upper circle armies: consider me the leader of this group; also don't bother asking about the armor its complicated" Agrael introduced, then turned towards his subordinates, two male devils and three females: each unique in appearance and in the case of the females exotically and fatally beautiful.

The first of them to step forward was a demoness with dark scarlet hair that was neck length and rather well kept; clad in quite revealing garb and with a pair of sabers at her sides along with a set of menacing demonic daggers; her armor while revealing offered near complete coverage and her skin was white with a pair of black horns protruding from her forehead and a set of bat-like wings: overall she was the defined beauty of a succubus though she was rather calm. "Hello" Volgoth commented seductively.

"Hello not my type: my name is Daeva and don't get fresh with me: I've got a bit of a human preference, anyway don't assume all Succubi are sluts some of us have standards especially those in my rank and status; anyway I'm a military commander first and foremost don't bother flirting with my fellow generals either you aren't their type either" Daeva replied noting a disappointed expression from Volgoth.

"Hey, I never told you Volgoth they'd follow every order; besides there are other succubi" Valtor commented.

"Anyway, nice to meet you Daeva, don't worry there will be a share of humans for you to enjoy" Volgoth replied.

"Please, don't bother; I've got someone special in mind" Daeva replied, Volgoth had his suspicions but didn't press her for answers it wasn't his business, she was here to lead his armies and that was enough.

"Now let us continue" Volgoth replied, the next person to step up was one of the two male devils: a red skinned demon with muscles, hoofed feet, cape buffalo horns, the head of a cape buffalo, large demon wings clad in black plate armor, he had a large flaming sword in his hands.

"I'm Rel'Gov: consider me your punch the enemy in the face and ask questions later type: fling me at the enemy and I'll destroy them; now do you have anyone you need beaten up: because I don't like sitting around" Rel'Gov introduced.

"Trust me you'll have many people to beat up soon; I've got plans" Volgoth replied.

"Good now the rest of you make your introductions snappy I want to fight" Rel'Gov

"Graal like Rel'Gov Graal want to smash stuff!" Graal commented from next to Volgoth.

"Well looks like I'm not the only one who likes a good scrap you and I will get along fine Graal" Rel'Gov commented and grinned.

"Anyway I think its my turn to introduce myself; better get it out of the way before the simple minded get restless and start smashing this nice room" The other Demon commented; this Demon was a yellow skinned demon who was lanky looking but tall about the same height as Volgoth himself, he had long fingers, red eyes, a big nose, large ears and fangs and was clad in a red wizard robe and boots with were decorated with pentagrams: he held a demonic staff similar to that of Agrael in his right hand. "I am Socrethor lord heresiarch of Lord Valtor's Battlemages: or Heretics as they a known as: do you have any girls lying about, preferably young fresh virgin beauties; I've got some tastes: anyway never mind that now consider me the long term strategist where some others are simple minded tacticians: my skills are at your disposal" Socrethor introduced himself, Volgoth grinned as Socrethor reminded him of Youkan and was an upgrade over his recently departed friend and closest advisor.

"I see you will be of great use to me: now for the other two lovely ladies" Volgoth remarked.

"Oh bold but not my type: never mind you see I'm a bit of a schemer myself with ideas of my own: my name is Xana and as for my skills well you'll just have to let me demonstrate them: you'll find me quite effective at my duties and well most of your enemies, the men anyway, will be tripping over themselves at my beauty" Xana replied, she had long fiery orange hair and dressed in attire similar to Daeva and resembled her like they were sisters: however her posture was much more seductive in her movements flaunting her beauty; her weapons were not visible but Volgoth could see a the glimpse of a sword from behind her wings.

"And it leaves me for last: oh young succubi they can be confident and full of well haughtiness: however with age comes experience a lot of it" the final demoness remarked, she was demoness apart from her two comrades as she didn't at all look like a classic succubus rather she was serpent like with dark green scales, snake eyes, a cobra-like fang set protruding from her lips, with long tendrils coming out of her head instead of hair, she had sexy slim body with large breasts and was clad in a black domimatrix outfit plus she had curved horns on her head, she carried a Trident and moved with a more serpentine seductive movement. " I am Lashara, consider me a temptress but to mortals young boys I like them, I find other demons dull but my tastes are well distinct when compared to Daeva and especially Xana the girl will bed any man who will have her and whom she finds attractive: I'm a bit more subtle in my temptations: don't fret though my skills aren't limited to the bedroom I'm one of the finest Generals in all of Hell with experience in many conflicts; now that my introduction is done we await your orders" Lashara introduced.

"My orders: well my subordinates ready your forces and mine we will take Melitine's inhabitants I want you to scour the city kill those who resist but bring those who do not to me I will decide how they will best serve our cause: also feel free to let loose on the city; but don't completely trash the place I want to have something to rule over" Volgoth replied then grinned as Lorhish walked in the throne room door. "Your scouting report Lorhish?" Volgoth asked.

"Bad news; some sort of shield is covering a good portion of the city: I sent my hounds to probe it and it completely caused them to fade back into hell: I tried to port into it but found myself sent back: I've not dealt with a shield that can stop a demon in some time: there isn't anyway to get inside" Lorhish reported, Volgoth frowned.

"Not to worry we can starve them out; we don't need to eat: they do; so we will keep them under lock and key" Volgoth replied. "However, the rest of city well that's easy pickings; first we'll secure the city once our forces are in order the surrounding towns and villages; then we'll look further afield" Volgoth replied then cackled.

"Good to see you're having fun; now I've got other matter to attend to; also, fair warning Volgoth; treat your generals well or they'll leave you and return back to Abaddon" Valtor explained then left via a portal Volgoth only smirked and looked at his commanders.

"Well you heard my orders let's get to work; but first I'm going to have to set the general populace at ease; well outside of Melitine at any rate" Volgoth explained and the demons left he then got up and left the throne room and headed for a specific room where his decoy slept.

Or rather would have slept because when Volgoth walked into the room he found it empty and a note left on a desk. "What's this" Volgoth said to himself then picked up the note. "Father on your orders to evacuate the palace of our family I've taken the liberty to take little Kobi with me; he will be in safe hands, signed your beloved daughter Nancy" Volgoth read, then fumed. "Daughter you fool; that changes things; a lot" Volgoth said to himself and incinerated the letter; Lorhish walked into the room.

"Something went wrong?" Lorhish remarked.

"Only that my fool of a daughter took my puppet with her when she left: Dammit that makes things all the more difficult; with no members of the Royal family I'm left with only the option to seize the throne for myself; this will make things all the more harder because I'll have the Empire's generals and governors turning against me and siding with my enemies" Volgoth replied.

"The legions of Abaddon are strong; you don't need those weaklings" Lorhish remarked.

"Yes, they are but you're forgetting that their range is limited to within 20 miles of Melitine thanks to the powerful wards of the ancient races: go beyond that and they'll start losing energy and their forms will evaporate and they'll have to return to Hell for new forms" Volgoth replied.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance Lord Volgoth" Socrethor remarked having been shadowing Volgoth.

"Yes you can be; do you have a solution?" Volgoth replied.

"I do indeed have one: Lord Valtor had this issue when we first tried to invade this world; in order to correct it we had our followers create massive nexi in each of their cities; most are ruined however the nexus in each can be reactivated with proper rituals, also if the warding nexuses created by the other races could be destroyed more of our number could flow in from Sheogh and its surrounding kingdoms; perhaps other demon houses could be convinced to join the invasion thus increasing our numbers to the point where resistance would be futile: also it may be possible to empower the Nexus you made in Melitine to extend the range further" Socrethor elaborated; Volgoth grinned.

"Yes that would be a solution; also I have another workaround; while the demon forces may be limited to within 20 miles I have- other forces that aren't bound by the rules are you and the other generals bound by them?" Volgoth asked.

"No, not remotely we are far too powerful to be limited by the wards: well then I guess your next plan after pacifying the city will be to reactivate the nexuses" Socrethor replied.

"Not quite, after Melitine is secure I have a score to settle; a mission of vengeance: there is a village called Karsawa; after the city is pacified and we sorted thru the inhabitants it will be razed off of the face of Eden; then we'll see to restoring the nexuses" Volgoth replied, then he led Socrethor off.

At the same time as Volgoth's conversations… Tears flowed from Esdeath's eyes, staining Tatsumi's clothes which were already stained by blood from fallen warriors. "It's alright I'm here for you" Tatsumi comforted.

"It's not that simple Tatsumi: I'm- a disgrace! A disgrace to the Patras name! My father is looking down from the skyhalls in shame upon me: I fled from battle! Fled from an abomination who strengthened his weakness thru demonic sorcery and allied with the very enemy that is the ancestral foe my people fought millennia ago. I've dishonored my family; I've- lost my honor" Esdeath replied crying.

"Esdeath! There is no dishonor in living to fight another day; do you have an idea how many people you save by being alive; not just that you are the strongest, most independent, and stubborn woman I've ever met; Budo sacrificed his life so that you might live and protect Makoto and rise to defeat Volgoth; Budo did the same thing as your father when you were a kid; your people rest on you; not just that you protected the child in your womb our child: If anyone should have stayed and fought it was me but you told me it was more important to protect my cousin: so pull yourself out of this fit and remember you don't give up; that is for the weak: you are not weak!" Tatsumi replied sternly; Esdeath looked at him thru tears.

"You're stronger then me: I- my father would be proud of me: I understand you're right I'm the last of my people but also the first of them a new generation is in my womb: I must survive and you're right to fall into despair is for weaklings I'm strong! I'm the second strongest person alive! My father would be proud of me, I lived to fight another day like I did years ago; not just that he'd be proud that I married someone stronger then me; you never give up" Esdeath replied after a long stare.

"Good we understand, now why did you have cut your lovely hair? I love Aria's hairstyle but really your long lovely locks were one of your best features; in fact I love your hair it's the most beautiful thing about you" Tatsumi replied.

"Well for starters I thought you loved my tits more, but never mind that; this is a tradition in my tribe for those who flee from battle; usually they would then take an oath to sire no children and seek glorious death in battle but since I'm the last of my people and pregnant I cannot take that oath so instead I swear this instead; I will not die or rest with my soul until Volgoth is defeated my people swore that if the great evil of the Demons ever returned we would fight it to the last; I will not give up not when I've got so much to live for and not while this evil runs in the world" Esdeath replied.

"Yeah; now about your hair will you grow it back?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, but for the time being I will keep it short; I'm oathbound now: there is also the fact that I'll need a new sword as you can see" Esdeath replied and noted her broken blade, or rather the hilt with single shard protruding form where it was.

"You can still use it as a dagger" Tatsumi commented Esdeath chuckled.

"Oh I intend to; I also intend to get it remade if I can find a master smith worthy of the labor; now I've think we've tarried long enough we must make plans; get the others together and decide what to do next" Esdeath replied.

"Noted now- about me- and what Makoto said before all this" Tatsumi replied.

"That is for you to discuss with him; regardless I'm pledged to you and I think that if Makoto wants you to be Emperor you should be; its your right by birth and by merit; you're the leader this Empire needs and the future of it; you are the strongest and you need to stay that way and get stronger then you are now" Esdeath explained and the two left the room.

Shortly… Tatsumi found Makoto with Spear and his sisters along with Najenda, Mez, Suzuka, Kurome, Merraid and Akame; in the room were the Teigus collected from the vault before they left the Palace. "Hello Tatsumi-kun" Spear greeted as Tatsumi walked in.

"I'm glad we were able to keep these out of Volgoth's hands" Tatsumi remarked.

"You're going to call him that from now on?" Spear asked.

"He said himself that Honest has been dead for 20 years he's always been Volgoth, he just has fully embraced the name and evil" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed, the man who was my father died long ago" Syura replied coming into the room along with Lillianna and Leone.

"Anyway we need to plan our next move; first and foremost we need to get the rest of Night Raid and go; if we're going to defeat Volgoth we can't just sit around in Melitine we need allies, an army, and resources along with defeating our other enemies too the Revolutionary Army and Teketh, but also we need to evacuate my village; Volgoth will strike there soon and I want us to get there first; then we'll decide on where to head next; any ideas of a good base of operations?" Tatsumi asked.

"I do; my family's stronghold of Tokorra in the Matahai Mountains; its centrally located between the Melitine and Zarteck; we can keep an eye on both enemies" Merraid replied.

"Good idea Mera, Tokorra it is, first things first we'll need to defeat the Revolutionary Army, I've got some allies and will attract more if we play our cards right and expose Falkland" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes but we'll need an army; I've got one and the soldiers under my command are the best in the Empire" Esdeath explained.

"Yes but aren't they either here in Melitine or in the North?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not all of them: I moved a sizeable force of 20,000 soldiers and 30,000 reservists to Fort Stargoth about 30 miles to the East of Melitine; those soldiers are loyal to me and if I ride my wyvern there I'll easily be able to rally them; one of our best advantages is you Tatsumi and Makoto as well; the royal family is largely respected and a number of Imperial Generals would be willing to commit their troops to your cause especially if and when you choose to reveal your heritage" Esdeath explained.

"Speaking off lets take a look inside that box Budo gave us; I get a feeling we'll have everything we need to back such a claim" Spear added then left and returned with said chest in hand.

Tatsumi used the key and opened it; inside were a number of papers: important documents among them his birth certificate; also a number of sentimental items some small toys that he recognized from vague memories of his infancy; but the most important thing there was a colored photograph of his parents and him: his brown hair and green eyes quite visible; said features also applied to his mother. "my parents" Tatsumi remarked then held the photo to his heart. Also, there was one more thing a written note.

"Huh" Tatsumi grunted then looked at the letter. "To Tatsumi should you ever find this; I'm glad to know you're still alive; odds are by the time you read this I'll be dead, so a little advise from your uncle Yoritomo; I used to hold you when your parents were busy; it was great being the second son because you didn't have to worry about the court, well look how that ended up. I've no idea what happened to you, but I leave you this; I've suspected Minister Honest of being responsible for your death, and should you ever return alive and well I leave enclosed my true will; in the event of my untimely death I bequeath to you your rightful throne and the entire Empire; in the side of this box you will find a small button press it and inside you'll find something of great value; your birthright's greatest symbol and a treasure worthy of an emperor, signed your loving uncle Yoritomo; PS. If your mother is still alive give her a good talking to for me; I would have given the throne to you and her if you returned. P.P.S This letter is probably a fool's hope" Tatsumi read, he then looked for the small button and pressed it, the center of the chest opened up and out came a crown; made of pure gold and decorated with jade and emeralds; the crown was rather simple in design with small decorative ringlets and was modeled in the form of laurel but it also has small crosses around the outlines decorated with small carbuncles and pearls.

"The Golden Crown: my father wondered where that went, he thought it was lost with Emperor Isshin" Spear commented.

"Apparently he gave my father the crown before he left for safe keeping; this is big Tatsumi; you have any idea how long my advisors looked for that crown: it's the original crown of First Emperor; its priceless" Makoto explained, even he knew about the crown's history.

"Tatsumi what are you going to do now?" Lin asked.

"Yeah tell us" Koko asked.

Tatsumi looked at the crown then at his cousins, then at everyone in the room and once more at the photograph. "Tatsumi think hard on this" Tatsumi thought to himself, then really had to think about it; he had wanted a life of adventure along with fortune and fame; but he never aspired to rule the Empire, in fact it seemed like a thankless job. "But if I take the throne I'll be able to change everything: I can finally change the Empire for the better; make lives a lot easier for the people and root out the rot in the Empire for good but also put a stop to all the horrible evil programs the Empire has secret" Tatsumi thought. "Come on Tatsumi use your common sense; Makoto doesn't want the throne, who will be in charge if you don't, Lin, Koko, the two are sweet but that wouldn't help them against the court's intrigues; honestly of all the options you are the best, I may not want to be the Emperor but I need to be, for the sake of everyone in the Empire for the sake of the world: I'm leader the Empire needs and its people deserve" Tatsumi mentally argued, then took one look at the crown then at his family; then at the picture of his parents. "Father I'm sure you'll be proud of me, I'm sorry for my old simple life but that ship sailed a while back; when I first took my step out of Karsawa; this is my destiny and my fate: to deny it would be the wrong thing and it would be selfish of me when I have chance to change this world for the better" Tatsumi thought then picked up the crown and handed it to Makoto.

"I'll do it" Tatsumi explained. Makoto looked at him.

"Kneel" Makoto ordered, Tatsumi knelt. "By the right of inheritance and by the right of birth, and by the will of my father I Emperor Makoto abdicate the throne to you my cousin Tatsumi Gildenstrom the rightful leader of the Golden Empire; with my last order as emperor I crown you Emperor" Makoto explained and then placed he crown on Tatsumi's head.

"It's that simple?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yep, if you want a formal ceremony you'll have to wait; granted there aren't going to be many who buy your claim, so you'll need to do some convincing and its best if you not wear the crown until you've got enough backers" Esdeath explained.

"Yep wouldn't want people to get the wrong idea" Makoto added.

"Well now that that's out of the way, we should get the others; also I think we should look thru these Teigus and see if they bond with anyone" Tatsumi explained "Also my first action of as Emperor is to see to the losses; two of the Rakshasa fell in the throne room as did two of the Elite Seven I'm going to have to find replacements" Tatsumi explained, Esdeath nodded in agreement, Tatsumi then turned to Kurome and Akame.

"Akame, Kurome, I- want you to be my new Champions; in fact going forward the group will be called the Four Rakshasa Champions I don't want any association with the monsters that threaten our world and importantly those of this group are not monsters and should not be called as such" Tatsumi explained.

"For you Tatsumi-kun I'll do anything, and I gladly accept the offer" Kurome replied. "Akame?" Kurome asked.

"I'll do it, mainly to be by your side Tatsumi" Akame replied.

"Great now what about the Elite Seven?" Tatsumi asked.

"I've got some ideas; now for the Teigus we'll have see them distributed and we'll take them with us; also we'll need to determine who'll stay here and protect Melitine" Esdeath replied.

"Yeah to go for that we'll need to gather everyone up; Syura can you open a portal to HQ and bring everyone here?" Tatsumi explained and asked.

"Yes, that would be simple, and you'll get everyone else that's here already" Syura replied.

"Yep that's the plan, we'll meet in the Den" Tatsumi explained.

An hour later… The den now was at near maximum occupancy: all of the Jaegers and all of Night Raid were in the room along with a few of the dependable allies Tatsumi could rely on and two of Esdeath's best soldiers whom she had recommended and tracked down for induction to the Elite Seven, also in the room were all the Teigus that had been taken from the vault in the withdrawal from the Palace. "Alright first things first let's get the elephant in the room addressed; yes I'm the Emperor now and yes this is the Golden Crown; I have documents that prove my heritage and Makoto has already abdicated the throne to me" Tatsumi explained getting that problem addressed, Makoto then supported him in that fact and thus with the main hurdle out of the way the time came to plan the next move. "Alright with this out of the way I want to handle my first actions as Emperor; first and foremost I will be inducting the replacements for the fallen: two of the Four Rakshasa Demons or as they will be known going forward as the Four Rakshasa Champions to avoid any association with the monsters we now face: as such Akame and her sister Kurome will be replacing Sten and Ibara, also as such they are pardoned of any and all crimes against the Empire in lew of this new position and of their services rendered towards the rightful leader" Tatsumi explained, both Mez and Suzuka stepped forward along with Akame and Kurome the four knelt in front.

"As tradition since the reign of the first Emperor the Four Best warriors in the Empire have been chosen to guard the Emperor: in the vain of the original four Champions; as such a new Emperor is entitled to choose four such warriors to stand by his side at all times" Esdeath explained. "Who do you choose as your champions? Mind you this is a formality as I know you've made your decision" Esdeath asked.

"I choose Akame and Kurome as my new Champions, Suzuka and Mez will retain their position as Champions as they have more than fulfilled their duties and still are able to serve in the capacity furthermore they are pardoned of any crimes they may have or have committed in the past" Tatsumi explained, he was then handed a ceremonial blade and tapped the shoulder of each champion saying "You are my Champion, your will serve me to my death or yours, save in the case that you are no longer capable of fulfilling your duties" after that they rose and stood by his side. "Elite Seven step forward" Tatsumi ordered, the five remaining members stepped forward and knelt before him.

"We pledge our allegiance to the true Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom VII, we the Elite Seven will fulfill any task our Emperor wishes and head his orders above any others; in his name we serve until death or until such time as we are no longer able to fulfill our duties or our Emperor deems otherwise" Shavasti pledged, each member did the same in term, the two sisters Makoro and Junko doing so less eagerly as they were unfamiliar with Tatsumi but as their new Emperor they pledged their allegiance none the less.

"Now we honor the fallen members Fritz and Jauss, for their sacrifice their names will be remembered even though they did so in brashness and overconfidence; likewise, with Ibara and Sten be remembered, a cautionary tale for those of our Empire going forward" Tatsumi explained.

"In the wake of their deaths new openings in the ranks of the Elite Seven have opened and keeping with the tradition only Teigu users are permitted to join the ranks: fortunately forty such arms are available and my two subordinates Hiromi and Osawa have been recommended on my say so for their valiant actions in the Northern and Southern Campaigns along with other military expeditions I have been a participant of; usually members of the Group of Terror would be selected for these positions however the current three members of the Group of Terror available have a certain role that the Emperor has yet to disclose and will be touched on Afterwards" Esdeath explained.

"Well that's crazy I'm more then qualified for the Elite Seven!" Balluck commented.

"Balluck I've got something special for you along with Remus and Womyn, a position that I consider more important then the Elite Seven and that I will be creating; while Hiromi and Osawa who now have leave to search the Teigus on offer and see if any suits them I will be establishing a new position: the Three Sacred Swords" Tatsumi explained. "The Three Sacred Swords will students of the Emperor's personal training regiment, going forward all Emperors will undergo the training and education that I have undergone to ensure that future Emperors will have the strength and skillsets needed to maintain the Empire going forward and learn the humility needed to lead, the Three Sacred Blades will be the most qualified Blademasters in the Empire and students of the Emperor, they will hold the rank of Elite Royal Guard and hold a status comparable to the Four Rakshasa Champions and the Elite Seven will be subject to orders from them as they speak for the Emperor in military matters" Tatsumi explained he then beckoned to the three to step forward and kneel. "Balluck, Remus and Womyn, as Emperor I dub thee Sacred Swords; you will serve by my side and fight by it at all times; by the power invested in my station I also dub thee Sword-brides; warrior maidens who shall wed me; in tradition all Sacred Swords going forward who are female will marry the ruling Emperor: should a men join the ranks and a woman sit the throne they shall serve as her consorts, I welcome you three to the first of a new position of the Empires greatest swordmasters" Tatsumi declared, all three rouse.

"Awesome when will be married?" Balluck asked jumping for joy.

"As soon as I can establish a new court; in the wake of the fall of the Imperial Palace Melitine is no longer safe to govern from at the advice of Merraid Oarburgh and support for the idea from Grand Marshal Esdeath and Regent Empress Spear I will be moving the court to the mountain stronghold city of Takorra in the Matahai Mountains: in tradition of Empress Merraid I a far ancestor of mine thru the line of the Dragon Emperor Tatsumi III: with that in mind we will as soon as this the Imperial Arms we have access to have found compatible partners leave via Air Mantas and head to my village of Karsawa, we must evacuate the people there, once we have done so we will move northeast to met up with Esdeath and her army at the Stronghold of Fort Stargoth from there we will head east to Takorra from there we will plan the next moves" Tatsumi explained.

"What about Melitine?" Aria asked.

"With regards to the people here in the shield we have amongst the granaries enough food to survive for a seven year siege without rationing: not to mention the livestock; the shield has also covered a number of outlying farms and villages; so we should be able to hold out against a siege for long enough" Constantine explained having allocated the food management in case of a siege a couple months prior after the Revolutionary army began to gain more ground.

"In that case we have enough time to gather allies: I want to first secure the loyalists in the Revolutionary Army from there I want to look for new allies from both outside the Empire and within: I'd like also to reestablish ties with the Dwarves hopefully being able to gain the knowledge of Imperial Arms if at all possible having them would be able to turn the tide against the demons" Tatsumi explained. "I've also got plans to visit the tombs of my Ancestors in the western desert after we've secured the east and north; I want to encircle Melitine and take whatever actions necessary to contain the demon threat" Tatsumi added.

"You seem like you've got it all figured out" Seryu replied.

"Not really these are just some ideas and things I'd very much like to do, if we can accomplish even half of these goals, we may be able to decrease the cost of victory as much as possible" Tatsumi explained.

"That in mind Tatsumi we better start simple and deal with the first goal, first off though we should determine who will stay here to protect Melitine" Aria added.

"You're right now any of you for staying behind? Remember Melitine needs to be protected; this part of town is the home to most of us and I want it protected" Tatsumi explained.

"I'll stay behind Tatsumi, I won't leave my Angela undefended, besides my injury hasn't made me on my best I'd be a liability to you in the field" Ieyasu volunteered. "Just make sure my parents get to safety" Ieyasu added.

"Don't worry brother we can guarantee that" Sayo commented, the two hugged and kissed each other on the cheek as any siblings would bidding each other goodbye.

"Any other volunteers?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll stay behind; as much as I'd be useful to you on your quest Tatsumi my place is here keeping Logue and Kije safe" Bols replied.

"Alright my friend; do that and keep every other family in Melitine safe too" Tatsumi replied then looked at Dorothea.

"Don't expect me to stay behind just because I'm a scientist doesn't mean I can't fight besides a chance to see the world again and track down Teigus to benefit our cause that's too good to pass up, besides you need an scientist for your research minister position" Dorothea commented. "Besides I've got somethings I've got to test in the field" Dorothea added then pulled the lightsaber from her hip and bounced it up and down in her hand before putting back on her belt, she then pulled out her new pistol or rather machine pistol a Scorpion machine pistol.

"We follow her" Toby commented, and the other members of Team Dorothea nodded in agreement.

"I'll stay Tatsumi someone has got to lead the garrison" Wave commented.

"Keep the troops ready Wave my friend" Tatsumi replied. "A real question is who's coming with me?" Tatsumi replied, practically all of Night Raid and Jaegers apart from the three volunteers stepped up: considering most of them were part of his harem it was not a surprise; also five of his concubines stepped up too along with Lilianna, also notable were Lubbock and Yami.

"I'm going with you Shambala is too useful to be sitting here in Melitine" Yami commented.

"And I'm going with my Yami, besides Najenda is my best friend and both you and her know I'm not going to let you guys leave without me" Lubbock added.

Each of the other members gave their reasons; most being to be with the man they loved, but others in search of stuff, also Fal, Air and Luna insisted on going because Makoto was going with them and they refused to be separated from him, Tatsumi noted Lila staying behind along with most of concubines mainly due to them not being able to fight: those however who could limited to about 9 girls, did volunteer to come with; also Natalia and Amuria who had been invited along with rest of the Sabatini show volunteered for the same reasons as every other girl that Tatsumi was with. Overall by the time everyone had finished volunteering Tatsumi had what was essentially an elite team: Practically all of Night Raid and the Jaegers had volunteered, as did a few people that surprised him such as the nine concubines, but some that didn't like Henrietta and her sisters along with a few other allies: those who stayed behind were mainly the old guard of Tatsumi's allies in the Imperial court who had stayed home on the day of the coup thus avoiding being casualties in the throne room; as Volgoth showed no mercy.

The meeting concluded and then began preparations; supplies were gathered up and the Teigus had been sorted thru. Spear had two bind to her: a Greatsword called Yadwiga: Stormblade the Sword of skies which had the ability to channel lightning and cut thru most armor and a helmet called Valkyrie: Armor of Valhalla which allowed her to wear a set of armor comparable to Smaug in strength. Hiromi and Osawa were bound to Teigus that reflected their fighting styles: Hiromi's was Galvarg: Bonesmasher: a many spiked club-mace hybrid with the ability to smash anything to a pulp, while Osawa's was set of daggers called the Niglith Twins: Nagsinel and Sagnisal: Silent Death, their abilities enhanced the speed of their user and could find the weak spot in any defensive measure and homed in on said weak spot instinctively.

Hiromi was a young beautiful woman about 20 years old, she had short but feminine looking brown hair with a yellow headband, brown eyes, tanned skin due being born in the southern provinces, and below average height at 5'2 which was an oddity on Eden where the average height was between 5'10 and 6'2; attributable to higher gravity on the planet which was about four times the size of an average rocky planet that could support life and near comparable to a small gas giant in size. She wore yellow colored battle armor which was custom in design and made out of triple folded Titanium it was also lightweight to Hiromi who was stronger then average when it came to woman. She according to Esdeath and herself had joined the army about the same time as Esdeath and had been part of her original squad: the two were close friends and Hiromi rose thru the ranks but did not advance beyond the rank of Colonel due to personal reservations and not being on the level of Spear or Liver who were extremely good: she had fought in practically every conflict Esdeath had and had been one of the many 50,000 Elite soldiers Esdeath had brought back with her from the Northern Campaign, where other Imperial Armies filled he garrison along with the main body of Esdeath's army which numbered about 250,000 troops.

Osawa by comparison was the opposite to Hiromi in terms of fighting style and build. A beautiful young woman Osawa had long grey brown hair, red-brown eyes, pale light skin, wore glasses, and had a nice well-developed body comparable to that of Sheele all around and was 18 years old, she was also taller then Hiromi being about 6'1 the same height as Tatsumi. She was born in the western provinces but was of Imperial stock and didn't have any Western blood in her, she also had a little brother whom was her only living relative besides her mother having lost her father at the age of 10 and lived in Melitine since with Osawa dedicating herself and the remaining money her family had to a Military career bribing her way to an officer's commission at the age of 10 but still having under gone intensive training where she rose through the ranks and eventually ended up in Esdeath's army along the same time as Spear having been part of her Spear's regiment where she served with distinction having already been an effective hunter of corrupt officials, bandits, rebels and other internal enemies along with enemy spies and assassins as a counter agent. Due to her role she never advanced beyond the rank of Major, despite this however she still had Esdeath's respect and received the important missions that were designed as hit and run operations, sabotage ops and assassinations of enemy leaders: during the Northern Campaign a good number of Saika's best generals had been neutralized by her before Esdeath's main army arrived. After the Northern Campaign Osawa was placed in command of an Anti-Crime task force charged with neutralizing criminal elements inside Melitine along with the numerous bandits that marauded the countryside around the city.

After the two selected their weapons Aria stepped forward and felt drawn to long small sword comparable to her notched Rapier; Aria bonded with this Teigu which was called Razordawn: Slicer of a Thousand Necks: the weapon's ability offer lightning strikes but also could penetrate any guard and any wounds sustained by the sword would not heal and become gangrene within hours. Esdeath searched the Teigus without avail as none of the weapons would bound with her; though this was lessoned by the fact that nobody else managed to get any of them to respond apart from one person: Sheele who got her hands of Vishtar: Armor of the Gods; a set of fine armor that accelerated her speed and was comparable to Grand Chariot in strength it also was light weight and took the form of a battle-cheongsam with no exposed defenses.

With all this done and the supplies getting ready everyone took their downtime to prepare for the journey. Tatsumi walked in on Mine who had finished dressing, she had let her hair down and had replaced her pink dress for a white and black catsuit with she wore a shawl like cape; Esdeath followed Tatsumi in.

"Well Mine you look a lot like me, well if I was shorter and had pink hair and eyes" Esdeath commented.

"Right and before you cut your hair; really that was not a good move" Mine commented. "Nice outfit by the way" Mine added, Esdeath had traded her Jaeger military uniform for what was mix between a riding outfit and a tartan. She wore set of blue painted half plate over her new red outfit, she also wore a blue and red checked sash and matching tartan skirt; she still wore her hat but it looked out of place. Esdeath had been given the pick of Grundel Armory and had chosen a new sword to replace her own; it was hybrid between a dueling sword and falchion, and Esdeath considered it a placeholder for a worthy Teigu blade, she also had her sights set on a set of Teigu Armor but getting both would be unlikely but there was a chance. The other Teigus had been packed as well along with all the ones in the Grundel's vault, save one that of Champ which Tatsumi decreed should never be used again and saw to burying it in the backyard in an undisclosed location.

"Thank you, and yours too" Esdeath complemented.

"Ok now enough of the small talk is everyone ready?" Mine replied slinging Pumpkin on her back.

"Pretty much: Esdeath just wanted to give her farewells for the time being" Tatsumi explained.

"Yep, I'll see you at Fort Stargoth: hopefully all in one piece" Esdeath replied then gave Mine a friendly kiss and a hug. "Sister" Esdeath added.

"Sisters" Mine replied and both giggled. "Crazy I never thought the Empire's Finest and I would ever be friends let alone my sister-in-law" Mine commented.

"Yeah: personally, I'd hate to choose between the two of you" Tatsumi commented.

"Yeah" Mine agreed both hugged and Esdeath grinned before heading to Yami who opened up a portal to a nearby garrison where Esdeath had kept her Wyvern; she was going to fly to Fort Stargoth while Tatsumi and the others took the detour to Karsawa.

Later that day… Supplies were loaded up and a flock of a dozen Air Mantas were ready for flight Tatsumi sat at the head of the howdah on the largest one with Aria and Spear at his side and with Najenda and Mine at his back. Aria had traded her dress for a blue and white riding outfit, her armor was stored, and Aria had her new rapier at her side and Noctis Wave in her hair. Spear wore a military uniform and her fur coat and hat with her sword on her back and her glaive stowed away. Najenda wore her standard get up but had her hair in a traditional ponytail, she wore a metal plate over her swollen belly to protect their unborn child. Mine was dress in her new get up and had her arms wrapped around Tatsumi's chest and her breasts pressed to his back.

"Hey Tatsumi, I've been thinking about something" Aria commented shortly after takeoff, in addition to the Air Mantas that had riders there were about a two dozen other ones that had only their howdahs, these ones were meant to carry the population of Karsawa which fortunately was only about 80 people. Tatsumi now wore a gold and black frilly shirt and black pants over which he wore a gold painted set of Bismuth bronze and Titanium made half-plate, he wore a sash over it, a blue and green one representing his Jaeger status and a gold cape, at his side were his swords and on his head the Golden Crown.

"What is it Aria-nii" Fal commented from behind, she was there with her sisters inside the howdah with Constance, Steela, Riji, Camilla, Lyra, other four concubines: those being Miyushi, Melony, Tara and Gilly. Also, with her were Kyoko and Mishi who were both excited to see where their daddy grew up.

Makoto and his sisters were with her too dressed in attire suitable for a journey and Makoto commented "Tell us Aria-nii! Tell us!" Makoto.

"Kids, I was talking to Tatsumi, anyway Tatsumi I was wondering what would think?" Aria replied.

"About what?" Tatsumi replied having her attention.

"How would you like it if I grew my hair out, like my mother" Aria replied. "I know it sounds crazy since my hair is corse and not soft" Aria added concerned.

"Please Aria your hair is soft and not corse, I'd love to see you grow your hair out" Tatsumi replied.

"Me too, it would make you look even more cuter" Sayo flirted, Clementine grinned at this.

"Says the girl who has long naturally flowing hair, it's so nice compared to mine I'd kill for hair like yours Sayo" Aria replied.

"Please my hair isn't that special Aria-kun" Sayo replied then held a photograph of Esdeath close to her. "I miss her already" Sayo commented.

"Aria I'd love to see you with your hair grown out, but I'd like for you to make that choice on your own; do you want to do it because I don't want to force you into making a decision that you're not sure about" Tatsumi explained.

"I think I'll do it, just to see how it turns out and if it drives me nuts I'll trim it" Aria decided then huddled against Tatsumi.

The flight was short Tatsumi was amazed that the Air mantas allowed him to cover the 20 miles over woodland from Karsawa that had taken him three days to travel on foot in about a half hour and he could see Karsawa bellow he then had them land at a large clearing where the villagers chopped wood needed to fuel the fires that warmed their homes, the clearing from over a couple generations of chopping was comparable to air field in size and thus was big enough to fit all the Air mantas after he indicated to Merraid to land them. Tatsumi then collected his party that he had planned for the occasion, the Four Rakshasa, the Elite Seven, his wives, his concubines, his lovers, Makoto and his sisters, Fal, Air and Luna, along with the former Elite Seven and his Three Sacred swords about 30 people overall, each dressed in garb suited for a procession; Tatsumi had Sayo and Clementine at his side in their best to make sure that when he walked in familiar faces were there for the villagers to see.

The Two sentries who watched the palisade gates during the day yelled out to halt as Tatsumi and his retinue approached. "Who goes there?!" The older of the two guards shouted.

"It's me Berthold" Tatsumi said presently.

"Tatsumi?! What? What are you wearing and who are all these people? And why are dressed like the Emperor?" the Guard, now identified as Berthold asked.

"Because I am the Emperor; I want to see my mother, where is she?" Tatsumi asked.

"At the Elder's place with your siblings and your father: what do you mean you're the Emperor" Berthold replied.

"He is the Emperor: his highness Emperor Tatsumi, seventh of his name, son of Emperor Isshin, second of his name and known as the lost, and Empress Akame first of her name: Cousin to former Emperor now Prince Makoto and his siblings Princesses Koko and Lin, and the Rightful ruler of the Empire: kneel before your Emperor" Mez explained.

"No need, these people I grew up with having them kneel would be arrogant Mez, I'm not arrogant not anymore" Tatsumi added.

"Am I imagining this and are you for real Tatsumi?" Berthold asked.

"He is" Suzuka added.

"Yep and you are not drunk Berthold, not anymore than normal, I'm going to see my mother now: I have much to talk about; also I want you to inform the townsfolk to ready their prized possessions and get ready to leave; there is an enemy army coming near to Karsawa and I want to evacuate; the army is massive and without mercy" Tatsumi explained.

"You're serious, alright I'll put out the word though I doubt the others will believe me without you to back it all up" Berthold replied and left his post, the other guard a man named Karl knelt before Tatsumi out of respect; Tatsumi then went into town noting little had changed since he left granted though the harvest had been fully gathered since he left and couple places had been refurbished. He knowing the paths of his home found the place that he had grown up in, the home of the Village Elder whom Tatsumi called Gramps who was the father of his adopted father Gideon. Tatsumi walked in to no fanfare and carried with him the box that contained the records of his heritage and arrived in the middle of lunch. Everyone looked up from their meals shocked.

"I'm home Mom, I'm home" Tatsumi replied the former empress dressed in humble farm garb smiled at her son.

"Welcome home Tatsumi; I see your trip to the Capital went well" Akame commented.

"Yes, I found much there; family, friends, fortune, fame, power, and the truth" Tatsumi replied. "Why mother? Why did you hide my heritage from me; why did you pretend you were dead?" Tatsumi replied.

"HI!" Cosmina shouted absent-mindedly and ran towards the two of them. "Hi you're Tatsu-kitty's mother? Wow you are well preserved, and you look a lot like him" Cosmina interrupted.

"Great" Tatsumi thought and shrugged.

"For starters my son before I answer any of those questions, I must see to knowing who this woman is" Akame responded.

"I'm Cosmina: I'm Tatsu-Kitty's wife, well one of them; Tatsumi is the best; he's a master of the sword, a master of words, and- well an absolute stud in bed, man he's so hung! Did you marry a bull or something because I'd like to know" Cosmina introduced? "Also I'm sorry for ruining a family moment Tatsu-kitty" Cosmina added and then wrapped her hands around his shoulders kissing him on the cheek repeatedly; the Four Rakshasa used to Cosmina's antics and all four of whom had experienced a threesome with Siren of the Jaegers, and in Suzuka's case banged whenever Tatsumi wasn't there to fulfill her needs, let her do so uninhibited.

"Well- I'm not sure how to answer that question about my late husband; I'd rather not answer that; suffice to say Tatsumi has inherited by the looks of things a lot of his father's traits: I'm not surprised that he's come as far as he did; I had a feeling that when he left for Melitine he'd either never return or return with wealth and fame: I have worried and prayed every day for my son; now you must introduce me to my new daughters-in-law, also are any children underway: I'm expecting to see my first Grand-child in a year's time" Akame replied.

"Well then let me introduce them; fair warning though I'm going to have to evacuate Karsawa, a massive army is coming for it and I want everyone out of it" Tatsumi explained.

"In that case questions regarding your past will have to wait until we've evacuated the village" Akame replied.

"Quite, my dear daughter in-law: Tatsumi what of this threat how large is it and how dangerous?" Gramps asked, he was old man in 80s his beard was long and flowed to the middle of his chest, he was clad in a black tunic and brown pants on his head he wore a head wrap.

"Very dangerous: as in they want to wipe Karsawa off the map: they are legions and they are demons" Tatsumi explained grimly.

"I see: then I trust you my grandson: regardless of your heritage you're still my grandson by your mother's marriage to my son, and even if you're styling yourself as Emperor I'd trust your word: I'll give orders to begin evacuation how long do you think we have?" Gramps replied.

"At best a couple days; at worst hours; depends how fast they can move; but I'd expect scouts coming soon" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, then I will give orders to take only the essentials, the prized possessions, and enough supplies as needed: where will we be headed?" Gramps explained.

"Takorra eventually but we'll be stopping by Fort Stargoth to meet up with my army" Tatsumi explained. "I say my army it's my wife's army, but you know they'll fight for her and by extension me" Tatsumi clarified.

"I see what drama in the Capital have you stepped in my son: you know I worried you'd end up in the dramas of the Imperial Court if you left" Akame questioned.

"The now former Prime Minister launched a coup and if I know him by this point, he'll have crowned himself Emperor" Tatsumi explained.

"Chouri?" Akame asked genuinely shocked.

"No: Honest" Tatsumi replied, his mother showed outrage.

"HOW THE FUCK DID THAT MAN BECOME PRIME MINISTER?!" Akame asked her face contorted in anger.

"Thru court intrigue, during which he murdered my Uncle and ate my Aunt alive: and I say former Prime Minister because Makoto fired him before he started the coup" Tatsumi explained. "Look if I go thru whole story it will take hours better spent evacuating as Emperor my first duty is to my subjects and their safety before my own needs and wants. Akame nodded in agreement.

The following hours were spent getting the people of the town ready to evacuate, mainly after convincing them of the seriousness and that Tatsumi was the Emperor now and that answers would have to wait until they were safely at the city Takorra in the East. The extra Air Mantas that had been brought along proved enough to carry all the villagers and their possessions along with all the non-essential stuff they refused to leave behind; the only things that couldn't be stored on a manta were the livestock and as much as pained the farmers who owned them they had to put them down and use there meat as supplies: fortunately other animals such as dogs, cats and other household pets proved easy to convince into riding an Air Manta: Sayo was pretty ecstatic after making sure her parents were ok along with their hunting dogs having discovered that the family hounds had grown in number thanks to a litter of about two dozen puppies. Once all this was out of the way they made sure to bury all the valuables they couldn't take with them in secret locations to prevent them from being stolen and when they returned home after the war have the means to help rebuild: also to that end supply caches for reconstruction were made in advance as well.

All this preparation proved to be completely fruitful and as soon as everyone was loaded up and ready to go Tatsumi gave the signal which was the village's warning horn which he had borrowed for the purpose; with a loud trumpet the horn sounded and the mantas took off; every villager was surprised when they went upwards and were it not for the closed howdahs that had been put on the mantas for safety reasons some may have fallen off; fortunately Tatsumi had a Night Raid member on each Manta to keep them from panicking: within an half hour everyone had calmed down.

Tatsumi relaxed and sat down knowing that everyone he cared for was safe from the demons: either they were with him on the Mantas or in Melitine under the shield, there were his allies in the East, but their situation was relatively safe as well. With all that out of the way he turned to his mother who sat across from him comforted Tatsumi's six half-siblings; the younger ones at Erik and Nessa were both about 3 years younger than Tatsumi and needed no such reassurances they instead looked at him with surprise, but the seven year old Kushina, the six year old Via, four year old Hiram, and two year old Kaashi they huddled around their mother who had her arms around them like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Tatsumi at the same time had Kyoko and Mishi next to him with him putting a comforting hand on the former's shoulder and the latter siting in his lap giddy. "Daddy this is your mommy?" Mishi asked.

"Yes; this my mother Akame: mother these are my adopted daughters Kyoko and Mishi; they were orphaned by the war and I've taken them in as my own for their safety: I'm sure there are many caring couples willing to take on two war orphans out there but there are just as many monsters that pray on children out there I know because I've killed plenty of those monsters myself so I decided they were my responsibillty to care for and I adopted themf" Tatsumi explained. "Now I want to know mother the truth; the whole truth; I know what happened that night I've seen it with the Mirror of Time but I want to know why you chose to spend my whole life keeping it a secret and were willing to when I turned sixteen tell me that I was an orphan?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yeah mom I'd like to know that too" Nessa, Tatsumi's half-sister asked curious, she looked like a female version of himself granted two years younger and- busty.

"Tatsumi don't think of her like that" Tatsumi thought to himself, part of him thought it would be improper as while they weren't fully related, she was still a blood relative and- it would be frowned upon; granted though there was no way she shared his feelings? Did she?

"Yes, the whole thing, also you've told us your name was Kirai for your life why did you lie to us?" Erik asked, he looked nearly identical to Tatsumi himself.

"Why mama lie" Kaashi asked, he looked like a small Tatsumi.

"Alright children let me start from the beginning; first off Kirai is my middle name my first name is Akame; now I did this all for your safety; as Tatsumi has put it clearly there are monsters that would love to see us dead or worse; and of those monsters there is a group that stands above the rest monsters you can't even tell are monsters; those who put on grins and smiles showing you with kind words only to take everything you hold dear and destroy it: I took this life in exile because I knew it would be safer then raising my six-month old son in the house of serpents that is the Imperial Court; especially given my husband who was my main source of protection had just been violently murdered; I made my decision to keep Tatsumi safe and when I fell in love with Gideon and was with child it was finalized, especially as the day after that dreadful night I buried your father in a quite grave near the farm where you were you were raised Tatsumi: I did everything I could to protect you and when you were of age and wanted to explore the world I figured it was better for you to think yourself the adopted orphan of someone murdered by brigands then me: someone who matched the description of an Empress who vanished years ago and someone who was in fact that very person, and if said people realized this your life would have been cut short in fact if I told you of your heritage and the whole truth you would have gotten yourself killed: I did everything I could to keep you safe: and I hoped that what I did was enough Tatsumi: In fact I know it was enough as you now wear the Golden Crown; the Imperial crown that has been kept in the royal family for centuries and that your father stored in a box for safekeeping: now tell me about what has befallen you since you left with Sayo and Ieyasu; speaking of where is Ieyasu?" Akame explained.

"Ieyasu: he's safe and sound in Melitine; he's- protecting the people he loves most" Tatsumi explained, he then took a deep breath and explained in summary what happened to him since he had left for Melitine; albeit in as child friendly a matter as possible, and in a matter that is comparable to the rest of the written record which as such won't be mentioned here.

An hour passed, Tatsumi finished his story; but before questions could be asked, he heard an ear-piercing shriek followed by another; Tatsumi then looked out the howdah and saw something he had no desire to see: a pair of hungry wild Wyverns in search of food. "Damnit! Wyverns!" Tatsumi shouted.

"I'll handle them" Sayo remarked.

"We'll handle them Sayo: we'll handle them" Tatsumi replied and drew Valruost and Smaug dawning the dragon armor, Sayo had already activated her having been on watch and readied her angelic wings for flight. "Smaug: Dragonflight" Tatsumi declared and a pair of Crimson wings materialized, both then jumped off of the Greater Air Manta they rode much to the shock of people nearby who were even more shocked when Tatsumi and Sayo flew with the grace of eagles. "I'll take the Ugly on the left, you take the ugly on the right" Tatsumi remarked.

"No need to tell me twice" Sayo replied and readied her bow drawing back the golden string. "Icarus: Sunlight Barrage!" Sayo declared and about a dozen golden light arrows materialized and were loosed by Sayo: all homed in on their target piercing the creature's body and forcing it to abandon a planned attack on the Manta closest to it: Sayo then refocused; then dived towards the wounded wyvern dividing the Bow into a pair of long Khopeshes then sliced off one of the creature's wings sending it plummeting from the sky shrieking in pain.

Tatsumi meanwhile had reached the other beast was brutalizing it with Valruost; the wounded creature bellowed horrid shrieks and tried to clamp down on the Dragon Armored Emperor who took the creature's opening and slashed, chopped deep into the neck of the beast each slice tearing deeper and with one final slice from Smaug decapitated the Wyvern whose headless corpse plummeted down into forested valley beneath them: Tatsumi at this moment breathed and took deep breaths taking a look around him as he flapped in the air, he noticed how far he was that he could see Melitine to his right the faint hue of the shield visible. "Tatsumi" a voice said; Tatsumi looked on at the Empire below his Empire and realized that this was his home, his Empire and he would fight to protect it. "Hey Tatsumi! Get your head out of your butt and listen to me" Sayo remarked snapping him out of his daydream he noted her lovely angelic white armor was stained with green wyvern blood with the slight splatter of it on her cheek.

"Yeah Sayo, you have blood on your cheek" Tatsumi replied confused.

"Yeah ya yeah! I'll take a bath later with you when we get the chance; come on lets get back to the others" Sayo responded, Tatsumi nodded and flew back to main Manta along with Sayo; inside he found everyone looking at him with wonder, well everyone that hadn't seen him fight before as those who had smiled with joy for his safe return and at his achievement.

"Tatsumi- I'm- proud of you my son; very proud indeed" Akame explained, Tatsumi let his armor retract and hugged his mother. "Now I have to ask more about your new family; I'd like to know more about my daughters-in-law especially the one who bares my name" Akame added and looked at Akame who simply shrugged.

"We aren't married yet we're- waiting on some people" Akame explained her red eyes resigned for the onslaught of questions coming her way; granted Akame was ok with talking to people but talking about her past wasn't- something she liked to bring up, nor that of Kurome's, and especially her relationship with Merraid; that had a number of taboos that she refused to deal with; not while on an Air Manta and in the presence of young kids whom talking about this sort of subject was definitely not appropriate; also talking about Merraid was something she preferred to let Merraid talk about and she needed to focus her powers on the more important task of controlling the 36 Air Mantas and keeping them on course and docile. "Anyway I'll tell you what I can but most of what I've endured is- not appropriate for kids and is painful to recall: just the jist of it is my sister and I are the newest addition to Four Rakshasa, and as you may expect by that we are some of best fighters in the Empire; both of us are former Elite Seven, we both are each other's only family and if you know anything about the Elite Seven you know that people who are or have been part of it are those who have great loss in their pasts and have had to do some questionable, for lack of a better world under the circumstances, actions some things that I regret dearly but considering my options were either do them or die and leave Kurome on her own I took them: I met Tatsumi when he joined our group along with Sayo and Ieyasu on the recommendation of a dear friend of mine (At this she looked at Aria) and he more than justified the trust and done so over his actions; and- I love him; he's one of the three most important people to me and arguably tied with the other two in terms of my affections: granted for him and that other special person the feelings are different from the other who is my sister Kurome: but I love him dearly and – couldn't live without him; in fact I swear this oath that the day he dies I will drive my sword Murasame thru my heart to be with him: that's how much I love him I cannot live without him" Akame explained, then elaborated further about her more 'child-friendly' adventures and refrained from answering questions about her kill count beyond that she had lost count which was true.

After Akame finished her story Kurome followed her, and then Mez, then Suzuka, then Spear and Aria and so on until each of Tatsumi's lovers who was with him in the Howdah and not helping with an Air Manta finished told their tales of Tatsumi. During which Tatsumi was having to make sure Cosmina refrained from talking about anything involving sex which took most what she could tell them away from her for the sake of keeping children from knowing about sex until they were of an age where they could have that talk, something which was made easier when Tatsumi reminded her of her younger brother and that he didn't have that opportunity neither did Makoto or Air, or Fal, or Luna, they had found out about that the hard way and her brother had died from the abuses he endured. Fortunately, him reminding her about her brother kept her from discussing the subject; also as such she refrained from discussing anything about her past beyond her meeting Dorothea and later on Tatsumi. Dorothea herself was of the same mind regarding her past but mostly due to the fact that her age was a sensitive subject and that it was fascinating enough that she had fallen in love with Tatsumi who was younger than her.

As soon as Tatsumi had the chance to speak again Syura's faceless herald arrived with a letter from Syura informing him they were nearly at their destination and that it would be advisable to land a good distance away from Fort Stargard so as to avoid any sort of friendly fire.

Their landing was an orderly endeavor Tatsumi making sure that things were in order and informing them of his plans; Tatsumi would go on ahead with an elite bodyguard of his inner circle to the city and meet with Esdeath and her troops after that he'd see to arranging quarters for those who wanted to stay and march overland to Takorra, which was about 170 miles on foot thru safe territory in the Empire's inner provinces: but would take a couple of weeks and would require them to march with Esdeath's Army; naturally most people on being told this would rather fly for the three hour distance; rather then walk alongside soldiers that they didn't know for two weeks.

Tatsumi then after explaining his plans gathered his retinue, including his mother and cousins, and left for Fort Stargard which was about 20 minutes away on foot considering where he had landed them but that was by his standards of walking which being Night Raid's standards covered ground at fast speeds, which meant it would probably take a full hour for those who wanted to go via the Fort to Takorra: which meant more time spent traveling. "Damn it I hate being on a time limit and not knowing what that limit is" Tatsumi thought to himself. The matter of time however was something that he could solve; he wanted to be done with this war before the birth of his children; considering Aria had been pregnant the longest at two months he was going to have to push it to within 5 months; by that point his lovers and wives would be in the third trimester and that would prevent them from being able to fight: which would be a bad thing because most of them were warriors who were capable of killing hundreds of enemies by themselves. Fortunately, though when had these troubles he had his mother to confide in.

Dowager Empress Akame held her focus on her son; she had been so worried for him the past three months and he had returned to her alive but changed; he now had his father's crown and was married to many women, in addition to that he had become an assassin; she was half proud and half disappointed in him. Proud because he had finally found his calling in life along with her ability to be completely honest with him as he knew his heritage, also that he now would no longer be alone when she was gone; he would have his family, how she longed to hold her grandchildren in her arms. Her Disappointment came from the fact that he had been dragged into politics and drama of the court, along with those of the army, in addition to that he had become a killer an assassin; a warrior that kills targets specifically granted they were scum of Eden but still her son had become a killer, a scourge, and on top it all he was no longer the son she had last seen; he had changed, it was for the better but still it hurt her to know that the son she had raised had been changed so severely, that he had become so driven by his hatred of evil that it changed him.

"Tatsumi" Dowager Empress Akame stated, Tatsumi turned to his mother as he walked. "I want to know my son; everything that has happened to you since you left, no secrets everything" Dowager Empress Akame explained.

"I will tell you; after we are in Tokorra: I'm not going to have discussions until I've gotten to a place where I can have a frank conversation and where I can talk in private: I'm not going to have that in Fort Stargard or on the Mantas, when we get there I'll tell you everything; just so you know it will be a long story, heck if someone ever writes it they will be busy for while" Tatsumi explained, the gate of the city came in sight, Tatsumi could see clearly the imperial banner on the wall but also the standard of Wyvern with the mark of Esdeath's Teigu on its brow; the symbol of Esdeath's Legions: specifically this one her own private army the White Wyverns. Named for the creature Esdeath rode into battle the White Wyverns were the Empire's best troops; their true number as Esdeath explained to him was 250,000 and that was one of five legions she had but most of those troops were tied down in the North establishing the new provinces and rebuilding the infrastructure needed for it; Esdeath had taken about 50,000 of those soldiers with her when she returned home along with her trusted subordinates the Three Beasts who had been dead now for months thanks to Tatsumi, Mine and Spear who killed one each. When Esdeath arrived in Melitine she had tasked 30,000 troops to garrison the Western half of Melitine; the area now under the shield, but had sent 20,000 east to Fort Stargard, which marked the border between the Heartland Provinces and the Inner provinces (the Heartland being those close to Melitine in a 50 mile ranger, and Inner being the first provinces of the Empire) from there on it was a 200 mile journey to the Matahai Mountains in the central provinces which from then on would be 40 miles until they hit Revolutionary Army territory.

The Guards at the gate readied themselves as they approached, a guard Captain identifiable by his plumed helmet and long black cape rose his voice. "Who goes there!?" the Captain asked.

"Rakshasa Champions, Elite Seven, Sacred Swords honor guard formation!" Spear ordered and they formed a protective box around their Emperor and his family and stood at attention. "Men of Stargard open the gates for your rightful Emperor: Tatsumi Gildenstrom, seventh of his name, son of Emperor Isshin II and Empress Akame, Cousin to Prince Makoto, Princess Lin and Princess Koko, descendant of the Dragon Emperor from both sides of his family and descendant of the Golden Emperor" Spear proclaimed, then whispered in Tatsumi's ear "Appoint a proper herald so I don't have to do that all the time preferably someone who can be loud and formal at the same time" Tatsumi nodded and looked to Leone and whispered in her ear and cat-girl grinned.

"What nonsense is this!" the Captain of the Guard replied. "Is this some sort of joke, now identify yourselves properly or face being denied access" the Captain added.

"You will allow them thru this instant Captain Khagi" Esdeath ordered coming forward with her aide to camp and some veteran guards, she was clad in her formal military uniform and towered over anyone else near her. The Captain paled.

"General are you certain?" the Captain asked.

"They are exactly who they say they are; now allow my husband and his retinue entrance they are expected; also, I want you to gather the troops for a general assembly best uniforms and battle gear and prim and proper treat it as a Triumphal Parade" Esdeath explained.

"Yes Ma'am!" the Captain replied, and he and other soldiers went inside allowing Tatsumi and his party to pass thru; Esdeath rushed up and hugged him, then planted a kiss on his lips.

Tatsumi broke the kiss shortly. "You missed me that much already? Its only been a few hours?" Tatsumi replied.

"Every minute without you at my side is hard on me: I love you more than anything and I don't like being away from you" Esdeath replied.

"Anyway, on my ends a complete success I've evacuated everyone; their camped outside the city I didn't want to alarm your soldiers with Air Mantas flying overhead" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath smirked.

"You wouldn't have had to worry about that, my soldiers have been disciplined not to waste ammo on harmless creatures; Air Mantas are just that harmless" Esdeath replied. "Anyway I do not recognize that woman at your side: allow me to introduce myself: Grand Marshal Esdeath Patras of the Imperial Army, last member of the old Patras Clan and first member of the new Patras Clan, I'm the Empire's Finest and I trust my reputation goes far, but I am also married to my beloved Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted, the four or so soldiers accompanying her suppressed chuckles. Her Aide to Camp maintained a smile, she was a friendly young woman about the same age as Tatsumi himself, she had short auburn-copper hair in a bob-cut style, light tanned skin, blue eyes and a figure that was comparable to Sayo and Chelsea's, dressed in the same crisp white uniform worn by the rest of Esdeath's soldiers however her uniform had more medals along with the brush shoulder pads and embroidery that along with the badge above her left breast signified the rank of Superior General. "This everyone is my aide to camp Margery Defour, she's from a well-respected family and is in charge of the forces I stationed her at Fort Stargard" Esdeath introduced as well.

"Pleased to meet you, your majesty" Margery introduced and knelt, an effort in which the other soldiers joined her.

"Greetings General Esdeath, if you want to me to be formal" Dowager Empress Akame greeted.

"Depends on who you are" Esdeath responded.

"My name is Akame, don't get me confused with your friend, I'm Tatsumi's mother and the former Empress" Akame explained, Esdeath shocked her by giving her and affectionate hug.

"I'm pleased to meet you; my mother-in-law, or I'm going to call you mom from now on I- don't have one anymore" Esdeath explained.

"What happened to your mother?" Akame asked then regretted it as Esdeath teared up, then suppressed her grief.

"She died when I was born; the closet I had to a mother were my father's other wives my aunts, unfortunately I never had a childhood; I- lost my family and my entire Clan when I was 7 years old" Esdeath explained; Akame comforted her.

"It's ok, I can be your mother if you want me too, think of me as your mother from now on you married my son and well that makes you family" Akame explained.

"Thank you, now I have questions to ask you but that can wait until important matters are settled, my troops will soon be at your beck and call Tatsumi; I have spread the news amongst them and going forward you hold command of them, they will answer your orders given thru me and they will fight for you and die for you if they have to" Esdeath explained.

"Alright then get the Troops ready to march; have you sent out messengers? What support can we expect?" Tatsumi asked.

"I cannot be sure of that: I have sent out messengers informing the Generals who are loyal to the Throne to rally at Tokorra, but I have no means of knowing when and if their support will come; don't expect miracles" Esdeath replied.

"Ok, that means that we have no need to stay here? Wait what about the garrison here?" Tatsumi asked.

"The Garrison here is secure; they had enough troops when I sent my soldiers here to begin with, also supplies are ready and it can withstand a siege if need be" Esdeath explained; Tatsumi was reassured, his biggest concern with moving this army out was what could happen to the Stronghold city in his absence. Fort Stargard was a large Stronghold built around a sizeable town; it was nowhere near the size of Melitine, but it had a large population.

"Are there any loyalists on our line of march?" Tatsumi asked.

"This is best discussed inside I've got a map of current troop movements and positions inside the Command Center; also, I've seen to have a banquet prepared if you have time to eat" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi nodded.

"After we eat we march; or rather the troops march we'll head for Tokorra by air" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath frowned at him as did his mother.

"Tatsumi, Tatsu-bunny, don't be hasty; Tokorra is our goal but it is more important that you be on the main front of the journey here with the troops; there are allies along the way that if you and Makoto are with me will be far easy to rally also you need to get to know the soldiers under your command; like I said these men and woman will gladly lay down their lives for you: you've never been on a Military Campaign and you'll have to get used to it" Esdeath replied.

"That will slow me down though" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry you won't have to march the whole way on foot; I've seen to procuring a proper mount for you: something fitting of the Father of the New Patras Clan" Esdeath explained.

"Alright; I just- don't like having to split up from you know; everyone else who'll be on the mantas will get there ahead and I won't see them for a couple weeks" Tatsumi explained.

"Don't worry; they're strong, so are you and they will get there first; besides I'd like to see you try and explain things to Oarburgh Clan and their vassals, best let Merraid do that for you" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi admitted defeat on that front; a clan that was a strict matriarchy like the Oarburghs would have trouble submitting to someone without a clan representative; also it was best for him to rally others to his cause that might not join without him being there.

Esdeath led them into the stronghold and from there to main keep which was the military command center. As they went from the city Tatsumi noted that the people of the city look at him with awe and- faintly hope. Tatsumi didn't let the common folk distract him though; granted these were his people, both in being his subjects but also the type of people he'd been raised among and as: he had been born of royal blood but he didn't have an ounce of traditional noble customs in him until Aria and Spear had taught him those upon his betrothal to Spear. This left him in a position that no previous Emperor had been in, not since the first Emperor; he had to work for to earn his kingdom, not just work for it, fight for it. The further they went in the more the responsibility began to way in on him and his mother's silence on the matter was something else. "As soon as I get the chance I want to know about my father" Tatsumi thought.

Shortly… Tatsumi looked at the large table, about half the size of one of banquet tables in the royal palace, it was covered with a large map showing the Empire but in addition to it neighboring nations and practically the entire continent of Adonai. The map was exact showing the locations of key positions but also a number of flags were pinned into the map in various positions and of various colors and with various symbols on them; the most prominent colors however that spanned the Empire were White for the Empire and Red for the Revolutionary Army. Other colors representing the neighboring nations were there as well with Green, Orange, and Silver representing the major Eastern nations that were allied with the Revolutionary Army, Purple, Pink, and Yellow representing the Western kingdom and a silvery blue which with the symbol of a hammer representing Dwarven holds and their Kingdoms.

"I- I'm- not sure what to say" Tatsumi remarked looking at the map and grasping the scale of the Empire.

"I see first time seeing a map?" Esdeath teased.

"No: just the grand scale of all this; so what are our forces and what are our opponents?" Tatsumi asked.

Esdeath began to explain to him the various colored flags, also the emblems on each of them. The ones on the white flags showed the army leaders of each military force she explained that the symbols were the banners that were customized by each of the Generals who commanded those forces: she explained further that Imperial forces carried two types of standards: one for the actual Empire and the other being that Army's battle standard. This got Tatsumi thinking that a new standard would be needed for his armies the reason being he had a plan overall, the old Empire was dead and a new one needed to replace it; one he would lead. Instead of flaws of the Old Empire he'd form a new one from the old one's body which at this point was fresh. When Volgoth took Melitine it meant the end of the Old Golden Empire: the dynasty of the Empire had survived, barely, but it was at a state where it was comparable to the Patras Clan, in fact Esdeath's words about her clan had a struck a chord; she said she was Last of the Old Patras Clan and First of the New in a way Tatsumi was the same. "It's time for a new Empire" Tatsumi stated clearly, to the confusion of everyone.

"New Empire?" Seryu asked confused. "Care to explain Tatsumi-kun?" Seryu added.

"The Old Empire has died; it died when Volgoth drove us out of the palace, it was dying for a while too, before I even arrived in the city I just expedited the process with everything I've done since I arrived in the Capital; that said there is hope, but to do that we need troops, allies; there are people that will support us but in order to get them changes need to be made; systems need to be overhauled, and on top of it people that want the killing to continue after the War is won need to be killed before it can end: the people want change and I'll give it to them" Tatsumi explained. "I've- got some ideas but there will still be an Emperor, an Empire, and things will still retain the imperial systems that work but I want the people of this Empire to have more of a say in it, I was one of those people before I knew of my bloodline and when I become Emperor I want those people to share in leading their nation, they'll have a decent sized say: I have in my head three branches of power; the Emperor as executive who leads the military and has power of over diplomacy and matters of war, the Nobles who will have the rights of their station but have to bear the brunt of governing their own territories in accustom with the laws: the common people though, they will have the greatest power; they will get to select the leaders, get to say in policies and on top of it will have the right to choose their own destiny; no restrictions on roles, and they get to pick the next Emperor when the current one dies; along with all other civilian leaders including regional viceroys" Tatsumi explained. "But that's just my plan for a government, first we need to make the new Empire to even consider how it will be run" Tatsumi explained.

"Why grant all these freedoms?" Spear asked.

"Because Spear the people are tired of the aristocracy having too much power; you can see the reason the Revolutionary army exists; also the majority of people Night Raid has killed and I by extension have killed have been nobles who prayed on common people, people like me, the people should have a say in their government because if they don't have a say that government will destroy itself with rot; I'm not advocating to get rid of the Imperial system no, no, its needed for a nation of this size but I want the people to have more power and the nobility to have powers that can't be used to abuse the people; the Emperor however should as head of state have control of Military matters; the people if allowed to have a say in those matters would in my opinion get themselves into conflicts they have no business being in and when they get themselves into them they lose the resolve to win: overall I want a system where the people have power that's evenly distributed and each part can check the other; a system of checks and balances Spear that keep one of the three from gaining too much power: the Empire's current problems stem from one group having too much power and abusing their power, in order to prevent something like this happening again two things have to happen: First the enemies that have killed the Empire need to die and be completely destroyed no survivors; anyone who joins our side is welcome but those who want to support Volgoth's demons or support Falkland's dream of mass anarchy and slaughter must be wiped out to prevent another conflict, the second thing is that the Empire needs to rebuilt and reorganized to prevent something like this from happening ever again" Tatsumi explained.

"That is a grand vison my love; but let us focus on the now Tatsu-bunny: there are many enemies against us but also plenty of potential allies; who do you want to ally with Tatsumi?" Esdeath asked.

"Anyone who will fight against the Demons; and I want everyone who can; there are only two types that aren't welcome in my army: Demons which is self-evident but any human monsters are not welcome and by that I mean no outlaws, no deserters, no criminals, no people who want the killing to continue after the war is won: other than them anyone is welcome to join, regardless of race, nationality, class, culture, religion and gender: essentially this is Order vs Chaos; not good vs evil, there is Good but there is a lot of Evil; and way more grey so I want everyone that's willing to fight for order" Tatsumi explained, he then looked at the map and decided to plan the march that took them thru the most settlements but also was the shortest he was on a time limit and he had a plan to deal with the Revolutionary Army but to carry it out he needed troops; enough to make sure that the leaders of the group would talk with him but not so much as to make them suspicious: he had with him a great weapon; something which would separate the good from the evil in the organization; that being his cousins.

The line of march was planned and from there Tatsumi sent the Elite Seven and half of his lovers who came with him to inform the people from Karsawa of the situation, he was then lead by Esdeath to large courtyard where a large gathering of troops now stood in waiting.

"Men and woman of the Empire: you are honored by this visit, I have come to inform you of horrible news and good news: the horrible news is that our beloved Emperor Makoto was overthrown and driven out of the Capital by the treasonous Prime Minister Honest: if that was not bad enough he has forsaken his humanity and is now a literal demon by the name of Volgoth Ugor; the hosts of Hell now hold our beloved Capital as such we are now at war with a new enemy not of our world in addition to he great foes arrayed against us. But do not lose heart: for there is good news; before our ouster from the royal palace a great discovery was made: the rightful Emperor of the Empire was discovered; the son of Emperor Isshin II once thought dead has been found along with the Golden Crown and documents proving his heritage along with his mother the Dowager Empress Akame. You may wonder who this man may be, whom our former Emperor Makoto has given his crown to: well rejoice for that is joyous news I have sung his praises many times before for he is the greatest and strongest man in the world; he is my husband: all kneel before your rightful Emperor: Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, seventh of his name, son of Emperor Isshin II the Lost and Empress Akame, descendant of the Dragon Emperor thru both parents and rightful ruler of the Golden Emperor!" Esdeath spoke, the speech roused the crowd who knelt as Tatsumi approached.

Tatsumi held his breath and thought, thinking the best words to speak, these men and women were his soldiers and they would be hesitant to accept him as Emperor, granted they respected him thru his association with Esdeath who they would follow to Hell and back, something which may have to happen, and as such Tatsumi had to give a speech worthy of a leader. "Greetings my countrymen; my people, know that I was once like you, a normal person living in this Empire; now no more: I've risen thru sheer luck and skill and hope that you yourselves may have the chance to rise yourselves thru the ranks: that in mind I want you all to consider me as one of you; don't feel afraid because I'm your Emperor, treat me with due respect but remember I'm always here to listen to your requests. With that in mind I am aware that we face an enemy of the kind that Eden hasn't faced in thousands of years, but it has been faced before and beaten; I'm aware that many of you are concerned but worry not for at first we will not have to face the Ultimate Enemy that day is long away first we will unify our Empire against this threat, seek allies wherever they may be; know that battles lie ahead. Our first enemies will be the radicals that lead the Revolutionary Army, know that among the ranks of the Revolutionary army there those who have been subject to the abuses of Honest's power, they are not our enemies they are potential allies and as such I hope we do not have to fight them; but the radicals seek to destroy the government of the Empire and create what would certainly be anarchy and they would not be able to resist the demon tide; as such they are enemies and treat them as monsters. Now I have expectations of you, you are not to harm your fellow loyalists and you are not to commit atrocities of any kind; expect great rewards for those who journey with me: our journey will begin soon; but first General now Empress Esdeath has ordered preparations be made for meals, as such I want everyone to be well fed and full of energy before we depart; we march east to Tokorra in the Matahai Mountains along the way we will rally those who will support our cause and gather our forces for war; we then will march east; I've a plan to deal with the Revolutionary Army and as such I will require you to play along; until such time as that plan is implemented you my soldiers are to treat me as I was before I found out about my heritage I swear you all to secrecy under pain of death until such time as I choose to reveal my heritage; for now we are to rally soldiers and once we've gathered our forces march to Matahai from there I will have you wait for orders; they are dependent on my plan: we rally our troops and make ready for the true war: the war against the forces of chaos that tear our land apart, the war to end the killing that has plagued our land for the past three years: as such a word to all EXTINCTION TO ALL TRAITORS!" Tatsumi spoke, the soldiers cheered and raised their arms in salute.

"My son I'm proud of you, your much like your father" Akame commented to his side.

"Yeah and you want to know what else; that was me making it up as I go along" Tatsumi whispered back.

Later… the speech was concluded and all parties gathered to eat, a great meal of the finest foods available was made for each soldier and each person who would participate in the Great Journey as it was now being called by the people and Tatsumi liked the name. He now gave thought as he ate to matters of great importance: the Great Emperors who bore his name in the past bore a honorific title which they were called in the times hereafter, as such he would need a suitable honorific for himself and being the last best hope for the Empire and direct descendant from both the Golden Emperor and Dragon Emperor he chose a name that was a merger of the two; the Golden Dragon Emperor. The name seemed in his opinion grandious and prideful but considering he may as well be the Empire's greatest leader and the first Emperor of a new Empire just as much as being its last Emperor and forgotten as demons devoured the world because of his failure he thought he was entitled to a name with flare, besides it was a bad-ass name and bad-ass names usually were given to people who deserved it. "Yeah that will work, Golden Dragon Emperor" Tatsumi thought to himself then took a spin and tapped on his glass getting attention of the people in banquent hall, which were a mixture of his friends, family, fellow people from Karsawa, and the top officers of Esdeath's army along with local officials and leaders. "Attention my subjects in light of my rank of Emperor I have an important announcement to make: Empire's Greatest Emperors bore the same name as me and well its more accurate to say I bare their name; with that in mind it is only suitable that I have an honorific title like my famous ancestors; in honer of my two greatest ancestors, First Emperor known as the Golden Emperor and Dragon Emperor of whom I share descent from both parents I will be known as the Golden Dragon Emperor; I will have a standard made for my rank and for our army to bare in battle; henceforward the old standard of our Empire will be replaced by the banner of the Golden Dragon, we are the world's last best hope and if we succeed that symbol will become that of the armies that saved our world and thus will be a worthy replacement of that banner that has flown for fifteen centuries and hopefully the Empire will stand for even longer" Tatsumi explained, this was a shock but not one unforeseen; Esdeath smirked at the idea, and chatter began, but as the conversations concluded most were in agreement with the new name.

"Tatsumi, my son I will make the standard; you know I love to stitch and sow" his mother whispered in his ear; Tatsumi smiled and blushed happy that his mother would do this for him but also a bit embarrassed that his mother would be the one who created his banner.

"Any volunteers to bare my standard which will be made soon?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll bare it" Seryu replied, Tatsumi smiled knowing he could always depend on her.

"Granted my lovely Seryu" Tatsumi replied, then resumed eating the roasted pork that had come from a Nagra Everholt, giant boar the size of a bear and just as mean, a dish worthy of an emperor, after chomping on a pork chop he then took a drink of wine, the Wine was of extremely high quality, Esdeath's personal stock and had been taken from Numa Saika's personal stores after her victory over him.

After the banquet Tatsumi was lead by Esdeath to a stable, this stable was not a typical one because instead of horses Esdeath had something special stored there: Danger Beasts, specifically Raptors from the Northern frontier lands where she hailed from. "Tatsumi I have for you a worthy mount, the Raptors or as my people call them Crakthragul are mighty beasts worthy of a the greatest warriors, by Clan rode them into battle, and hunted them as a trials of strength, at the age of six I killed my first Raptor and dragged it back to my father by myself" Esdeath explained.

"Wait you dragged it back by yourself at six? How did you manage to pull that off?" Tatsumi asked.

"At the age of six I was as big as if I was 12, my people were large in stature in addition to being known for our blue hair, it's said that giant blood flowed in our vains and the father of our clan laid with a giantess and sired a thousand children from her womb" Esdeath explained. "Anyway I've seen to procuring and training the finest and strongest of these mighty beasts of war for your own personal mount, think not of these as horses Tatsumi they are as much a warrior as you, they make light of heavy burdens and are hard to kill" Esdeath explained and lead him to a central pen in which a large black rapter about the size of a small wagon slept, it was grizzled and scarred. "This is Calax, Black Death, he was one of the most stubborn Raptors I've had to break in, he killed ten soldiers capturing him and on top it battled with other raptors, trust me he is a worthy mount for you, don't worry though he is tame and won't harm you or anyone save your enemies" Esdeath explained.

"Are you sure he won't try to eat me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Please like I said he's tamed besides I brought some left over Nagra for you to earn his trust, the Nagra are their favorite pray and they hunt in packs: my people had a saying that if you give a Crakthragul Nagra meat they'll follow you to the end" Esdeath explained and handed him a bucket of meat that she had been carrying.

Tatsumi opened the pen and the raptor stirred from sleep. "Feeding time: I'm Tatsumi and I'll be your new rider big guy" Tatsumi greeted and tossed a slice of meat to the raptor, it snapped it up eagerly; Tatsumi's boldness and bravery was useful in this situation, the Raptors respected strength and thus refrained from hunting or attacking anything that displayed strength on there own. The Rapter let out a cracking sound of contentment, and when Tatsumi tossed it another slice of meat the raptor caught it like a trained seal would a fish. "Good boy; now you are destined for big things; I'll be riding you as my mount; let me level with you that this is a great honor for I am the Emperor: I'm the leader of the humans who tamed you and your fellow raptors; as such Calex I'm expecting you to treat me with respect and do as ordered, in turn you will be rewarded" Tatsumi explained the creature nodded as it possed some basic levels of sapience and could comprehend Tatsumi's body language, Tatsumi tossed another slice of meat and the raptor nommed it with a single chomp; Tatsumi smirked then approached with a slice in hand; Calex took the offered meat and allowed Tatsumi to pat him on the head.

"Good boy" Tatsumi commented respectfully and then dumped the full bucket out for Calex to eat then left the pen shutting the door behind before turning to the quite impressed Esdeath. "I like him; I want him in the best you can get him; if he's to be my royal steed I want him ready for it" Tatsumi explained.

"That will be fully arranged: trust me I can think of no creature more worthy to bare you, save a dragon of course but you know how hard it is to find dragons now a days let alone tame one" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi grinned. True dragons, not the Earth Dragon beetles called so because of their ferocity and size rather then being actual dragons, were few in number and had always been the in ten thousands when at their peak mainly due to the territorial nature of the race along with their intellect, however their biggest enemy were those that they preyed on; of them the most ire came from humans and dwarves, the prior because they were the first targets of a dragon not wanting to be satisfied with normal fare and the latter because Dragons had a lust for gold and treasure and while they had no use for it they wanted it for the status it gave and because it was a lot easier to lure food to them if glory-seekers and treasure hunters had an incentive to come to the Dragon. Dragons came in various types too though some breeds were either extinct or not native to lands of the Empire: Dragons could never be truly tamed, rather for one to ride a Dragon they had to prove themselves worthy to said Dragon which was even harder when Dragons looked down on anything smaller then them both figuratively and literally and that Dragons usually viewed such efforts as well fruitless and if such a deal was ever made the Dragon that made such a deal would be a pariah about his or her own kind thus not ever having the opportunity to mate and being a target of more pure dragons.

Tatsumi simply followed Esdeath out, he was eager to either do two things, one was to begin the march and the other was to find a girl to get it on with, the latter because he was both horny and had gone without it since his fun with Spear before the coup and the day was getting late; a night march was not in his plans plus it would take time to ready everything for a march; about a day at least.

With that in mind Tatsumi searched for someone who'd be willing to spend time with him and found that in Kurome who had seen to getting herself a new outfit to fit her new position as Rakshasa Champion; she wasn't the only person to do so as when Martha and the Twins had been told by Womyn about the new positions they got to work right away getting attire ready for the new positions Tatsumi had established.

Kurome and Tatsumi went a local hotsprings for some relaxation. Kurome leaned into the warm water and was joined by Tatsumi within three second. "I like these springs, too bad they aren't my favorite ones near Night Raid HQ" Tatsumi commented

"Please you really are fixated on those? You're the Emperor I bet when you're in power you'll create a private pleasure palace for your own use" Kurome teased.

"Not immediately, that would be rather decadent and unbefitting of me, but will certainly designate my favorite Hot Springs as the Royal Springs and have a royal retreat built there for whenever I miss the countryside" Tatsumi replied.

"Look at you already acting like an Emperor don't let that power get to your head" Kurome replied.

"I won't this is just me kidding around, though I'm serious about those springs, I have had so many amazing encounters there that they are fitting of a countryside retreat for me and my family; as for where I'll live I'd rather not live in the Palace; the palace is so big I've no clue what I'd do with that much space, nope I think instead I'll take a large villa near the Palace: I've got an idea" Tatsumi explained.

"Tell me more about it" Kurome replied and kissed his cheek leaning against him her breasts press against his shoulder.

"It will be a more humble abode then the Royal Palace though I think I'll build a private pleasure garden for my own use; no full blown palace for it nope just a smaller garden" Tatsumi explained. "With a statue out front of the heroes who saved the world" Tatsumi added.

"A place for your passionate escapades and private orgies" Kurome joked lewdly.

"I'll show you passionate" Tatsumi replied and kissed her passionately then bent her over against the pull wall.

"Yeah show me passionate, take me in my ass" Kurome replied Tatsumi obliged, and- well Tatsumi had to admit Kurome had the tightest ass in existence; Kurome blushed cherry red as Tatsumi thrusted inside her anally. "Oh, Eee! Eee!" Kurome moaned. "Yeah oh- That's the spot keep it up" Kurome moaned Tatsumi leaned onto her shoulder and kissed her on the ear; Tatsumi kept going and came. He then turned Kurome around and laided her flat and kissed her as he entered her, kisses on the lips, on her cheeks, her neck and down to her left breast where he kissed the nipple then begin licking aerola his tongue moving in slow graceful circles until he felt the slightest drop of milk whereupon his lips fully embraced the teat and drank. "Tatsumi" Kurome cooed, she wrapped her left arm around his shoulder and held his hand with her right, his arm in turn wrapped around her back with his hand in the small. "I love you; marry me- as soon as we have time to wed me I want you and only you" Kurome replied, Tatsumi nodded as he swapped breasts.

Any worries Tatsumi had were out of his mind, nothing troubled him, he was focused on the here and now, his worries and stress tossed aside, he was no Emperor here, he was just man with a woman he loved dearly and two were one in passion and love: Kurome's black eyes shined like onyxes as she gave a cute face of bliss. Every thrust every bound of her hips every suck Tatsumi gave her body was for her true happiness. "I'm here with him, I'm not ashamed of it, he and I are meant for eachother and I cherish every second of it, every thrust he takes into my folds, and more then that I feel at peace" Kurome thought, she then later a couple years later told me the author that it was at that moment she felt her body change. You see unknown to Tatsumi, Kurome was changing, the cure to the ravages of the drugs was restoring things lost to her, but also giving her the chance to grow to what she would've achieved in a world without the drug being; that from a young woman that resembled more a child, to a goddess of a woman.

Tatsumi noted that as he drank the milk of Kurome was sweeter then before her treatment and in a way it tasted pure, like sweet mana from heaven's springs, but in addition to that he noted Kurome herself was changing; ever so slightly, it was apparent as she had grown about 4 inches as an immediate result of her treatment he could tell that she had grown within a week two more inches, he also noted that her eyes looked more clean as the influence of the drugs had caused them to be hazy; then there was milk sweet as mana, and the fact that she had her hyman regrown when they had sex after she had gotten to a stage where she could have it again, then there were her breasts which had grown a bit; the changes were sutble but for anyone who had known her long enough they were easily noticeable.

The springs were secluded enough that as an hour of passion passed no one bothered to come their way, when they finished and returned to their temporary accommodations Tatsumi noted Kurome's stomach grumble loudly. "Tatsumi I'm hungry, very hungry" Kurome commented.

"We just had a banquet; you ate a lot of roast Nagra, not to mention a bunch of other stuff" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm hungry though and I need to eat; Tatsumi have you every fealt really hungry after eating a big meal in your life?" Kurome replied, Tatsumi frowned and struggled to remember when that had last occurred.

"I think that its obvious you're growing Kurome" Akame remarked approaching, the Akame that was her sister rather then Tatsumi's mother.

"Nii-san" Kurome replied and rushed to hug her, Akame smiled and returned the hug.

"I'm glad to see you too Kurome-nii, now I must know how much fun did you two have?" Akame replied knowing that the two had gone off for pleasure.

"A lot, you know going forward I think it will be confusing with Tatsumi's mother around" Kurome replied.

"Yes I am aware of that, I never thought I'd run into someone with the same name; I'm amazed though that your mother looks so much like you Tatsumi" Akame commented.

"Yeah, it will be confusing" Tatsumi commented, having to figure out a system to go about this (AN: This is a giant pain going forward)

"Then call me Akaa" The former Empress remarked coming up to the three.

"Hi mom" Tatsumi replied, she hugged him then released him from it.

"I heard you'd come back; also the messengers you had sent to the others have returned they told me that that we should watch the skies" Akaa explained.

"Thanks for letting me know that" Tatsumi replied his mother smiled.

"Now who are these two lovely ladies; I don't think you've introduced them to me" Akaa replied, Tatsumi smiled and let Akame and Kurome come up to shake her hand.

"I'm Kurome; I've- known Tatsumi for a while and was just made a member of the Four Rakshasas along with my big sis" Kurome introduced, her stomach growled. "I need to eat something" Kurome commented.

"Don't worry I think we can find some meat- I mean food for you Kurome" Akame replied then turned to the mother of her lover and a person that shared her name. "I'm Akame; former Elite Seven, now A Rakshasa champion; perhaps you've seen my name on wanted posters?" Akame replied.

"I may have seen a couple but tell me more about yourself, I find it fascinating when I meet a person who shares my name: it's a rather old and noble name" Akaa replied.

"Any significance to my name?" Akame asked not having considering names had any significance beyond being names.

"Oh it's a rather old name and it means Rose in a few older languages, its usually given to someone of old noble stock from the area around the Matahai Mountains tell me where are you from?" Akaa asked.

"From a small town in the foothills of those mountains: I'd rather not discuss my parents; they were- bad people, and they are dead now" Akame replied simply frowing, Akaa didn't press her on what she meant by them being bad people knowing that the subject by Akame's expression was painful to her. "Kurome's the only family I have now, well that's subject to change; there are two other people in my life that I love dearly; Tatsumi is one of those two" Akame explained.

"Really and- how did you and my son meet?" Akaa asked, Akame smiled at that memory; yes she had been one of those people introduced to Tatsumi when he first joined Night Raid but that couldn't really be considered a one on one meeting, what Akame was remembering was their first sparring session that had ended in barely won victory by Akame in the spar; it really hit hard on his confidence and set him on a path to be better which was only strengthened after his near death at Honest's hands.

"Oh we met when he first joined Night Raid; I don't think he knew at the time what he was getting into" Akame explained.

"Nope I didn't and I don't regret it" Tatsumi added.

"Anyway as we got to know each other we got closer and eventually we fell in love; more then that though I'm- able to feel emotions I haven't felt in years again" Akame explained.

"So have you two got plans to tie the knot?" Akaa asked.

"Yes we do, but its complicated and there are some people that I want to get involved in the ceremony, they're people I can't do without" Akame explained.

"I'm one of them: I took the longest to join their side" Kurome added. "Also I'm joining in on that ceremony; if you're getting married to him I want to do the same" Kurome explained then clung to Tatsumi for emphasis.

"I see now what are you going to do now my son?" Akaa asked.

"Well I'm going to try and get things ready for our departure, tomorrow we begin the march East, and I want to make sure everything is ready then I'll relax and get a good night's sleep goodness knows when I will get the chance get one again" Tatsumi explained; he then gave his mother a hug and kiss before turning towards the door to the room and marching out with Kurome and Akame at his side.

The next hours were spent well: Tatsumi inspected the troops and made sure that missives were made, he purchased silk for his mother to make his new banner, made sure to greet everyone when they arrived in the city and made sure to explain the plans ahead. To his surprise a larger number of the villiagers then he expected decided to go on the Air Manta ride to Tokorra rather then the march; as dangerous as the flight had been there were those who found it safer then an overland march thru Imperial Territory. This in mind Tatsumi tasked Sayo with sticking with the villagers; as much as he wanted her with him she was needed to protect the Mantas from aerial threats like the Wyverns that had accousted them. Speaking of the journey Tatsumi ploted out a route that was both fast and took him thru as many settlements as possible, both to ensure safer travel by taking paths that were cleared of Danger Beasts quite frequently but also to rally more people to his cause.

That night Tatsumi slept hard after being exhausted by half of his harem specifically the 10 women that were in charge of Air Mantas. Also it helped that if this was going to be his last semi-normal night of sleep for a long while that he'd best enjoy himself. When he awoke the following morning he woke in fine silken sheets and warmed by soft hands; Tsukushi and Peony had their arms wrapped around him as they still slept: Tatsumi smiled at the comfort he found himself in. "WAKE UP!" Esdeath yelled from outside the room waking all the girls who were with Tatsumi in a rather blatant fashion. Tatsumi got out of bed and didn't have to trouble himself with getting dressed as his lovers dressed him themselves as had been planned the night before: the 10 of them would be on Air Mantas which meant they wouldn't be exerting themselves while Tatsumi would be as he was going to be leading an army column on the march.

Shortly… "Alright are there any changes to our route that you want to make Tatsumi before we set out?" Esdeath asked looking at the map.

"Nope: I'm ok with the road we're taking are there any problems with it that I don't know about" Tatsumi replied.

"No my Imperial husband, the road should be safe however when we get nearer to Revolutionary Army expect fights unless we send a message ahead" Esdeath explained.

"I've got a plan that will make it so that we can beat the Revolutionary Army without having to march our army east" Tatsumi replied.

"Tell me exactly how you plan to go about that" Esdeath replied.

"When we get to Tokorra I'll explain but just so you know this plan may require us to take some risks you don't want to but I promise you if anything goes wrong I'll take full credit for it" Tatsumi replied.

"I see: well then lets see to sending the marching orders to my troops: I've mobilized the reserves too we'll have about 50,000 men and women out our beck and call" Esdeath explained.

The next two hours were spent finalizing the plans for departure, during this time Tatsumi said his farewells to those who'd be going on the Air Mantas and watched them take off, after this the army began to march leaving via the Eastern gate to trumpheting fanfare. The Column they marched in was not a typical marching column, unlike most Columns it was protected by the elite and more mobile troops marching on the flanks this formation allowed for the protection of the more green troops along with baggage train, camp following and the artillery which were mounted in war wagons to allow for rapid deployment as Esdeath did not want their progress hindered by the artillery. The the only thing that could compare with the size of the army was the camp following that was required to maintain that army in addition to making sure the soldiers of that army were well tended to; about a fifth of those marching in this force were civilian forces, civilian being a light term as these people were more then capable of fighting as irregulars if push came to shove, these consisted of the baggage handlers, the porters who cared for the animals that bore the baggage, the docters and nurses who tended to the medical needs of the soldiers, the families of nomadic soldiers whose families marched of with them to war, the prostitutes both men and women who tended to the carnel needs of the troops, the retainers and servents of the nobles who served in the officer corp and well pretty much anyone who tagged along with the army.

With that many people Tatsumi wished he could move quicker but there were too many things that couldn't be left behind: that being said Tatsumi hoped to make 10 miles each day, and thus made sure to march alongside his common soldiers while Esdeath soured above on her Wyvern. Tatsumi couldn't help but smile and look up every so often and while Esdeath flew at a decent height he could see her lovely blue hair, that while shorter was still visible.

The first town that Tatsumi reached was about a day later that being the town of Joyuu; which had changed little since Aria's visit and take down of the Circus of Child-Predators but had improved since then as corruption was rooted out. The People of the town were easy to sway along with the nobility as House Grundel held a good deal of power in the town and Aria was able to convince her relatives to back him, Run's wife and children joined the march to be with him along with the soldiers of the town that could be spared for the journey and those willing to follow the them. After Joyuu they passed thru townships and villages the populations of which pledged their support to the True Emperor; while there was some questioning among the nobility the official documents along with the royal regalia and testimony of witnesses (And in extreme cases using the Mirror of Time itself) convinced the doubters who joined their cause non the less. Now there were a number of people who seriously doubted Tatsumi's claims but the fact that Prime Minister Honest had according to Tatsumi and General Esdeath betrayed the Emperor and usurped the throne was enough to get them to change sides; in addition to the fact that the Revolutionary Army was gaining ground and as such nobles who feared for their lives pledged themselves to him.

The march reached a height when Tatsumi reached the city of Kaldan one of the larger settlements of the inner provinces: it was also one the more traditional cities and while not as big as Melitine was still large enough not be ignored. Fortunately the local Viceroy Gaius Raines and the Miltary Commander General Valerie Devaul were more then cooperative; the former due to having been a good friend of Tatsumi's father and mother and the latter due to well Tatsumi's seduction, as the general was a sucker for handsome guys but those who had power and were smart (This was small and nothing really worked out beyond basic dates) and Tatsumi's status as Emperor made her want to immediately go after him. Valerie herself was a catch a busty hazel-eyed ginger goddess who had a superiority complex due to her experiances in the military and finding most people stupid: Tatsumi on the other hand ticked every box for and when Tatsumi had suggested a secluded hour stay in his tent she leapt at the opportunity pledging herself to him in both a romantic sense and political sense. Valerie's army was a modest 10,000 which was enough to responde to any threats that would threaten the inner proviance of Tal'send, granted these troops weren't many but the did have a good amount of experience fighting uprisings, bandits, and Danger Beasts so they would be reliable in a fight.

In addition to the troops Valerie brough to his force Viceroy Raines managed to rally other troops that could be spared from sorronding townships as well as volunteers who joined the force: Tatsumi wanted to make sure however that the troops in this army were volunteers rather then conscripts; he viewed that the Empire was better served by having paid volunteer professional soldiers then conscripted peasants who couldn't tell which way to point their farming tools in a fight and because he didn't want to deprive families of their main providers when he didn't have to.

The march from Kalden was made after the forces were gathered which took about two days; once mustered the march resumed in earnest. The plan then continued as planned Tatsumi repeating his recruiting strategy in each settlement he visited in expanding the force and acquiring allies while at the same time sending messengers to other places that weren't on the path of march. As such by the time Tatsumi's army, now called the Golden Dragon Army after his banner that his mother had made, consisted off about 250,000 soldiers which while a sizeable force was be no means large enough to contend with the Revolutionary army which numbered about 10 million let alone goodness knew how many demons Volgoth could summon forth from hells depths.

Speaking of Honest had not been idle in those days. About two hours after Tatsumi had left Melitine the skies over the city turned blood red with neither sun of Eden being visible; then thru out the city pentagrams appeared at random on the ground and demons poured into the city which were reinforced by black and red armored legions devoted to Valtor these were composed of the still sizeable Valtor cult but more numerous were the demonic infused Black armored skeletal soldiers along with artificial human soldiers and other abominations made by Izel; this force overwhelmed those who were trapped outside the shield: those who resisted died a quick death those who didn't were brought before Volgoth en masse.

Melitine shortly after Tatsumi's departure… Volgoth overlooked the central Plaza or rather the part of it that wasn't covered by the shield; in it he had the people of the city brought forth with his legions guarding them; at his side were Graal and Lorhish but also the six Arch-Devil Generals and his son Argadon who was a pit-lord towered over the the crowd at a wopping 20 feet, the body demonic like but his face and head were very skull like in appearance and on fire; his body was clad in armor and in his hand was large Vorpal blade the size of two men. "My Lord they have been gathered as per your orders" Agrael explained.

"Good now for the sorting" Volgoth replied then rose to his full height. "Citizens of Melitine! The Empire is dead your Emperor fallen; I rule you now! I am Volgoth Ugor: Vassel of Valtor Abbadon, and you are my subjects to do with as I see fit." Volgoth explained, fear went out from the crowd of captives as he soared about them looking at each and every one of them. "Don't worry my subjects I've got an use for every one of you, each of you will serve that role and whatever that role is well it depends on what you are" Volgoth replied then cackled. "Begin the sorting! Women and Children First!" Volgoth ordered, the demons sorted the crowd, removing the women and Children, tearing them from the arms in some cases from their fathers, brothers, grandfathers, and other relations. Volgoth went thru and sorted them all having his demon soldiers bring forward each as he decided there assigned roles, the first brought before him were young lovely women fair and beautiful. Honest's eyes settled first on a green-eyed dark-skinned lady with long blue hair and deep brown and an ample figure clad in a purple sweater and black sweats. "What is your name" Volgoth asked.

The woman shook with terror. "Lucellie" she stuttered out Volgoth held a claw under her neck inspecting her then fondled her gentlely as if appraising a horse. Finally after what felt like hours to her but was really about two minutes Volgoth grinned leering in her face.

"You'll do, you'll do" Volgoth smirked.

"What for?" she asked horrified.

"For my little trap harem: you are too beautiful and too sweet for me to sully, nope you pure and innocent with all your beauty you honestly can't be older then 16" Volgoth replied, 17 she stammered. "17 point is I've got a special role for innocent sweet girls like you Lucellie that is for a little trap for when my rival returns to the city; whenever that may be: you will be kept nice and safe, well feed, well watered, and well clothed and stay in a golden cage of the Royal Palace: you and a number of others: I'm sure your aware in fairy tales dragons take captive young maidens, pretty virgins and princess and hold them captive in hopes of luring heroes to their dooms you will be on such maiden" Volgoth explained. "Xana!" Volgoth shouted, the demoness appeared next to him.

"Yes milord" Xana asked.

"You will take her to the royal palace find her a suitable room and make sure she is left unspoiled; you'll be having a fair few such beauties joining her soon: you're in charge of security you are not allow to have any harm come to them: they are a bargaining chip, I may not have the Emperor or his sisters to lure Tatsumi but I can at least take advantage of his weakness for saving pretty things" Volgoth ordered and Xana grabbed Luciele and vanished returned Volgoth had during the conversation examined and noted about four girls who watched with apprehension, each beautiful and matching their friend's fear and concern as such he had them sent to join her in his trap. Once however Volgoth felt satisfied he had enough for that trap he turned to the next young woman a scared girl about 16 who was nearly a mirror image of the woman who killed his son Saikyuu. "your name is?" Volgoth asked.

"Kiri" she muttered, and she flew to Volgoth; who ripped her clothes of her and then proceeded to rape her in front of the women and children who watched in terror frozen in it after Volgoth was done he handed her unconscious form to Daeva.

"Take her to my harem" Volgoth ordered then he went thru taking out women and children as suited his fancy and condemning them to his harem; those who didn't fit his designs the women and young girls were given to his demons to use as breeders for his legions. After the women and children came the elderly whom Volgoth had gathered up and tortured to death; the disabled were met with a similar fate, well the men were but not the women and girls those ended up as sex slaves little more then toys for the demons including their league lord to play with. Last came the Men who were given the choice to submit and fight in his armies alive or die and be vessels for his Demonic infused soldiers. Volgoth did not discriminate amongst the populace and left no one any chance to have freedom they would either be slaves to Volgoth in life or in death.

Shortly inside Volgoth's mindscape… Volgoth smirked as he entered his mind while he was sitting on his throne; inside his mind was the soul of the man who had been his vessel, the man who in his foolish quest to bring back his wife had invited him in. "You monster: I saw everything" Honest shouted bound inside shackles inside the mind; it was a much younger Honest clad in white rags.

"You don't have a say anymore: you see all of this was your doing: you let me into your soul; a devil only has as much power as you give him and you gave me all of it beneath the black ruins twenty years ago" Volgoth replied looking at his counterpart.

"I did die that day, everything that has happened since- that's been your doing; you driving me into horrid acts; you controlled my impulses and there was little I could restrain you from" Honest replied.

"Did you, well you see the moment blood was spilled in that temple I had power over you; completely held it; time went on and that wretched human form of yours's grew less to my liking and less useful for the tasks that needed doing; I may have had control but you only let me have that control: but then again I shouldn't have expected less from a broken man; a man who's lost all joy in the world who had nothing to live for after losing the one dearest to your heart: for shame that you let a demon have control over you, but you were even more of disgrace to not resist!" Volgoth replied and shackles holding Honest causing him to bleed.

"You're right I'm pathetic; a fool; I let you my dark half have control of my actions: now look at me: damned, trapped in between death and life as you've taken it from me" Honest replied.

"Oh indeed; the only thing that you did manage to keep safe were your children; that you did have compulsion to protect especially as I accrewed interest with your seed; adding more mouths for you to feed" Volgoth replied.

"I'd have never done any of the things you've done" Honest replied. "Much less lain with my own flesh and blood: you wretch what have you done to my children?!" Honest asked.

"Your children are safe: for now, your last act before I took full control was to send them from this city; you fully embraced me years ago and now the time has come to pay in full" Volgoth replied and drove his claw thru Honest leaving him to bled from large hole in his chest. "You see you are dead, you died years ago, and I've just been playing with you for now: and now you are reduced to being my plaything for eternity!" Volgoth yelled.

"I WILL NOT GIVE YOU SATISFACTION!" Honest yelled back, the demon hissed.

"I don't need it I just want this part of you to break so I can have complete dominance of your soul, your soul this part of it refuses to die and as such my transformation is incomplete!" Volgoth replied. "Why won't you die!?" Volgoth yelled then ripped of Honest's Head which looked at him with disdain.

"Because I've still got a reason to live: my children still live and while they do I will never let you have full control!" Honest yelled, the head reattached to the body and the wounds of the torture healed and Volgoth was thrown out of his mindscape.

"Dammit!" Volgoth yelled, his court looked at him in surprise.

"Did we miss anything?" Daeva asked.

"No- its- the stupid mortal who's soul and body belonged to refuses to die: he refuses to embrace eternity!" Volgoth yelled.

"And that's our problem how?" Daeva asked and pulled out a nail file to polish her nails.

"Because it means I have a weakness: I cannot ascend without this fool's light side dying! I need ways to boost my ascension and bring forth our legions" Volgoth explained.

"If I may my lord?" Socrathor offered.

"You have any options" Volgoth replied, Socrathor stepped up to the throne and conjured up a table on which he put a map of the Empire.

"You see here the Empire as it is today" Socrathor explained, he then pulled out a second map and put it over the first. "You see here the Abbadonic Empire of Yeenkar, an empire which no longer exists thanks to the efforts of the ancestors of the people that live in this world some 15,000 years ago: on the map are marked a number of cities" Socrathor explained indicating to each on the map then he pulled out a pen and circled certain ones: about 50 or so within the Empire as a whole, plus about two dozen in the lands that had until recent years been unconquered; the key node was at what had been the Capital of this Empire in the Southern Lands: a ruin known as Yeen. "Beneath these cities sits a dormant demonic nexus which can be reactivated when the proper sacrifices are offered" Socrathor explained, he then noted the points on the map where cities of the Lizardmen, Dwarven Holds and Titan Castles stood and put a red X over a number of them too. "These locations are the source of a defensive warding that limits the range of our lesser forces: if these cities and the generators powering such wards are destroyed our armies will then be allowed to further pour into Eden. Only the ones on the main continent need be dealt with in both cases: once those nexi are active and our enemies' wards destroyed we will have enough forces to overpower the rest of the planet; and from there be can set our eyes on the rest of these galaxy and universe" Socrathor explained .

"A devious plan; I like it; first though we must keep up and illusion of normalcy: the boy is our main threat but he's only as much of a threat as we let him be: in other words if we can maintain our control on the Empire as a whole it will be easy to then reactivated the nodes: I need first to project an illusion; one that will fool the simple minded people of the Empire into thinking everything in Melitine is normal; in short a magic projection: I will in that time send out corrosspondents to each of my human generals that I can rely on to begin the search in the areas; other generals will just have to fight against external enemies" Volgoth explained. "Now for you my generals I'm tasking you with the preparations of an army: one not of demons but of my non demon warriors that army will then be divided into four forces with each of you, save Agrael and Lashara, searching for nexi and reactivating them: we'll focus on the South and West first as those are pacified thanks to my General Teketh Tsunami also we'll focus on the ones within the Empire first no need to press ourselves outside the Empire's borders until we've got more demonic soldiers" Volgoth explained.

"What about those two what's their job" Xana asked.

"Their job will be hunting a certain boy down and killing him: I'm sure that as the most experienced of your number they will have no issue in leading a military expedition to take him down" Volgoth explained.

"The experienced generals focused on one person? Why does that sound like overkill to me" Daeva asked.

"You've never met him: I've had to deal with him for the past three months! He nearly ruined everything, and I am not going to underestimate him again, he is human after all and I'm sure an Arch-Devil would be more then capable of beating him" Volgoth replied.

"The boy is one issue, but we cannot hunt him alone we need troops" Agreal explained.

"Which is why I'll provide you with my own troops: also before you kill him I want you to go here!" Volgoth replied and moved the second map off of the first and indicated Karsawa. "This village is his home, I want you two and your forces to destroy it and everything he holds dear: and I want it done first!" Volgoth replied.

"As you wish Lord Volgoth" Lashara replied and curtsied respectifully.

"I'll deal with it, It won't be fun but I'll do it" Agrael replied.

Karsawa ten hours later… The village was deserted when Agrael walked in with Lashara and the host of demonic soldiers. "Well this sucks; nothing here" Agreal remarked.

"Yes a pity, I was looking forward to having some boys to play with: never mind then he did say to torch the dump did he?" Lashara replied.

"No I believe his exact words were destroy it and everything he holds dear" Agrael replied.

"Of course, that would make sense: so nah fire would be rather dull wouldn't it: tear the place apart board by board you stupid Imps!" Lashara replied and demons under their command went forth and destroyed the empty buildings.

"Want to bet he saw this coming and beat us here?" Agrael commented.

"He'd have had to fly to get her this quickly: they've probably abandoned the dungheap of their own volition" Lashara replied, then sat on a stump. "Agrael I was looking forward to having some fun; are you up for some" Lashara commented lewdly.

"You're not my type, we've been over this before" Agrael replied.

"Oh right your type is human girls, specifically those you waste your time romancing to get into their cunts rather than taking them like most devils would" Lashara replied.

"Call me eccentric but I get more out of boning someone when my partner enjoys it too: also, I'm not the one who goes and wants to bone any man she thinks suits her fancy" Agrael replied.

"You know what I'm giving up: you are boring Agrael: as to why I was sent with you on this raid is beyond me" Lashara replied as the demons dismantled the homes board by board.

Matahai Mountains two weeks later… Tatsumi looked out on the mist shrouded mountain valley bellow, the city of Takorra rested in the narrow valley platau that was about 5,000 up in the Matahai Mountains: the city was practically built into the mountionsides but it was a fortress with layer upon layer of defenses; high pagoda towers and spires of some white stone probably marble but even whiter butted out above the skyline; overlooking it all was a massive castle with another six layer defense in between the city and keep: the top of which was topped by an even more massive pagoda. Also if the city wasn't impressive enough the surrounding mountainsides had been carved into one giant statue: that statue was a of a beautiful woman clad in royal garb and holding a staff. "Taking in the view" Chelsea commented.

"Yes- I've never seen something so amazing: and that statue was that all constructed by hand?" Tatsumi asked taking in in biggest statue.

"Oh yes: in fact it was, that Tatsumi is a statue of Empress Merraid I carved during the start of her reign as a means to rival the statues of the Shadow Queens of old, you'll notice a number of them along the main road: also a fair few are used to hide the entrances to the Grand Labyrith" Chelsea explained.

"Grand Labyrinth?" Tatsumi asked.

"If you think the mountains are big, the tunnels underneath are even bigger; millennia ago in the past the ancestors of my family made pacts with the Dwarves who taught them the arts of stoneworking, mining, tunneling and crafting: they in exchange offered their protection: over time the Dwarves moved out of the mountains as their mines dried up; but my people stayed behind taking their mountain holds and tunnels for our own: the Grand Labyrinth is the greatest secret of our clan and the reason no one has ever been able to conquer the Oarburgh Clan; that even the first Emperor had to resort to diplomacy is an amazing feet. The tunnels run under the entire chain and lead in a way to various places; our family takes the name clan in honor of the Dwarves: here the Oarburghs of old mastered the skills that are known only to a select few: where do our assassin skills come from; well that's something that even I don't know" Chelsea explained. "Anyway, point being the Labyrinth allows us to move forces anywhere we want without any enemy ever knowing we're there, perfact for our style of warfare; irregular and indirect; hiting enemies where they don't expect it and where it counts: any pass can be turned into a rocky graveyard overnight" Chelsea added.

"Can I see the tunnels? I've got some ideas" Tatsumi asked.

"Please Tatsumi ordinarily I'd have to tell you no but considering you are a direct descendant of the Shadow Queens you have that right: but there are certain rules and you can't just going marching soldiers thru them; those tunnels are dangerous to the unprepared and even more so if they haven't been properly cleared for a while" Chelsea explained.

"Cleared?" Tatsumi asked.

"You think nothing lives under those mountains? Think again stuff does live under them and that stuff is not friendly" Chelsea explained. "I'll give you a hint rats live in them; lots of them and the clan spends more time fighting those then anything else" Chelsea added ominously; Tatsumi shivered. Chelsea giggled. "Don't worry lets take to the city: Merraid's probably worried dearly about you" Chelsea explained and the two looked out on the Mountainside.

 **AN: I hope you guys love the new intro, this will be in the start of all the chapters going forward with a special outro in the final chapter: by the way thanks for over 60,000 viewers: keep up the good work: also fair warning to Blood Clan guys going forward I will be erasing reviews that do not have any connection to the story: all reviews left in the future must be about the story itself: emphasis on the story itself, you can offer opinions, suggestions and other views on the story but you are not allowed going forward to try and dictate canon of this story; that as you can see is my purview and if you have ideas for your own story write them in your own story don't piggyback off of mine and expect me to bend to your beck and call. Anyway thanks for now see you all next time on Empire's End! Or Killing Kuroinu whichever I finish the next chapter for first, probably Killing Kuroinu.**


	58. Chapter 43

Chapter 43: The Emperor's first test

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard barrer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Tokorra… Tatsumi took a good look from the grand balcony, it was an impressive observation deck built into the side of the main keep of Hanzo-Tsume Castle, ancestral keep and home of the Oarburgh Clan it was the main part of what was known as the Jade Sky Palace; a massive royal undertaking built by his ancestress Empress Merraid I the Jade Butterfly who had moved the capital to Tokorra from Melitine. The Balcony itself was not open air due to the high altitude and the need to keep the warm air inside the castle; instead elaborate windows made of diamond rested in panes of strong marble; the center of which was carpeted room with a large lounge couch.

Tatsumi could see clearly the new Capital of his government in Exile; he didn't intend it to be his permanent seat instead wanting Melitine, a city that for all its major flaws he loved and considered home, for that role. For now, however he had to be satisfied with a mountain citadel city. In comparison to Melitine, Tokorra was more spread out, there weren't buildings close to each other as space seemed to be developed, the building were rather traditional but made out of hard granite instead of brick or wood: also each building overlooked each other on a slight incline: Chelsea had told him that this was on purpose as the city was designed to be the ultimate defenders stronghold; if an enemy took one part of the city it was easy to isolate the enemy. There were three things however that according to Chelsea Tokorra had no shortage of: Statues of people, as the Oarburgh rulers in addition to being master assassins were also master masons and had an extreme reverence for their family history, Temples to Gods; most notably three grand edifices to Esmeralda the Goddess of the Harvest and Artemisia the goddess of Family and marriage with a major one to Yathina the Goddess of love and fertility and her two twin servant goddesses Antiope and Tamaris who represented different aspects of it, and the last were armories and smithies, which according to Chelsea were always busy as everyone in Tokorra had a sword and that meant everyone; even children who as soon as they could lift a blade were taught to use one.

"Enjoying the view?" Chelsea asked, she had foregone her attire that she wore in Melitine, that of a school girl's uniform, for a traditional Oarburgh kimono that was peach orange in color, her hair was tied back in a set of buns and in place of her headphones she wore a ceremonial headdress which was a set of interconnecting gold wires topped by the carved golden figure of a butterfly. In spite of the attire however Chelsea was still Chelsea and had a cherry pop in her mouth, though she held one hand on her chest.

"Yes; it's amazing I don't know which view is better this one, or the one we saw when we arrived" Tatsumi replied.

"I personally think this is the better one; that was Grandma Barbara's opinion anyway; anyway I wanted to inform you that there are a couple of ceremonies now that you've settled down that are important for a new Emperor to undertake in Tokorra especially since its now the capital for the first time in over 700 years" Chelsea explained.

"What ceremonies and why didn't you tell me about them when we got here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Merraid and I had a talk before I left to join you on the march, and it was agreed that you would be allowed to settle in and get a good night's sleep before taking care of the ceremonies the next day" Chelsea explained.

"Ok well what are they and will they take long, I'd ideally want to be in Zarteck soon to enact the next stage of my plan" Tatsumi replied, Chelsea chuckled.

"Tatsumi. Tatsumi. Tatsumi, you really think you can be on your way in a day; Tatsumi there are a few things you need to take care of in Tokorra before you can leave" Chelsea replied. "First and foremost are the rituals, secondly Merraid wants to marry you and she has had the time to gather all her lovers in one place for a ceremony, I'll be there in that ceremony too along with Taeko, Akame and Kurome but that won't be for a couple days, more urgently though is that a representative from the Path of Peace wanted to speak with you" Chelsea explained.

"The Path of Peace? What do they want?" Tatsumi asked.

"Their messenger said they are interested in an alliance with the one who saved their beloved spiritual leader, any she's some sort of priestess and she's waiting for you with a few of her attendants" Chelsea explained.

"Ok well I better see her, what about the ceremonies?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh those can wait they aren't that urgent but one of them will be extremely important in leu of our marriage" Chelsea explained.

"And that is?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh I won't trouble you with the details yet, right now you should see what the Path of Peace envoy wants she is rather: insistent on speaking to you specifically" Chelsea explained.

"Ok, I'll do that, where are your sisters?" Tatsumi asked.

"Merra's busy making sure she and her paramours are ready for the wedding all sorts of preparations and shopping drama I don't want to have anything to do with: Merra's insufferable when she goes shopping for groceries let alone clothes shopping. Taeko's busy making sure she's in shape but she did say she wanted to show you one of her favorite sights, alone, later, and me: well I've been keeping an I my one and only man" Chelsea explained, she took out her cherry pop and kissed him he kissed back taking in the taste of cherries and sugar on her lips.

"Ok Golden Dragon you go out there and get to it" Chelsea encouraged, Tatsumi nodded hugged her, then straightened out his sleeves which were a bit crooked and walked out of the room.

Tatsumi was followed by Chelsea who steered him in the right direction and he entered the grand hall where at a table a young woman about his age sat drinking tea: she had short bob-cut burgundy hair which was slightly curled on either side, she wore the headdress of a Path of Peace preacher along with traditional red and peach robes worn by a priest of their order: or in this case priestess she also wore a shawl which concealed her figure along with the robes, this shawl was decorated in the imagery of people walking in robes along with depictions of a deity that Tatsumi didn't recognize; her skin was pale in complexion and her hair had a part above the forehead in which a tattoo of the same deity depicted on her shawl was carved in dark blue woad, her eyes were blue-green and what little figure he could make out suggested a woman in good shape.

"Hello" Tatsumi greeted as he sat down.

"Your majesty" the Girl greeted and knelt her head down.

"Please don't do that when your sitting down: besides I'd rather not have to put up with that stuff while we're at war" Tatsumi explained. "Anyway, you know my name Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom the first, not the seventh, because I'm creating a new Empire from the old one and best to start the whole line over with me" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm Priestess Angulas of Path of Peace: consider me the new Speaker of our order, after the betrayal of the previous one who nearly destroyed our order, and I represent the followers of the God Avawahy: he's the deity from the east and well not a tradition god of the pantheon, we who worship him worship him as our sole deity, not that we don't believe in other gods but he's the one that guides thru this life and hopefully to the next one" Angulas explained.

"I'm interested tell me more" Tatsumi replied.

"I could but I'm afraid you're past the age where you could actually join the order without having to take a vow of humility and live in hermitage for mediation to achieve proper enlightenment however you are allowed to worship Avawahy as you feel so, I'll teach you the proper prayers later now onto business: the Path of Peace has stayed largely neutral in this war as Avawahy preaches tolerance and peace but that can no longer be the case; we have seen a vision and heard the news of the return of the Demons of ancient past and thus we need to fight to prevent Kalvalka, the end of the world as prophesied by Had Uman our founder; we were against supporting the Revolutionary Army however as they are unreliable at best and some of their members believe in a world without gods: which I know is code for no religion, horrible heathens, hopefully Avawahy while have mercy on their souls" Angulas explained. "Anyway you however are a special case; our agents are many and lets just say we have eyes and ears in the most unusual places, and that our leader saw something in you Tatsumi who aided in his rescue from captivity of the Great Adversaries, and we of the Path of Peace believe you to be Avawahy's chosen hero, the one who will beat back the Adversaries and restore peace to the lands" Angulas explained.

"So is that all, I accept your support, I'll take anyone I can get at this point as long as they aren't either demons or monsters in human skin" Tatsumi replied his expression pained by memories and something more recent: a nightmare from Volgoth, that of Budo's fate and severed head speaking in dark tones, plus his body being used for something dark. Tatsumi had no clue which parts were Volgoth trying to break his mind and which were real as in dreams sometimes real stuff creeped in, that and other dreams of people he'd killed which he'd been having on and off for a month now and which he couldn't exactly push out of his mind.

Angulas noted his expression. "Tatsumi my Emperor, I'm glad to hear you've accepted our aid but I can tell you are pained; much pains you; come tell me what troubles you; confess your sins unto me and we'll pray to Lord Avawahy for absolution of your sins together" Angulas comforted.

"I'm- not sure" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry uncertainty is something that can be overcome, besides what have you to lose but your guilt: come confide to me your actions and I'll not judge you" Angulas explained, Tatsumi sighed then laid down the list of things he viewed as sins in his own eyes along with those of the deities; Angulas listened intently as he poured out his feelings of regret. When he finished about 20 minutes later Angulas smiled at him.

"There do you feel better now? I forgive you of your sins personally I know not if my god or yours forgives you and we must pray now" Angulas explained and Tatsumi knelt as Angulas prayed in a foreign language Tatsumi couldn't quite place, when she concluded her eyes sparkled happily. "There I've said prayers and we'll know in time if they've been answered; soon; in the meantime, I'd like to ask you do you have a court priest?" Angulas explained and asked.

"No, I don't; funnily enough I really don't have a spiritual advisor, apart from say Syura but I'm not sure he counts as his goddess is to the moment worshipped by him as a true believer" Tatsumi explained.

"Well then how about you appoint me your court priest, I know we just met but I am the highest ranking member of my order outside of the inner circle of four-hundred and the Lord himself, also I've got other skills that would be put to good use in your service" Angulas explained.

"What kind of skills?" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm a skilled healer and I more then know how to handle a gun, I'm also good at helping those in need" Angulas explained.

"Alright you're a lot like Aria in that regard, I accept you as my new Court Priest; now you aren't going to go crazy religious zealot in the job right?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh no, why would I do such a thing, I may firmly believe in my Lord Avawahy but I'm not going to force others to change their faiths: all gods and goddess must be offered praise we just devote our focus to one" Angulas explained.

"Thanks, I'm looking forward to getting to know you more Angulas" Tatsumi explained.

"I am too my Emperor, I would let you know though that those of my order do not take a vow of celibacy, though we do take on of Chasity; if you wish to engage in carnal relations with me you'll not be able to do such things, romantic though is allowed and we may not fornicate with each other until marriage whereupon I'll take a vow of Fidelity" Angulas explained, letting him know it was ok to date her.

"What's the difference between Chasity and Celibacy?" Tatsumi asked not really knowing there was one.

"The difference between Celibacy and Chastity is rather simple: Celibacy refers to never having sex, something which is process that is far too often confused with Chastity: Chastity is abstinence from sex until such time as you are married and its married equivalent is fidelity which means to faithful to your spouse, or spouses" Angulas explained.

Chelsea walked into the room having been overhearing the whole conversation. "So are you two done?" Chelsea asked anxiously.

"Alright Chelsea how important are these ceremonies that they have you all pent up and worried; I never took you for being that most zealous person" Tatsumi replied.

"First of Tatsumi, these ceremonies are ancient family traditions and you, being of Oarburgh descent thru both parents and being of the royal line are subject to them: these rituals are important to my clan and to be truly accepted by the Matriarchs you'll need to fulfill both" Chelsea explained.

"Alright I'll bite, how long will the take and what are they?" Tatsumi asked.

"The Rituals are Three fold, the Ritual of Dung Beetle, the Ritual of Bees and the Ritual of the Butterfly: one is a ritual of harvest, one is a ritual of faith and community and the last is a ritual of fertility and is the most important of the three: they are different between men and women with the ones for women being more complex as you know women are the ones in charge of our clan but the part of the men in the clan is important to: also these pay tribute in different matters: each is held at one of the three great Temples and each must be undertaken within the day" Chelsea explained.

"Alright what do I have to do" Tatsumi asked, Chelsea lead him off.

An hour later Tatsumi found himself at the Grand Temple of Esmeralda he was dragging with him the most expensive offering he could buy; the Ritual of the Dung Beetle was a sacrifice of wealth and bounty; the finest animal a person could afford was to be offered up in sacrifice with the sacrifice being carried out by the person who was undertaking the Ritual. In this case the sacrifice was a fully-grown Mountain Aurochs, which was being rather stubborn about been drawn up to an alter to be killed, so much so that Tatsumi had the Elite Seven and the Four Rakshasa Champions help him wrestle the two-ton creature into the temple. Fortunately, when they managed to get to the alter the priests shackled it down rather quickly and then made way for Tatsumi to undertake the sacrifice: Tatsumi then recited a chant in the Old Mountain tongue that the Oarburghs spoke as a second language before taking a swing with a ceremonial sword and killing the beast. Afterwards the offering was cleaned and searched for portents of success which were found and then cooked and prepared for consumption; something which Tatsumi and his attendants, much to Akame's frustration, could not partake in.

They then faced an equally hard task of getting Akame away from a cooking Auroches before heading to the next temple for the Ritual of the Bees; that ritual involved no animal sacrifice but require Tatsumi to preform minor tasks that were reflective of everyday life and run thru the marriage records of himself and his parents, Chelsea had both of these and he was able to complete that in about an hour.

Later that day… "Are you serious?" Tatsumi asked Chelsea after she finished explaining the last ritual.

"Yes I'm serious, you are to go to the Grand Temple of Yathina and to the great shrine of Antiope and undertake the ritual of the butterfly; this ritual is the same for both men and women: you are to go Antiope's shrine and find a Vestal Priestess of Antiope and give her the customary offering for your rank and lay with her; you're to then do the same three more times and during the fornication you must sow your seed in each hole" Chelsea explained.

Tatsumi blushed. "You mean you're actively wanting me to engage with Temple Prostitutes?" Tatsumi asked.

"They prefer the term Vestals of Erotica-Antiope or Priestesses of Passion but if you want to use layman's terms yes: I know its generally something that an Emperor wouldn't be obligated to do, but Empress Merraid I made it a law for those of her bloodline that choose to reside in Tokorra, even if its not permanently, to do: you're both her descendant and of the age when this ritual is carried out" Chelsea explained.

"Wait didn't you and Taeko have to go thru this too?" Tatsumi asked.

"No because we left before we were of age, now we're back and of age so we're going to have to go thru it soon: I know its distasteful but you're going to have to suck it up and do it anyway" Chelsea explained, Tatsumi blushed.

"You know I was going to do it I just wanted to know if you were serious" Tatsumi explained, Chelsea glared at him, then Tatsumi relaxed and sepperated.

This ritual was a lot less painless then expected: it was also referred to by the followers of Antiope as the Astarte: the offering of one self; fortunately for him the priesthood of Antiope and of her sister goddess Tamaris and their patron Goddess Yathina were all female; so Tatsumi didn't have to worry about having to go out of his comfort zone so to speak. It was worship of Antiope who in addition to being the Goddess of Lust and Carnality was also the goddess of War, Judgement and Fate that no doubt shaped the Oarburgh clan's views on relationships which was even more apparent given that the Grand Temple of the Three Goddess or Grand Pantheon of the Three Goddess was the largest structure in the city apart from the Palace and the mountain bastions that protected the city: It dwarfed the other two great temples and was a grand structure made of polished marble which was a massive edifice with many buttresses, pillars, spires, minarets and ziggurats, all topped by a colossal statue depicting Yathina made of Bismuth bronze and overlaid with gold, flanked by two smaller statues of Antiope and Tamaris each of which toped their respective temple as the structure was three temples in one. Tatsumi gulped taking in the colossal structure but more specifically the stairs he was going to have to climb to get inside which was a long walk.

Shortly… Tatsumi was asked to leave behind his protectors as he entered the temple by Priestess at the gate: she explained that those who undertook the ritual of the Butterfly must do so alone, no exceptions. Tatsumi was reluctant to leave his harem of body guards behind not due to security but because he on some level wanted them to know he was still loyal to them. Even so as he entered he couldn't help but be amazed by the interior of the structure or rather what was most likely the tamest part of it as the statues in this part and drawings depicted only minor nudity: but as he was led inside Tatsumi couldn't help but blush at the depictions; one of the statues funnily enough reminded him of Merraid and Akame but the woman who were scissoring were of completely different features and made of pure white marble but the expressions he saw were similar to those that Akame and Merra made frequently. Tatsumi was then led to what was considered be central area of the structure. "There take the far path on the right: those of noble blood are to receive noble love in return" the Priestess explained, Tatsumi shrugged and went down the hallway which none of the other worshipers went down, most likely due to the fact that most of the nobility was too busy with Merraid's grand wedding preparations to pay tribute to the Goddess of Carnality that day. When Tatsumi reached the end of the hall he found an indoor garden and hot spring, in which statues of the goddess Antiope engaged in numerous acts of copulation adorned the room; with the most prominent being a large statue of the goddess engaging in intercourse with about six of her attendants; all male and with all her holes filed.

"Welcome" a Priestess greeted, she had lovely lilac hair and skin that was creamy-yellow, her hair was in a series of braids and buns and she wore a rather revealing ensemble; the dress if you could call it one that left her breasts bare and was positively transparent, it was more like a sarong then a dress, she was accessorized and bejeweled in jewelry worthy of very wealthy noble. The Other women with her were hardly different in terms of attire and accessories the only real difference was their appearances; Tatsumi did however notice one familiar face, clad in the garb that was most scandalous of all and dressed in the colors of a dragon fly despite wearing a mask was- Merraid Oarburgh who sat up and walked seductively to him, the smell of incense was in the air mixed with rose perfume.

"Merra?" Tatsumi asked, he was handed a drink by one of the priestesses which he drank eagerly as he was parched.

"Yes Tatsumi, oh I've been waiting for you for some time" Merraid explained. "You see I have undertaken this rite already and for the sake of our marriage coming soon I undertook it again and playing with the lovely beauties here; I expected Chelsea to send you here and have been waiting for you" Merraid explained.

"So, you're my partner for the ritual?" Tatsumi asked Merraid laughed hysterically.

"No, heaven's no, I'm just here to fuck the priestesses and take part in it: nope for your sake you will have to choose one of these beauties; and then perform the ritual with her, then the others and myself: I will be enjoying it: hopefully your stamina keeps up" Merraid replied.

"Please Merra you know I'm the only one who can outlast you in bed" Tatsumi retorted, Merraid chuckled and kissed him.

"Take off your clothes you'll have no need of them here: I'll keep them nice and folded for when we're done; right next to mine" Merraid explained then pointed to a nearby alcove were Merraid's ceremonial kimono rested: Tatsumi took a look over the women and decided he like the look of the first priestess, the one who greeted him.

"You'll be my partner?" Tatsumi asked and pulled out a coin purse.

"Yes I'll be your partner: my name is Delilah" the Priestess greeted. "No need to offer the tithe now your majesty, we take the offering of the flesh first then the offering of coin after" She added, she then helped him out of his clothing.

Tatsumi felt the warmth of her soft skin as she did this, an all too familiar warmth at this point; the other priestesses helped Delilah in the endeavor while Merraid pressed herself against his back. "Let her do her work Tatsumi; the ritual is her's to perform on you; you just have to relax and enjoy your offering" Merraid said softly into Tatsumi's right ear then kissed it. Delilah looked eagerly upon Tatsumi's length, smirked and took to her lips, kissing it before gently licking.

The sex that followed for Tatsumi was slow and relaxed but done with ritualistic practice; Delilah's lips were supple and soft and her tongue licked with practiced skill, the first minutes of simple oral sex were enjoyable, added to with more enjoyment when two of the other priestesses, a blonde and dark-skinned brunette licked his pecks and two more kissed his cheeks and let his hands fondle their breasts. Tatsumi's reality shifted into what was a trance like state, he had noticed an interesting smell when he came in and he hadn't noticed it but the priestess who had given him the drink had slipped an aphrodisiac in it, an unnecessary measure but also it had the side effect that what he was doing had a haze around it.

The foreplay ended though rather quickly the priestesses carried him to a sacred offering table on which a soft bed was made; a lucid mist was in the air too, most likely due to a steam vent. Soon after he was laid back Delilah mounted him taking him into her folds which were surprisingly tight; Tatsumi noted to the side a depiction of the form they were in and assumed it was the first of many ritual positions that he'd been enduring.

His assumption was right Delilah did have him switch positions after a few minutes in each, until he had completed the inscribed positions, Delilah passed him off to another priestess and this followed suit after he finished with her, then they began coming up to him two at a time, then three, until he had finished with all 12 priestesses giving them about 10 rounds each; Merraid then turned to him.

"Now to see about making my dreams of having children come true" Merraid commented, then mounted him pinning him down. "Remember I like being in control" she whispered then kissed him passionately, Tatsumi just let Merraid take care of him a task which the Oarburgh Matriarch did eagerly as this was a the only man she'd spread her legs for let alone bare children from. Merraid's mask made her all the more alluring along with the wings from her dragon fly get up, Merra just was irresistible.

Passion filled and fueled Tatsumi's mind for the next two hours, and soon the haze caused his memory to lapse where years later he'd tell me that he'd indeed forgotten what happened in those two hours, Merraid didn't but she only told me that what happened then was something that in order to be believed had to be experienced.

Anyway, when Tatsumi next came to he was in a bed with Merraid and her two sisters sitting at a table across the room. "ugh" Tatsumi groaned, his muscles ached, his head felt like a rock and he wanted to come crashing down.

"He's awake" Taeko remarked, Tatsumi got up.

"Oh, my head, what happened?" Tatsumi replied.

"You finished the ritual; you were so exhausted I had to carry you back here" Merraid replied. "Oh that was so fun, we need to do that again some time" Merraid replied.

"Are you kidding Merra?! Shava Oil in his drink, he's exhausted" Chelsea replied.

"Shava Oil?" Tatsumi questioned.

"A potent aphrodisiac, the last thing you needed: you have enough energy as is without it being enhanced" Chelsea explained.

"Really?! Merra were you doubting my stamina?" Tatsumi asked indignant.

"I wasn't I know what you are capable of my dear Tatsumi, my Golden Dragon, they didn't, and it is customary in the Temple of the Goddess of Passion to use such things; after all most who come there don't have your stamina" Merraid explained.

"Ok now I want to know about our wedding plans: also, what exactly do the people here think of me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh what do they think of you, that's a list of things to go over, as for our wedding plans I figured all three of us would have the ceremony, along with Cassandra and Gilberda" Merraid explained.

"Yeah we kind of wanted to do this as sisters right?" Chelsea added.

"Damn Merra you promised I was going to give him that piece of info" Taeko replied.

"Now, now, now, Taeko you know that as the Oldest sister I get to make the announcements plus he asked me: now as to what they think of you, well the local people don't know too much other than that you are both the rightful Emperor and a descendant of the Oarburgh Clan so they will treat you with respect due. As for the nobles of our clan, well the Matriarchs are have been going back and forth between looking over the records for records of your specific branch, both ends, the records show that the break between the two lines happened about 600 years back and resulted into several separate lines, you and I Tatsumi have no direct blood relations, completely separate branch and besides you are of the Imperial house of Gildenstrom not an Oarburgh by birth but in blood" Merraid explained. "In addition to the records we've gone over troop marshaling, the gathering of the levies, the logistics overall preparations for war both defensively and offensively; also, we've done extensive scouting and made sure no news of your heritage has gone further east and any Revolutionary Army spies here have been detained preemptively" Merraid added.

"Ok now what do the Nobles think of me?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well they think of you with high praise and respect, though there are those who doubt your claim, but I think that you and I can persuade them into joining our side" Merraid explained.

"How did you get back into power here so quickly" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh I've got my ways, but really I never truly lost my position as Supreme Matriarch of our Clan, my cousin Tsumaki has been keeping the seat warm; speaking of cousins Meela and Loris are also going to be joining the ceremony as brides and a few other relatives of mine, Tsumaki included, are also interested into securing some influence with you by marriage pacts" Merraid explained.

"Wait you've already made these in the time it took for me and the army I have with me to march here?" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes: also as a fair piece of advice best let me handle any such matters as pertain to my clan: especially since in the New Empire you have planned my clan will want a good stake in it, we had a good deal of power back in the past as Chelsea told you before and we'd like to have it back; nothing too much just certain provinces and cities which we controlled that are now conveniently in the hands of Volgoth's allies" Merraid explained with a smirk, Tatsumi knew she had him outmaneuvered on this issue and decided it was best to give her what she wanted, there wasn't a guarantee of victory anyway.

"Might as well let them have it, who knows we'll probably all die and then it won't matter: seriously though I am however going to have to put my foot down on the organization of power: it will take months possibly a year to establish a new government after Volgoth is beaten" Tatsumi thought. "Deal now don't trouble me anymore on this issue: anything else I should know?" Tatsumi asked.

"Nothing of import, just you'll be expected to attend some social functions, meet with important clan members and inspect the troops: the soldiers of the Oarburgh Clan are the best in the Matahai Mountains" Merraid explained.

That ended the discussion, the rest of the day proved to be exactly as Merraid told him: meeting with numerous people in influential positions, having food, inspecting soldiers and the citizenry. The only thing that managed to make him happy in doing all this work was the free time which he used for training to make sure his fighting skills stayed sharp and for spending time with his lovers: during those times Tatsumi spent more time in the horizontal then the vertical. The Day ended and the next day dawned with Tatsumi waking from his bed, with Cornelia and Poney on either side of him and his face in Tsukushi's breasts which as he was thirsty, he drank from. After getting up he had breakfast, a rather well prepared meal though not of the kind he had gotten used to on the march, which was mostly of hard tac and camp rations, it was a relatively fine normal breakfast with eggs scrambled the way he liked them, toast buttered on both sides, a lot of bacon, and some fine milk; to his surprise the person who made it was his own mother. "Good morning Tatsumi my son" Akaa greeted as Tatsumi walked into the dining hall.

An unhappy chef interrupted "I'm sorry my lord but she insisted on making your breakfast herself, apparently I'm not good enough" the chef replied.

"Please only my mother would be able to make breakfast the way I like it, well her and my mother-in-law Angela" Tatsumi replied taking a seat.

"Oh yes Angela, I look forward to seeing her again Tatsumi, I have seen Angela Grundel in well 18 years now, how is she doing?" Akaa asked.

"My mother is still as radiant and young as ever" Aria explained walking into the room and taking a seat next to Tatsumi.

"And how has her life been?" Akaa asked.

"If you want to know my mother's life story you should ask me later, I'd rather not discuss it over breakfast" Aria explained, then began eating rather ravenously, her baby bump was getting more pronounced.

"I swear Aria you eat that quickly you'll get hiccups" Akaa commented.

The table was joined by more people and more food was brought in; by the end of Breakfast Tatsumi was eager to do something livelier, that came in the form of him sparring with his three Sacred Swords as he did every morning.

"Hiyagh!" Womyn shouted as she lunged at Tatsumi, their wooden practiced blades locked as Tatsumi used momentum to disarm her then on reflex countered a rear-attack from Balluck and easily stopped Remus's efforts in her tracks.

"Alright you three still need to up your efforts, Womyn you're leaving gaps in your attacks; Remus you're still hesitant don't be because hesitation in battle is deadly, and Balluck you're doing great but you're becoming predictable" Tatsumi explained. "Now let's try again" Tatsumi replied the three bowed and picked up their swords.

"Tatsumi-nii!" Air shouted causing Tatsumi to drop his guard and get beaten up by the Three Sacred swords.

"STOP!" Tatsumi yelled and the three backed off. "That was better, now what is it Air?" Tatsumi asked.

"I want you to train me some more today" Air explained.

"More swordplay lessons Air? I'm kind of busy and will be even more busy going forward I'm going to have to take a rain check" Tatsumi replied, Air steamed.

"YOU PROMISED YOU'D TEACH ME MORE WHEN WE GOT TO TOKORRA WE'RE HERE AND WHERE'S MY TEACHING!?" Air yelled then began to stomp the ground violently.

"Alright! Alright! Ok what you need is an instructor to teach you when I'm busy with other matters and one that is reliably there for you" Tatsumi explained.

"And who would that be?" Air asked, still cross with him.

"The person who instructed me when I first joined Night Raid" Tatsumi explained, then lead Air off, not bothering to put his shirt back on; he didn't have to go far to find Bulat who was sparring with Oarburgh warriors in another training yard, a bought which he won after some effort on his part. "Hey Bro!" Tatsumi shouted.

"Hey Tatsumi, what's up?" Bulat asked, like Tatsumi he wore no shirt due to the habit of training shirtless in the Empire.

"I need your help with something" Tatsumi explained and Bulat came over to him.

"What exactly do you need?" Bulat asked wiping sweat from his brow, his pompadour was still fresh.

"I need someone to instruct Air in combat training; I'm too busy what with my new duties to teach her like I normally did before and so I thought who better then the man who trained me to train her" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd be up for it, not that I've got much better to do" Bulat replied.

"Bro I'll be honest I've got another duty I want you to preform too, I need you to act as the bodyguard to Air, Fal, Luna and Makoto along with Koko and Lin, with the Four Rakshasa protecting me I need someone to watch over them and keep them safe: I know I can rely on you" Tatsumi explained.

"I'd be up for that too; now bro you shouldn't worry" Bulat replied.

"I don't need a bodyguard" Air commented.

"After that run in with the Audette sisters Aria would kill me if you didn't have one or several, plus Esdeath would be irate so if you want to complain about it complain to Esdeath" Tatsumi replied, Air stuck her tongue out Tatsumi returned the gesture, then turned to Bulat. "She'll be a handful" Tatsumi commented.

"Alright lets get started!" Air shouted and snatched Tatsumi's practice sword.

"Don't worry I'll go easy on you" Bulat replied, Air then charged, Bulat readied his practice staff and used its reach to his advantage at least for a bit before Air closed the difference and began attacking with all the ferocity and strength of a kitten, still her size aside she was more then Bulat had bargained for but she left a gapping opening and he tapped her a few times in the chest with the staff and disarmed her. "Good try, but you have a lot to learn" Bulat remarked, Air smirked.

"Looking forward to doing just that, soon enough I'll be kicking your ass" Air replied, Tatsumi grinned then left the two to train.

That was really the only notable thing that happened, the rest of the day was composed of more social functions, more sparring, more sex, and more repetitive stuff not worth putting into print beyond the brief summary that it was little different from the previous day.

The next day however was interesting as the wedding ceremony was that day; Tatsumi had taken the time to know the other girls that were Merraid's lovers, they were each beautiful in their own right and each had a story worth a book of their own, there were also a good number of them enough that it would have costed a small fortune for the rings for the ceremony had the local jewelers not provided them for free, two dozen women considered Merraid their lover not counting Akame and Gilberda, these plus Akame, Kurome, Chelsea, Taeko, Meela, Loris, Cassandra, Gilberda and Merraid herself brought the brides he'd be marrying to 34, 33 technically as he was marrying Chelsea again for the sake of her clan seeing it; this was easily the largest ceremony he'd ever taken part in; each beauty had a lovely gown but the real standouts were worn by the Oarburgh sisters and by Akame and Kurome: the two sisters wore black and red kimonos decorated with roses and wore their hair in special styles, Chelsea wore a lovely orange and red gown that was covered with imagery of cherry blossoms and cherries, Taeko's was purple and blue decorated with imagery of the three moons and the stars of the Night sky, Cassandra's was thoroughly custom with fine embroidery depicting her in various stances, with the Twins wearing matching blue and red dresses along with unique headdresses from which held their vails. But all these paled in comparison to the dragonfly gown that Merraid wore, the gown sparkled with shimmering lavender, light green, and blue scales, transparent wraps but most significantly the headdress that in which was a crown one that belonged to an ancestress of Merraid, her namesake Empress Merraid I, and to top it all off she had used her Teigu's ability to give herself lovely butterfly wings which made her seem like a Fairy of Insects.

The ceremony was fine and long, with priestesses preforming the ritual sacrifice of a dozen bulls to bless the union with fertility, unity and safety. After these sacrifices Tatsumi took a step to the alter where each of his brides encircled him, they were then each given a set of coil wrapped sticks. "These represent the past of your ancestors; but also the union of a family; they are to be taken and secured in a safe place; you are to take the oath of marriage before them and those they represent then swear unto the gods that you will uphold your vows thru eternity" The High Priestess explained, then recited a series of vows in the tongue of ancient Shadow clan; each was recited in turn by the brides and groom; followed by the taking of the rods before the alter they in turn were then taken and from each a single rod was taken save that of Tatsumi's the rods taken were put into his bundle.

"The union is complete; now the groom and brides shall retire to be bedded; after the bedding which will take two hours a feast will be held" the Priestess explained.

Tatsumi's next two hours were absolute bliss; each of his brides did their best making him feel bliss on an extreme scale. The highlight of the whole honeymoon was when he and Merraid mated, this was the most elegant as Merraid took complete control for the whole experience, both finished and the next hours were spent feasting and making marry.

The following morning Tatsumi woke up in bed with Merraid on top of him and Akame and Kurome on either side, all three were awake and looking at him. They all knew what the day was and Tatsumi was mentally debating to wait and enjoy more time with his loving wives; but he knew time was of the essence.

Especially as Volgoth's plans were proceeding fruitfully and the first of two nexi were reactivated: the surge of energy was felt across Eden with a thud of quakes, which were minor but notable. This snapped Tatsumi out of his desire to wait and caused him to dress rapidly; making sure his attire was perfect for his plan, it had already been prepared, he had overslept and Esdeath along with Aria had already taken the liberty of getting everything ready for his trip to Zarteck; this mission was for the best and Tatsumi had made sure Makoto and his sisters were secure.

His plan was rather simple but it would be effective: the plan was to take Makoto and his sisters to Zarteck under his protection and for the sake of plans turn them over to the RA, more specifically to Lydia who would insure their security; with them in protective custody a formal debate would insue about what was to be done; Tatsumi would explain the events as happened in Melitine without obvious things he was keeping secret, specifically his heritage, with that in mind he kept his crown hidden in the baggage along with his Imperial attire and armor wearing instead his Revolutionary Army General's uniform.

"I hope this plan works; you're taking a serious risk you know that?" Esdeath explained to Tatsumi.

"Yep; but it's the best option we've got; short of fighting the entire Revolutionary Army and wasting the lives of soldiers in a pointless war and weakening our ability to fight the demons" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath nodded then mounted her Wyvern, Tatsumi joined her on her mount wrapping his arms around her breasts to her enjoyment; the air manta Iekolos took off first with Yandral the wyvern as its protector.

The flight took less then two hours; Tatsumi looking down on the Empire from above taking in the sights; they didn't fly too high, but it was a disconcerting experience to say the least that Tatsumi was 1000 feet above solid ground. When Zarteck came into view Tatsumi indicated towards the mesa which had been their landing site when he first visited the city. They then once again descended the steps but did so silently with respect for the severity of the situation, Makoto's sisters were carried by Esdeath protectively while Makoto himself was carried by Akame out a test of her loyalty; Tatsumi knew that she had in the past shared Boreth's views and he wanted to make sure those were gone from her, luckily he had nothing to fear but it paid to be sure.

The guards at the gates were relaxed as there wasn't anyone coming in their gate; nobody had all morning but that was about to change. "Attention!" Tatsumi shouted and the Guards snapped.

"Who goes there?!" A soldier replied, she was a young woman with brown eyes and dark brown hair in a ponytail.

"Major General Tatsumi, with special news for the People's Assembly and the High command; I have the Emperor in my custody and General Esdeath has joined our cause" Tatsumi explained, the soldier almost gaped the situation was something she and the others weren't trained for and as such she was going just let it play out and let them thru; not wanting any trouble.

"Captain Katie Little of the Revolutionary army, go on ahead" Katie replied, and they passed thru the gates Katie followed with the other guards as an escort.

The word got around the people in the city rejoiced the news hoping that it meant the war was over. Tatsumi simply made sure to encourage the people not to dampen their spirits; he wanted to let them know about the true threat but that would have to wait until he had the Revolutionary Army's loyalists under his control and the traitors dealt with: public opinion was important and the more people who supported him the better; also a nice secure box was kept safe by Mez and Suzuka; inside which was the same paperwork that backed his claim, along with the crown. Each step he took was watched by Revolutionary Army soldiers with an honor guard joining him soon after word spread to escort him to the People's Assembly building: still though he made sure Makoto and his sisters were kept safe, there were people who flung slurs and insults their direction fortunately the troops kept the back from them the crowd also made sure to dispatch them as many of them were those found no fault with the Emperor especially after seeing him in person.

"Well I'll be if it isn't my friend the Ice Queen Esdeath herself" Lydia stated waiting at the doorstep of the assembly.

"Yes, its me" Esdeath replied. "General Agathe, it's been a long time" Esdeath replied.

"Yes, it has and you- you're pregnant and you've gotten yourself a haircut" Lydia replied then broke down laughing. "Oh Tatsumi, you are a man among men; good on you" Lydia replied.

"Is everything in place" Tatsumi asked her seriously.

"Everyone is waiting, and I can't wait to see how this goes" Lydia replied. "Truly though I'm hoping to see the look on the faces of the idiots who thought you couldn't pull something like this off" Lydia explained, Tatsumi moved on, Lydia joined the accompanying group, she was in the know along with a couple of other generals. As they walked inside, they were immediately halted by a set of guards who asked for ID, they were given such and allowed entry. The Room they walked was large, this was a full-sized chamber where the People's Assembly and the General's council could gather in one room for combined sessions of both chambers. In the center Boreth Falkland stood waiting with his two Generals alongside him.

"Major General Tatsumi, I see you've returned and with compony" Boreth greeted.

"Yes indeed I have and bring news both good and bad; my coup was a partial success as you can see I now hold the Emperor and his sisters in protective custody; General Esdeath has joined my group along with the entirety of the Jaegers: the bad news is that Honest survived the coup and has seized control of the Empire for his own; we have traveled a good distance from Melitine which save for a redoubt in a sea of darkness has fallen into the former Prime Ministers clutches" Tatsumi explained, there was shock, outcry and mummering among the assembly.

"Very well, take your seat General Tatsumi along with those in your compony our guards will take the Emperor and his sisters into protective custody" Boreth replied.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that for reasons of their security and that of everyone here, you see part of my deal is that they are under General Esdeath's protection; try and take them from her and you know how that will go" Tatsumi explained.

"Very well I see, I can allow that exception however this along with other matters must now take full attention of this special meeting of the People's Assembly: Speaker gavel in the session as soon as our guests are seated" Boreth replied, they took their seats and the Speaker gaveled in the session.

"People of the Assembly comrades, I have called this emergency meeting for the purposes of dealing with a new change of events: events that if handled properly will decide the future of the Empire: the war isn't over just yet and as you know there are many who will still continue to fight: therefore as such we will now open this session of the People's Assembly for the discussion of the recent events" Boreth Falkland explained.

"Kill that monster Esdeath!" a young dark-haired man shouted, he wore the garb of a northern general and has a number of similarly dressed warriors. "She is responsible for crimes against our people and we demand her head" the man continued.

"Fuck you!" Tatsumi replied and gave the guy the bird. "Alright what the hell are these guys doing here and they weren't here last time" Tatsumi replied.

"Right: that is General Vamu Saika: he is the brother of the late Northern king" Boreth explained annoyed at this development this was not a good start to the meeting.

"Alright but what is he doing here? Last I checked we're Imperials and the Northerners have been raiding, robbing, raping and murdering our people for centuries: why are they allowed to join an Imperial army!?" Tatsumi asked.

"We allowed him and his soldiers to join in exchange for a free north; they are good soldiers and we need every man we can get" A general stated, the man had a thick beard that was curled with a fine mustache prominent on his face, his hair was also curly and dark brown; he wore a set of glasses and was dressed in the red and gold uniform of a Revolutionary Army general.

"That's understandable but really are we that desperate that we're allowing rapists and robbers into our ranks? It's disgraceful" Tatsumi replied, this did cause everyone to take a back.

"I assure you that Vamu and his associates are not of either type" Boreth replied.

"I'd dispute that: I've ran into three of those men during my battles in the North, they had a reputation: two of those the man with a thick fur-hat and red beard and the gaunt lanky man Generals Umgon and Stravna are raider leaders they have left many a husband dead, a widow raped and enslaved and desecrated children: no such people are welcome in my Husband's army" Esdeath replied.

"Excuse me since when was this General Tatsumi's army?" Boreth asked.

"I meant that in it is the side he is fighting for: you wonder why it was I never joined you until now it was because the Revolutionary Army has no problem admitting rapists, child-killers, slavers and robbers into their ranks: There is such a thing as morals and I find such disregard for them weak and repulsive and unbefitting of a legitimate government" Esdeath replied.

"Rich words coming from the one who had King Saika raped and broken and tore our glorious city of Kalsliv to the ground, who butchered men and woman like cows and buried our soldiers alive with the snow itself!" A Northern general remarked, Esdeath gave the man a frostbite inducing glare and tightened her face; her features contorted into an expression Tatsumi hadn't seen her produce before but had seen someone else do quite frequently.

"Rich?! RICH!? Oh, you think that what I did wasn't unwarranted?! Your people have been ravaging, pillaging, razing and raping our Empire for centuries! Your people do the same to even the other tribes that dwell in the north! Your people enslaved the Yetis, who were just as smart if not smarter then your ilk, your men and women that you call soldiers and warriors have raped Imperial children for centuries: your people murdered my Clan! The Patras Clan your people reduced it to one little girl; one little girl who swore vengeance on your entire race of monsters! And if you think that what I did was unconscionable look at what your people have done for centuries and I'll let you know what I did was generous, I could have wiped your entire people out like you did to mine: I didn't! You act like I butchered men, woman and children like cattle: no such things have ever been done by me; I'd never harm a child nor a woman with on, and know it was only one city that was given this fate; the other cities of the North are unspoiled: in fact the North is better off under the Empire then it ever was under the Saika Clan and is more free then it ever was: you think Imperial rule tyrannical? What about the innovations we bring; the roads, the weapons, the cultural marvels along with marvels of engineering along with trade and goods that wouldn't be available to your people along with jobs and opportunities they never had before: The North will be better and your ilk will not possess it ever again!" Esdeath ranted, a good number of people cheered, as the Northerners winced in terror, the Northerners weren't liked by a good number of Imperials because of the history their people had the Saika Clan foremost among them as that dynasty was known for acts of cruelty that even the cruelest of people in the Empire couldn't surpass.

"ORDER!" Boreth yelled and banged his staff loudly. "Enough bickering; General Esdeath will not be executed, not under any circumstances; doing so would be a non-starter to say nothing of legality and I will remind you Northerners that your role in the army is only as such as we allow it; if you try anything your people are outnumbered by Imperials 100 to 1: No more rants, we are here for a civil debate not to tear ourselves apart!" Boreth explained, he meant it do to the fact trying to execute Esdeath was impossible and because even he disliked the Northerners, they were near universally despised, and he had only let them in to use as cannon fodder in suicidal attacks of the kind the Northerners did gleefully. "Now let us address the elephant in the room or rather THE monarch in this room. Here we Imperials have the three most important people in the Empire here: The Emperor and his sisters. They are the heart and soul of our Empire's leadership but also the heart of the conflict; this war has been fought for them on both sides and we all know that these young children have had little to do with this conflict" Boreth replied. "However, that does not mean they are above the will of the people and the will of the people requires justice for the deaths under their regime" Boreth replied, this turned the room into a number of debates loudly drowning out each other.

Boreth grinned Tatsumi looked at him and looked intensively: then thought how best to handle this. "ARE YOU ADVOCATING MURDER?!" Tatsumi yelled, that got everyone's attention. "What you say is seditious at best and treasonous at worst, but also it adherently wrong; if you think an innocent child like Makoto or his sisters are responsible for the state of the Empire, you're a true idiot. Everyone in this room knows that Honest and his cabel of corrupt puppets are the rot's cause and advocating for the death of an innocent child to appease a mob of liars and traitors! I know for a fact people here a lot of them aren't going to stand for that" Tatsumi replied and a good portation fo the room stood up at that, but also another half did as well the bearded general who had explained the Northerners presence was in that group of steely-eyed radicals and seemed to be a leader.

"A Revolution is not a Tea Party! This is a Revolution! The People tire of the old order and the tyranny of nobles, military and bourgoiese! You think this is a simple point, the old order must be purged for the new to rise: you cannot make an omlette without breaking a few eggs!" the Bearded General replied, this caused true outrage from a sizeable portation of the room.

"What is this nonsense General Brezhnev we've discussed this before we are fighting to restore the rightful leader of the Empire not to destroy it" Falkland remarked.

"Oh really?! Then who is the rightful leader of the Empire? Wait don't answer it's a trick question because its one no one but me and my allies know the answer to because the full truth is know only to a few and I'm going to tell that truth to you starting right now" Tatsumi replied then turned to Falkland looking him down like he was a cornered sheep and Tatsumi was the bear who had cornered it. Tatsumi then lowered his sleeve and showed the Imperial Bracelet to the whole room, this surprised everyone outside of Tatsumi's circle who were in the know of his plan in advance. "You recognize this Falkland? This is the Bracelet of Emperors, forged by the Dwarves and given the First Emperor: The Golden Emperor Tatsumi I, passed down his line until it was given to Emperor Isshin the Lost who gave it to his wife as a symbol of their marriage, and was lost from the sight of the Empire for 18 years, Isshin's disappearance has been the greatest mystery of the Empire in the life time of practically everyone in this room: well I've solved the mystery and let me explain it: Mez bring me the box" Tatsumi explained and Mez brought the box over to him as planned. "You see Emperor Isshin didn't just vanish into thin air: he was murdered by mercenaries hired by Prime Minister Honest!" Tatsumi shouted gasps came. "How do I know this? Well I've seen the truth" Tatsumi replied and revealed the Mirror of Time to the assembly. "I'd thought there would be a way to have you realize this, but this is the way I found out. You see 18 years ago Emperor Isshin was assassinated by mercenaries however he didn't die easy, he died in a heroic sacrifice to allow the two people he loved most to escape from the trap: those two people were his wife Empress Akame and his son: Me! I am Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom! Seventh of my name, Emperor of the Golden Empire and Golden Dragon Emperor, I was crowned Emperor by my cousin Prince Makoto who abdicated to me as soon as we both found out about my heritage, his parents my aunt and uncle were murdered by Honest: Everyone in this room should know this and I bet a good portation of you don't believe me and would have me shot as a traitor: well I prepared for this, I had a couple of weeks to prepare and during that time I learned something else too" Tatsumi spoke, then lifted up the Mirror of Time and readied its trump card. "Kronos: Memory of the Pasts Project!" Tatsumi declared and the room shifted everyone looked at the scene which played out in front of them; Tatsumi's eyes were now fully green with energy; the world around them was that of the day of the betrayal and everyone saw what had happened saw the truth for themselves.

After the memory ended the room turned once more to grand assembly hall: Tatsumi threw off his general's cap and opened the box and put the Golden Crown on his head. "You all see the truth now, all of it: I will protect my family; my cousins, my wives, my children both adopted and of blood, along with my friends and reward all those who serve me accordingly: now I ask you all to honor your oaths of loyalty and pledge yourselves to me the Rightful leader of the Empire: yes the Old Order is gone but a New Empire will rise from the ashes one that keeps both traditions of the old but allows freedoms to the people; freedoms that the people of the Empire haven't had ever: as such I am asking you to pledge your loyalty to me and that of the new Golden Dragon Empire of Eden: those who are loyal to me will both keep their ancestral lands but also receive new rewards and those who defy me and their oaths of fealty will be destroyed and be but footnotes in history if I'm so inclined as to give you a mention in the histories! Now all of you choose I hold in my hands life and death choose now it matters not to me or Eden" Tatsumi spoke, the room was silent.

Tatsumi's heartbeat loudly in the silence in fact the silence was so quiet that a pin could be heard if dropped, everyone in the room was either in a state of shock or of wariness waiting for someone to make the first room. The first person to step up was General Natsuhi Delver, she was followed by her daughter Jessica. "I'll fight for you my love: I'll honor my oaths to the true Emperor" Natsuhi pledged and then knelt, Jessica joined her in doing so: other nobles and generals followed her: some he knew were lock ins such as Gassarnel siblings and Lydia's two subordinates Nikola and Chiara, but others surprised him like General Barton and the quite famous General Takamori, others were kindred spirits whom Tatsumi had a feeling would be on his side like General Wallace and the Gunthers, plus a number of others Tatsumi didn't recognize, and it wasn't just military leaders: civilians too joined this group. This group once consolidated around Tatsumi numbered about three quarters of the Revolutionary Army's leadership these were the traditionalists who had rebelled against Honest's tyranny along with this who had new ideas that a New Empire would be welcoming to.

However while this group may have outnumber those who opposed it and was a super majority for all intents and purposes there were those who were the diehard radicals: Tatsumi wasn't surprised to see the two generals whom were at Boreth's side among, them, nor Boreth himself, or any of the men and women. "So Emperor Tatsumi what are you going to do now? You are aware of the fact that there are going to be those who oppose you, myself amongst them: what are you going to do: what kind of a leader will you be" Boreth asked, moving the first piece in the game that would be their war between each other.

"A just and wise one: Falkland take yourself and your ilk and get them out of my sight: you're banished under pain of death; take your radicals and don't ever show yourself again; if you reject this offer and take up arms I warn you that I won't hesitate to slaughter you and your traitors to a man" Tatsumi explained. This response caused Boreth and those loyal to him to leave the room unopposed: Tatsumi expect Boreth to start some sort of fight but not in the assembly rather outside in Zarteck itself. To that end he'd already pulled the strings to make sure the cities guard and soldiers were loyal to him or rather those on his side: this presence was apparent when Tatsumi and his following followed Falkland and his ilk outside.

Falkland and his radicals were lead out by a regiment of troops; these were from Lydia's army and were top tier they were seen out of the city and from there Tatsumi was left with Zarteck in his clutches.

An hour later…. The flags across Zarteck were lowered and replaced; the banner of the Golden Dragon which had been replicated hundreds of times over since his mother had made it and replicas of which had been brought with him now flew over Zarteck. Tatsumi had given each doubting official in the city who mattered a look at the documents and had changed his uniform to the regal armor made for him. At the moment Tatsumi sat in a war room with the Council of Generals, of the 50 men and woman who had made up the body 36 of them had joined his cause, 14 had sided with the Radicals. The table of the war room was covered with a large map of the Empire, which had shown the deployments of troops which had been adjusted with the newest developments that had occurred. New pins had been acquired to distinguish the new faction that had joined the conflict, a yellow flag pin had been placed over Zarteck along with Takorra and about 26 other major cities in addition to a larger number of towns, villiages and strongholds, three other flags types were marked on the map: Red represented the Revolutionary Army or rather the Red Army as Tatsumi was now dubbing it because of the red flags, white represented Imperial forces that were not under Volgoth's control and were to the best of the knowledge of Tatsumi out of his influence and suseptiable to joining him, black pins however represented armies he did control along with cities that were likewise under the control of it.

"Alright now we all know that Falkland isn't going to just walk away quietly and as such we need to ready our forces to respond accordingly" Tatsumi explained.

"That will be difficult: our troops are spread in various locations along a broad front, Boreth's troops are likewise divided however we have the advantage of early preparations" Natsuhi replied, then indicated her forces which defended a crossroads between Zarteck and Takorra. "We should gather our forces and strike our opponents before they can make the first move" Natsuhi replied.

"I agree a direct attack on the bastards from the start will give us momentum" General Barton agreed.

"Indeed, but what is the best target; there are a number of potential ones each important to Falkland's war effort" General Baldrin Gassarnel commented.

"First and formest we should cut off their food supplies: an army marches on its stomach and an enemy left starving is one that will not be thinking strategically" Esdeath explained.

"To that end which of these places produces the most food" Tatsumi asked.

"My Emperor: that would be provience of Meekta, the grain fields, rice paddies and salt mines are well known in addition to rich gold deposits and massive herds of Grand Buffullos" General Takamori explained, he was a man in his mid-thirties about average height and build he wore a blue and black uniform and had plain features with a cleanshaven face and short hair, he wore glasses and over his uniform an ornate overcoat of the kind worn by Imperial Field Marshals who had earned the Stars of Glory and had reached the rank of Star Marshal the highest rank in the Imperial army apart from that of the Grand Marshel.

"Then that's where we'll strike first; after that we'll go from there" Tatsumi explained.

"After that we should head to Gallia provience your majesty: its both rich in resources and food and will likely be counter attacked first it sits in the middle of four provinces included Meekta" General Isara Gunther suggested, Tatsumi nodded.

"Well then let see what we can do" Tatsumi replied and sent forth the messengers to make ready for war.


	59. AN Discord

A brief update

Just a head's up writing for my stories is on hold until after Christmas for obvious reasons; don't worry though on the 27th I'll resume work. Another thing I'll let you guys know is that the official discord server is up and here's the link to it /channels/658805481153888256/658805484689555476

Please Read the rules before posting; I will be designating moderaters based on behavior, I'd like about a dozen, also to note Blood Clan is not allowed I will be empowering my moderaters and myself with the ability to drop the Ban Hammer on any Blood Clan infiltrators, flamers and people who fit into the category; That's all for now I'll see you next year with the newest chapters of both Empire's End and Killing Kuroinu, be aware that I am a college student and have other things in my life so don't expect a consistent schedule: I'll post chapters whenever I finish them.

Thanks for reading and to all of you I wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, along with a happy Hanukah to my Jewish readers and a generic Happy Holidays to everyone else


	60. Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Golden Dragon, Red Manticore, Total War

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Erkana, stronghold on the Meekta Border, two days after the Revelation… Tatsumi looked out from the city walls; Erkana was a sizeable city that was the set of House Delvar and was a thriving metropolis and one of the ten largest cities in the Empire; the city was marvel with many great structures made out of marble and granite along with large statues made out of brass which were spread out thru ought the city. These statues depicted the patron god of the city and that god was Shanuuva the God of craftsmen, merchants, smiths and warriors; said statues weren't just a thing spread inside the city itself, seven such colossal statues stood outside the city each one overlooking a trade route and each one interconnected to the walls of the city for the statues weren't just a show of the city's wealth but also defensive bastions from which battalions of archers, gunners and engineers could hide inside and use a number of openings made to allow for them to fire outwards. Also adorning the walls were proud statues of Chimeras, Gargoyles and Harpies which while also decorative concealed further murder holes and in some cases allowed for hot lead and other things to poured outwards.

Tatsumi's gaze however was not on the City he had brought his newly assembled army to for the purposes of mustering but on the nearby province which could see not too far from the city as it was less than a mile off from the border of the two provinces; he could see in the distance a hillside hamlet and in that hamlet smaller structures. "You looking ahead?" Spear stated surprising him by arriving.

"Yeah; I'm- not so keen on this- its- new for me, I've never fought in an actual war before, everything I've done till now was just small skirmishes if you could even call them that and it really wasn't actually proper battles just raids" Tatsumi replied.

"I know that feeling; I felt the same thing you're feeling when I enlisted in Esdeath's army and on the eve of my first battle; don't worry things will work out just fine" Spear reassured.

"I know, Falkland may be smart but he's not on the level of the people I've got with me and I'm shrewder then he is; but that aside I'm still worried, and- I'm missing Esdeath already" Tatsumi replied, he had sent Esdeath back to Tokorra with Makoto and his sisters both to get them to safety but also to gather his main army along with getting Merraid to get the Oarburgh armies to join in. Still though he felt the absence deeply, that and Aria's absence as she had stayed behind with her sisters was even harder on him.

"Don't worry we'll see her again soon enough; but you've got me, you've got Akame and Kurome, along with Mez and Suzuka, you've got the Trio, and well a lot of other girls who are interested in you, don't think you're alone" Spear assured. Tatsumi took another hard look at the land as the sunset. "I'll be there at your side the whole way, and I won't leave it" Spear comforted and wrapped her arms around his chest and leaned on his shoulder; Tatsumi turned and kissed her tenderly for about a good minute before stopping.

"You don't know how much that means to me Spear: I think you'll make a great Empress" Tatsumi replied.

"And you a great Emperor; now don't trouble yourself about the future focus on the here and now; and right now you are as tense as a drawn bowstring and need to let loose and I know how to help that" Spear complemented, then clutched her stomach and ran to the side of the wall before vomiting, she then turned to him after she finished. "Best not have me do it: pregnancy is a pain, compared to it war is easy" Spear replied then laughed.

"Your highnesses" Womyn greeted walking in with the other two sacred blades along with the Elite Seven and Four Rakshasas, they had given Tatsumi his five minutes of alone time watching the wall entrances for any potential threats.

"Please Womyn don't address us so formally especially since you yourself are an Empress" Spear replied.

"I'm just trying to be polite" Womyn replied, then looked at Tatsumi, noting his still tense posture and expression.

"Here Womyn why don't you and the other two blades help him loosen up" Spear replied, Tatsumi nodded and was led off to the place that he had been provided for his arrival which in this case was the Delvar Castle. The large stronghold bastion was at the heart of Erkana on a high hill and in splendor in Tatsumi's opinion rivaled the Royal Palace, but it was nowhere near as big or as ornate.

Still though his accommodations were royal as he had a dedicated wing to himself and to his following; incidentally said wing was shared by Natsuhi's own chambers and those of her daughter Jessica which was expected given their marriage to him. Overall however he was tense and needed to let loose and do so in the way he was most comfortable with.

Shortly… "Oh!" Womyn moaned, she lay flat against a soft cushioned bed without clothing as Tatsumi equally bare licked her loins, both were on their sides and this was to allow Remus and Balluck to get in on the action, the former gave Tatsumi head while the latter massaged his calves which was a relief as Tatsumi hadn't had any sort of massage or back-adjustment since he'd left Tokorra which while that wasn't long ago he had built up a good deal of tension in his sides and back, fortunately Balluck was skilled with massages along with chiropractic from her time as an undercover agent for the Empire. Each lick of Tatsumi's tongue was like a small bolt of electricity to Womyn and each one intensified her moans.

That being said Tatsumi wasn't the only one good with his tongue and Remus was quite skilled with hers, despite her air-headed demeanor and shyness when it came to matters of the bedroom Remus was quite skilled and had learned well and had come light-years since their first time in an abandon flat in Melitine's slums, oral sex was her preferred position but when he took her in her pussy she made extremely cute moans. Remus finished with the foreplay however and rolled Tatsumi onto his side, he pulled Womyn upright to continue his current focus as Remus mounted him. "Oh Tatsumi-kun" Remus moaned then began bouncing her long blonde locks bouncing with her. Balluck moved behind Remus and tended to Tatsumi's balls: all four partners now were busy.

Outside the room… "Sis why did we get guard duty for this room?" Junko asked her sister.

"Luck of the draw sis, luck of the draw, also we were kind of the only ones available: Kurome and Akame left to catch up on things some more, and everyone else went shopping" Makoro replied.

"Still though the moans how long have those four been at it?" Junko replied.

"About ten minutes" Makoro countered.

"It feels like an hour; so much restraint I'm half wanting to run in there and tell them to keep it down" Junko replied.

"Really and I thought you'd want to join in" Makoro replied.

"Shove it bird-brain, I'm as much a virgin as you, and I'm not going to give it up based on tension: Amaterasu what do you think about this?" Junko replied turning to her Teigu who loomed over the two sisters.

"I think the whole concept of you two arguing about it is dull; besides I've got an idea to settle this: while we biological Teigu may not feel such carnal emotions we do however possess the anatomy requires to engage in them; well I do at any rate; I'll settle your little debate and have both you realize that you've better things to do: the next time he's alone you two will talk him and let him know how you feel" Amaterasu replied.

"Really that's your idea?" Junko replied.

"I like it" Makoro replied, Junko face palmed.

"Ok, we'll implement it, but not during the fighting goodness knows how long this is going to last" Junko replied, and both then ignored the noise which seemed to have died down. The main reason for that was that the four had taken a break so that Balluck could massage Tatsumi, following which each was going to give the other time to have Tatsumi for themselves while the others freshened up.

Meanwhile in Tokorra… "HEYAGH!" Air shouted as she struck Bulat's practice staff with another enthusiastic strike before side-stepping a counter parrying another blow and disarming Bulat. "I won!" Air cheered, having beaten Bulat for the second time that day.

"Ok Air I think that's enough for today: get something to eat and then some rest, we'll cover some more advanced stuff in the morning" Bulat replied.

"Awesome, thanks bro" Air replied then left. Bulat sighed and sat down, drained. He took a look at Incursio then at himself in a mirror.

"Man look at yourself; guys would kill for looks like this" Bulat said to himself.

"Hi" A girl said cheerfully; she looked a lot like Tatsumi and Bulat recognized her as one of his half-sisters Nessa; the oldest of them and well as beautiful as her brother was handsome; she was dressed in an Oarburgh style kimono that was bright peridot green in color like her eyes and decorated with imagery of red butterflies and gold dragons along with suns and stars in her hands she held a basket of food. "I brought you something to eat; I've been watching you train all day is it true you helped train my brother?" Nessa asked.

"Yep, thanks" Bulat stated taking the food; inside the basket was some well-made sandwiches, some grapes, a bottle of spiced wine and some smoked fish; Bulat eagerly ate the up the meal she provided him. After he finished, he took a look at her. "Thanks" Bulat thanked.

"Hey can we talk. I'd like to get to know you more" Nessa asked, Bulat then noticed her eyes which regarded him with interest and- attraction.

"Alright but first I should get the elephant out of the room out of the bag I'm- gay; I like men" Bulat explained, hoping that would deter her from flirting; instead of looking disappointed she smirked.

"Challenge accepted" She thought, She was indeed attracted to him and was resolving herself to wrap him around her fingers; he may have been older then her true but he was handsome enough that his sexuality wasn't going to deter her efforts; if her brother could be great with women and convince an ardent lesbian into being Bi she could do the same with a gay man like Bulat one who wasn't as ardent as Merra had been and was still to an extent. "I'll put my efforts up; get to know him and well soon I'll get him right where I want him and I'll have the husband I want" Nessa thought then having inherited her mother and half-brother's charm put herself to work building the relationship, talking for about an hour about their shared interests as the sun set in the sky.

Meeka, the border town of Negad, the next morning… "Get those softies in position, General Brezhnev's orders" a Captain ordered to his soldiers, the soldiers brought out the children and women along with the men of the village who were bound in ropes and began setting them up in positions; the town of Negad because of its position in the Empire's interior had no walls a mistake that general Nikata Brezhnev was now deciding to correct; the reason for the lack of walls in the first place was due to the village having been built 50 years ago during a period of relative peace and thus not prepared for civil war which had so far spared it by being in the heart of rebel territory; now however it found itself at the center of attention for a new civil war and Brezhnev didn't have the time or resources to erect barricades; the goal wasn't to hold the village but to delay the enemy long enough to scorch the earth and retreat. Thus, a wall was made according to Brezhnev's orders of human shields; hoping that it would deter Tatsumi from attacking long enough to strip the town of anything that he and his army could use and torch it which would take a couple days.

"You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs" Brezhnev had said at the meeting and his philosophy for war mirrored his ideology, he would do whatever it took to win and to spread his radical ideology. Tatsumi's scouts a group of horsemen took a good look at the fortifications: Pais led this group and winced at the movement of people as human shields. "Dammit this will make it a whole lot more difficult" Pais thought looking thru her binoculars and then ordered her horsemen to withdraw.

Shortly... "That bastard! Only a coward uses innocents as shields" Najenda shouted after hearing the news.

"That makes things a whole lot harder; we can't abandon our people to deaths; they aren't expandable and on top of that Brezhnev will murder them if we don't act; we need to come up with a strategy" Tatsumi explained, the war council looked at him, specifically Natsuhi, Jessica, Najenda, Lydia, Nikola, Chiara Seryu, who'd been recently promoted, and Spear; his other generals had gone off to rally their forces on a broader front; the map on the table marked the Eastern provinces from the Matahai Mountains to the border of Kharadai the first of the neighboring Eastern Kingdoms: the lion's share of provinces both outer and inner were under the control of loyalists while a decent chunk of the interior provinces were under Falkland's sway; these territories however while rich in resources were short on manpower and thus his enemies were going to have to fight dirty to win. Tatsumi had expected this but hoped it wouldn't come to it though at this point he'd stopped being surprised to the lengths which evil people in the world would go to.

The broader strategy for the conflict as a whole was to envelop the enemy on all sides with loyalist forces then begin an interior push; relieving first provinces that were surrounded by the traitors and then going for the jugglier and crushing them in their strongholds; Tatsumi hoped to get Falkland's army into a position that he'd be forced to commit his armies to a win or lose battle during which he could be killed and with his death shatter the rebels on faction lines and mop up.

For this force Tatsumi had at his disposal forces from Zarteck's own elite soldiers, Lydia's fifth army along with her rangers, the household soldiers of House Delvar which were the bulk of the army, and whatever volunteers he could muster and mercenaries he could hire that could be depended on to not ravage the countryside. The core of these soldiers were heavy infantry; soldiers clad in reinforced titanium armor and equipped with all manner of weapons; they were clad in the purple and blue heraldry of House Delvar with the house's crest of Falcon emblazoned on it. The skirmishers were also a large part of the army and consisted of both gunners and archers, which were both bowmen and crossbowmen, these were mostly provided by House Delvar but a fair few mercenary archers were expatriate Easterners from Khasir and thus brought massive longbows and Chakram throwing discs. The light infantry were provided by the Fifth army along with a some heavy troops but Lydia focused on mobility and rapid marches supported by cavalry both light and heavy along with chariots and War Earth Dragons; this force was meant to get into action with the enemy quickly and thus wore lighter armor and used lighter weapons to allow for them to close distances quicker. The Rangers were exemplars of mobility, but they were actually heavy infantry disguised as light infantry; the trick being that they wore and used lighter armor made in the east that allowed for a great deal of flexibility and they were trained for any situation and used as black ops unit.

All these troops were backed up by a contingent of royal guard troops that had been flown in via Tatsumi's secret weapon that Boreth had no counter for: Air Mantas. Air superiority was going to be crucial for his war and there were a few projects that were in the making in Gallia that would allow for more ways to expand on that edge. The Air Mantas could with the help of Oarburgh trainers transport troops to different locations in flocks; Tatsumi had given Esdeath instructions to have Chelsea use them to transport royal guard units to his position; while using others to help move troops elsewhere on the many fronts; the Oarburgh Army was also on the march along with Esdeath's own troops and Tatsumi's troops that were under her; this allowed for a sizeable fighting force of about 200,000 soldiers that would be his hammer to smash the Revolutionary army: soldiers that were veterans of many battles from Esdeath and masters of asymmetric warfare on the part of the Oarburghs but also capable of being a deadly force in pitched battle with their ranks of heavy pike men, deadly bowmen and master gunners. Tatsumi expected that victory would hopefully take a couple weeks; it may have been presumptuous to think so but a look at his forces compared to that of Falkland's plus the amount of territory the two controlled and the fact that he had the advantage of having the best commanders the Empire had to offer meant that it was a reasonable assumption to make.

Of course it then took time to decide on how best to handle the newest development numerous idea were put forth but each had to be shot down as Tatsumi was insistent on making sure that the civilians weren't harmed, Tatsumi himself thought hard while his generals discussed various ideas until he came up with a plan.

"I've got an idea how to rescue them; a night attack should allow them to be freed: Lydia get your best rangers and give them their mission; they are to free the hostages by any means necessary: Najenda I want you to pick a Night Raid team to go with them, I'm putting Sheele in charge of the team" Tatsumi explained, he then had explain the rest of the plan in full before his other generals agreed to it, including why Sheele was to be in charge of the Night Raid team and not Najenda which Tatsumi had to take ample care not to reveal Sheele's status as the leader of the Sorrowful Ones as Sheele had explained to him that was to be kept secret for her sake and in line with the order's custom of secrecy.

Tatsumi after the meeting then took a good look at Seryu and Najenda. "You know I'd lose it if either of you were killed and to that end I'm going to have to go on inspection of the soldiers: I want you two to have the best bodyguards on offer if you two are going to insist on leading the charge" Tatsumi explained.

"I can see your point, but you know I'm more then capable of supporting myself" Najenda replied.

"It's not just you I want to protect Najenda; it's our child that sits in your womb; I know I can't convince you not to fight but I can at least make sure you and our child are protected" Tatsumi explained.

"I've got Koro; he's really all I need" Seryu replied, Koro woofed in disagreement. "Alright you're right you can't have my back all the time and you do need support I'll see if we can scrounge up some troops" Seryu relented.

"I want nothing but the best" Tatsumi explained.

"What about me?" Spear asked.

"You'll be by my side at all times: consider yourself my- I'm not sure how to put this guardian warrior, no Guardian Angel that's it or rather my Valkyrie" Tatsumi explained.

"I'll try to be worthy of the position though why you're choosing me for the job is beyond me my love" Spear explained.

"Because you've give the best advice, you taught me the way of the Imperial fist and because we make an excellent team" Tatsumi explained, Spear smiled at that then kissed him.

The four of them then inspected the camp calling out the best of the soldiers on offer along with bringing the Teigus he'd brought with them if he found a compatible person who could use the Teigu in question they immediately were a pick for the bodyguard units.

This selection process took a good few hours which was time that they really didn't have a better way to spend: troops along the lines began setting up positions; they weren't able to set up artillery however due to a few factors: the first being Imperial artillery took a great deal of time to transport and set up taking hours at a time, secondly the forces in question didn't have much of it as speed was a priority Tatsumi wanted to stomp Falkland's forces before they could begin an insurgency that would bog him down for months and thus prevent him from taking on the true threat that being Volgoth and the Demons, the third reason was that Tatsumi wanted to avoid civilian casualties and take their objectives most intact: artillery shelling wasn't exactly conducive to either goal and as such most of the heavy guns had been left behind or given to units whose objectives would have minimum civilian presence or were military targets in nature.

The threat of an insurgency was always a possibility but one Tatsumi had accounted for the way he was going to deal with it was to hit the enemy hard and fast before they had a chance to fade away or scorch the earth, essentially if he wiped out the armies of Falkland's supporters fast enough and rallied enough local support he could basically finish the Revolutionary Army off either destroying it entirely or reducing it to a state where it would fragment and fight itself thus giving him the ability to focus on more pressing concerns; once he had the Empire reunified and control of the Empire he'd be able to stomp them out for good. The key to this goal however was kill any Revolutionary army commanders that wouldn't change sides, any sort of leadership they had needed to be stomped out as the majority of the Revolutionary armies troops were people that basically were fighting on their commanders' orders without a proper chain of command they would fracture either returning to their old lives or turning on each other and infighting.

But all this was not Tatsumi's focus that at the moment was selecting sizeable bodyguard units for both of his wives that were insisting on leading from the front. This actually was easier than expected and fortunately took only a couple hours; by the end of it about a dozen protectors, four of each were Teigu users, were assigned to protect Najenda and Seryu: the commanders of both units interestingly enough were women. Najenda's group was co-commanded by two woman; a tan skinned blonde (Who resembled Mez) named Kaola was in charge of her unit which had four Teigu users, she had short curly blonde hair and like Mez green eyes, her uniform was the standard crimson of the Revolution army but was a bit more loose to reflect both her personality and her allow her speed which was even more important with her new weapon the Teigu Adayusa a powerful scythe capable of slicing thru anything and gave the wielder increased capabilities the more enemies it killed. Her co-commander was named Melissa and she was a young blonde-haired fair skinned woman with hazel eyes, her hair was short but not overly so and her attire was similar to Kaola's her Teigu was an empowered two-handed spiked mace called Vadugaa which was capable of shattering rocks with ease and could increase its reach at will along with detaching its head to become a flail. The Other two Teigu users were both men one being a large bulky man who wielded the Teigu Sunder which was another axe but it was intrinsically different from Belvaac in that rather than empowering the user with more kills along with being able to divide into two smaller axes Sunder was designed with bypassing the guard of any opponent and homing in on ANY opening in an opponent guard and it always connected. This man wore a mask and only stated his name was Gurk and he wouldn't say anything else beyond that, the other man was shorter and also masked his name was Jace and he wielded a Teigu shard-gun, it resembled a normal shot-gun but fired special crystal shards which would turn their targets into crystal statues: the gun had no name as it was lost to history and the only trace of it were the Dwarven runes inscribed on the side which none of them could read. The Rest of Najenda's unit were non-Teigu users but were selected by her and Lydia as their best.

Seryu's bodyguards were more humble as they were selected from Zarteck's city guard at the head of these was Katie, the guard captain who had admitted them into Zarteck and who was surprised by her rapid advancement; though this was due to the fact that Seryu wanted people that she could educate as soldiers of 'Justice' meaning they had to be young like her and while capable open and importantly willing to put up with some of Seryu's eccentricities. The overall process between selection and establishing the chain of command took about two hours and it was early afternoon by that time: Tatsumi then told a runner to go and send out more through scouting parties to identify the positions that were of paramount importance to take.

The scouts were followed up by Tatsumi sending in a group of 'deserters' to probe for the weaknesses and sow descent; these were troops that were loyal to him but played the part of spy. After these measures were taken Tatsumi did what he could do to keep himself busy; the chief of these was sparring with the soldiers under his command but chiefly the Three Sacred Blades.

Speaking of the Three had progressed exceptionally fast since he had started their training in Melitine: of them Womyn was the smartest and thus the team leader with her skills with a blade becoming quickly on par with his own and already matching Akame and the other Elite Seven blow for blow in sparring matches, a good number of which she actually won. Balluck was definitely however the most well rounded and experienced of the group; her skills with the blade were unmatched and she at the moment was the best swordswoman of the three though that would soon change at the rate the teams third member Remus was coming along. That aside Balluck lived up to her confidence and in the skirmishes that they had fought on occasion since leaving Melitine along with her obsession with Danger Beast hunting in her downtime that wasn't spent banging him kept her as the best the team had.

However Remus was rapidly accelerating in terms of skill and prowess as she proved to be a quick study; the shy girl who was also a bit of a clutz at times had changed when it came to fighting; she had taken the most out of Tatsumi's lessons and had developed a unique fighting style, she also had taken time to get her hands on fighting axe from the Grundewick Manor armory and employed deadly dual wielding style that with her new armor expanded it. Speaking of expanding arsenals while in Tokorra Tatsumi had taken the time and used Merraid's influence to arm his Three Sacred Swords with the best the city had to offer the armor in question worn by the three was rather uniform painted gold and green and made of light alloys that offered decent protection but allowed for greater movement.

"HEEYEEAGH!" Remus shouted as she parried a sword strike from Tatsumi's blade, she then smiled as she brought out a new trick, she used the back of her axe to hook Tatsumi's guard and pull the blade out his hands after delivering a stunning kick to his abdomen. Tatsumi winced as she knocked him onto the ground and pinned him in a tackle. "I win" Remus replied, both of them wore little, Tatsumi only a pair of black pants and Remus wore the same along with a white wrap that covered only her breasts.

"I'll admit you do congratulations on beating me for the first time Remus, neat trick; I'll have to note that one for future reference just in case someone else uses it in an actual fight." Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, I know you will, I'm- surprised; you know I really didn't expect I'd teach you something new" Remus replied.

"You learn something new every day, just so you know however don't employ that move in battle unless you've really got your opponent in the position to pull it off successfully; as you and I both know, in a real fight the enemy doesn't hold back" Tatsumi explained, Remus giggled.

"Oh, I know that, speaking of I have you at a disadvantage why don't I play with you my 'captive'?" Remus teased seductively, the dojo in question was actually a set of tents; each usually allowed for about 10 people standing room only, however this particular one was reserved for their use only and no one who didn't have a reason to be there would go there. Tatsumi smiled, looked at Remus who put on her best flirty face, caressed her blonde locks and kissed. They kissed tenderly rolling about on the floor their hands exploring their bodies and trying their best to remove any obstructing articles of clothing. Striping each other rather quickly Remus lowered herself to Tatsumi's level and began to slowly and methodically blow him her lips moving slowly from tip to mid-length, added to in pleasure by wrapping her ample breasts around it and massaging it with care: Tatsumi smiled letting her do her best to please him; letting go for the time being his worries and troubles, the now was him and her in passionate lovemaking.

"Oh Remus" Tatsumi moaned; Remus's eyes twinkled, Tatsumi indicated to her with a hand gesture to mount him; she did so, and he found her folds in front of him. Tatsumi eager began to invade those folds with his tongue caressing her vulva with it before going inside her vagina proper and navigating her folds with grace; his hands went to her ample rump cheeks and he eagerly fondled them causing Remus to giggle as she blowed him; she liked having her rump touched as it was rather ticklish.

Their shared oral experience lasted for a good ten minutes before they both reached their limits and covered each other's faces with a load of their juices. They then quickly cleaned up and Remus laid flat with her legs spread. "Oh, Tatsumi can you give my bum the attention it deserves I love it when you do that" Remus invited, Tatsumi needed little invitation and entered her anally pulling her against his chest as he did so and laying back in reverse cowgirl position. "Tatsumi-kun! Tatsumi-kun!" Remus moaned with each thrust her blonde locks waving and her moans intensifying as he fondled her breasts, he kissed her ears and neck as he gave her the attention she deserved, gently of course but enjoyable all the same. Their passions gave way and after time they melded, their loins embracing the other; their lips locked at Tatsumi's chest pressed against her breasts his length deep inside her folds, her held in his arms as they took the missionary position. Thrust, thrust, bounce, moans as his green eyes looked into her green eyes their lips locked and as Tatsumi broke a tender kiss he came to right nipple and drank eagerly while his hands held Remus's right hand and breast, Remus wrapped her remaining arm around his shoulder. "Tatsumi" Remus moaned and closed her eyes simply listing to the sounds they made and beating of their hearts.

Each sound however the two made was not unheard by Tatsumi's protectors outside, Akame left her post to find Merraid for some fun of her own and Mez was restraining both herself and Suzuka from joining in; Kurome simply smiled knowing that she had something 'special' for him that evening. The Elite Seven were not there neither were the other two Sacred blades. The former of the two had gone their separate ways getting themselves prepared for the Night Op as they had been selected by Sheele for the team that would hit the village and rescue the hostages, Shastavi herself searched for ways to amuse herself with the camp courtesans (Females only as she knew and doubted anyone would be better than Tatsumi) while her subordinates readied themselves in whatever way they saw fit. The other Two Sacred blades were doing combat training of their own while waiting for their turn with Tatsumi.

As the camp prepared itself the spies Tatsumi had dispatched had reached the village and fallen in with the enemy as planned: their goal being to cause as much trouble as possible without being noticed. They did this by making sure to sabotage equipment, mainly supply wagons and other logistic things that would not be noticeable: a task made easier by the fact that Brezhnev had tasked his regular troops with making sure the hostages didn't escape thus leaving him with less manpower to implement the planned scorched earth tactic. The competence of Brezhnev as a general was questionable as he was not used to having to fight on the defensive and preferred to overwhelm opponents with rapid attacks using his more maneuverable troops. This was not an option due to terrain, the size of Tatsumi's army, and their holding of the high hills that overlooked the village, this left him with few options, one of his surviving soldiers later remarked that "The General knew he'd only be able to slow the Emperor's army down and knew that he was going to lose this conflict but he decided to fight anyway to bring down 'as many of the bourgeoise' as possible before he died" which in his head he thought would ensure future revolutions. The general also didn't have the luxury Tatsumi had of being in a position that he could let loose and relax so he issued an order to his die-hards to sow fear in Tatsumi's ranks and show him what holding back from the attack would get him.

Tatsumi's fun with Remus was interrupted mid third round by Mez who informed him that Spear wanted to speak with him and that one of their scouts had reported shocking news. Tatsumi smiled at Remus and put back on his clothes and armor before heading to the command tent where Spear and a dire faced Pais waited for him. "Alright what's happened?" Tatsumi asked, Pais teared up.

"It's- horrible; they've started murdering the people of the village" Pais explained, this shocked Tatsumi, Pais then went into detail; apparently the leader of the enemy army had given the order that some of their hostages be brought up to plain view out of range from the snipers of the army and had begun doing horrible things; the people were raped by the fanatical zealots of Brezhnev's army, men raped by woman and woman raped by men and children raped by monsters of both gender; after the mass rape the victims were then hung from crosses to die; the scouts had saved some of them from death but most were dead by the time they arrived: a missive had been left for them too and a few enemy skirmishers who'd decided to lie in ambush had been killed by the light cavalry who'd scouted the position. Tatsumi was enraged.

"What does the missive say?! Hand it to me!" Tatsumi raged, Pais handed him the paper which was written with a fine script despite the hatred its writer held for anyone who'd write this fine: Tatsumi read it. "To the vile tyrant and head of the tyrannical Empire Emperor Tatsumi VII, thrice damned be your name; you claim to care about the people of the Empire and many of them here believed your lies: my soldiers took the most devoted and have made an example to you: your cousins and you along with all your armies and I will personally enjoy pulling the rope that drops the blade of your death to be the one that breaks the wheel; all the old noble order will be broken along with those ilk in the middle, the Revolution will rule and the blood of the Empire will be spent; I look forward to giving those little cousins of yours a bit of fun before I chop their heads off, Your regards his Glorious impressiveness People's General Nikita Leon Brezhnev of the People's Revolutionary army. P.S. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs nor have a revolution without purging the old guard" Tatsumi read aloud then took one hard look at the paper before ripping it to shreds. "THAT MONSTER! I WILL CRUCIFY HIM! AND EVERY ONE OF HIS DIEHARDS!" Tatsumi yelled then kicked a nearby chair over.

"It won't do you good to get angry; you're playing right into his hands; he's trying to get you to attack so that he can blame the massacre on you" Spear explained, Tatsumi calmed down and took a good look at the shredded note.

"You're right Spear I did over react, but trust me that bastard will be dead by the end of this: I swear it and when he's dead I'll feed his corpse to my raptor and only after I've put out his eyes and had him gelded to death for saying such vile things about Lin and Koko; a good thing Esdeath has them nice and safe in Tokorra" Tatsumi responded.

"And I'll crush his skull" Jessica added from her spot in the corner.

"That's a good thing that those three are safe; besides those two especially deserve to be kept safe" Pais replied having recovered her composure she then clung to Tatsumi.

"How long until nightfall?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 4 more hours, and if you're insisting on going on that mission don't, you're too important to risk on that" Spear explained.

"And you'll have me lead from the rear?" Tatsumi remarked annoyed.

"No: just that your troops will want you with them not rushing off on a night skirmish! Tatsumi you are the anchor on which your army is kept from drifting randomly in the seas of battle, the banner they rally around. I'm not asking you to lead from the rear but rather to delegate and lead from the front. You're not just a soldier fighting for a cause anymore Tatsumi nor a member of a small team: You're the leader of an Empire, the Empire, you have people to handle these sort of tasks for you, you can't just leave the bulk of your forces behind and go off on your own, if the worst happens and you die because you were too impetuous or blinded by rage my beloved husband then we're all doomed, every single person on Eden will be doomed you're the last hope of the Empire, the last hope of Eden against the darkness threatening to tear it asunder the only chance to defeat the evil and end the killing once and for all, as such you need to be where it will have the most impact, leading the army and being at the heart of the battle not off on your own with a small unit of soldiers" Spear rebuked and lectured him; Spear's words drove deep much like her namesake would upon the battlefield.

Tatsumi said nothing just stood there for a minute with a solemn face; Spear was right he needed to be where his troops needed him most, he badly wanted to be out there though especially to watch Sheele's back and that of everyone under her command, but that was what the old him would've done, the old Tatsumi that was overconfident in his skills and rushed into situations without planning; that Tatsumi died the day Honest had nearly ended his life, and perhaps it was time for a new Tatsumi to take place, from Tatsumi the politician who tried to win his battles without fighting to Tatsumi the Leader- no the Messiah, the one who needed to win or else Eden would be doomed; the prospects of everyone on the planet dying as a result of him getting himself killed by overconfidence was enough to concede the point; Spear was right. "You're right Spear; I'm- just- well afraid to throw people's lives in danger for my sake" Tatsumi replied.

"That's the true test of leadership Tatsumi and bravery; the key to being brave and a true leader is being the only person who knows it, you need to inspire people to do great things you're capable of doing it, and I'll be right there by your side" Spear reassured then hugged him, closing her eyes and smiling.

"Spear" Tatsumi said comforted, he looked into her blue eyes.

"Promise me you'll still be there when this is all over, promise me you'll be by my side even in the thickest of battles, I swear that oath to you my husband I swore it the day we were wed and we need to have the same commitment" Spear asked.

"Yes. I promise." Tatsumi gasped out and pulled her into a kiss, a romantic one at which the only other two people in the room Jessica and Pais smiled at as they shared the same feelings as Spear did though her's were deeper in a way, Spear had sworn that she'd never leave him and that was a commitment that while Jessica and Pais could make it wouldn't have the same level of significance as Spear's had simply because Tatsumi had been so influential in her life, saving it from a monster in Nyau, taking what was in a way a political marriage and turning it into one of love and sharing a home where both could easily say they were at home, two actually.

The kiss lasted for a good two minutes tell both broke it though both still held each other. "I wish Aria was here with us" Tatsumi added, Aria was not with him she was with the army that would be marching from Tokorra because Tatsumi had given her that position out of a matter of trust, while Esdeath would lead the army and command it Aria was in-charge.

"Trust me Tatsumi she'll be with us when this is over: I don't think this war will last more than two weeks at most, not if we're fast about it" Spear replied. "Anyway, how about we get something to eat" Spear commented and that was enough for them to leave.

That Night Tatsumi would have been in bed were it not for the fact he was at the vanguard of his forces; the plan was in place; once the hostages had been freed by the strike team the rest of the army would attack all but one side of the village, as the force wasn't large enough to completely envelop the enemy force; however it did have the luxury of better equipment, soldiers and commanders then the enemy. That in mind Tatsumi was making the final preparations for battle, his Sacred Swords clad him in his armor, while his Four Champions readied his mount in battle armor outside, while the Elite Seven stood at attention.

A messenger entered his tent interrupting the last two touches his helmet and crown. "Your majesty, the strike team has begun its advance: any final preparations left must be done swiftly" The messenger stated.

"Send for my Chaplin, I'd like to make a pre-battle sacrifice" Tatsumi ordered, the messenger nodded, Womyn placed his helmet on and Remus placed the Golden Crown atop it; Tatsumi looked at himself. "Damn I've come a long way from being a country bumpkin haven't I" Tatsumi thought to himself, clad in ornate black painted and gold enameled plate mail which overlapped secondary coat of plates underneath, and underneath that was a thick gambeson made of raw-cotton layers overlapping a titanium scale hauberk, on his back was black and gold cape, his legs protected by greaves, his helmet was a fusion of a sallet and gallic helm, topped by the gold plated titanium figurine of a dragon, his swords Valruost and Smaug hung proudly on either side.

"Your mount is ready!" Mez shouted, Tatsumi walked out of the tent and inspected his mount which while not the same creature he'd tamed but he'd faced it's kind before and nor as large the kind he was used to but it was still a formidable specimen of his kind. "Personally I think you should ride a golden dragon but I don't think it'd be possible to find a gold dragon in this day and age, so we thought an Earth Dragon would do" Mez commented, Tatsumi took a look at the Earth Dragon which was named Hardshell and was a formidable specimen if ever there was one but Tatsumi's nature was enough to command respect in it, it wasn't as big as the beast he'd faced on his way to Melitine for the first time or again in the countryside outside the city with Chelsea it was however about the size of a pack horse.

"He'll do this is an interesting change of things, I never thought I'd well ever find a tame Earth Dragon much less get to ride one" Tatsumi remarked.

"It was much easier taming him then it looked" Merraid replied surprising him by appearing from behind the mount.

"I figured this was you're doing, you managed to get a giant butterfly for yourself yet?" Tatsumi replied in jest, Merraid giggled, dressed in a set of light armor that looked like a fusion of samurai armor, beetle chitin and lorica segmentata, topped by a plumed sallet with a carved butterfly engraved in and pearl circlet atop the brow Merraid looked exactly like he thought she would: absolutely ludicrous.

"I'll take that as a complement, don't worry I haven't given up on that particular field of Danger Beast searching but I figured I'd get you the best danger beast mount for the job: anyway I look forward to battle, let's see who gets more kills by the end of it" Merraid replied.

"I'll lose track honestly, but what would be the prize" Tatsumi asked curious.

"Winner gets do whatever they want with the other" Merraid replied, Tatsumi laughed.

"Anything?" Tatsumi asked getting ideas in his head, kinky ones.

"Anything within reason of course" Merraid replied.

"I'll take that competition, we both win either way" Tatsumi commented, Merraid smirked then drew her swords preforming a flurry of blade movements meant to entertain before sheaving them, Angulas arrived followed by her attendants and novices along with a few soldiers carrying with them a portable alter and dragging behind a sacrificial bull, bells were rung to get the attention of troops who gathered around the center of camp where the alter was laid down, Angulas and two of her novices prepared the alter incense was lit and the bull was strapped down.

"In the name of our Emperor and of this army we pray to the gods in the heavens above, we venerate thy named and offer up to you this sacrifice and asked for thy blessing and for thee to grant us this victory" Angulas began, she then pulled up her sleeves and removed her outer vestments to keep them clean of blood as was custom, this left her in garbs that wouldn't stain as easily and which would be washed as she would soon change into her battle vestments. "Avawahy: Lord of Life and Peace wash clean they servant of the blood of war, in the name of Myrmedia and Mallegia the twin goddesses of war and their father Selophant God of Battle I offer thee this offering which has been consecrated and set apart as a sacrifice to bless this army and those who fight for the rightful Emperor with victory in battle and war" Angulas continued, a figure approached the alter clad in white robes of white armor carrying with a white staff toped with the figurehead of a phoenix, his brow had a spider tattooed on.

"Wait I need to offer my own blessings upon the offering so that my goddess too may be honored" Syura explained approaching.

"You may do so: Afterall offerings to all the gods must be made if we are to have victory" Angulas replied, Syura approached the bull and put atop its head a spider figure which he secured to it.

Syura then spoke words in a language unknown to those present and then took off the figure from the head of the beast. "There my offering is made, the Eternity Queen will be pleased" Syura explained, Angulas looked at him confused, then resumed her ordinations and prayers before taking a ceremonial sword dropping it downward thru the bull's neck and with single strike, the blood poured into a basin beneath the alter which was then searched for signs.

"The Blood is clean! Much rejoicing victory will be ours this day!" Angulas proclaimed to applause, Tatsumi smiled; the crowd dispersed, and final preparations were made.

Within an hour the first riders arrived with the signal that the strike team had succeeded and to begin the attack. It took about 20 minutes to assemble the troops into battle formation Tatsumi and his retinue in the center of it. "Well this is it" Tatsumi thought.

"Having second thoughts? We can call the attack off if you don't think it's the right call" Spear asked next to him, clad in her Teigu battle armor Spear resembled a Valkyrie but with a whole lot more armor with no openings save for her face and that was because she had the guard up, in her arms she held her Teigu Greatsword Yadviga in readiness.

"No: We attack now, we can't let them escape; if we let them escape, they'll fade into the hills and we'd be fighting them for years: No, we don't have years and any day where war wages is one too long! We attack now! Soldiers of the Golden Dragon Army: Today a new Empire will rise, this is the beginning of a conflict that will see an end to senseless killing and crimes of traitors and tyrants! We will win today and on the morrow, we'll win more, and we'll keep winning until the day comes when we again have peace! Men and Women of the old Empire, you are of it no more this day we make our Empire anew!" Tatsumi spoke first to Spear and then to the rest of army in as best of a speech he could make at the moment. "Advance! For the Golden Dragon!" Tatsumi shouted, and cheers went up as the army advanced on mass.

Inside the town General Brezhnev looked over his troops and then at the approaching army, the accounts of what happened on this side come from undercover troops from the Emperor's army. The man's hackles were raised as he looked at the enemy. "Soldiers of the Revolution we are outnumbered and as such our only recourse will be to withdraw but I'd say doing so unless we destroy what they stand to gain would be folly: So for the Revolution I'll lead the brave men who will act as a rear guard to cover the withdraw of our forces!" General Brezhnev's booming voice went out, he then took his most fanatical troops, about 6,000 strong towards the front while the remaining 4000 troops began to withdraw, Brezhnev however was not a man who lead from the front he stood at the center behind his troops with one of his body-doubles leading from the front in a spare uniform. Considering the fact about 40,000 Golden Dragon troops were coming down on him the rag-tag but still professional and crisp uniformed troops of General Brezhnev were at ease; due to the general's habit of feeding his vanguard fanatics hashish to give them courage, it was a favorite habit of his as he often used the drug to calm his own nerves but not when he was ready to take his rearguard and bolt once things began to go really south for he had no intention of dying in a rearguard, a glorious end to be sure but not one he was remotely wanting to have any part of because at the end of the day he was after all a man who had no qualms about leaving other people to die for him.

The army advanced towards the enemy Tatsumi looked to either side of him with Spear and Seryu to his right and Najenda and Lydia to his left all protected by a disciplined bodyguard unit and with their weapons at the ready and each returning a smile; behind him was Natsuhi and her daughter Jessica with the household troops of House Delvar in lockstep and a few ranks to the right was Merraid and about 2000 Oarburgh soldiers who'd been moved east to join up with his force via air manta, Merraid had dawned a war mask and her soldiers wore similar ones that were meant to inspire fear in the opponents their armor was similar to Merraid's though they wore triangular helmets that resembled those of Ashigaru foot soldiers which these troops were but the armor they wore left no chinks and they favored Falcatas to Katanas though a few elites wielded large battle-axes and to the front of them were a number of keen gunners and bowman. Tatsumi's own protectors were some of the Empire's famous lockstep legions, these elite soldiers were clad in formidable armor head to toe with no part of their bodies exposed, they carried large thick rectangular titanium shields and wielded halberds as their main weapon and as a sidearm carried malachite Falcattas. But also, with him was a crack regiment of calvary riding of course Earth Dragons like himself clad in armor comparable to knights and armed with long lances and once those were impractical to use large maces and carried kite shields that would protect them in a slog. Tatsumi himself had a lance too but had no shield using both hands for the lance and when the weapon had served its use, he would draw both blades.

But all the blade work would be saved for after the skirmish line had thinned the enemy ranks, both sides had these and skirmishing despite the access to firearms was not where the real fighting was done and this was due to the process in which armor worn by both sides was made, the armor forging process created very strong armor that could easily take a bullet, and if sustained fire was met the soldier wore about three layers of armor that had to be taken down, only shots where chinks were available were guaranteed kills. Thus, both skirmish lines set up, gunners took rank positions in front of bowmen and crossbowmen and began to fire, the archers behind loosed their arrows and bolts at the same time.

The RA forces got the first volley off due to their defensive positions, but their shots did little damage about a couple dozen fell down and about a quarter of which were actually dead or mortally wounded the rest were knocked down by impact force. The Imperial troops returned fire and their attack did a bit more damage due to them having more skirmishers, however the armor again did its job, but the RA troops had lost about twice the number the Imperial soldiers did.

The Skirmishing went on like this for some time until the both sides had exhausted their ammunition and pulled back to re-arm with fresh ammunition, it was then that the signal came for a general charge after the skirmishers had fallen back. This was where Tatsumi smirked under his helmet face guard knowing that it was his time to shine and show his troops what their new emperor could do. "Charge!" Tatsumi ordered, all soldiers around him began the charge the cavalry easily moving ahead to Tatsumi's side his champions, his sacred swords and the Elite Seven readied their Teigus to fight alongside their Emperor.

With that in mind Susanoo and Amaterasu rushed out ahead and were the first to clash with the enemy as Tatsumi expected, the two biological Teigus were faster than even the cavalry and they showed their ferocity, Susanoo with his mace and Amaterasu with her Glaive, Tatsumi and his guard then charged.

(Song begin: It has begun by Starset)

For the moment a brief silence befell Tatsumi's mind and time seemed to slow around him then… Contact! Tatsumi's lance was thrusted both hands struck a deadly first strike impaling the first of many soldiers to die by his hands that day. "One" Tatsumi began counting then soon reached seven after brutal lance strikes in rapid but brutal succession killed about 5 regular conscripts and one corporal. Again he struck, killing about 5 more men before his lance stuck in an enemy, then he quickly on reflex drew Valruost and Smaug, his mount roared as it mauled troops with its claws and bisected troops with its mandible one unfortunate was thrown up and behind Tatsumi then bifurcated the man with a brutal strike from Valruost one which the blade itself had done on reflex, Tatsumi then dawned the Dragon Armor. To his side Spear drove her sword in a violent thrust thru five soldiers and bisected them in swift fashion, to his other side he noted four troops blown away by Najenda's Saiga and to his immediate side the Four Rakshasa Champions began their earnest slaughter with Suzuka and Mez decimating the forward line with their Teigu weapons, the swift strikes of Mez's naginata tearing deep and sweeping cuts from Suzuka's broadsword hewing down dozens at time while Akame was a blur of lightning strikes enemies falling over dead from the slightest strike of Muramase and brutal cleaves from Kiriichimonji.

But it was Kurome who was the deadliest of his four champions, she fought with fury and speed beyond her stature and with each strike new puppets rose to join her dragging down their comrades to their shock with Doya fighting to her side blasting enemies with her new Teigu pistols the Garrack Duo which fired bullets at such a high speed they pierced thru bodies. His Sacred Swords also killed their share but Remus amassed a big body count as she fought alongside Spear the two of them rapidly slaughtered about 200 troops in a matter of minutes, this due to the fact that Spear used her Teigu with rapid strikes in Imperial fist rings with Spear favoring the Fifth Ring which was the Onslaught Ring and was dedicated to rapid strikes and brutal counters to kill enemies on mass, Remus had adopted the same stance as Tatsumi had taught the trio in the martial art though Remus's skills were not as refined as Spear's but they were enough to rack of up a count. To his side Tatsumi noted a man in general's uniform and immediately sent a fireball his way frying the man to a crisp along with igniting three enemies near him this caused the enemy ranks to begin to buckle under the mass as troops began to lose cohesion with those in the rear having mixed reactions some rushing forward to force the soldiers in front of them towards the jaws of the enemy ranks which on the flanks were beginning a Trebbia envelopment, one massive gap opened at Tatsumi saw Jessica and her retinue men of war rush thru it Jessica shattering skulls with strikes from her brass knuckles and slicing a head off here and there with her colichemarde rapier which she sheathed as she rushed a bearded man in a conventional uniform.

"Break a few eggs?! I'll break you!" Jessica yelled over the cacophony of battle and delivered rapid blows to the man's abdomen bones cracked as ribs broke but before Jessica could finish the job, she had to fall back to avoid a halberdier's lunge thus requiring her to flank, the man then ran behind with a number of troops following after her. Tatsumi then lost track of her in the confusion as he was forced to slice down enemy after enemy which by this point his kill count was now somewhere in the hundreds due to a mix of swordsmanship and fling bolts of flame from Smaug's power at clumps saving the lives of a number of his wives' protectors. Also by this point he had chosen to dismount his Earth Dragon and jump into masses slaughtering enemies with ruthless speed his reflexes beyond those of any of the men and women on the field and to a point where he had become numb to the killing not even noticing who had been killed by his blades or his fire attacks.

In this mass of fighting no one noticed the retreat of General Brezhnev and 10 of his bodyguards, Brezhnev cursing his broken ribs but running with adrenaline to horse and riding off with his retreating troops along with about a few hundred more of the rear guard which by this point had crumbled but despite this the remaining troops fought on blinded by hashish and meth in their bodies which made them numb to pain and to their comrades dying left and right around them. Even then the 6000 troops had fallen about a tenth of their number still fighting on as the remainder fled, some calvary tried to pursue the routing troops but were bogged down in the town streets by hastily erected barricades that had been put in place before the battle and which about 500 reserves waited on still fresh, these had been in reserve as a pinning force, without these troops Brezhnev's routers would have been cut down by the swift cavalry.

(Song End)

However, within another half hour the battle ended as the RA troops were slaughtered to the last having resolved to die to allow their comrades to escape. However, this battle had cost Brezhnev dearly as about a quarter of his army was dead either on the field or in the town streets. This was not without losses on Golden Dragon Army's side either, however they were less severe about five hundred dead and seven score more wounded. Tatsumi noted the red haze that he'd been fade, however he had kept track of the kills he had made in the fighting, for every soldier that died on his side he had killed just as many and about three dozen more besides rounding his count to 536 dead at his hands, about half as many by his bodyguards in a combined total. Spear too had amassed a sizeable body count though she had lost track round about 300 and after wiping out two squads with a thunderbolt from her armor. At the same time Tatsumi noted Najenda going about the enemy wounded delivering mercy kills to the mortally so, where her bodyguards collect the less wounded.

Within half an hour Tatsumi took down the banner of the Revolutionary Army from the town's flagstaff and raised his own flag, one of many tailored banners and the first of many to rise across the fronts as his armies marched taking down their initial targets with lightning strikes. The Dragon now flew in place of the Manticore and Tatsumi took the standards of the enemy and pilled them up. "Now what to do with these?" Tatsumi asked to himself.

"Torch em" Jessica chimed.

"No, that would be in bad taste, I think I'll have them modified as a new standard for this army, it's a bit of hodgepodge at the moment and I think a unifying symbol for the troops would do for a bit more cohesion, replace the hammer and sickle with an olive branch and a sword, one for diplomacy the other for force" Tatsumi replied, Jessica smirked at his ideas.

The day closed, while on other fronts the other armies had moved in to secure targets and wipe out enemies: the Gallian armies under Generals Gunther and Wallace wiped out the minor pockets of RA troops in their providence, the North General Takemori and General Barton pushed and crushed the forces of General Merack Vakati taking the two provinces of Mar dock and Valathrae while to the south the Gassarnel siblings launched three separate strikes that overwhelmed the southern RA provinces and in the west, well- Esdeath had that under control.

The burial of the dead on both sides was brief Tatsumi ordered the dead to be buried in two mounds both for either side, the cleanup was done swiftly as Tatsumi wanted to capitalize on the momentum. The town was liberated and the people of it returned to their homes, after this Tatsumi had his troops march until the fatigue caught up and they pitched camp after it began to grow dark.

That evening… Tatsumi laid back on his bed, Kurome walked into his tent accompanied by Natalia and Amuria who had been among those who went with him to Zarteck; the two smiled and wore fine dresses and jewelry. "Are you worn out?" Kurome asked.

"Not really" Tatsumi replied half-laughing inside, Valruost had given him all the more stamina per kill, Kurome smiled as did Amuria and Natalia.

"Good I had something special planned for tonight and I think the three of us can see to wearing you out" Kurome replied and with a nod the three of them discarded their dresses under which they wore rather skimpy and seductive underwear. The Three climbed on the bed and relieved Tatsumi of his clothes and their own garbs soon all three were naked as they day they were born. Tatsumi simply laid-back Natalia sat on his face and he began his tongue work, Kurome mounted his length moaning audibly as he went deep and Amuria began caressing his balls with her tongue while tickling his nipples with her fingers. Both Kurome and Natalia moaned loudly as Tatsumi did his work, Amuria was silent apart from the slurping of his balls and the rimjob she gave Kurome before licking his balls again, the stimulus caused Tatsumi to orgasm faster than normal filling Kurome to the brim with his seed, Kurome moved aside to allow Amuria to blow him and joined him in process while Natalia joined in soon after Tatsumi smiled as he licked Natalia's honeypot and continued the process until both him and her orgasmed, Natalia then took her place on his length, Amuria on his face while Kurome licked his nipples.

Passion blinded the three and the last beams of Eden's suns set, elsewhere in the galaxy events played out that would have a major impact on Eden's future as a blockade ended and dark lord took the place of his master, while on Eden other forces schemed and Volgoth sat atop his throne scheming and plotting while his Generals expanded the range of his armies restoring some of the more repairable nexuses.

What happened next was anyone's guess at this point but for the moment Tatsumi was happy, his enemies lamented their fallen and his commanders plotted the next moves in what would be the first step to ending the killing.


	61. Omake 10

Omake 9: Tea Time with the Dragonfly Empress and Princess of Insects

Merraid shrugged as she awoke in a back alley, took a look at her surroundings and could tell immediately by the smell of clean air she was no longer in Tokorra; that and the people walking by the ally opening looked unusual to say the absolute least. "Well Merraid this is going to be one heck of a dream to explain to Akame and Tatsumi" Merraid thought to herself then stepped up looking around, she then decided it would be prudent to ask for directions dream it may be it was still best to play along and enjoy the dream while it lasted, after all the next day she along with a few others would head to Zarteck to confront Chancellor Falkland.

She didn't go to far before she found a strange looking building, notable because of the butterfly above the door and a sign that said Agitha's Castle. "Hmm this seems like a good place to ask for directions" Merraid replied and hoped mentally it was a brothel as any dream in which she got laid was always enjoyable, and if she didn't get it in her dream well she could easily persuade Tatsumi or Akame or both to fill that need when she woke up. She knocked on the door. "Come in the door's unlocked and I love guests" a Girl's voice replied, Merraid smiled maybe she was in for some action.

Merra walked inside and noted that front room was decorated like an indoor garden with a number of small houses, also a number of bugs moved about the most prominent being butterflies. "Hi there" a Blonde young woman about 14 greeted, she wore a frilly white, pink and green dress with a set of small fake butterfly wings on her back, she had her hair in a set of pigtails and wore a hairband in said hair that was pink and green in color, she wore knee-high socks and high-heeled shoes also her biggest twist was the pointy ears she had. "I'm Agitha, Princess of Insects, are you here for my Tea party?" the Girl asked.

Merraid smiled, while the girl was too young for her idea of fun the idea of having tea was good as Merraid was a tea-totaler who loved tea as her beverage of choice. "I'd love some tea" Merraid replied.

"Alright, well you'll have to wait for my other guests to arrive I put out an invitation to all my royal subjects but they are all late" Agitha replied.

"Royal subjects?" Merraid asked confused.

"All my little Insect friends of course, I'm their Princess" Agitha replied, Merraid had to suppress a laugh.

"Ok when will they get here?" Merraid asked.

"Oh when my boyfriend brings them here" Agitha replied.

"Boyfriend?" Merraid asked, her own fortunes failed again not that she was old enough for her to have time with after all Merraid knew jailbait when she saw it and knew for a fact that she was crazy; most likely schizophrenic as she had yet to meet a sane person who considered insects their best friends; well apart from herself but the wrigglers were a different thing entirely, also her own abilities were a mixture of rare genetics and the Teigu she wore as a hairclip.

"Oh he's a handsome young man about a year older then me; you'd like him" Agitha replied.

"Actually there is only one man for me, and other then that I prefer women" Merraid replied honestly.

"Well to each their own, I won't judge, anyway while we aren't having the party yet I can get you some tea to drink; I made it myself" Agitha replied and had Merraid take a seat at a nearby table which she did without complaint, Agitha then left and came back with teapot. "Here have some nice Ginseng Tea I made it myself" Agitha explained and poured it into a small porcelain cup of the same design as the teapot. "How much sugar do you want?" Agitha asked.

"Two lumps please" Merraid replied, Agitha grinned and opened the sugar bowl and dropped in two lumps.

Merraid took a drink and smiled at the taste. "This is good tea; you're great at making it" Merraid complimented.

"Thank you; I'm glad you liked it; I've also made bon-bons if you want some" Agitha replied and grabbed a bowl filled with the chocolate balls, Merraid smiled and ate one.

"Yummy, these are good, you're a great cook" Merraid replied, the door opened and in strode a man in a green tunic, green hat and chainmail, he had a sword at his side and a bag from which he let a number of bugs out of.

"You found them all Link, now I've got a gift for you two actually, we can finally have our tea party" Agitha cheered, Merraid regarded the man with a study: brown eyes, blonde hair handsome in appearance, and in extremely good shape, at his side was a sword and on his back a shield and bow.

"You're welcome Agitha" Link replied, Agitha walked up and kissed him on the cheek before leading him over to the table where he sat near Merraid.

"Don't mind me I'm here for the tea" Merraid replied, then took another drink.

Agitha returned shortly with crumpets, biscuits, muffins and other treats typical of a tea party she then put them on the table and then left again and returned with another teapot. "More Tea" Agitha remarked putting down the pot next to the other; Merraid took another drink then took a crumpet and nommed on it then took another drink, she noted to the side Agitha filling cups next to her but that sat in front of empty seats.

"I'll just leave these here and my subjects will drink as they see fit" Agitha replied.

"So how did you two become a couple" Merraid asked.

Link said nothing and drank more tea: Merraid shrugged and drank more; she then had the thought since this was dream and there was no sense in letting that tea go to waste well it would be a good idea to invite some guests of her own. Tatsumi and Akame spontaneously appeared next to her in the seats by her. "Nice of you two to drop in" Merraid replied, both kissed her then took drinks, the party went on for a while.

"Merra wake up!" Tatsumi shouted, Merraid kissed him.

"Wake up!" Tatsumi said urgently and Merraid woke up looking at a shirtless Tatsumi in bed with her.

"Tea my darling?" Merraid asked, then kissed him.


	62. Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Unity and Heroism

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard barrer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Melitine two days later under the shield….

Ieyasu despite the responsibilities given to him by Tatsumi slept rather peacefully, and happily: it was early morning though when he was given an early awakening. "Ieyasu" Constantine shouted and Ieyasu woke up.

"What time is it?" Ieyasu asked groggily

"About 6 am, anyway tomorrow is a rather important day for a special person dear to both of our hearts" Constantine explained.

"Angela?" Ieyasu asked hazily.

"Her Birthday is tomorrow and she'll be 35, I wanted you to know this so that you can see to getting her a present; just make sure it comes from your heart; anyway I just wanted to let you know this before I go off work with the general assembly" Constantine informed then left, the General Assembly was a body Tatsumi had established before leaving as an interim government for the duration of the current crisis, the body was composed of Melitine's most respected and influential people (still living at this point) and was in charge of the duties that came with keeping the denizens inside the shield from panic and anarchy but also maintained a semblance of legitimacy to Tatsumi's rule; the word that Tatsumi was Emperor was common knowledge as Tatsumi had given orders and express permission to Constantine to disclose that information and left a number of documents behind to back that up.

Essentially at this point Melitine was under semi marshal law as well as an interim government, the soldiers of Esdeath's army were in charge of maintaining the peace and to that end Wave was made a General by Esdeath to keep them in line. Ieyasu's duties with regards to the current state of Melitine were to act as the Emperor's Enforcer, essentially he was in charge of keeping everything in line and of Night Raid's reserve forces left behind along with a unit of Royal Guard along with the interim government . It was a lot of pressure but fortunately he had Angela to help him with these responsibilities.

"I wish Tatsumi was here" Ieyasu thought to himself as he did every morning, the fact that his best friend who was an expert by experience in these matters wasn't here to help him was hard to swallow, of course Tatsumi was off saving the world but it really didn't reassure his confidence in his abilities.

All this was secondary to him at the moment for him the most important thing right now was what to get his beloved Angela a gift for her birthday; something that was difficult because he had so many ideas on what to get her but wasn't sure which gift, she'd like the most.

His thoughts were interrupted when the door opened again and in walked Angela, clad in simple bathrobe. "Good morning Ieyasu; Constantine told me he woke you up and- well are you up for a nice way to start your day" Angela greeted then teased him by loosening her bathrobe; which Ieyasu knew for fact she wore nothing underneath.

"You know I'm up for it" Ieyasu replied, this was how most of his mornings started and it was due to both of them having a mutual desire to do so every morning, the manner in which she appeared to him was left up to her; also stealth was required as their affair was nominally secret (Everyone knew about it in the Manor though) and would cause quite a scandal if public, their age gap alone was a factor but their ranking in society would be even more so.

That detail however was not enough to stop them from following their hearts and well it only took about 30 seconds for Ieyasu to have Angela's clothes off and carry her to the bed. "Ieyasu" Angela cooed and then kissed him, Ieyasu, who wore no clothes due to the manner in which he slept, entered her his length into her folds and two locked lips in a passionate kiss, one that lasted only a minute but to them felt like 40 minutes, Ieyasu then tended to her breasts and drank his full of 'Mommy's Milk' as Angela has called it. Their relationship had grown a lot since their first time together and each time it grew stronger.

Shortly… Constantine arrived at the General Assembly hall within about 20 minutes of having woken Ieyasu, the building that housed it was formerly a theater that had been given over to the local officials after it went bankrupt to settle debts. The building though was owned by the Grundels and by Constantine who bought it from the local officials for a sizeable sum. Now however about 50 men and women who were from influential families along with 30 former advisors to Makoto called it the meeting place for the General Assembly. Tatsumi had designed it as a mostly autonomous body however the Prime Minister Chouri had the final say on any manner and was the only one who could bring a measure to the floor for a vote.

"Minister Constantine good that you've arrived" Prime Minister Chouri greeted.

"Good indeed now we can get started" a stout brown haired and bearded man commented.

"Yes indeed Lord Calvectis, we can start; now for the matters as regards to public order enforcement: the current crisis of Melitine being under the control of demons outside the shield has led to much discontent, a number of groups are getting restless and while General Esdeath's soldiers keep them in line there's only so much they can do, there a millions of people inside this shield and of course we've got issues" Chouri explained.

"Of what kind?" Constantine inquired.

"First and foremost, the observers have reported they've seen demons trying actively to get thru the shield, now the shield's protection extends underground but there are some obvious threats inside. A number of local gangs have been gaining in strength and a number of malcontents have tried actively to sow descent, we're doing what we can to control both of these problems but the forces inside the city are stretched thin by the amount of ground to cover" Chouri explained.

"Well we certainly can't have them getting too over extended, they're enough to keep the usual troublemakers in line by their reputation alone but as you said their numbers while great aren't enough to patrol the entirety of the shielded zone" Lord Calvectis replied.

"In that event we've decided to establish a citizen watch, every armed citizen well henceforth be drafted into the city guard to better police the city" Chouri explained, Constantine nodded as did a large number of people this was indeed a good idea albeit a risky one as conscription was largely frowned upon in the Empire, the armies of it were usually trained professional volunteers or auxiliaries from the many provinces of it: conscription was only used in times of extreme crisis when the military was overwhelmed or in the event of a massive external invasion, the latter of which was rare and hadn't happened in centuries; well until now.

"That settles it we'll bring the measure for a floor vote during the business session, right now we should continue to discuss other matters" Chouri explained. "Now while there are large extensive food supplies there is another thing that we will run out of sooner, those being consumer goods both common and luxury, the biggest concern are any products with regards to sanitation; the biggest threat inside this shield is if there is a major pandemic also there are medical supplies that we me face a shortage of: in short anyone have any ideas to counter these deficiencies?" Chouri continued, there was a general look of worry around the delegates; this hadn't been something that had been prepared for.

"This is a tough one" someone remarked, they couldn't lower the shields under any circumstances; no shields meant that the demons could get in, not that there were any caravans actively heading to Melitine as those that were turned back after the Demons were sighted.

Speaking of an army led by an over ambitious commander attempted to confront the demons after the caravans reported the threat, what followed was a massacre of biblical proportions with the army being assailed from all sides by a tide of demons before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the supernatural strength and resilience of the creatures; since then no one else had attempted to liberate the city. The affair was covered up also to avoid public panic.

"Also, there is another threat; a couple of nights ago a number of bodies were found dismembered and killed in a savage manner and a message was written in blood on the wall along with a peculiar mark. The Message read 'You are all doomed, the only way to survive is to worship Valtor the true lord of Eden and his representative Volgoth Ugor' which means that there is a cult inside the shield" Chouri explained.

"That's a serious threat, we need to stop this problem before they try to disable the shield" Constantine remarked.

"It's a difficult prospect Minister Constantine, we have little knowledge to work with as regards this cult, but I agree this is a threat that we cannot allow to grow; to that end I suggest we send the Jaegers to investigate" a tall blonde haired woman with grey eyes commented in a silky voice.

"Minister Shira is correct on this matter; we will bring this measure to an emergency vote: this cult is a threat that must be stopped lest they doom us all to the demon tide" Chouri replied.

Meanwhile… "My power grows stronger, day by day; Valtor's strength gives me more power, and the torments of Eden's people strengthen me more" Volgoth said to himself, Socrathor approached the throne.

"Milord I must report that my team was successful in activating one of the nexi, the one nearest to the city; I'd also like to note that the range has been extended by another 40 miles" Socrathor replied, Volgoth stood up.

"40 miles? 40 MILES!? Is that all you can manage!?" Volgoth shouted irate.

"The nexus was heavily damaged I'm surprised we got it to work at all; also, I'd like to report that our forces neutralized another enemy expeditionary force" Socrathor.

"Fools, they have more guts then sense, well that is a weakness we must continue to exploit" Volgoth replied. "Now is there anything else you'd like to report?" Volgoth asked.

"Yes milord, while surveying the palace for anything of use to your plans we have found something that may interest you greatly" Socrathor explained.

"Indeed? Show me" Volgoth replied, Socrathor led Volgoth out of the throne room and thru a number of palace hallways to a portrait of the First Emperor, or rather an artist's depiction painted about 500 years after the Empire's founding as the true portrait of the Golden Emperor was lost at some point during the succession wars between Empress Merraid II the Redstone Empress, who was also known as the Widowmaker, and her siblings during which Melitine had been sacked by the army of the Empress and during which it was said she raped a thousand men for her own sick tastes it was an apocryphal story though and one made by historians who had disdain for her. "I've seen this painting a thousand times Socrathor, I trust you haven't brought me here to critique fine art" Volgoth remarked.

"It's behind the portrait" Socrathor replied and took the painting off the wall and pressed button that was disguised as part of the wall, a passageway opened up about 10 feet away, a large one which Socrathor led Volgoth down, at the end of the tunnel was a large open chamber and at the center of which Volgoth noticed a giant head. "The Primus Supremus" Volgoth said then smirked.

"The what?" Socrathor asked.

"The Ultimate Teigu, the conqueror of an Empire; this was what allowed the First Emperor to make an Empire" Volgoth explained then took a good smirk. "I must show my son Izel this, he may be able to get it working again; if we can manage that, the shield won't hold up against that behemoth" Volgoth replied then took a good look at the behemoth.

"It's a powerful Teigu and it will require a good deal of energy to get it working even if we do you may not be compatible" Izel replied.

"Analyze it; and if I'm unable to operate it we WILL find someone who can: this is your new priority my son all other projects you are responsible are unimportant compared to this: and I want you to dedicate your time to restoring this ultimate weapon to its full power" Volgoth ordered.

"Yes, Father it will be done" Izel replied then strode around on his spider legs to examine the new project.

An hour of examination revealed a good deal of the machine was intact, in fact the entire thing had no flaws in it despite centuries of not being used. "This was what the First Emperor used to create the Empire? I can see why many nations fell to this, kings and queens bent the knee to avoid the power of this Dwarven construct, some fools tried to resist but for this to have been in Melitine all this time when it was thought lost for centuries is- humbling" Izel stated, Volgoth overheard the observations of his son via seeing him thru Ephialties.

"Yes to be lost for centuries but for it to be rediscovered- this is a sign of my right to rule this world no- this galaxy and eventually this universe" Volgoth thought, he then turned his focus on the shield he had sent numerous probing attacks looking for any opening but to no avail; the shield was impregnable and impervious to any attack. "For now," Volgoth thought but he had one possible path to bypass the Shield altogether and- remove it from the equation, he doubted though that it would work and such was going to try it as he had other methods to fall back on should the plan fail. Volgoth then took a look at the Eastern Lands and his- rival's plans. "How amusing he fights against my enemy Boreth; well let the fools fight each other while I bide my time; that fight will weaken them for when my servants attack" Volgoth thought, he noted the rapid pace at which Tatsumi's forces moved, the Revolutionary Army's forces were on both the back foot and encircled from all sides. "Well the more bloodletting the better" Volgoth remarked to himself then took a look outside where an area of the city had been- removed- yes that was one way of putting the razing of about 2 miles worth of buildings along with some holdouts that still resisted his rule, those were still there but they now numbered but a few stubborn people that would soon be cleared out by more overwhelming demons; not just in numbers but in toughness: the Horned enforcers and Imps that he'd been sending out were just fodder, soon Hell's legions of true demonic warriors would pour forth from the newly constructed Rift Gate which when completed would tower over even the palace itself and from which legions of demons would pour forth.

The Ground shook again, Volgoth knew that another nexus was activated; this one in the Western provinces as he had dispatched Lorhish to deal with the matter a job which the kennel master had done well: and which accelerated the construction.

Back in the Shield at Jaeger HQ now the Main Military Government building of the Melitine branch of the Golden Dragon Army… Wave looked in a mirror at himself; a general's uniform was now his main attire an outfit he'd never expected to wear as he was a navy man: an admiral's uniform would have been more his thing but here he was in the gold and black of the new Golden Dragon Army; Syura had been sent as a messenger to inform him of the new changes and both that he was now under the domain of the Golden Dragon Empire and that a new military uniform has been issued along with heraldry and banners for that title; Wave had mixed feelings about the uniforms those being that a navy uniform was still on the drawing board and that these had been Tatsumi's idea which worried him as Tatsumi had limited military experience and- to his knowledge- was untested in actual battle but considering the message had been given to him before the Battle for Meekta Province he was unjustified in this concern. Still though he had to admit that the uniform was good looking; Tatsumi indeed had taste.

Wave's feelings on his best friend being Emperor were mixed too but he didn't doubt them; the documents, Esdeath's words on the matter and Makoto's own testimony in addition to being shown the Mirror of Time was enough to convince him that Tatsumi was the rightful Emperor, that and- well Tatsumi had the air of a leader about him from the day they met; a kindred spirit too. "Hello Wave" a woman's voice greeted, that woman was Sheera, his- girlfriend turned his fiancé, she had been a near victim of rape and had spent a month in Jaeger HQ intensive care for broken legs; during that time they'd- gotten close and developed a relationship: Wave was no virgin before he met Sheera, more than a few of his female comrades in the Army were interested in him and he had given into those affections rather frequently; a few of them were in Melitine with the rest of Esdeath's army and there were his forays into brothels both in camp with military commands he served in and in the many locations he'd gone across his career; he wagered he had a fair few bastards somewhere; but tracking them down would be a task for peace time. Sheera however was special while his previous relations had been either for sex purely or as friends with benefits Sheera was someone he genuinely loved, well apart from a couple of other girls but Sheera was above the rest as she was the kind of person he fought to protect.

"You look dashing in that uniform, I think it will look just as good on the floor" Sheera teased and Wave noticed that from the mirror she was naked, her e-cups pressed against his back.

"Well I don't have any other obligations at the moment so why not, but you have to help me get the uniform back on" Wave replied, that was his major gripe in that the uniform took a good three minutes putting on as armor was worn underneath it; something which Sheera was surprised was the case but still she undressed him eagerly and quickly removed his clothes, Wave loved her; her deep brown skin contrasted against his and her lovely sapphire eyes sparkled and her hair was exotic.

He shortly found himself naked as the day he was born and, on his bed,, laying on his back as Sheera pressed against him with his length sheathed inside her. Wave considered his phallus as a sword and a woman's vagina as the sheath for his sword, that came from the name of the Camp brothel that followed Esdeath's army, the Sword and the Sheath where the patron of it could have either one that suited his or her tastes, Wave had lost count on how much of his spending pay had gone to that brothel though he had only paid for sheaths for his sword never other swords.

"Oh Wave" Sheera moaned and kissed him chastely, Wave noted that her loving embrace was a stark contrast to anyone else he had been with- well that wasn't a paid sheath- no in all honesty she was unique.

Each kiss she gave him was soft gentle- even more relaxed, how she fell for him and not the far more impressive Tatsumi was beyond him though it may have been the fact that Tatsumi was letting the two have each other: that and Tatsumi generally had Esdeath with him when the two met and Esdeath was a deterrent that most woman didn't want to risk offending for fairly obvious reasons; so regardless of how handsome Tatsumi may have been Sheera was not going to attempt it besides she was more interested in Wave. Granted though he had been her first. "Wave" Sheera cooed as she bounced up and down on his length swaying her body as she did so in a semi lap dance, soon Wave found himself reaching his limits and grabbed her pushing her down with himself on top kissing her passionately as he orgasmed, filling her with his seed.

They then spent a good ten more minutes before a knock on the door interrupted them. "Who is it?" Wave asked.

"Me" Bols replied from behind the door.

"Just a sec" Wave replied, the two sepperated and redressed, Sheera hid in his closet not wanting to be seen as their relationship while common knowledge had a habit of interrupting other pressing matters; to which Sheera wanted nothing to do with.

Wave quickly redressed and opened the door. "What is it?" Wave asked.

"I'm here to report that the council has voted on a measure to establish a local militia separate from the city watch and has called for you to begin a recruitment drive" Bols replied.

"Me Specifically? I may be the highest-ranking officer in the city that's still living or onside but there are other people for this work" Wave replied.

"That's not the only thing: you've got a visitor, a- high ranked one" Bols added.

"Oh, great another politician more drama and more explaining to civilians the way the military runs things" Wave replied annoyed.

"He's important to Tatsumi" Bols replied.

"Constantine; you know I'm still surprised that Tatsumi's the rightful Emperor; who would have thought that he of all people was the lost son of Isshin the Lost: it's a small world right?" Wave replied, then stepped out of the room and was led by Bols to his- rather Esdeath's office. Constantine sat in the chair in front of the desk.

"Good you're here Wave" Constantine greeted.

"Deputy Prime Minister Grundel good to see you" Wave greeted and plopped himself in Esdeath's chair. "What business do you wish to see me about? I've gotten orders from that assembly that I'm supposed to supervise recruiting a militia?" Wave asked.

"I'm here to clarify the orders; you don't have to do the recruiting yourself just send out recruiters, what I and the rest of the Council want is for you and the Jaegers, limited as they are at the moment, to investigate the matter of Cultists that are inside the shield: they are our biggest threat" Constantine explained in short order.

"I understand; they indeed are if they figure out how the shield operates or how to sabotage it, they could take away our defense against the tides of death outside the shield" Wave replied. "Speaking of my pickets near the outskirts of the range have reported large masses of demons just waiting outside; hundreds of thousands of demons and they've been jeering and doing whatever they can to get us to fight them: I hate this fighting against enemies that outnumber us and aren't from the natural world: I've fought in many battles but none of them have been against this kind of enemy" Wave replied.

"I understand that; from one soldier to another I understand that; but let this old veteran give you some advice: Never give into despair especially when your enemy is determined to not just take your life but that of everyone you care for and everyone else: I learned this lesson fighting the Northerners and I don't doubt you haven't either; but remember that you shouldn't get let that fear ever overpower you" Constantine replied.

"You were a soldier?" Wave asked.

"Yes; I still have the scars to prove it, I served in the cavalry for 10 years when I was younger, I saved the woman I love during that time and after I found out she was with child I turned my service to retirement from the army and put my sword up on my mantle: I've never seen enemies like this before but you and I both know that we cannot let them win, this is more than our own lives at stake but the fate of our world rests on the Empire stopping this tide from Hell itself, if we fail the demons will consume us all" Constantine replied.

"We won't let them; now do you have any leads?" Wave asked.

"Not many; the cult operates as you might expect at night and leaves no survivors: the most we've found are the remnants of their 'rituals' and some other things left behind either intentionally or no; they don't leave bodies behind that aren't their victims and there is unrest brewing as a result of these events" Constantine replied.

"Any other things to know, I'd like to know if there are any other problems that should be dealt with; also, how are on supplies?" Wave asked.

"A number of Gangs and criminals have begun to cause trouble: a military crackdown is underway but there is only so much General Esdeath's soldiers can do, also there is word that some local criminal organizations are- consolidating. We aren't sure how extensive this is but there is fear that the Syndicate may reform, or another group may rise to fill that vacuum. As for the matter of supplies we are good on food, water and medical supplies however there is a concern on raw materials for consumer goods, a shortage of necessities like clothing and sanitary products could lead to rioting" Constantine explained.

"Ok now for a more pressing question how long will the shield last and how much does it cover; are we going to have to run sewer watches for demons coming in from underground?" Wave asked.

"It's power will last longer than our supplies: as for the radius it covers both above and below ground, this is the first time this shield has been used in 200 years since the War of Eight Emperors when Melitine passed back and forth but our ancestors remained safe" Constantine replied. "Though I'd recommend you sending some sewer watches; there have been other reports: people gone missing in the night with nothing left in their homes besides the symbol of a strange triangle painted into walls, but also some people have seen in passing open grates red eyes glaring out and watching them" Constantine replied.

"I'll definitely send those patrols: last thing we need are demons coming in from below the city" Wave replied.

"There are a lot of things beneath the city; a Dwarven holdfast is built under the city though they haven't been in the city for centuries not even in passing" Constantine replied.

"Yeah: it would be nice to have allies though I'm hoping though whatever is down there isn't too much trouble; also, any signs of the cult near these grates?" Wave asked.

"Yes; it's quite possible that they may have a base in the upper deeps of the Dwarf hold" Constantine replied.

"Well that's going to be a dangerous proposition, the tunnels underneath the city aren't exactly as maintained as the ones in the sewers, comes of there not being any dwarves to keep them up to snuff, and goodness knows what else is down there" Wave replied.

"But you are capable of doing it right? We cannot allow anyone that may threaten our lifeline against the demon tide outside to succeed in their schemes lest they doom us all" Constantine replied.

"Hey I didn't say I couldn't handle it, we'll do it but I'm just letting you know it's a risky mission, I want only the bravest volunteers and preferably them not to have family: I'd rather avoid breaking families considering what may be down in the deeps" Wave replied.

"I'll make sure of it: how long do you think it will take you to organize an expedition?" Constantine asked.

"About a few hours, I need to get the troops for it, allocate supplies and preform reconnaissance also do you know anyone who has extensive knowledge of the underground? Someone who's got extensive knowledge of the depths of our city?" Wave replied, Constantine half-frowned.

"I do know someone who may be able to help someone who has used the tunnels to- deal with some of the worst the city has to offer and used them to dispose of the worst inside" Constantine replied then frowned fully. "Angela" Constantine replied Wave smirked at that.

Meanwhile… Ieyasu had gone off shopping with a small group of guards from the manor and a large wagon; he had been given a sizeable amount of money by Constantine's steward who had been informed to allocate funds to him for the purposes of gift shopping. That in mind Ieyasu decided to buy anything and everything that Angela may like dresses, baking utensils, books on all manner of subjects that she enjoyed, a large collection of fine statuary, fine quilts, all manner of things for their unborn child, pottery, jewelry. But the most important purchases were things that she'd use: new surgical tools were a good focus of his, but by far his favorite purchase was-

Ieyasu walked into a blacksmith's store; the smith in question was one of the City's best and specialized in making high quality blades and armor. Immediately though when he walked in three things caught his eyes. The first of these was an ornate decorated sword made in the style but with the blade of a Kris with its tale-tale wavy forging: it was a flamberge rapier much like the one Aria used but this one was decorated with extremely fine cut gems and enameled with electrum the pink sapphires in the hilt were beautiful to see. The second of the things that caught his eyes was a fine set brigandine which was both ornate and- well forged in addition to having been made with a woman's figure in mind. The last thing to catch his eyes was set of butterfly knives: fine weapons in the style of the traditional bolo style of craftsmanship; they were about four inches in length with regard to the blade which as Ieyasu could tell were switchblades in their construction which made them suitable weapons for Angela's style of ambush killing.

"I see you are a connoisseur of fine arms" a man stated shaking Ieyasu out of his study of the weapons.

"I guess you could say that, look I'm here to buy gifts for my- lover, she's a bit of enthusiast for weapons" Ieyasu replied, the storekeeper smiled.

"You're a lucky and brave man, those who court fighting women are usually those who have to be of as firm and strong a character as the women they pursue, may I ask who the lovely woman is that you have become so smitten with that you are willing to put so much silver on the line?" the Shopkeeper asked.

"Not really it could- be a scandal if such news came out: I will say that she is the most beautiful woman in the world and I honestly wouldn't be able to live without her" Ieyasu replied, the storekeeper nodded.

"I see then, well which of my fine works catches your eyes" the Shopkeeper asked.

"That sword, that brigandine and those knives" Ieyasu explained.

"I see fine purchases all about 2000 gold pieces for the lot" he replied, Ieyasu smirked stepped outside and came back with a sizeable amount of money, the Shopkeeper was puzzled he'd not seen anyone pay this much before. "That will do it: take your purchases, do come again, I think I could forge you a better axe if you'd like?" the shopkeeper replied.

"No thanks, you'd not be able to make a weapon better then Belvaac, it's a Teigu and unless you can forge Imperial Arms you'd not be able to make one better" Ieyasu explained honestly.

"I see I'm glad to see that a Teigu user has purchased from my store; you know I've had a few notable customers, nobles looking for fine blades but there was one woman who always came back consistently when I was younger, she was a lovely blonde and such a caring and charitable soul: I've not seen her though in years I wonder where she is today?" the Shopkeeper replied.

"What was her name?" Ieyasu asked having a suspicion.

"She referred to herself as Angela, she never gave me her surname, but I assumed she's of a noble family with a good deal of prestige and wealth" the Shopkeeper replied.

"Thanks, and I think I know her: she's my love" Ieyasu replied.

"Then you sir are a lucky young man: I wish you luck in your affairs" the Shopkeeper replied, Ieyasu handed him the money and the shopkeeper handed him his purchases which he took to the wagon which was now full then he and his escort made their way back to the manor.

Shortly… Ieyasu was fortunate that everyone at the mansion was trained the secrecy needed to prepare presents for any occasion on which they were offered: to the point that there was an entire wrapping room with a number of servants both maids and butlers trained and paid to wrap presents in a professional manner when not doing other work around the mansion. Ieyasu himself though insisted on wrapping some of his gifts himself especially the armor and weapons the latter of which took some effort to do due to them being weapons.

With the packing done he went to see Angela and this took some effort, his first impulse was to check her study but he didn't find her there then he checked the library but no luck there either, he found her though on the third attempt in her medical room smiling and jumping for joy. "YES! I've done it!" Angela cheered, looking at a rather happy rat.

"Did what my beloved Angela?" Ieyasu asked.

"Better I show you; take a seat" Angela replied, and he took a seat in the nearby chair, then he winced as she brought over two syringes. "Now hold still, this is what my fifth test on a human so I know it works but I think you should experience it" Angela replied then took the first syringe and injected Ieyasu with it to a yelp.

"Ouch! What was that?" Ieyasu replied and started feeling woozy as he saw spots in his eyes and ones started appearing on his arms.

"Rubola's disease, that's a bad stuff but here's the good stuff" Angela replied and injected him with the other syringe, suddenly as rapidly as it had progressed it vanished, and his body returned to normal. "I've finally invited a cure for Rubola: and even better its fast acting and builds up an immunity" Angela explained.

"That's- wonderful" Ieyasu stammered. "Why the hell did you use that on me though?" Ieyasu asked.

"To vaccinate you against it: I've already done the same for myself and three others" Angela replied "Not counting this rat though" Angela explained.

"I'm- amazed but also shocked that you were willing to risk my life like that" Ieyasu replied.

"I'm not going to let you die to it, and the cure is permanent, your body now has an immunity to the disease" Angela explained the two hugged affectionately. "Now let me make it up to you" Angela replied sweetly and led him towards her room. They hadn't gone too far though before one of her maids stopped them.

"Milady you have guests at the front door, they want to see you specifically" the Maid explained, Ieyasu thought she was cute but between her and Angela there was no comparison, besides about half of the maids had the hots for Tatsumi, the other half had already gone and followed thru on them, and by the bump on her belly Ieyasu could tell the attractive brunette was one of the latter.

"Thank you Nemu, inform the rest of the housekeeping to be on call; if its business I want the place to be well cared for in my absence" Angela replied.

"Yes milady, and it is business, Field Marshal Wave wants to see you and he brought some Jaegers with him" Nemu explained.

"Thank you for that information, it must be serious if he's here" Angela replied and took a comfortable stride towards the front door with Ieyasu walking next to her protectively with Belvaac slung on his shoulder like a lumberjack. Angela opened the door and Wave was on the doorstep accompanied by Bols and the four sisters of Henrietta: Sophie, Ylana, Elizabeth and Keline who had taken up Teigus that Tatsumi had left behind to arm new Jaegers, about half of the ones he took from the vault had been left behind for this purpose. Alongside those five there were a couple of familiar faces, two of Ieyasu's lovers Renka and Misty, but the rest where just Imperial soldiers their faces obscured by their helmets and while they looked different there wasn't much to see. "What is it Wave?" Angela asked politely.

"I need your help, we need your help, there has been an outbreak of killings by Volgoth's Cultists and survivors reported they've gone underground: Constantine informed me you know your way around the tunnels" Wave explained.

"I do, and this is something that needs to be dealt with fortunately you've come to the right woman, in the absence of Aria I guess I can fill my Daughter's shoes for the time being I'll be back this dress isn't practical for fighting in and I'd rather not ruin it with bloodstains" Angela explained and went back inside leaving Ieyasu on the doorstep waiting and fidgeting.

"You alright Ieyasu?" Wave asked, he hadn't seen Ieyasu on an active mission since the incident that had relegated him to protecting Ieyasu.

"For Angela I'll go any distance, fight any foe, and do anything to keep her safe" Ieyasu replied honestly, he went back inside himself and went to equip himself in proper armor where he found Angela changing herself, in a process of putting on her armor. "Here let me help you with that" Ieyasu offered, Angela smiled and let him strap her breastplate on for her.

"Thank you my dear Ieyasu, I can handle the rest , you should get your equipment, for you I'm giving you access to our best, I'll help you open that storage just head there and wait there" Angela replied, Ieyasu left and went to the special armory outback, Angela arrived about five minutes later key in hand. "You'll enjoy what I've got in store for you" Angela replied and opened the door leading him inside the armory where only the best Grundel weapons were stored, then to his surprise went towards the back wall, moved aside a rack of heavy weaponry with ease and pressed concealed button: at this the back wall slid aside into four interlocking doors that were now retracted.

Behind that wall was a staircase that lead downward, Angela lead him down the stair and lit a match and lit a torch on the wall and then followed suit for every torch she down about fifty or so stairs to a- room unlike the rest of the house. The Architecture was clearly Dwarven the stonework was way too smooth for human hands and their runes could be seen. "Egvai Yathul" Angela replied and another wall opened revealing behind it an armory grander and far more ornate then the one above.

"Wow, is this a?" Ieyasu stammered out.

"Dwarven Armory, yes: Constantine's ancestors were given this secret vault by the Ironhammer Clan about 900 years ago during the reign of the Jade Emperor and the Age of Grand Friendship between humans and dwarves: they also taught his ancestors some of their smithing secrets allowing them to be the Empire's best weapon and armor crafters, leading to the company we have today: in here we store the finest of equipment, the arms and armor made by the dwarves for ancestors long since passed: many of which are infused with runes, for you I ask you take only the best" Angela explained, Ieyasu gapped taking in what Angela had revealed to him and- felt he didn't get her nearly enough gifts and resolved to buy about a hundred more things to make it up to her. It took Ieyasu little time to find the best armor for him, the suit provided complete protection and was covered in runes, along with being surprisingly lightweight, light as a feather.

"The Mithril Armor of Darius Grundel, one of the finest suits ever made by the Dwarves, that armor can withstand dragon fire let alone anything else: it will protect you well" Angela explained and Ieyasu began to take it of the stand, Angela stopped him and clad him in the armor, the only thing he didn't take was the Shield which given his fighting style would have been impractical. With her armor on Ieyasu firmly protected from any harm and he felt like a warrior from ancient past; Angela and him then returned to the front doorstep.

Wave took one look at the two and was shocked, Angela had traded her dress for a set of armor reminiscent of Aria's but it was far more ornate and designed in the Oarburgh fashion, she was armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons and her blonde hair was tied back in a series of buns underneath her helmet, she had a map on her right hip. At her side Ieyasu stood, clad in bright silver armor that was decorated with runes, the Corinthian style helmet was enclosed with a bearded war mask covering Ieyasu's face, the rest of armor was interlocked to a point where there were no gaps, and Ieyasu moved with fluidity as if it was second skin.

"You ready to go now?" Wave asked jokingly, both laughed.

"Yes, now is this everyone who's going with us and do you have a certain place in mind for entering the underground?" Angela replied.

"No this is only the welcome wagon, I've got about a battalion of Esdeath's finest ready to trudge down into the deeps: if you're ready to guide them, as for an entrance, well the nearest one to the most recent site of the cultist attacks" Wave explained.

Later… The massive entrance to the City's underground network of sewers, crypts, catacombs, storm drains and other more interesting places was one of many throughout Melitine and it loomed large over the expedition that Jaeger team stood at the head of. Ieyasu was now a Jaeger on Angela's recommendation, Angela was an honorary one too, he stood next to Wave and to Angela who stood at the front of the group, a number of Jaegers were ready for battle at the front; behind them were veteran soldiers of Esdeath conditioned by the icy General to fight in any environment and for any scenario as well as being armed to the teeth with the best equipment the Empire had to offer.

Angela pulled out her map. "Let's see here, and- Here. This is the spot, granted this will be the best entrance, this entrance leads to one of the city's siege tunnels, made for moving forces in and out of the city without an besieger seeing them, we'll have to go about a mile and a half before we'll reach the entry tunnel to the city sewers: expect close quarters movement, the Dwarven Under city tunnels are further down but in the city sewers there are access stairways; most of them were blocked off by the Dwarves when they left the city after the War of the Mad Emperor, the tunnels interconnect to the Dwarven Underway, a large underground road network they built to connect their sprawling Empire before humans even mastered fire: be on your guard there are no shortage of vile things in the deep places of the world and there are things that are best left to the stories: I've seen some of them during my hay day and its best to stand your ground and importantly don't expose your back at any point during fighting: now I hope you all understand this otherwise we are going to be in serious trouble" Angela explained.

"What things live down there?" Wave asked.

"Hopefully we don't have to run into them but if we do, you'll know when we see them, they tend to attack intruders first and eat them later" Angela explained, Wave winced. "Now follow my lead" Angela instructed, the troops while not used to letting a civilian boss them around did always differ to guides for their forces: Angela was in that category, also it wasn't as if she wasn't a person of authority having considerable influence in her own right.

So, it was they entered into Melitine's underground prepared for a long dark with lanterns, flashlights and torches as their only means of navigating in the long dark of the Deeps of Melitine. The first couple hours were safe though they moved with caution and few words beyond Angela explaining the path they should take, Angela's map was one of several ones, most made by her own hand but also city schematics that were 'borrowed' from dusty archives thanks to her Husband's influence and position in the government.

The Siege Tunnels were roomy and allowed for them to move in a wide line of march as they had been designed with army units in mind, though the tunnels were clogged with cobwebs that were burned aside with torches. It was however easy to track the trail of the cultists; dried blood marked the path and the areas were clear of cobwebs and other things that came with years of abandonment.

Down they went finding soon the entrance to the city's sewer network which was a dead giveaway by the smell which was rancid compared to the scentless siege tunnels. "When in doubt follow your nose" Angela replied then opened the locked doorway with a skeleton key, leading to a stairway as the city sewers were made by Dwarven engineers who believed ladders to be something that was reserved for sieges and reaching shelves rather than a means of getting in and out of places.

The stairs were spiral, and Angela and the others moved with weapons drawn, there was no telling if Cultists or other things weren't coming up the stairs so they were alert for any threats. The Sewers were less roomy and this they had to march groups of three at a time and sometimes single-file, fortunately this particular area of the sewers had been well maintained by the Sewer-watch who had the duty of maintaining and patrolling the sewers for clogs and criminals who often would use the tunnels to evade authorities and to ambush unwary people from unexpected exits at night. As such they encountered nothing dangerous or anything unpleasant apart from the stench, which at this point they had ceased using their noses as a guide and relied completely on Angela.

Soon they reached an older part of the sewers and- a part of wall where runes were engraved. "Ah a Dwarven door, pretty effective and easy to miss if you don't know what to look for, fortunately these kind are seldom locked and you just have to push on it and they'll open" Angela explained then did so, the wall opened like a normal door albeit slowly as it was made of granite it was there they able to move more freely until they reached yet another spiral staircases.

"What was with the Dwarves and their obsession with spiral staircases" a soldier remarked.

"They built stairs like these for defensive purposes, Dwarves build everything with tunnel fighting in mind, like I said there are many things in the deeps that are best left undisturbed, but the Dwarves in their never-ending quest for wealth face on a daily basis" Angela explained.

"How do you know all this?" Ieyasu asked.

"I read about it in Professor Dorothea's Histories of the World: Concerning Dwarven culture, holds and ways of life" Angela replied.

"How many books has Dorothea written?" Ieyasu asked.

"A lot, she autographed my copies and she's one of the Empire's most prestigious writers, I love her work" Angela replied.

"You'd never know it to look at her" Wave remarked.

"That's because she's rather reclusive mainly because she doesn't like to interact with people so she can devote time to her work: she writes plenty of books that are studies on practically every subject but doesn't do signings except on occasion: I'm amazed that Tatsumi got thru to her" Ieyasu replied.

"Anyway keep the chatter low, the Dwarven deeps are dangerous compared to the sewers and Siege Tunnels, and the danger varies based on the deep in question, each Dwarven holdfast and under city is divided into deeps with the higher numbers being further down and the lower being higher up, the first deep is what we'll be arriving in and usually would be where most people who weren't Dwarves would visit and where buildings for trading and businesses were established to tend to guests, the lower we go the higher we get in their societies dwellings, but also the more dangerous it gets along with the larger the deeps get, the deeps stop at the 10th deep though, further down are the underdeeps where the mines usually are and further then that- the unknown where the nameless dwell" Angela replied.

"Nameless?" Ieyasu asked puzzled.

"Like I said before there are dark things that dwell in deeps, things that are well left alone but seldom are by Dwarves and that very in their descriptions ranging from odd underground peoples to mighty forgotten Danger beasts from ancient times and other things too far worse" Angela replied. These warnings from her were ominous but not enough to deter them from going deeper into the dark and deeper underground.

When they arrived at the first deep, they turned off their lights as the halls were lit by shining lamps of crystal of type that gave off natural light and that were hewn and polished to fine workmanship as expected of the Dwarves. "Wow" Wave remarked amazed.

"I've not seen something like this before" Bols replied, followed up by more people voicing amazement.

"Impressive, makes you wonder what it was like when the Dwarves still dwelled here, perhaps one day they will again" Angela replied. "Now keep quiet we don't know what we may find" Angela added, and they went deeper into the dark.

Meanwhile… Volgoth was in communication with his chief cultist, a rich and proud noble named Hubert Howard Holmes, a man in his late 30s and with greying brown hair and dark blue eyes. "Milord our attacks have gone well, and we are hoping that you are pleased with our efforts" Hubert replied to a reflection of Volgoth that was appearing via a scrying pool.

"Excellent that should get the attention of Grundel and keep him distracted, until you find the entrance to his manor and find that old Dwarven shield, to think that Dwarves from centuries ago could stop me from total control of Melitine by a secret machine built with Demons in mind" Volgoth replied.

"Your orders?" Hubert asked.

"Continue your search by day, at night attack and sow dissent, if enough dissent is sown someone may incite a mob to storm his manor and disable the shield in that manner dooming them all: either way victory can be assured save your location being discovered, now have you gone far enough down?" Volgoth asked.

"As far down as we can go, levels below this deep the seventh are- overrun by deep dwellers" Hubert replied. "We've been using traps to hold them at bay and have secured the gates to that level but there is no teller if that will hold them" Hubert added.

"That's another thing that needs dealing with after I have full control of the city, I'll swarm the lower levels with my demons and soldiers to deal with those trouble-making creatures" Volgoth replied. A Loud grinding sound was heard from a nearby wall. "What is that?" Volgoth asked.

"I've no idea milord, I've never heard anything like it before" Hubert replied, and a loud crashing sound was heard as stone walls were broken. "Damn it they've broken thru!" Hubert yelled and the cultists around took up weapons, Volgoth took a good look thru the pool and saw out of sight thousands of red eyes and heard chittering and clamoring along with a bell clacking loudly.

"For Valtor we die! Kill as many as you can!" Hubert yelled and Volgoth vanished from the pool's surface, leaving the cultists to their fate in the deeps.

Back with the Jaeger expedition… "Did you here that?" Ieyasu asked, they were now in the fifth deep.

"I heard something, it sounded like a bell" Ylana replied, Angela winced.

"We need to leave!" Angela remarked alarmed.

"Why? We can't until we deal with the cult" Wave replied.

"I don't think we will not if that noise is what I think it is; look we'll head for the sixth deep and if that noise gets loud we have to leave, if it's what I think it is we need to leave and fast before they arrive" Angela replied.

"They?" Wave asked and shrugged dawning Grand Chariot just in case.

"The Skaven" Angela replied grimly, this brought up laughter.

"Skaven? The Ratmen? They don't exist, not anymore, the Dragon Emperor wiped them out if they ever did exist" a Soldier replied, Angela's face contorted into anger.

"They are not a myth, they are quite real, and they are not extinct, if they could ever be made so; they are of numbers beyond counting" Angela replied, as if to grant credence to her words a bell's faint sounds could be heard.

"We'll push on, but we'll be wary" Wave replied, Angela frowned and readied her weapons, the others followed suit and from then on they marched in such combat formations as the Dwarven underground allowed.

Shortly… They didn't have to go far to know something was wrong, the bell's tolling grew louder the deeper they went, and Angela has them rely on torchlight to conserve lamp oil and battery life: the halls became darker as they did so to give a lesser profile to hide their numbers so to speak not that would help them against creatures that could see in the dark. Ieyasu kept using Spectator's ability to perceive the future to avoid ambushes and his use of the Teigu taxed his fatigue, granted the long track in darkness was not helping matters either and the fact he kept Belvaac at the ready did take a deal of energy.

As they reached the entrance to seventh deep the bell's tolls had run their course and stopped: which meant that whatever had been ringing it had ceased doing so, which was caused them to be even more wary as either the unknown threat had ceased doing so intentionally or they were doing so to prepare for an attack.

The large rune-slapped door that guarded the approach downwards was wide open, blood of the human variety marked it with the symbol of Valtor, which meant their quarries had made a lair on that level. As such they advanced slowly and cautiously, taking extra caution to make sure they didn't make any noise.

Soon however they came upon the cult or rather what was left of them; bodies freshly slaughtered and- picked clean of any flesh along with bones being broken open for marrow and chewed to pieces, their robes were now torn scraps, but was most alarming were three things; the first being that some of the bones weren't human, they appeared to be from another race entirely, the second that all of this was fresh, but by far the most alarming thing were the shining red eyes looking at them from one side of the room and that were quickly surrounding them.

Ieyasu immediately rushed forward Belvaac at the ready, Spectator warned him to stay still was to invite attacks; Bols turned towards a set of eyes in a different direction from Ieyasu and opened up with Rubinceite: the flames burned bright and screams were heard, rodent screams as the fire revealed their new enemies. These creatures were rats, but rats that were the size of men, walked on two legs and had arms like unto those of men, they were mixture of different colored furs with armor made makeshiftly of anything and everything, but there were two things that were intimidating about these Ratmen, their crimson eyes the color of blood and their numbers: there were hundreds perhaps thousands of them. "Skaven" Angela said firmly knowing that she had been right.

"Man-things! Kill-Kill them! Kill-Kill them like other Man-things! Skaven eat them too!" a large armored rat yelled out from amongst the others, this one wore exceedingly fine armor of the kind that was not remotely makeshift it had been forged and taken care of with unusual skill, his weapons a Falchion and a Warhammer were also finely made and he was protected by a cadre of well-armored armed rats wielding halberds.

The battle began in earnest Imperial ranks were formed and the rats charged in via a swarm, first sent in were rats that wore little but rags and used extremely crude weapons, these tarpits were meant to do the bulk of the dying and when Bols opened up on them they tried to run but were forced to fight forward by the ranks behind them and then they began fighting amongst themselves. Two Imperial soldiers flung grenades into the blob the explosions shook the ranks but still they press on, to the side a loud buzzing sound was heard and out of the ranks of some of the better equipped rats came teams of two rats and they carried with them a large gun, with eight barrels being carried by one rat while the other carried a drum of ammunition. The soldiers tightening their ranks into a shield wall, with the ones behind them firing, the rat gunners opened up and loud "BURAAAGH! BURAGHH!" sound like power saw was heard as bullets poured out in a sea of ammo, Ieyasu sepperated from the group had gotten bogged down but slaughtered rats whenever they came close, he strove towards their leader.

The Rats cackled and more came in, other rat teams with other weapons moved up, a wall broke open and a few teams of rats carrying drills charged in as behind them rats with shield plopped them down in place while the other rat accompanying the shield rat plopped down a large oversized rifle and began to fire. About five soldiers dropped in the initial volley, grenades were thrown at the new attackers.

"Hold firm" Wave yelled and charged forward with Grand Chariot on, he let loose a barrage of rockets from the shoulder mounts and then jumped in slicing down rats left and center, other soldiers followed him in, Angela beheaded three rats in quick succession before having to duel with a rat assassin: this opponent fought a style similar to her own however it was not as experienced as her and she ruthlessly sliced him down. Ieyasu in the meantime had become surrounded slicing down rank after rank of rats, the others behind them broke cohesion to begin feeding on the fallen, Ieyasu kept killing until he had cut a path thru to the elite bodyguards of their warlord, these armored rats fought ferociously with reckless abandon and brutal skill to a point that Ieyasu was even with Spectator's ability to anticipate attacks and Belvaac's combat surges having trouble especially that for each one he slew three more appeared and they were even more outraged at the deaths, still though while did put up stronger fights then the ranks of Clanrats and Slaves thrown at him, he still had Teigus and those were enough combined with his skills to cut thru the guards like bamboo, cutting thru to the Warlord who while he had been leading from behind charged him as if to prove his fury, as Ieyasu now had to account for four weapons as the rat had attached a sword to his tail and was using it to wield another blade.

This bought was a flurry of strikes, the two matched each other blow for blow their weapons didn't harm the other, the Warlord's blades were made from alloy similar to that Belvaac was made from and this warlord used his weapons with skill as if he had been born using them. "You man-thing are strong-strong, I hate-hate you, I'm stronger, I'm Throt Skulltaker, I'll take your skull and drink from it and put it-it on my trophy rack, haven't fought man-things before, you seem-seem tougher then red-robed man-things they die-died rather quick-quick: I make you die-die, I eat-eat you-you!" the Warlord chammered in squeaky voice and to Ieyasu's surprise in a dialect similar to the Imperial language, his ladiels however were filled with doubled words and chitters.

"I'll take your head" Ieyasu shouted back and continued the onslaught of blows then divided Belvaac as his opponent used a series acrobatic strikes to nearly disarm him, the sudden change of weapons didn't deter the rat who lunged at him with further strikes: Ieyasu countered with powered blows hooking his opponent's hammer and delivering a sharp kick before striking swifter and swifter yet the rat struck back just as swift.

Unknown to either combatant who were so focused on each other the tide of battle had been shifting, the tunnel ambushers had been seen off by Bols who had unleashed flames onto the waves which had run back into their own lines, the fires soon caught the fur of other rats on fire and try as they might the flames wouldn't go out it was a matter made worse when a rat team carrying a flamethrower of their own ignited with fire that spread and set his fuel tank ablaze in green fire which further sowed terror as the rats barreled back thru the gaping hole igniting their snipers in the process. This single act of Bols allowed that flank to focus on reinforcing the weakening left flank, the surge of fresh troops caused more gaps in their formation one of which lead to the warlord and one which Angela sped thru killing any and every rat in her path.

Still the two fought on, still neither gave ground but Ieyasu smiled as his opponent yelled in a primordial shriek as Angela drove her Krises into his back, this hesitation was enough for Ieyasu to follow up with a decapitation severing Throt's head as his body swayed in twitches before dropping limp at this a cascade of panic shook the Skaven ranks, rat began eating and fighting rat to survive as the Imperial soldiers showed no quarter, the fighting devolved into a massacre with both sides killing the Skaven, the Rats fought each other to escape but bogged down those in front. Those in front gave one scream before they were killed, those behind fought those behind them to flee, those that tried to escape were cut down by Ieyasu and Angela with brutal speed not letting a single rat escape, Bols charged into an opening heading towards a gateway leading deeper into the depths and lit it up not allowing any escape for their enemies and hopefully buying time for their own forced retreat. Within ten more minutes the fighting was done, the rats were slaughtered to the last rat and lay in a pile that was then ignited by Bols, the remaining imperial forces collected what was worth salvaging from the bodies, Ieyasu took Throt's equipment: armor and weapons along with the rat's tail and head, the former being secured by Angela to his back and the later in his hands as trophies, the bodies of the fallen on their side were carried by the others as Bols sealed every passageway leading deeper into the depths with fire to block any pursuit parties: it was then after tending to the dead and wounded along with looting their fallen enemies they retreated.

Hours later… They had barred off the undercity's lower levels before leaving the undercity then made sure to secure the sewer entrances before returning to the surface, tired and covered with blood, the sun which had been in the morning sky was now low in the sky as evening was now upon them. People were shocked by the parade of blood covered soldiers and even more so by what they carried, making sure to secure an ample amount of rat heads as evidence of the Battle of the Deeps as the soldiers had dubbed it along with what rags of the Cultist remained along with some cultist possessions that had been taken by dead rats after their fight.

Constantine sat at his desk relaxed but wary knowing that at any moment news could walk in his door. His door opened and to his surprise in walked Ieyasu, along with Wave and Angela, Ieyasu had in his hand something that shocked Constantine and repulsed him.

"What kind of creature is that from also I take it the Cultist are dead?" Constantine asked.

"Yep, though not by our hands, instead we found- Rats of Unusual size: this head belonged to their leader, or at least the leader of that particular force" Ieyasu replied and dropped Throt's head on the desk the red eyes were still crimson even in depth. "These creatures were Skaven, I trust you've heard of them" Ieyasu replied.

"I've- heard stories but thought them merely legends though I'm not surprised that there was truth to them, this is not good we have enemies beneath our streets" Constantine replied.

"Something that needs to be dealt with" Wave replied. "I'll prepare units of our defenders to secure the upper deeps: we'll fortify and dig in to deal with any incursions, when the war is over perhaps resources can be brought in to stomp them out for good" Wave explained, Constantine nodded, Wave took his leave.

Constantine looked at Ieyasu and Angela, covered as the two were with blood. "I warned them about the Skaven, they didn't believe me" Angela replied.

"I did" Ieyasu replied.

"Of course, you did, now Constantine I think this matter needs to be dealt with: I don't want any secrets kept from the people of Melitine" Angela replied.

"That will cause panic" Constantine replied.

"Not if we go about it the right way: what we need to do is to have unity and what better way to unify our new militias and people then a common enemy: there may be great numbers of Skaven in the deeps but we have greater numbers still if we wipe out the rats we'd be secure against any attacks from below" Angela explained.

"I see, they are a threat that cannot be allowed to fester and it will allow us to better train these forces for when the time comes that Tatsumi returns and we fight the demons; no amount of training can make up for battle training and from what I've read of Skaven they make for endless battles: I'll inform the rest of the assembly, we'll take the next steps, whether your proposal or Wave's takes the foremost is up for debate but I'm inclined to deal with problem sooner rather than later especially considering that after this battle they'll want payback" Constantine replied. "Also, my dear I need you to do something important you know I'm not the best when it comes to words and- I need you to have a rally to explain the events of what happened" Constantine replied.

"I'll do that" Angela replied.

"I'll be taking this" Ieyasu replied picking up the head.

"What are you going to do with it?" Constantine asked.

"I'm going to find a Taxidermist, I intend to have this guy stuffed and mounted ASAP, I think he'll look good over the fireplace" Ieyasu replied all three of them left.

Later that evening… Ieyasu was true to his word and after paying a sizeable sum to a taxidermist to do the work and another to keep him quiet for a couple days he had the head mounted above the Fireplace in the Grundel's den which had been missing a trophy of any kind above it. "I think he looks way better this way" Ieyasu replied having changed into fresh clothes.

"I do agree, the only good Skaven is a dead one my dear Ieyasu tomorrow though we've got work that needs doing I'm going to be speaking at that rally and you'll be there with me" Angela explained.

"I'd love to be, I'm not leaving your side" Ieyasu replied, the two kissed, romantically and withdrew to his room, Angela dropped her dress to ground followed by her bra and panties she then removed Ieyasu's clothes for him then regarded him with loving attention. "Your chest, its- by far your best feature" Angela teased as she pushed Ieyasu onto the bed.

"What about my winning smile" Ieyasu replied.

"I love that too, now have some Mommy's Milk and I'll have my other favorite thing right where it belongs" Angela replied then straddled him his length pressed inside and she pressed against him as Ieyasu drank over-eagerly, the battle had made him very thirsty and Angela eagerly let him drink; moaning sweetly as she bounced up and down on his length and as he drank sweetly from her his hands fondled her rear while her own caressed his chest and she kissed him gently on the forehead repeatedly. Their passions went wild and they gave into their instincts doing whichever the other wanted to do, sometimes Angela was dominant and other times Ieyasu, but they both enjoyed every stage and position that was spent by them and even more so that they had all the time to do so.

The Next day… Angela stood at a podium in the central plaza in the shadow of the clock tower with the heads of Skaven decorating the area, dressed in a rather noble and fancy gown and wearing a headdress she took the microphone with one hand and Ieyasu stood next to her with vigilant eyes. "My fellow Citizens of Melitine, I speak for the Assembly and have been given the authority to speak also for the Jaeger corps and the city guard: following recent events it has been decided that a local army will be formed of willing volunteers to better help our city watch and soldiers of our military. This Citizen Watch will be made up of anyone capable of bearing arms and willing to learn to fight along with having a desire to protect their fellow citizens. For there are dangers: outside the protective shield an army of Demons ravages our once proud capital, a demon sits on the throne of our Emperor who has been driven forth from his city, in the name of his Imperial Majesty Emperor Tatsumi VII Gildenstrom and by the authority of the Assembly I announce the formation of the People's Watch; an armed militia to fight against any threats to fair city; for there are a great many, outside the shield demons pour forth from Hell itself, inside the shield criminals who have long hounded our streets grow bolder and beneath us: an enemy from the distant past and legend has returned to dwell below, plotting and scheming for war with our kind not seen in 600 years: I speak of the Skaven, thought legendary and extinct they have returned and plot beneath us, roused by the vile Cult of Valtor who's members inside the shield have been wiped out by the Ratmen in brutal fashion, the heads of some of their great numbers now stand around you: soon we will fight back, we must lest they steal our food, our city and our lives: they must and will be destroyed, expeditions will be made to secure the deeps and any who wish to see this scourge wiped out should sign up. Any threat to our city must be defeated in the name of our Emperor and our Empire, if we fail, we all die; every last one of us none will be spared and I don't think I need to tell you what may happen before we die or after it: we must stand, People of Melitine are you with us?" Angela spoke, a cheering roar went up from the crowd, Angela smiled and continued speaking.

Meanwhile in the Eastern Provinces… Tatsumi's forces advanced after leaving the battlefield of the Kalka Hills in the Province of Gallia, the Golden Dragon Emperor rode at the front accompanied by an honor guard and his guides, suddenly something was spotted on the road ahead, a small force of less than a hundred warriors flying the white flag of truce. "Halt!" Tatsumi ordered, the army stopped.

"Who are they?" Spear asked.

"I'm not sure but they are flying the white flag which either means they seek to surrender or to parlay" Tatsumi replied.

"Awahay speaks Tatsumi: this is a great boon, don't fight these warriors" Angulas replied from nearby. Tatsumi dismounted and his retinue began to slowly walk to meet the approaching force Spear flying his standard, the golden dragon to inform the force approaching them. When the parties closed a group marched forward and Tatsumi noticed by their attire and features that they were clearly Northerners, mostly women however and a fair few men: they were led by a tall woman with long blue-black hair, her eyes as green as his own and skin pale as snow, her attire was royal and similar to that of another northerner he'd met recently and she was clearly of royal blood, her attendant carried the white flag.

"Halt" Najenda ordered, the Northerners stopped on cue.

"Greetings we come to parlay" the woman who led them said.

"Come forward then I'll speak with you myself, though I fear we may come to blows if we cannot come to fair terms" Tatsumi replied.

"Emperor Tatsumi" the woman greeted and bowed curtly. "I'm Nora Saika, princess of the North and one of the few remaining Saikas left in the world: I come to work out a deal, I do not agree with my half-brothers in their beliefs: continuing to fight the Empire is foley much less when we'd be fighting for old ways that- are wrong, evil, I want to speak to you. The North will have an independent streak, regardless of the power Esdeath gave to the Yetis the men of the North are stubborn and only bow to one who respects their own, to that end I offer myself to you as wife: to merge the royal bloodline of the North to the Empire's own, to secure the North for the future and to enjoy all the benefits of being a province of the Empire but to also secure some more freedoms for my people and to deal away with the old ways that commanded our warriors to raid and reave the lands of the south" she explained.

"How do I know you can be trusted" Tatsumi replied.

"Because if I didn't believe this was the right thing to do then I and the others with wouldn't have approached you, we would have decided to die alongside our kin, but I refuse to let my people and myself die for old beliefs that brought the Empire down upon us, to die in memory of my evil half-brother Numa who was rapist, murderer and a man who was decadent to the extreme even going to far as to implement the right of the First Night which had been outlawed for generations: I have no desire to return to those days or to die fighting in the name of a murderer, so I want to bring change much like you do and those who come with me also wish to bring change, I have nothing to offer you but my hand or should you wish it my head" Nora explained, Tatsumi smiled.

"I'll accept your offer; I need any ally I can get" Tatsumi replied.

"Good you won't regret it" Nora explained, then her force fell in line with Tatsumi's


	63. Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Battle of Traitor's Ridge

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

War. Esdeath and Spear were right, the skirmishes and missions of Night Raid were nothing compared to all out warfare. It had been two weeks since the first battles of the War between the Golden Dragon Empire and the Revolutionary Army; yes, it was an Empire now in Tatsumi's mind though in truth he was an insurgent leader in his own rightful domain, a domain in civil war. Still though of all the factions battling for power Tatsumi's was the only legitimate one as he was the sole Imperial Claimant pushing his rightful claim, his opponents in the Revolutionary Army and in the forces of Volgoth Ugor were agents of chaos who sought to wipe out anyone opposed to their ambitions and institute mass death on a scale never seen in Imperial history, not even in the ages of Civil war that had plagued the Empire in the past. No what Tatsumi was fighting for was the ideal of civilization itself, both of his enemies would see the Empire and in the case of Volgoth the entire universe under either total authoritarian anarchic rule or rule of a mob that killed anyone that disagreed with them or they didn't like.

Still though while he was fighting for the right reasons and was in the right, it didn't make war any less hellish, nor did it make it seem enjoyable, yes there were moments of bravery, gallantry and sacrifice but those moments were fleeting and tended to result in something far more common: death. Death in many ways, this war however was a lightning war: a war that had be won quickly to face the real war: that which was for the very existence of freedom and civilization, the Great War against the Demon Invasion.

Because speed was of importance to avoid a war of attrition harsh measures needed to be taken, after a battle was fought routers were run down and captives that were taken were given two choices: fight for the Golden Dragon Army or die, there was to be no prisoners taken until a final battle as Tatsumi could not afford to strain logistics with captives or letting them live to fight another day especially from captivity, with that in mind great piles of his enemies were piled up, skulls in mounds after the heads were removed: the condemned died quickly by beheading, except in the case of enemy officers that wouldn't defect, those he crucified to make a clear example. Some he had fed to Dorothea who was developing quite a taste for the blood of his enemies, Tatsumi didn't watch her feed after the first time she saw her truly feed: her victim a rude and crude Revolutionary Officer who had bragged about raping supporters of Imperial Regime the old one, was drained, not just drained of blood but of life itself, all that was left of him was a desiccated pile of bones.

"I find war to be a horrifying experience" Dorothea commented distracting Tatsumi from his thoughts.

"So, do I; especially the killing, I hate killing people you know" Tatsumi replied, it was a known fact: one he was keen on reminding anybody and everybody who brought up fighting. He had grown to hate it more after he lost track of his kills, he hadn't become numb to it he refused to be, but it was grading on his mind. In order to cope with the stress killing brought on Tatsumi had increased his sexual escapades after battle and whenever he had the time to: it was very helpful in that regard and also for helping his endurance and constitution build up so as to avoid fatigue. The blood from Valruost helped too, the blade had been whispering and Tatsumi had shoved out its desire for unnecessary bloodshed. With all this in his mind Tatsumi took a look at Dorothea, who despite the fresh blood on her little fangs was still beautiful and- quite stunning in her combat attire: which wasn't too different from her normal attire except in the fact it was more protective, it also included her signature teal bow which she wore all the time even when they slept or had sex. Her feeding in battle was limited as her new weapons, her Scorpion machine pistol and Lightsaber made mincemeat out of their enemies, the former with a lot of blood and the latter bloodlessly as any wound it made instantly was cauterized.

Battles had become more frequent too and within the last 2 weeks he had fought seven pitched engagements, three sieges and about two dozen skirmishes each leaving behind piles of Revolutionary corpses in their wake but few from his own men. When his army moved it moved in a fashion that was deceptive to RA forces: each flank of his army marched in a way to threaten different targets to conceal his main objectives and as such the Red Army forces were never certain where he'd strike, on the other fronts from messengers brought by Air Manta the other generals had reported victories at varying levels of success: his own push had driven thru Meekta and secured its food and minerals for his forces, Gallia had come next and with the support of the Gallian Generals it was a cake walk as few revolutionaries came from that region that didn't fight for him and those pockets of resistance were easily dealt with, after that he had pressed into Province of Malaquo which was hilly with light jungles spread throughout the province which were not favorable hiding places for the Revolutionary Army as they were infested with Goblins.

The Greenies were a new thing to Tatsumi, they were not unheard of in the Empire and used to have greater numbers of the small kind the Goblins, the moderately sized kind, Hobgoblins, and the larger kind: Orcs, but their propensity for fighting lead to their numbers being culled yearly to a point were Orcs were driven out of the Empire nearly entirely with numbers being limited to the Western Provinces, and smaller savage ones in the Southern Jungles, with most now living in the Western Kingdoms where they were trouble. Goblins however were still abundant in the Empire and were far more numerous than their large cousins in the first place, but they had been driven back to living in thicker forests and in caverns, though they did frequently come out onto the eastern plains. A couple of the battles in Malaquo that weren't fought against the RA were fought against goblin war parties who had taken advantage of civil war to raid the countryside, but they were a non-issue as they were outclassed by Imperial troops in both skill and especially in equipment which rendered them a non-issue against Tatsumi's forces, they were however an issue for RA troops who didn't have the numbers to form proper formations: another battle against the RA in the Jungles where they decided to fight as the rest of the province favored Tatsumi's army had drawn in goblin warbands eager for blood of 'da hummies' as they called them, they had butchered the RA forces from the rear and cut down those who tried to run, they were then slaughtered by Tatsumi's forces who had been on the other side of the battlefield and received the goblins with prepared formations.

Since that battle he'd seen no goblins, moving on from Malaquo had taken them to Vadal province, one of the remaining strongholds still in rebel hands: the term stronghold wasn't referring to fortifications the rebels didn't choose to hold those as the population of the immediate area was supportive of Tatsumi and when word of Falkland's plans spread support for the Revolutionary army had sharply declined as many of the people who had backed the cause were nobility and Imperial loyalists who wanted simply to remove Honest from power, that deprived Falkland's forces of vital supplies and resources along with transferring those to Tatsumi in turn.

The Gallian forces along with those of the Gassarnel armies from the province of Ekani had joined up with Tatsumi's force that now numbered about 250,000 soldiers, with the bulk being heavy infantry and cavalry, the rebels that opposed him numbered about half his force. The rebels had tried to use asymmetrical tactics against him but Tatsumi had both planned for this and had the advantage of intel from Nora Saika, she herself firmly favored and used her soldiers for feigned retreats, ambushes and skirmishing that harassed revolutionary forces whenever they were seen. These strategies happened so fast that the enemy never knew what hit them, it also helped that Nora had stolen battle plans before defecting as had a few other defectors, one of them was a map of RA army hidden supply caches which were hit and looted whenever Tatsumi's forces were in the area and to his surprise and enjoyment Nora left some as ambush sites for RA troops.

Overall the conflict was fairly brutal overall, the Golden Dragon Army had decimated RA armies whenever they encountered them, with very few losses on their part, for every dragon soldier felled 5 rebels went down with him or her. Now Tatsumi had his next objective; beyond Ekani was Boreth's home province: Alkan, renowned for its silver mines and for the people in the area who were of stubborn and smart dispositions, Ekani was also the last province in Tatsumi's path to Boreth who had retreated to his home in hopes of consolidating the Revolutionary Army's backbone at this point. Taking Alkan would end the war, the money that backed the armies came from its silver mines, it also was the core of the uprising where the Civil War that had torn apart the Empire had begun, without it and without Boreth, who would refuse to give up his home without dying, the RA would collapse into infighting and cease to be a cohesive unit that would easily be mopped up in less than a year.

"Esdeath" Tatsumi said to himself holding a picture of her in his hand. "Be safe my Ice Queen" he thought, despite him knowing full well Esdeath was capable of fending for herself and was in no real danger he still prayed and wished for her safety, not just hers but that of every woman he loved and all his friends, if he were to lose just one of them he'd lose it and if he were to lose Esdeath he'd snap and if he were heavens forbid lose Aria he'd die so deep was his love for Aria. "Aria" Tatsumi thought, he wished that there was some means of long-range communication, unfortunately Eden had yet to invent the telegraph let alone cellular phones or holographic transmitters, so he was forced to rely on more archaic means of communication over long distances.

"Tatsumi" Spear greeted walking into his tent; she smiled looking at Tatsumi who had a face of worry.

"Spear" Tatsumi replied then smiled put away the photograph in his wallet and walked up to Spear and gave her a hug, she hugged back and kissed him on the lips, it was tender kiss.

"Tatsumi, the scouts have reported back in, the generals are waiting for you in the briefing tent, also I'm really annoyed General Isara is not allowing me to look under those tarps she brought with her along with whatever's under them, have you seen them?" Spear asked.

"Yes, as to what's under them Spear well let's just say the battlefield will have a new weapon on it today that will change warfare, let's just say horses are going to become obsolete in terms of war" Tatsumi replied.

"Earth dragons and Wyverns too?" Spear replied sarcastically, Tatsumi chuckled the caressed her blonde hair before planting another kiss on her cheek.

"Nope there will always be a place for those bulwarks of danger beasts on the battlefield just what we'll be showing off today is a future of Imperial army units, during my reign as Emperor if they work as Isara has assured me they will they'll be the backbone anchor to our forces in future wars" Tatsumi replied.

"So, what exactly is underneath them?" Spear asked.

"You'd laugh if I told you" Tatsumi replied.

"I promise not to" Spear replied sarcastically.

"Tanks" Tatsumi replied.

"Tanks? As in storage tanks full of something?" Spear asked.

"Nope, something else entirely you'll see there are about twelve of them" Tatsumi replied. "Anyway, lets head to the briefing best not keep my loyal generals waiting not when there is so much at stake" Tatsumi replied and the two stepped out, the Four Rakshasas who had been standing watch outside his tent joined them followed by his Sacred Swords and the Elite Seven.

"I'm surprised you've taken this well to warfare Tatsumi-kun, I wasn't so sure you'd be the best leader" Spear explained honestly.

"I've learned from you and Esdeath, plus I read more than my share of books before this war started, besides this was sort of what I had in mind when I wanted to join the army in the first place, which reminds me I wonder what that idiot of a recruiter is up to nowadays" Tatsumi replied.

"Recruiter?" Spear asked.

"When I first arrived in Melitine I tried to join the army but I got annoyed when the recruiter told me that I wasn't good enough for an officer's rank and had to start off as a grunt, I thought I was better than that and he told me that he didn't need to accept my application, there were more than enough people wanting to join the army anyway and he could afford to be picky, I got angry and he threw me out with the help of some goons, I hope I see him again someday he'd be shocked to see me as Emperor" Tatsumi explained.

"Well you kind of had the kick out coming, if you had been under my command that kind of back-talk would have gotten you latrine duty for a month plus ten whacks from sugar cane for good measure" Spear replied Tatsumi laughed and smiled at that before looking at her.

"Yeah I was a bit of an arrogant hothead when I first arrived but well fighting for Night Raid changed that and the fight with Honest killed the old me, since then I've been way more cautious" Tatsumi explained with a light-hearted grin on his face.

"Humility is the best virtue for it teaches us we always have more to learn and imparts wisdom to those head it" Angelas commented walking towards them she was clad in red and black battle armor similar in design to that which was worn by the late General Budo but it was covered with holy symbols from her faith and was way more ornate, she also had a strange headdress on with a helmet visor up.

"Indeed, it teaches a person not to be stupid, well helps them not be stupid" Spear replied.

"Tatsumi, my liege I wish to let you know that my troops would like to fight in your vanguard, and I would like to offer to fight at your side" Angelas explained.

"I'd be glad to have you there: any time Angelas, now anything else you'd like to tell me" Tatsumi asked.

"Just this" Angelas said somewhat frowning, then kissed him on the cheek. "You're sweet, sweet enough that I'm tempted to forgo my vow of chastity for you but that would be contrary to my faith and as such I offer my hand in marriage if you'll have it" Angelas replied.

"This is awfully sudden" Tatsumi replied.

"I know but Avawahy gave me a vision last night, that vision foretold I'd bare your children, and one of them would be a great hero of Eden in the future, that hero would save not just our world but our galaxy from an unseen threat, as such I must in duty to my god extend my request now in favor to ask thee to marry me Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, to have and to hold, to cherish and love for all eternity" Angelas explained.

"I- I accept but when this war with Falkland is over; right now, time is of the essence" Tatsumi replied.

"That's acceptable, I wouldn't have it any other way" Angelas replied, Tatsumi took a good look at her she then planted a kiss on his lips, a chaste one but it was a good one.

"Now we need to see to that meeting the sooner this battle is won the sooner we can end this foolish Civil War and turn our attention on our real enemy, the one that threatens to destroy civilization as we know it" Tatsumi replied and they accompanied him to the briefing tent.

The central Table was surrounded by Tatsumi's Generals: first and foremost were those who had been with his force from the start, his wives Najenda, Spear and Seryu along with the Delvars who he was also married to along with Lydia, Chiara and Nikola, but they had been joined since by Generals Claude Wallace, Welkin Gunther, Isara Gunther, along with the Wives of Claude and Welkin who were also generals, The Arch-Duchess of Gallia Cordelia had also joined his army along with a her forces, in addition to the Gassarnel siblings who had joined up after their provinces had been secured and the most recent addition Nora Saika.

"You're here" Audrey greeted, Tatsumi walked up to the table and took a seat.

"What's the situation? How many Rebels are there and what's ahead of us, also what's the battle plan?" Tatsumi asked getting straight to the point.

"The RA forces are dug in on the highest point in the valley a tall hill and they've put in quite a lot of effort fortifying the ground, also they've arrayed troops in the pass leading to the provincial capital of Parthay, they aren't the main threat, the RA forces on the hill are we could bypass them but they would be on our line of march and could harness our advance" Najenda explained.

"I see, what about the forces in the pass how many are there compared to the forces on the hill?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 20,000 defending it, about 100,000 however are on the hill and the surrounding hills" Audrey explained.

"Well the first move I'd say is to deal with the smaller group first, they've made a mistake in dividing their forces in a such an uneven manner, at the same time I think we should surround the hills" Tatsumi explained.

"There is a problem with that strategy, there is a significant cavalry force in the area, the RA is using them to contest an advance we could make" Audrey explained.

"Then we need to take the cavalry out of the picture, how many are there?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 5000 horsemen and 2000 wyvern riders evenly balanced between skirmish cavalry and heavy cavalry" Seryu explained, having been in charge of the scouting reports.

"I think it's time to deploy our secret weapons alongside our own cavalry, General Isara Gunther, General Nora Saika you are in charge of that plan" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm looking forward to the first battle test of my inventions" Isara replied.

"Isara explain to those who haven't been in the know about the project what the new weapons are" Selvaria interrupted.

"Yes" Isara replied and picked up a small basket she had brought with her and placed a model of the new weapon. "Powered by Halvac crystals mined in the Gassarnel lands the first of the Edelweiss class battle tanks are absolute powerhouses on the battlefield, their armor is comparable to that used to build curtain walls but they move at the speed of a galloping horse, their main weapon is this central turret which fires explosive shells with secondary weapons in the form of about five machine guns fired from inside and a built in mortar, all of these weapons are effective against infantry but also against cavalry and if they were to face it another tank, thanks to Dwarven engineers who joined our cause last month we were able to produce more than planed the Dwarves also noted and fixed a few flaws in the designs, also their automatons we purchased allowed for us to begin some semblance of an assembly line, about three divisions of about 12 tanks each were built before the conflict started, each were distributed to loyalist generals and each one is the equivalent of a battalion: they require a ten man crew and about two squads of infantry to support each one, without infantry support it would be possible for an enemy squad to out maneuver and most likely overwhelm and secure the vehicle" Isara explained. "I'll be leading and commanding this division, which has been labeled first division, I'll need to advance at a moderate speed to allow our support to keep up" Isara explained.

"I'll take our horse archers and outrider gunners to the field, light cavalry hit and run will serve us best to draw the enemy to General Gunther's forces, after the enemy cavalry is out of the picture I'll take our remaining skirmishers to hassle the forces guarding the pass" Nora explained.

"Alright now that we've got that out of the way what about the forces on the hills?" Chiara asked.

"We could bombard them with artillery" Lydia suggested.

"That would take too long to set up, we need to do this quick to keep up the momentum, every minute we aren't killing these traitors is a minute they get to fade away and start a war that we don't need when we have more important enemies to deal with" Tatsumi explained.

"We could use mortars of our own, portable ones" Claude suggested.

"We could, but we'd need to get closer to the enemy, I'd be for that plan, but we need to secure a strong foothold to set up" Tatsumi countered.

"I think we could use feign retreats to dislodge them from the hill" Nora suggested.

"We could but I'm not sure they'd fall for the same trick twice in the same battle Nora, what we need is to get them off that hill and artillery is the best way to do it" Lydia replied.

"I may have a solution" Spear chimed in.

"Tell us then" Tatsumi replied.

"We could use General Gunther's tanks to act as artillery platforms after we neutralize the enemy cavalry, Isara can the main guns fire mortar shells?" Spear asked.

"Yes, they can though I'm not sure about the range, I didn't test that though it should be comparable to a normal shell" Isara replied.

"That settles it, we can also use the tanks to shield our mortar teams and our main infantry advance, also I think we should take another force and attack from the rear, if we can force them to fight on two fronts we can weaken their cohesion, also I recommend splitting the tank division from 12 to two groups of six and have them attack on both fronts" Tatsumi added.

"I'll command the second group; I love taking it from behind- I mean taking it to them from behind" Lydia replied.

"As for me I'll lead the main attack from the front, I want the former Elite Seven with me and my bodyguards, a mass of Teigu users in the center should allow for us to break their center easier, Susanoo and Amaterasu will be with that my group too" Tatsumi explained. "Are we in agreement?" Tatsumi asked, everyone nodded. "Good I'll leave it to the rest of you to come up with troop distribution and command postings: I've got other things to do in the meantime let me know when it's time to go" Tatsumi replied and took his bodyguards and stepped out.

Shortly… "Your majesty?" Makoro asked.

"Yes Makoro?" Tatsumi asked.

"My sister and I would like to speak to you in private if you have time" Makoro replied.

"Alright" Tatsumi replied, Nui grinned at him seductively.

"You two do that, I think I'll track down Cornelia and- well inform her of the plans and after that well let's just say you'll want to visit my tent my liege" Nui replied.

"Please the flirting is annoying" Osawa commented.

"Says the person who won't stop saying his name her sleep" Hiromi replied.

"Hiromi! You told me you'd keep that secret" Osawa replied glaring at her friend, Tatsumi face-palmed.

Shortly…

Tatsumi took one step inside before he found his jaw drop, standing in front of him was Amaterasu, Junko's Teigu, completely naked smirking at him, Tatsumi's first instinct was to faint his second was to lose self-control throw off his clothing and get down and dirty right away. He did neither of these things. "Greetings Emperor Tatsumi" Amaterasu replied in a calm relaxed voice as if she were completely clothed.

"Hi" Tatsumi stammered out.

"Good you have brought him here, I see you already are having the reaction I thought you would Tatsumi, Junko and Makoro wish to express their feelings, feelings that I share as part of our bound and let's be honest even if I wasn't bounded I'd be smitten with you" Amaterasu explained, the two sisters then kissed him on either cheek.

"So, you two love me? I'm not surprised, which was it my charm or Nui bragging about me that got you smitten with me" Tatsumi asked, knowing that the effect he had on women varied between the two, some fell in love with him for who he was and others just to get at what was in his pants.

"For me it was your charm, you exuded an aura of confidence and bravery that I've never seen in a man, but really it's your fighting skills, I heard stories of your feats in battle but seeing them first hand as your protector it's- humbling and romantic; especially seeing the blood flow" Junko explained with a smirk.

"For me it's a matter of you being handsome, me wanting to shut Nui up with her desire to hook me up with you, and your charisma" Makoro explained.

"So, do you want to do me here and now or wait until after the battle for a celebration?" Tatsumi asked.

"Do we have to choose between the two? Because I'd like both" Junko replied, then she and her sister began undressing, Amaterasu relived Tatsumi of his armor, his clothes and everything he had on down to his socks, the three then led him to a large oversized cushion, Tatsumi was unsurprised because despite his desire for speed the two sisters insisted in traveling in style with Amaterasu shouldering the burdens to the wagon that carried their things with ease. He was eased back flat as the three crawled around him, the twins kissed him and caressed him while Amaterasu took a good study of his dick.

"I'm impressed by the size; I've never seen one apart from Susanoo's during our creation" Amaterasu explained.

"Can you tell me about that?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not yet, it's not my place to say so while the will of the Dwarves is to keep the process of Teigu construction secret, suffice to say though my brother and I were once human but we volunteered to become what we are today: powerful immortal beings of war" Amaterasu explained then began blowing him, the two sisters went to different positions: Makoro went to his chest and played with his nipples licking them and tickling them, while Junko looked at him with her breasts.

"Drink, I'll bet your thirsty" Junko invited, Tatsumi obliged taking on of her D-cups in his hand and pull her closer so he could begin stimulating her breasts, he caressed the areolas with practiced ease in order induce lactation, Junko giggled as her nipples were ticklish like Tatsumi's own and when he took the right nipple in his mouth she moaned loudly as he began drinking. Tatsumi then puts his hands to use fingering both sisters who moaned loudly, his fingers found they were indeed virgins as he expected the two were a bit on the crazy side and most people believed it was best to keep their dick out of crazy, Tatsumi did not abide by that belief especially when it came to Seryu who was crazy but not insane. His fingers were despite his use of blades in battle surprisingly soft, Amaterasu's tongue handled him with ease whether or not Tatsumi was her first was something he'd have to find out, but she seemed capable of doing this sort of thing without issue.

There was of course always a time when Tatsumi hit his limit and about 2 minutes later he did and creamed Amaterasu's face with a gush of his seed. "Interesting, tasteful, I don't need to eat though" Amaterasu remarked.

"Now who gets his dick in them first?" Makoro asked then quickly she jumped for her chance and parked herself on his still erect length, both her and Tatsumi moaned at the same time Junko pushed Tatsumi back and sat on his face Tatsumi began using his tongue to his usual skill, the best of his ability, Amaterasu beaten to both of Tatsumi's best aspects had to settle for playing with his nipples while at the same time licking his balls, each time she took one into her mouth Tatsumi moaned audibly, this extra stimulation of his testicles resulted in a faster orgasm then normal where he'd usually take a good 10 minutes to do so Amaterasu cut it down to six minutes, Tatsumi didn't notice the fact that Makoro stayed on him as he came but Junko did.

"Sis! Aren't you worried you'll get pregnant?" Junko exclaimed.

"Nope, I'd actually like to bare our Emperor's Children, it would be great for me and I'm already settled on him being my husband, you want him too?" Makoro replied.

"Yes!" Junko replied as she orgasmed.

"Was that your reply to my question or your response to you cumming?" Makoro asked.

"Shut up sis you know the answer, now get off of him and let me at that dick!" Junko replied and aggressively pushed Makoro off and mounted Tatsumi reverse-cowgirl, in her haste however she took him in an ally. "Shit! Your big and this is the wrong hole!" Junko replied as was going to dismount when Makoro pinned her in place. "Sis I'm not letting you off that easily you said you wanted his dick you can have it in your ass first" Makoro replied.

"But what about my pussy?" Junko asked annoyed.

"I can help you with that mistress" Amaterasu and took that as an invitation and began eating her out.

"OH!" Junko moaned, Makoro at the same time had mounted Tatsumi's face, she then held Junko's hands as to hold her sister in pace though this was unnecessary, Junko was enjoying her current position way too much to leave it, but Makoro wanted to wheedle her just the same as she loved reminding her younger twin who was the brains and who was the brawn. Tatsumi was too focused on eating Makoro out to care about their rivalry and enjoyed the tightness of Junko too much to care, he was lost in his enjoyment and simply allowed his new found lovers to pleasure him in whatever way they wanted to, he may have even submitted to bondage at that moment in time, but neither sibling had an interest in that particular kink, but someone else did and Tatsumi didn't know that after his war with the Revolutionary Army that person would be in his path. Junko then swapped and they continued on.

As Tatsumi was enjoying the two sisters and the first Teigu lover he'd ever had, Nui and Cornelia were having an important debate. "Thongs!" Nui yelled.

"Panties!" Cornelia replied both of whom were flaunting their preferred underwear.

"Tatsumi like it easier and I say the less time he spends taking our clothes off the more time we can spend fucking him, which is why thongs are great as they are easy to remove" Nui argued.

"Panties are more comfortable besides it takes Tatsumi the same amount of time either way" Cornelia replied.

"I disagree besides it allows you to flaunt that massive ass of yours more" Nui replied.

"I see your logic there, but I don't like flaunting it, I prefer Tatsumi enjoying it" Cornelia replied.

"You know what there is only one way to settle this: rock, paper, scissors! If I win, we wear thongs if you win you get to wear your panties" Nui replied.

"Why don't we both wear panties if you lose?" Cornelia asked.

"I don't own any, that's why" Nui replied.

"Better idea why don't we go commando" Cornelia responded.

"I- you know what that makes sense now what kind of outfit do we wear? I'd love to wear something unique" Nui agreed and the two set about the far easier task of picking what to wear.

In the meantime, other things were happening, Tatsumi had come in Nui and Amaterasu had mounted him, she was a virgin but had no Hyman due to her being a Teigu. At the same time Nora and Isara had finished readying their force and had set out from the camp.

The open flatlands in front of the ridge which for the purposes of planning was dubbed Traitor's Ridge and would be called so thereafter with a triumphal monument build on the central hill some two years later, but at this time it was crawling with RA soldiers who were fortified in with sandbags, barbed wire and pillboxes set up along with other obstacles, but the Rebels lacked two things that would have made the hill ideal, the first was artillery as it any artillery had to be abandoned to allow for speed but also because it would have taken too long to set up as Eden Artillery during this particular period was not optimized for rapid deployment and was rarely used outside of field battles as the goal of most sieges was to capture the cities relatively intact and usually were done by starving the enemy out or by storm with battering rams, siege towers, grappling hooks and ladders keeping the walls most importantly intact to keep out Danger Beasts that were drawn out in the aftermath of battles.

The ten thousand strong skirmish force didn't have to go far before they encountered the enemy cavalry which was moving about, Nora took her Horse Archers and attacked with a volley of arrows before the enemy could notice them, hundreds of the enemy's light cavalry died in this initial volley which got the attention of the enemy: the captain of the enemy cavalry ordered an all-out counter charge and Nora's forces withdrew making sure to keep themselves at a distance that the enemy would still try to pursue, while doing this the horse archers fired back behind them and the bodkin fletched arrows tore thru the armor of the heavier cavalry and felled horse and rider without much issue, yet still in spite of the casualties and the protests of other officers the captain pushed his force onward confident that they were winning, it was then as they had been drawn back that something happened, the enemy skirmishers fell back behind something they hadn't expected, first off was a phalanx of infantry men but that wasn't disturbing, no it was the large moving structures among them; their horses panicked and the Captain ordered a full frontal assaulted confident that their numbers would carry the day. Then the game changed.

"All units fire at will!" Isara ordered from her tank, then ducking inside bringing the guns of her tank to bare, the surrounding tanks unleashed the first salvo of rounds from the barrels of their main guns, the explosive shells moved quick and then exploded with the force that the enemy horsemen never had expected and never would see again as hundreds both rider and horse were shredded into mulch, those that survived wanted to flee but their horses panicked throwing their riders about, the raptor riders found themselves thrown of and killed by their mounts in the frenzied panic which led to horsemen being torn apart in the rampage, to add fuel to the fire mortar rounds landed amongst them detonating with even more power than initial rounds. The mortar volley caused the enemy to begin to cut and run, in turn they were cut down by machine gun fire from the auxiliary turrets of the tanks which mowed down hundreds more then the mortars, those that managed to get out of range from the tanks were attacked from the rear as Nora's cavalry hadn't withdrawn behind the lines as it first seemed but had gone behind then veered about the flank as the main enemy contingent had been paralyzed and decimated by the tanks. The newly arrived horsemen were also fresh as Nora had held them in reserve, also contingents of foot archers that had been held in reserved fired from the flanks, suddenly the enemy captain who was down on the ground with his guts pouring out realized his force was surrounded and saw the entire enemy cavalry unit massacred to a man with not even the wounded being allowed to live, the last thing the captain saw was the soldier who drove his halberd thru his chest as he lay on the ground bleeding out.

Nora and Isara's initial attack had been an overwhelming success with hordes of enemies being felled with no losses on their part as their ambush had been so successful, with the engagement ended the enemy lacked maneuverability, and riders were sent back to camp to ready the army for the main push, at the same time Nora took her skirmish cavalry to begin harassing the enemy's smaller force holding the pass out of the Valley which was hereafter called the Valley of Bloody Hills, the enemy there wasn't inclined to abandon their defensive position but Nora wasn't going to engage them head on so she was quite content to sit out of the range of the enemy and have her horsemen barrage them with arrows, a lot of them and reserves had been set up to allow her soldiers to keep peppering the enemy with them.

Back at the camp…. "Tatsumi!" Cornelia moaned as Tatsumi came inside her.

"Tatsumi!" Spear yelled rushing into the tent then blushed at the sight in front of her.

"What is it killjoy?" Nui asked annoyed.

"The troops are ready to begin moving out, they are waiting for you" Spear replied, Tatsumi got out from under the two Elite Seven members and looked at Spear.

"You could have waited until after round 7 to tell us that" Nui remarked.

"Never mind Nui, we'll celebrate after the we win, now you two help me with my armor" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes Tatsumi-kun" Cornelia replied, the two helped him redress before doing so themselves.

"Cornelia, I want you and the other former Elite Seven with me and the others in the vanguard, the more Teigu users towards the front to better" Tatsumi explained.

"Kay" Cornelia replied, Tatsumi helped her fasten her corset and then Cornelia left.

"Well my Emperor are you ready to make the blood flow?" Nui asked enthusiastically.

"Not really, I hate killing" Tatsumi replied as he put on his crowned helmet.

"Poo your no fun, I personally love slicing the enemy to ribbons, letting the blood flow like water on your body like a shower of gore, weaving with my blade a tapestry of mangled enemies in my wake" Nui replied with an eager voice, Tatsumi shrugged.

"Do you really believe that?" Tatsumi asked.

"I do, killing bad guys is fun, it's so much fun; but you are way more fun, you know what I'm going to do after this battle I'm going to ride you until my ass is so sore I won't be able to stand up and you'll have to carry me to the next fight" Nui replied, Tatsumi face-palmed.

"You know its attitudes like yours Nui makes me wonder if Eden will ever see peace, by the way what do you intend to do after the war is over? You'll still be my bodyguard but also an empress and on top of that most of that work will be rather unlively" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll cross that bridge when we get to it Tatsumi-kun, personally I'm just along for you: besides you not liking killing your like Shastavi, but you don't have daddy-issues like she does" Nui replied.

"Don't even bring that up" Shastavi said walking in, clad in armor and ready to fight, she turned to Tatsumi. "Your Honor Guard is waiting; the rest of the army is waiting for your final preparations for battle" Shastavi explained to Tatsumi.

"Did Angelas get the sacrificial alter ready, I want the portents for the battle" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, she and her zealots are at the front of the formation as per her request, the alter is outside and the troops are waiting for their Emperor to carry out those rituals and give an inspiring speech" Shastavi explained.

"I'm going to be improvising one then on the speech front, I don't have one ready so I'll say what I can" Tatsumi replied he then took Shastavi's hand. "Come my Empress I think we shouldn't keep them waiting any more" Tatsumi concluded, the two then stepped out, Cornelia and Nui followed in short order and Spear joined him along with the Four Champions, his Three Sacred Swords and the other Elite Seven members, this following escorted him to the center of camp where an alter had been built and the sacrificial Auroches was restrained to it.

Angelas bowed as he approached and everyone around bent the knee, the banners held in respect, Tatsumi stepped forward and looked at his soldiers, the ones he could see and they numbered in a great crowd with standards of various different regiments held aloft alongside those of Golden Dragon, the most prominent of these was Night Raid's own battle standard that of the Owl over the crescent moon which was held by Pais with her sister Roxanna carrying the banner of the Gold Dragon. "Your Imperial Majesty, we have been awaiting your arrival" Angelas greeted.

"Rise, it's time for the offering, I want the portents as normal though as I've said before we make our own odds here!" Tatsumi shouted in a booming voice, cheers went up and Tatsumi held up his hands, chants were made in religious hymns, as the sacrifice was readied, Angelas took the offered blade. "Avawahy! Lord of Peace! Grant us victory this day to bring peace everlasting! Gods of the Empire, from Ulmo your High King to the new comer of our pantheon the Eternity Queen, we offer this humble offering in search of omens for the battle to come, know that if we are victorious a hundred such bulls will be offered soon after" Angelas proclaimed, she then began chanting in the tongue of the eastern kingdom of Quadala where the Path of Peace had originated from and raised her blade before shouting "CADITH!" which meant something along the lines of "Kill" and drove the blade repeatedly and swiftly into the Aurochs with rapid thrusts to the creature's abdomen to the loud death rows of the bull.

Soon it was over, blood was collected and Angelas and other priests checked the body for a sign, they found one and lifted up the portent to cheers. "Victory will be ours this day! Avawahy's chosen champion will lead us to victory!" Angelas proclaimed cheered erupted and the banging of shields joined it, Tatsumi stepped up to the Alter, Angelas and her entourage poured fresh blood from the sacrifice onto their armor and weapons in a pre-battle ritual behind him as did so.

"Warriors! My fellow Imperials, this day we will break the back of the Revolutionary army, this valley and the pass at the end of it is the lone obstacle in our path to the heart of the Revolution, Alkan, there Boreth Falkland and his traitors plot and scheme, we have given the chance for them to give up their mad dreams of anarchy that would destroy the Empire we all live in, they've refused, this war was meant for the cause of removing Honest as Prime Minister whose depraved policies have allowed rot and corruption to run forth and our economy to falter along with the people starving and suffering, what Falkland and his traitors wanted to do was destroy the Empire and put a government of blood and terror in its place, the Empire is flawed corrupted, but the system of the Empire has worked for 1500 years and yes changes will come to it but those changes will be fair made and needed and the foremost amongst them is to wipe out the corruption and monsters that plague our great nation. Falkland is one of those monsters, he would see innocent children die for his own ambition, my own kin, he'd see anyone who disagrees with his plan beheaded in a public square, we'll show him and any traitor that serves him how the Empire punishes traitors, if he doesn't die in the final battle of this thrice damned war I'll see him and every single survivor that refuses to denounce his vile ideals brought up in the square of his city and crucified, every last one of these traitors that chooses not to embrace our cause and fight for the true Empire will be crucified and their bodies will hang in a forest of iron crosses that will be left up as a monument in warning of their signs and their bones will hang bleached on them to the end of time! So my soldiers we will give them the ultimatum, those who wish to join us may do so, but those who choose not to they are to be killed, any captive you take is to crucified for all to see, We go now to war, let none survive, if we let one of these traitors live their treason will take roots in the hearts of others and we must not allow that to happen lest we fight this war for another century. NO! We will end this war, treason to the Empire started in Alkan and it will end there, but first all the traitors will die on that ridge. My spies tell me those soldiers are the best they have left: HA! If that is their best then we've been fighting sheep using horns made of clay instead sharpened blades and destructive bullets, now we march!" Tatsumi spoke, a roar went up and the audience cheered.

About an hour later… Tatsumi sent a messenger forward along with a small guard baring the flag of truce, the Revolutionaries fired at them and they withdrew rapidly, there would be no quarter given this day not to any enemy. Tatsumi this day had decided to fight on foot, cavalry would be of no use against the enemy fortified on their hill, it would be an infantry fight and he was going to lead his troops: Imperial Guard warriors from his new Dragon Guard rallied around him while close at hand were his personal protectors, to the right of him was Spear with her sword at the ready and to the left was Angelas clad in full battle armor with a helm that masked her face, in one hand she held a pistol, a desert eagle like Najenda's, in her other hand a long Warhammer with an ornate head with a golden ram inlaid in a key joint of the weapon. "Look to the front; kill them all give only quarter to those who yield those enemies that surrender will be given a choice after the battle join us or die" Tatsumi ordered to those nearby, he brought his force to a halt outside of range of the enemy guns.

Tatsumi then his horn and blowed to signal for the tanks to be brought up, his ranks opened and half of the division drove up, the enemy guns opened up but the large behemoths of titanium advanced surely, to the side their infantry protectors marched in tortoise formation their large shields caused the bullet to be useless. At the same time another force had been moving up with the other half of the tanks under Lydia Agathe backed up by Nikola and Chiara with the support troops, from the infantry teams moved up with mortars and set them up behind protective shields once they were set up Tatsumi had the Night Raid banner held aloft as a the agreed signal, the mortar crews were the first to fire, their shells being fired was heard by the tank gunners who fired the first of many mortar rounds, the larger shells from the main gun were far bigger than those held by the handheld mortar teams, the shrieks of the mortars were heard loud and clear and far louder was the impact, ranks of fortified revolutionaries were torn to shreds in moments, more rounds were fired and pillboxes that had withstood the first volley were levelled, at the same time the other attack hit the rear of the Revolutionary forces, that side of the hill hadn't been fortified as they hadn't had the resources to do the job.

The mortars kept firing until the shells were exhausted, by that point the remainder of the Revolutionary forces numbered less than half of their original strength, it was then the skirmish phase began, his archers and gunners moved forward and unleashed the first of many volleys the revolutionaries retaliated in kind but few fell in return, for every skirmisher lost by the Dragon Army 5 rebels fell in that soldier's place, it was then that the infantry began advancing as the skirmishers continued their barrage, on the rear of the ridge there was no skirmish as Lydia had ordered the attack, Tatsumi ordered his personal troops forward and the other commanders down the line did likewise. Tatsumi sounded his horn once more and then slung it on his side and drew Valruost and Smaug, the charge commenced, and his soldiers moved rapidly forward. On the other side of the valley Nora's skirmishers had caused the defenders in the pass many heavy casualties with few of her own, Nora's long composite recurved bow planted many shafts into the enemy from her horseback. Each enemy fell to her bow and many more to those of her soldiers.

Tatsumi breathed deeply before shedding first blood. "One" he counted internally, and this was followed up: in the blood haze as he fought he lost his sense of who he killed, to him they were his enemies, traitors who wanted to destroy everything he held dear for their own twisted ambition "They won't take my Aria from me" Tatsumi thought driven by that above all other things, the fact Falkland wanted to see his beloved dead was enough to seal his hatred, as it would be for anyone who wanted to lay a hand in evil upon her. "Forty" he presently counted, so far he had carved a path of destruction, to his side Cornelia and Spear were eviscerating any enemy that was actively trying to flank him, nearby in the haze he heard the loud roar of Najenda's pistols as enemies were blown away while Angelas felled traitors alongside her fanatical warriors yelling out battle chants as she fired her pistol with one hand and crushed the skulls of enemies with the Warhammer in the other as she smiled under her visor, to his immediate front more enemies, three fell to his swords, and five fell to Akame who had pushed ahead of Spear to cover his right flank and soon the haze of battle came on and he lost himself in the slaughter with only being able to tell friend from foe by the color of their uniforms as he saw red worn by the rebels proudly in defiance.

The battle raged on, it was bloody as to be expected, the rebels held every inch of ground, their General rallied them with brutal efficiency and he roared orders above the noise of battle, Najenda was doing the same on Tatsumi's side as were the Delvars mother and daughter yelling as their household soldiers cut a swath of destruction on the right flank attacking the hill that occupied it, at the same time the Gallian forces did the same: Selvaria was their trump card along side her sisters, using powers infused in her by Imperial research she decimated hundreds of rebels at a time, the fencers of Gallia did their part too outmaneuvering and bypassing the guards of their enemy forces to eviscerate their opponents.

But the real fighting was where Tatsumi was as he had attacked the main hill of the ridge and his vanguard was decimating the enemy, his Dragon Guard fought with the fury of the possessed for Tatsumi's presence rallied them to preform above and beyond that of normal soldiers, while in the center of that his Teigu user body guards killed thousands of enemy soldiers. Somehow in the haze of battle Tatsumi found himself separated from his bodyguards and facing down a determined warrior, a Teigu user of the rebel's own, this man was a looming giant who wielded a Teigu halberd. Tatsumi was impressed by the weapon's design and effectiveness, he had seen Mashiro use her own Teigu halberd to extreme use but this was the first time he was on receiving end of one such user, the weapon granted the user some sort perfect vigor as the soldier didn't seem to tire, however despite this warrior's skill Tatsumi was on another level and kept this soldier on level, but this was ruse of his own for as the soldier focused on him he was blind to his doom. The warriors head exploded in a blast of gore as Tsukushi smiled with one of Prometheus's guns smoking, to the side while Cornelia ripped apart five soldiers who had attempted to aid this soldier, the former two Elite Seven members came to his side while Spear caught up to him not to long after along with his four champions who had finished off about 20 elite soldiers, by this point the army was nearing the top of the hill where the best troops were held in reserve. Not to long after Tatsumi noted that they were meeting up with Lydia's flanking force as the Rebels were now completely encircled in pincer maneuver, at the same time fresh reserves rallied by Nora's skirmishers who had routed and cut down the pass defenders arrived, these soldiers were archers who brought to bear fresh ammunition from crack soldiers onto the hold outs of the two smaller hills allowing the right and left forces to finish off the 2000 or so remaining troops on either hill, then with a good amount of ammunition left they unleashed barrages into the central ridge, Tatsumi saw enemies felled by bolts and arrows to his front and soon the enemy general who had been pinned by one of these volleys that had taken down his knee: the general clutched at his knee with one hand holding his sword with another, he smiled as he saw Tatsumi but winced as he tried to stand, Tatsumi would have killed him then but Cornelia beat him to the punch: literally as a strike from her Teigu fist tore right thru his midsection bisecting him with ease before crushing his skull in an explosion of gore after lifting up the rest of him, she then flung his lifeless corpse at the nearest enemies.

With their general's death the Revolutionaries that remained began surrendering on mass Tatsumi noted the dead around him as the bloody haze subsided, Smaug retracted and Tatsumi noted his proud black and gold armor was stained with blood, near him Spear's armor was likewise covered and she smiled at him as she slung the blood stained sword Yadviga on her back, Akame did the same as sheathed her katanas in a relaxed manner while Mez shouted the first of many cheers. The valley echoed with cheers soon and it was said that years later they could still be heard echoing the valley.

The following day Tatsumi noted the funerals of the dead who fell on both sides, fortunately as had been the case with most if not all his battles so far those on his side proved to be few in terms of fallen where enemies dead numbered in the tens of thousands, unlike the soldiers on his side who enjoyed rest in marked graves the rebels bodies were burnt in great pyres as per Tatsumi's orders he wanted not a trace to be left behind of these traitors nothing for future ones to worship or to celebrate, he wanted Falkland's legacy to be that his historians wrote not that written by the madman who wanted to destroy the Empire and anyone who didn't share his vision for the future.

"So how many did you kill?" Nui asked Tatsumi presently.

"At my count, 1235 before I killed so many that I lost count" Tatsumi replied.

"Damn that's a lot my handsome hubby-to-be, you did well my Emperor, won't this be a nice story to tell our kids" Nui replied, Tatsumi frowned.

"Death is not something to celebrate, in an ideal world none of this would have happened" Tatsumi remarked.

"We don't live in an idea world Tatsumi, we live in one where monsters live, but we'll change it, the world we live in isn't ideal but I don't think any world is, by all rights Eden should be a paradise world where all races live in peace and harmony and, but that's not the case despite our world's beauty, evil never sleeps and those who desire power never stop seeking ways to get it" Shastavi said presently.

"Great way to get all philosophical Shastavi, all of this philosophy is making my head hurt, I'm a simple-minded woman, a clever one but not one who's a fan of talking about the state of the world, leave that out of my life" Nui replied.

"Tatsumi" Cornelia interrupted.

"Yes Cornelia?" Tatsumi asked.

"I need to speak in private, also I'd like to celebrate our victory if you're up for that, I've got some spiced wine in my tent that Lady Delvar gave me" Cornelia replied.

"I'd be up for that, Shastavi you and my protectors stay here, Cornelia and I would like to be alone" Tatsumi replied and the two left his tent, outside Tatsumi heard screams of enemy soldiers hanging from their crosses, Tatsumi had given the survivors the usual ultimatum and those that changed sides did so, those remained were hung from crosses to die as an example to prevent future revolts when they left the following morning those crosses along with those on it would be lit aflame burning both cross and criminal to ash. "I hate having to do these things, but Esdeath taught me that war is cruelty and the crueler it is the quicker it ends, besides you have to make examples to prevent future threats" Tatsumi thought still though he hated the reality of war and the things needed to end it this strategy total war as Esdeath called it was enough to win and it certainly wasn't without tactics, Cornelia lead him to her tent, which was humble compared to his own but still furnished as were those of any of his lovers or rather any soldier as furnishings were readily available and requisitioned to allow his soldiers whatever comforts they could get, Tatsumi believed that his troops should be well cared for and didn't care what they did in their off time only how they performed in battle and if he had to spoil them he would, granted it required a much larger camp following then most armies but as Emperor his people were willing to provide anything he needed: anything.

"So Tatsumi" Cornelia stammered out.

"Cornelia, what is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"I- well I'm not going to dodge it, I'm worried for you- worried that your starting to become numb to killing, during this last battle you cut down enemy soldiers left and right without even so much as looking at them, you told me you hate killing yet how could you at the same time be able to kill so many soldiers?" Cornelia explained.

"They fight for a man who wants to take away and destroy everything I love but above all that he wants to kill Aria and for that alone I cannot suffer him to live not just that he wants my sweet little cousins Koko and Lin to die as well, I dreamt of them dying under those cruel bladed machines of his I'll see them broken and never used again" Tatsumi replied.

"Tatsumi many that live deserve death, and many more that die in our world deserve life, you can't give those who died life again, I wish we could then Natula, Green and Tajasho along with all my friends and everyone we cared for could still live, death however can be given frequently and freely don't be so quick to kill, I worry you may become like Akame" Cornelia replied.

"I'm not like Akame, I'm not a cold-blooded killer who could kill without caring, you're right though, in future battles I'll try not to lose myself in the haze of battle, do you stay levelheaded?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh yes I do, granted I kill when and as needed but I tend to be quick about it, you on the other hand are like storm unpredictable and destructive to anything in its path; you're a force of nature Tatsumi and your enemies are many but your equals are few" Cornelia replied.

"I'm going to attempt make that number fewer than it already is" Tatsumi replied, Cornelia laughed.

"You know kidding aside I think a celebration is in order let's forget about death and war for the rest of day, let's make merry and celebrate our victory, you and me; besides I've got a little treat for you later and it's got no underpants" Cornelia teased then grabbed a bottle of Spiced wine. She and Tatsumi drank responsibly and after finishing the bottle helped each other with their armor leaving themselves in more regular clothes. "Come on, let's make love" Cornelia replied, the two walked to the bed and stripped each other of clothing, underneath her clothes Cornelia wore no undergarments, Tatsumi did but Cornelia had his boxers off really quickly and had her breasts wrapped around his length even faster as she began giving him head; Cornelia's tongue danced over the head of his phallus licking the tip as her breasts comforted the length in the valley.

"Cornelia" Tatsumi moaned, he placed his hand on her head and leaned back onto the bed crawling back as Cornelia continued blowing him in spite of the movement. "Cornelia could you sit on my face, you need to experience what I'm feeling.

"Of course, my lovely Tatsumi, anything for you" she said with a smirk and she mounted him, Tatsumi began pleasing her orally using his tongue to good effect as she resumed blowing him; he used his hands to found her massive rump as she went off on him. Both had similar limits, and both knew how to push them, and it took only a few alterations in their techniques to prock the orgasms, both showering seed on the face of each other, both licked up that seed as Cornelia dismounted and presented her rear to him invitingly. "You know you want to" Cornelia flirted, Tatsumi backdoored her to her immediate satisfaction, her eyes went wide as he entered, and Tatsumi moaned loudly as his length was sheathed in that tight hole, Cornelia giggled his hands fondled her breasts. "Oh, Tatsumi you just love a handful of boobs, don't you?" Cornelia teased.

"Yeah I'm kind of hooked on them, I think it may have been my mother's doing, she didn't stop nursing me until I was 10 and I'm sure that's had an impact on my preferences" Tatsumi replied.

"So, who do you think has the best breasts in your whole- whole! Eeek! Harem? Damn you're going deep, oh so big" Cornelia teased, Tatsumi was tempted to say Esdeath but he didn't want to name names as Cornelia was sensitive when it came to her looks and was the type to talk about his opinion, chiefly to Taeko her best friend outside of her fellow sevens.

"If I told you won't like the answer" Tatsumi replied honestly.

"Hey I was just kidding, can you up the pace a bit, you're going a bit too slow for my tastes" Cornelia replied, Tatsumi shrugged and intensified the thrusts, Cornelia smiled as she looked at him knowing full well she had pushed him to the limit then smiled as he gave the goofiest grin as he came and fell back off her. "And your still hard" Cornelia remarked as she noted Tatsumi was a bit burnt out.

"I'm good for at least 10 more rounds" Tatsumi replied non-challently.

"I'll bet and I'll hold you to it, if you blackout I'll still be fucking you in your sleep" Cornelia replied.

"Feel free to, also feel free to be on top mistress" Tatsumi replied assuming a submissive persona, Cornelia smiled then mounted him, sighed as she took his length into her then began moaning as she rode him cowgirl style.

Tatsumi's words were off, he lasted only three more rounds before he blacked out and Cornelia kept going until about the time she started to tire and so she wrapped the blanket around both of them and they passed out.

On the other front… Esdeath loomed large and proud above a fresh battle as she watched her wyvern feed on the bodies of the dead rebels. "A lot of food for him" Esdeath remarked as Aria approached, clad in ornate blue and white painted plate and wearing a diamond laced crown along with Noctis Wave Aria looked radiant especially with her hair having grown out. "You're too clean, your armor though is freshly cleaned" Esdeath replied.

"Hey you changed your outfit, I still am wearing the same one I wore in the start of this battle" Aria replied, Esdeath smiled and laughed, Esdeath wore the new Gold and Black Uniform of the Golden Dragon Army over a set of fine plate armor, her new Rapier which had been made custom in Tokorra before her arrival was ornate and a large difference from the rather spartan blade she had used before, said blade's hilt with what was left of the blade rested at her side as a dagger, her hair had grown out too, though it was yet to the reach length it was before she cut it in shame, Tatsumi's words though had broken her shame and had restored her drive, she wanted him and her to live in a peaceful world where the Patras Clan could be reborn, not just that it would live by new traditions created by her; she hoped beyond hope to be victorious and was driven now to win this war: protecting Aria wasn't something though she had to worry about as Aria was protected by the Oarburgh bodyguards: Saraya, Taeko, Meela and Loris, with Bulat who served as her defender alongside protecting Makoto along with Fal, Air and Luna who try as Aria might she couldn't convince to stay behind in Tokorra as they wanted to do their part in this war; Makoto out of a desire to right the wrongs that happened during his reign and the other three to be with him and in Air's case to prove her skills. "Air" Esdeath thought, that girl had a lot of potential enough to surpass her own and Tatsumi's, plus she had seen her trying to learn her strange powers which to some extent she was learning to control but it was all self-taught Aria was trying to find in their off time summon who could understand the power Air had but Esdeath for life of herself couldn't make sense of it, granted there had been people like her before in the history of her tribe and they had been great warriors but they had to learn their powers themselves.

"Anyway, Aria what is it you want?" Esdeath asked.

"I can't stop thinking about Tatsumi, I'm sure you're of the same mind" Aria replied.

"That would be an understatement, I'm focused on him, letting him drive me onwards even in my absence, I don't worry however for his safety, he is the strongest man I've ever met and is stronger than me, for him to die to some random bullet or arrow or to some nobody would be illogical and contrary to reality, yes people die randomly but Tatsumi's not one of them, he's too strong and too well protected to do so, you however Aria are his weakness, if you were to die he'd lose his will to live, I'd lose mine as well, Tatsumi is my beloved and nothing will change that" Esdeath replied.

"Well I'll not die then not until I'm old and past my prime and when I do it will be peacefully" Aria responded. "We march tomorrow to Alkan, all forces are converging on it and the Revolutionary Army has nowhere left to run, remember though that a cornered enemy fights hardest" Aria explained.

"Indeed but remember also that even in the enemy's last stronghold they may still have the chance to win if you don't know them as you do yourself" Esdeath replied the two then looked out on the battlefield.

"I never knew what war was like before" Aria commented.

"War is hell Aria and war never changes, war was the way of life for my people and it nearly destroyed them, the new Patras clan while still being great warriors will live in peace, that I hope; I hope this war will be Eden's last but I know too well that war never rests for long; after all war never changes it remains hell" Esdeath concluded.


	64. Serious Business (READ)

A more serious note

Ok I'm going to level with you all who review my story, guests specifically, I as the writer and moderater of reviews am fed up with two things, A. I'm tired of having to get ready of reviews that talk shit about Erasiel and Asha, and B. I'm infuriated at the idiot reviewers who are stealing other people's names.

First and foremost are the reviews from someone who has tried to use my username as his guest reviews to that person what you're doing is blatant fraud and be lucky this is the Internet because if you were to try something like this against me in my everyday life you'd have the FBI all over you, secondly is the person who is stealing the identity of one Duckboi, that person is no longer welcome here, that is identity-theft and fraud of the first order and any further reviews from this particular ID theif will be deleted, as a precaution I recommend the real Duckboi make a account for his reviews so I know it's the real one.

Now onto another topic that has been the subject of recent back and forth among you in my reviews: that of the Power Level of Erasiel Darkar and Asha the Eternity Queen. I can say firmly both are within Tier zero (Which does exist as much as you think it doesn't) Erasiel is in the low Tier 0 and barely above the high ranks of tier 1 but can absorb more magical knowledge and he grows more powerful the older he is and yes a Phoenix and a God can be both at the same time, that is the case of this multi-verse also I'd add if you don't think deities can't mess around in the normal world tell that to Zeus, Hermes or any of the other deities from various pantheons who incited folktales of them fucking everything that moves! Asha on the other hand is a High Tier 0 and is the strongest of the Greater Phoenixes, Erasiel's power level as a greater Phoenix is only due to her infusing a full firespark of her Eternal Flame into his, and above her there are creator deities, two of which being the Great Dragon and the First Phoenix, and above them all is the supreme deity of their Multiverse the Mother to All. Now that I've established this tier for reference I hope I'll stop getting questions about this.

Speaking of the two: No more nonsense about Erasiel being a pedophile, he is not a pedophile and Asha is NOT a loli not by an stretch of the imagination, she's ten feet tall for one, and 13 billion years old, Erasiel is only 3 and half Billion at that so if anyone is the more mature partner in their relationship it is her: also I gave a description of her appearance in chapter 30 from Syura's flashback if you care to read that. Now that this is all the way expect a chapter in March, this week is the week of my Birthday so I'm taking a hiatus from writing both Empire's End and Killing Kuroinu, also expect a new chapter of Killing Kuroinu first, and as for the time of posting, it will be out when its done, I've got other things to do apart from writing.

Now my rant is over and I'll be seeing you all in the next chapter: Till then farewell and to the Blood Clan guys, you be you just don't expect me to put your ideas into the story and by the end of it if your stuff doesn't make it in don't be annoyed, it would be great if you guys wanted to write your own story: this one is mine and while I welcome input from my readers and my co-author I get the final say on what the story will be: so if I want Tatsumi to do something he does that even if for example if that something was to bone his own mother (Which won't happen, this is just an example) he'd do so because I as the writer chose to, anything I say goes with regards to this story as at the end of the day I'm the one writing it. With that out of the way BYE!(;


	65. Chapter 47

Chapter 47: Kill the Revolution

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Rage, hatred, and fury: these things were at the forefront of Tatsumi's mind: he and his force had arrived at the small hamlet of Vikada or rather what was left of it after the Revolutionary Army had 'enforced justice' as their captive soldiers had put it. The fact that Tatsumi's favored method of executing enemy captives was now being used to kill his people out of pure spite was infuriating, but far more so were the fact that the RA were content to just leave the people who had done nothing wrong to hang on crosses to die in their village's square. "AAGH!" a woman's shriek yelled snapping Tatsumi out of his thoughts and he turned to one of the last remaining people on crosses: a woman, at least six months pregnant stripped naked and hanging by a cross, Tatsumi didn't waste a moment cutting her down from the vile cross: under ordinary circumstances Tatsumi would be amazed by her beauty, her lovely face, her graceful curves, ample d-cup breasts, long flowing dark blue hair like that of Luna and her deep tan skin like that of Lilianna, but he had little time, the women needed medical attention more than most and in this case he was going to have to get her to the best: Dorothea and Aria.

By this point in the campaign he had met up with Esdeath and Aria's forces with his own troops that had followed him east under their command and the forces of the Oarburgh Clan lead by to his surprise Chelsea of all people: yes sweet Chelsea the spy of Night Raid had become a rallying leader for her clan's soldiers in Merraid's absence, despite being the youngest Oarburgh sister she had all the courage and charisma needed to lead forces into war and while her style of fighting would have been out of place in a normal Imperial army the forces of the Oarburgh clan were anything but a normal Imperial army and she was a force to be reckoned with at their head in the absence of Merraid.

Of course also his forces were augmented by other armies, the pincer had closed on Alkan and there was no escape and his enemies knew it: so they had evoked the last principle of an enemy facing utter annihilation which was what Tatsumi had in mind for those who wouldn't accept his offer of joining the True Emperor, they had decided that if they couldn't win they'd leave nothing for Tatsumi to have. This had some success for them in the countryside but not in the larger cities: at the arrival of the armies the Falkland family had turned on Boreth and stripped him of his titles and power, the people drove him and his forces out of the cities along with anyone loyal to him: the RA forces had nothing left but an army of 18,000 soldiers, these were the last true diehards of a dying cause: they had nothing to lose and as such did not hesitate to break every law of warfare and of civilized society: they were little more than beasts at this point though to call them so would be an insult to most of Eden's fauna.

All these factors lead to the RA forces according to his scout digging in at the point of the province's highest peak, a tall lone mountain called Mount Ya'ash which was Falkland's choice for a last stand: Tatsumi knew for a fact that Boreth had decided his best course was to fight a last stand, he had no way to escape and he was a cornered snake against an army of mongooses. Tatsumi held out hope that maybe some of them would give up their doomed fate, yet Tatsumi worried for those that would, especially considering at this point the enemy had nothing to lose and thus would do things normal people wouldn't think of doing. He took a look at the woman in his arms as he had opted to carry her bridal style to avoid her taking more pain then she was already in. His hatred for whoever did this to her was fresh in his mind: there were a few captive RA soldiers that Tatsumi's forces had taken prisoner on their arrival as they were stragglers that stayed behind and Tatsumi had some ideas as a reply. "An eye for an eye: the Revolutionary Army and those who support it need to learn I'm a lot scarier than they are; if they aren't going to respect me they should fear me I've got no other option" Tatsumi thought and arrived at a medical tent where Dorothea and Aria along with a host of other medical professionals were at work saving lives from those still alive: Tatsumi was glad that he had no shortage of medical supplies as the war had constant demand for them for his army; also the main factories that made them were in Gassarnel lands and Audrey had along with her brothers made sure that they had brought more: the crystals used to power the tanks also had medical properties and could be refined into a liquid that could heal some of the most dire wounds short of missing limbs.

"I've got another one! Dorothea! Aria!" Tatsumi yelled as he ran in, the two immediately looked at him and at the woman is his hands.

"She's pregnant, that means she takes priority: we'll handle this personally" Aria replied, and a number of people helped carry the woman to an empty bunk, then began Aria and Dorothea's medical work which Tatsumi didn't stay around to watch as he had others to help.

Later that day… Tatsumi had brought up RA prisoners to a nearby hill, at his side were Esdeath and Spear with the Four Rakshasas in a ceremonial stance, besides them were a number of high-ranking brass and soldiers. Tatsumi stepped forward and looked at one of the RA soldiers. "You knew about this? Were you behind it" Tatsumi interrogated?

"Shove it up your ass you puss ridden fucker of a tyrant!" the soldier replied, Tatsumi kicked him in the gut.

"I'm not going to ask again" Tatsumi replied seriously.

"You want me to make him talk?" Esdeath asked.

"Chancellor Falkland's orders: he knows the game is nearly over and he's determined to take out as many of you imps as possible! For each of us- "The Soldier replied Tatsumi picked him up by a throat.

"For each of you that dies the quicker your cause dies and when this over I'll wipe a very memory of this madness from Eden's face! Now I've got something in mind for you and all your fellow monsters: you seem to be fans of my punishment, well you'll be on the end of it with a couple twists, first you'll be hung upside down and secondly that cross will be on fire!" Tatsumi replied then threw the man at a nearby wall he yelped in pain and the snapping of bones could be heard by Tatsumi, two of Tatsumi's royal guard moved to secure him. "Get him on a cross: nail him to it and reinforce it so that it doesn't snap under flame, also get wood and oil: cover him with that I want him to burn in pain" Tatsumi ordered.

Shortly... A forest of captives hung from crosses as Tatsumi took a good look all bar one officer that they had taken captive were nailed to their doom. "I'd love to stick around and watch but I've got more important matters: Falkland is going to die, and I've got something special in mind, I can however send you to your deaths: Smaug: Dragon Armor!" Tatsumi declared and dawned his fiery red armor. "Flamestrikes!" Tatsumi declared and small embers went up lighting the pyres underneath the crosses which slowly began to burn to screams from those underneath them; Tatsumi didn't look back as he walked away: Remus and Womyn on either side of him looking unphased, while Balluck dragged the remaining RA soldier along to the nearby Esdeath who smiled upon seeing Tatsumi.

"Hello Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted with a curt wave before rushing to hug him and planting a chaste kiss on her husband's right cheek. "I'm impressed by the example yet why did you leave one alive?" Esdeath asked.

"To get information out of him: Esdeath I think you can be quite persuasive, the interrogators have tried their best, but this guy won't crack and Aria's too busy dealing with the wounded to get information" Tatsumi explained.

"Ah good, you have learned well the first lesson of war: know your enemy as you do yourself and also that wars are won by information gathered at the right time, now as to this man I think I can get him to talk" Esdeath replied.

"You'll never get me to talk, not after I survived what you did to my city!" the man stated firmly.

"Northerner: late 40s reaching retirement age as far as his people are concerned, stubborn as an Aurochs and about half as smart nope a third as smart" Esdeath replied analytically. "Hmm, tell me what city was it that destroyed, you see I destroyed only one in the North and not even entirely: Kalsliv the capital so unless you're-" Esdeath continued then stopped she noticed something, the soldier's uniform had taken a beating and more than a few holes adorned it: in this case the one that caught Esdeath's attention was the one on his right shoulder. Esdeath tore the sleeve off revealing an all too familiar mark. "You!" Esdeath replied then seized the man by the throat to the shock of the restraining Balluck along with Tatsumi and his other two Sacred Swords. The mark was that of Valtor; but it had a number of ritualistic markings with runes carved in the northern style, beneath it was another mark that of Northern Bear in crimson. "TRIBE-BREAKER! SERVENT OF DEMONS! USURPER AND MURDERER! RAPIST!" Esdeath screamed in a shrill voice Tatsumi had never heard her use before but it was primal rage.

"What the hell?! You're a Valtor cultist?!" Tatsumi yelled.

"This man is more than that: he is a Red Bear: The Elite Reavers of the Northern Kingdom, they have prayed on the Empire's people for centuries! More than that they are the enemy of my tribe and responsible for nearly destroying my entire Clan!" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi glared at the man with newfound hatred.

"Your Clan? What clan are you monster?! Then I'd at least take some joy in hopefully having taking part in the slaughter of whatever monsters sired you!" the Reaver replied: Esdeath grabbed him by his neck with both hands lifting him up to the man's surprise as he didn't expect a woman to possess such- raw strength.

"My name is Esdeath, Esdeath Patras! Last of the Old Patras Clan and First of the new! Now I have one question that you will answer and depending on how you answer it your death may be quicker" Esdeath explained.

"Ha- I saw a man with hair like yours a chief he was my arrows struck true: mighty man he may have been but even the mightiest may be felled by an single shot and I pierced his body with many! You have his eyes and his hair and I guess you are his spawn: I'm not surprised; there is irony in this: we decimated your people leaving you to live and you in turn ravaged and destroyed ours, perhaps Valtor and the other great gods of the Old Ways have a sense of humor; so now how will I die? Will you grant me a warrior's death, or will you be a coward?!" the Reaver replied.

"I will grant you a warrior's death but it won't be my blade you meet in battle, I'd not stain if with your filthy blood: No you'll face my champion: my husband in single combat to the death: in true Patras tradition" Esdeath decreed giving her verdict.

"Then I'll make him die! I'll take the person that matters most weakling" the Reaver replied, Esdeath drew her blade and drove her rapier into his knee causing him to drop down on it in pain.

"You'll fight him a cripple, the only weakling here is you murderer and my husband is strong, stronger then even me: the strong survive and the weak perish and such is your doom" Esdeath explained; she then used her blade to draw a large circle in the ground, the people of the camp looked on, Esdeath then said a word under her breath and two swords made of ice appeared. "You accept my charge my husband; I'd be loath to waste your strength on this matter" Esdeath asked Tatsumi as she offered him the blade.

"I'll do it, for your honor though this will be overkill" Tatsumi replied taking the blade.

"It would be overkill whether it be me or you that does this deed: he is weak and the weak perish" Esdeath replied then turned to her father's killer. "Give me your name that it may be remembered within the annuls of history murderer: I must know what craven felled my father; much less with a bow foul fighter and raper of little girls" Esdeath demanded.

"The name is Curon and I embrace your rebuke, many of your tribe took my cock that day and killed many of them" the Reaver replied, at this Esdeath shattered the ice blade.

"You will fight without arm and die: Tatsumi kill him, do so without mercy and make it slow" Esdeath ordered, Tatsumi usually wasn't one for fighting defenseless opponents but given that the man in question was a rapist murderer who killed his beloved wife's father and had taken part in evils unknown he didn't restrain himself and took up Valruost in his other hand; the man tried to wrestle him Tatsumi sliced his hands off with a clean swing.

"AUAGGH!" Curon howled Tatsumi then dropped his blades and grabbed the man with his fist removed the ragged loincloth and crushed the man's testicles with joy, the man shrieked as Tatsumi did so. Tatsumi then began to use his hands to slowly and methodically break every bone with ease; his restraint was thrown to the wind and Esdeath smirked as Tatsumi beat the man to death with his bare hands, then when the man looked be nearing death Tatsumi retrieved Valroust "Elra Tu Os Ves! Maka Vad!" Tatsumi yelled in the language of Esdeath's people which translates as meaning "You are weak! Embrace Death!" in the Imperial dialect.

"He who passes the sentence should pass the sword" Tatsumi said then beheaded him, the ugly head rolled off, those watching the seen looked on in shock.

"Your highness!" a Runner shouted running forward then stopped to take in the seen.

"Yes?" Tatsumi asked the fact that he had just brutally executed a murderer wasn't enough to take his attention from more important matters.

"The other armies have arrived, also the city of Alkan itself has surrendered: we await your orders as to what is to be done" the Messenger explained.

"What of Falkland?" Tatsumi asked.

"He and the last forces have fortified their position on Mount Ya'ash they're aware they don't have anywhere else to go" the Messenger explained. "The other Generals will be wanting to meet to plan for the final battle: your orders?" he added.

"Ready the troops finish treated the injured and execute the remaining RA Captives I don't want any rebels to be alive that aren't on that hill" Tatsumi ordered, the messenger began to leave but Esdeath stopped him.

"What are your orders as regards the city of Alkan? As the last stronghold of the enemy to fall examples must be made to prevent a future conflict" Esdeath asked.

"The people and the city will be spared; they are our people and they willingly surrendered: besides they aren't the last stronghold: that is Mount Ya'ash and there I will make an example" Tatsumi explained.

"Understood" Esdeath replied smiling that he was indeed what she wanted in a husband. "Now you go ahead and met with the others: I must tend to this killer's body personally" Esdeath explained then dragged the body off, no one stopped her.

Later that day… Tatsumi stood in the meeting tent where he and his generals had gathered, all except one. "We will start as soon as Esdeath arrives" Tatsumi explained after overriding arguments to start without her, as soon as he said this Esdeath walked into the tent with- a new cape, one stained with blood.

"What?" Esdeath asked as people looked at her new choice of wardrobe.

"Let me guess, your father's killer?" Tatsumi asked.

"I had to put his skin to some use, can't just feed him all to my Wyvern" Esdeath replied, some people in attendance winced at that.

"Just make sure you don't wear that thing on any diplomatic missions" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath smirked then took her place at his side.

"Our scouts have taken a good survey of the enemy's last holdout, about 18,000 soldiers under Boreth Falkland's direct command, with co command to the five or so generals still alive, all remaining Revolutionary Army forces outside this holdout have either been wiped out or have changed sides or disbanded and returned to their normal lives; a victory here will be the end of this conflict" Spear explained.

"Speaking of the enemy commanders give me a look at our deck of cards to see who is still alive" Tatsumi ordered. The deck of cards was a system he had implemented before they had started the campaign, each general under his direct command had a deck of playing cards with each having a photograph of an important RA leader on one. The Generals went thru their decks and handed Tatsumi the cards for confirmed targets; at the end his personal deck had only eleven cards left in play, three were civilian rebel leaders who while being non-combatants were still monsters guilty of war crimes four were the remaining high-ranking generals of the Revolution that had sided with Boreth and of these only one was actually a war criminal that being General Brezhnev, and the last three were Boreth and his two personal generals: the Masked Duo as Tatsumi liked to call them and were represented by the two Jokers in the deck: Boreth was the King of Spades, Brezhnev was Jack of Clubs and the remaining three were the two Queens of Hearts and Spades with the last being the Ace of diamonds.

"General Nikita Brezhnev, General Berthold Gregor, General Mitsuki Tashima, and General Natasha Romanovich are the only remaining RA generals still alive. Now General Pais did our scouts notice any civilians about their camps I want to know if Boreth is using human shields I don't want to risk killing any innocent people" Tatsumi asked.

"Negative on that, the RA forces are all armed, also my scouts also noticed that they have fortified in without anyway out they must have decided to borrow an old Dwarven saying 'dropped the Oathstone and will die fighting for it'" Pais explained.

"I'm going to give Boreth one last chance to surrender along with any of those with him who wish to" Tatsumi replied.

"Even now? My Emperor I'm sure they've already decided their fate" General Takemori replied.

"Boreth may have decided his fate but not everyone there has, they don't have to die here, there is no point in dying and being forgotten fighting for a madman, if they have to die fighting I'd rather they died fighting for something that matters: at the end of the day Falkland's dream is dead; the Old Empire is dead, all that is left is our cause and those who have yet to choose a side, this war may end today but an new war begins one that is a fight for our very right to live against an enemy that seeks only our utter destruction, we need everyone we can get to fight that fight, as long as they aren't monsters like the ones we face" Tatsumi explained. "I'll elaborate on our next enemy after this battle is over, that is a conflict for another day and for now we must focus on the present: now I want you all to prepare a battle plan, after that I and a select few Generals will go to confront Boreth under a flag of truce, if he surrenders I will grant him a swift death, if not he will die violently: now my generals see to the plan I have something that needs to be done by me personally" Tatsumi explained, he then got up to leave.

"Where are you going?" Esdeath asked.

"I'm going to think about what to do to Boreth if he doesn't surrender, I've got an idea to get rid of him if he doesn't" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath shrugged knowing that it was best to let him consider that in private.

Tatsumi left the tent then went to find Sheele, making sure to actually first dismiss his bodyguards to speak with her alone, he found her in her tent reading. "Sheele" Tatsumi replied.

"Yes" Sheele greeted looking up from her book.

"I need to talk to you about something: a contract" Tatsumi explained, Sheele smiled and let her serious face show.

"A contract? I've currently got one" Sheele replied.

"One from the Revolutionary Army which no longer exists as it did when the contract was made and to kill Prime Minister Honest who is no longer alive, I offer a contract that needs to be done and I know that you the Master of the Order of the Sorrowful Ones can carry it out without issue" Tatsumi replied, Sheele chuckled.

"You want me to kill Boreth don't you? You know usually I'd charge a fortune but as Boreth isn't as influential as he once was and the fact you are my husband, I'll do this for a premium rate" Sheele replied.

"How much?" Tatsumi asked.

"I want Trader-Town and the position of Minister of Security" Sheele replied Tatsumi's jaw dropped.

"Just kidding I only want the position and to be your bed as one of your three nightly partners for the next two weeks" Sheele replied

"I was going to say an entire city is a bit much for a tin-pot ruler of nothing but a single hill" Tatsumi replied.

"He is a Teigu user so that immediately increases the price due to hazard pay also I doubt you'll find another assassin capable of killing another Teigu user who is of my caliber, trust me Tatsumi you're getting a good deal, besides what's money to me? I'm married to the Emperor I have more money than I could ever dream of besides it's never been about the money" Sheele explained.

"What do you mean it isn't about money?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"Oh it's because I enjoy killing my targets, the thrill of the hunt, getting to know your opponent then building up to that moment where against all odds I kill them; there is satisfaction in my work and I don't ever plan to retire from it; the life of an assassin is the only one I know and there are no shortages of targets or people wanting them dead; but I'm going to put my talents to the best use and that would be as your spymaster and the head of whatever secret force you decide to create to keep the peace and eliminate corruption after the war" Sheele further elaborated.

"What secret force and why would I need one?" Tatsumi replied, Sheele frowned gave him a peck on the cheek and leaned on his shoulder, her breasts nuzzled against his head.

"Tatsumi, Tatsumi, Tatsumi-kun, my beloved: you of all people should understand how the world works by this point and in order to change it for the better you need to when you win find a way to keep all that you've gained, just because you'll have killed Honest and all others who oppose your ascension to the Imperial Throne doesn't mean that there will cease to be evil people and corrupt people. No in order to deal with that you'll need a strong firm force to enforce the laws of the New Empire and one that is capable of operating in both plain sight and in the shadows; a secret police force if you will but one that more or less acts as Night Raid did before the conflict where now we are an elite military force under your direct command, it will need all sorts of people and equipment to get it running and working but what it needs most is a very cunning and shrewd mind to operate it and while you are very much a keen and smart person with knowledge beyond your years you can't be everywhere at once and a good ruler is as only as good as those who follow them, that is why I want to be Minister of Security it is a field I have much expertise in and am very suited for" Sheele replied. "As to the instance on being one of your primary bedwarmers for the next two weeks well consider me a slut for your cock, I love it and wrapping in my boobs" Sheele added, Tatsumi didn't need to know about the last part as he already knew why she was insisting on it.

"Deal, only one condition, don't kill anyone without my approval and I have to insist on advocate for the target in question I can't just have my citizens assassinated unless I know for certain they are a threat, now for my plan when we go to negotiate I want you to get behind their lines in an RA uniform, the moment you have Boreth isolated kill him but wait until the battle starts and attack him when he isn't defended, I want him dead but I want you and even more importantly our child to survive" Tatsumi replied.

"I wouldn't dream of doing so without it, last thing we need are the wrong people dying as for your plan you have thought this thru pretty well" Sheele replied calculatingly with the smile she usually gave when she revealed her true self.

"Any particular reason why we have to keep meeting secretly like this?" Tatsumi asked.

"It's part of my order's tradition to keep secret our members identities, but more importantly my status as grandmaster, the less people know about my secrets the better because that means anyone I've made an enemy of over the years isn't likely to either go after them or find out it was me that killed their wicked relatives; secrecy is essential but I suppose I can tell our immediate friends but only those I know I can trust to keep a secret; which means I'm not telling Lubbock he's obnoxious or Chelsea with her knack for gossip" Sheele replied, Tatsumi smiled kissed her and turned to leave. "One more thing: I insist on keeping Boreth's Teigu for safe keeping I have no desire for anyone outside of our inner circle to have that weapon, if what I've read about it from Dorothea's books is true the last thing we need is some ambitious soldier getting their hands on it and thinking he or she may make a better emperor then you" Sheele concluded, Tatsumi nodded in agreement and returned to the strategy tent where his generals were nearly done with the preparations.

"I still think we should siege them out, they don't have much in the way of food" General Dirk Gassarnel replied.

"We can't do that, we don't have the time for a protracted siege, Honest's forces grow in strength day by day and other warlords are no doubt likely to rise up as the knowledge of the coup becomes common place" Tatsumi replied entering the room, he had heard these suggestions before and as much as he'd like to use those tactics time was of the essence and while he wasn't aware how much was dependent on time he knew for a fact that the war would take more lives if he didn't act quickly and decisively to end it quickly which meant he had to takes risks he didn't want to take to win which while not the best way to operate as a commander was the only option on a time crunch especially since this wasn't the war that mattered, no winning this war quickly allowed him to focus solely on the war that mattered which meant any other conflicts in his path to victory had to be won speedily and efficiently or else Eden would be consumed by the demon tide something which was not known to his subordinates outside his inner circle yet so that he could focus on the current conflict and not have to worry about the next.

"Of course, my Emperor it was merely my opinion" Dirk replied.

"In an ideal world and if this was the only conflict going on I'd gladly go with it but we don't live in an ideal world, we live in a world of demons both literal and figurative so we need to win victories as quickly as possible to keep our enemies from gathering their strength or forming an effective counter" Tatsumi explained. "Now what about our plan for the attack?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'll explain that my Emperor: I like your way of thinking" General Barton replied and Tatsumi came over to the table and looked at a map of the enemy positions. "The bastards are dug in deep along the whole side of the hill: barbed wire, trenches, machine gun nests the works, the only thing the bastards don't have are landmines because we've been blowing up their munitions whenever we can, they don't have any pillboxes either, but what they do have are 18,000 diehard bastards and bitches that are trapped like a cornered bear: which means they are going to be damn near unbreakable" Barton began. "However they don't have enough troops to anchor their flanks as much as they want to, they have no cavalry because not a single horsemen wants to fight for them at this point, which means we can envelop them however they have put very strong dugouts on their flanks, usually I'd bomb the shit out of them with artillery but that'd take too long to set up: infantry mortars and tanks are the name of the game to take out those dug outs. However the key to this battle is Boreth; that old bastard is at the back of his line like the coward he is and he's got a Teigu that will kill hundreds of our troops each them he uses it; the sooner that bastard dies the sooner this fight ends, but until then lots of troops are going to die, so best we make 20 of those bastards die for each man we lose!" Barton explained brashly.

"I've made preparations: during the negotiations I've got someone who will go behind the lines once the fight commences it will be their job to kill Boreth, now what about the other officers? I want to know where they will be, if we can neutralize the other leaders, we'd be able to fold the flanks in contention" Tatsumi replied.

"I've had our best look it over, they've set up in a crescent atop the high ridge with the mountain at their back; however my scouts noticed the army regimental standards before they were spotted, General Brezhnev's troops which make up the bulk of the army about 8000 are spread evenly between the two flanks and I'm not sure which flank he'd be commanding also the Northerners that remain about 2000 of them are on the left as well, however I can verify that General Gregor's troops are in the front as they are mainly heavy infantry; the forces of the other two generals are to the front of the main formation as a skirmish line with their heavier troops in between the two flanks and the center" Pais explained.

"We'll have to split the difference on Brezhnev; Aria you're in charge of the attack on the left flank, Barton you'll take the Right and whichever one of you kills Brezhnev be sure to bring his head back: I've got plans for it and those of the other leaders: I'll lead the center as usual, Audrey you and your brother will handle the troops to my immediate left, Esdeath I want your troops with Aria for the attack on the left flank, Barton your troops will be the hammer that hits their right, I want the Delvar soldiers held in reserve, along with any other commander whose soldiers aren't part of the strategy; if we start taking heavy losses pull your troops back and commit the reserves; I want our formation to be loose though: I'm not sure about the capabilities of Boreth's Teigu but if its capable of killing hundreds each time he uses it then its best to move in a loose formation to minimize losses" Tatsumi replied then took a pen from the table and drew what kind of formation he had in mind, the formation was shaped like a Bull's Horns, with the added benefit of reserves along the rear flanks of it for the purposes of cycling out fresh troops.

"Your majesty, what about our cavalry?" General Takemori asked.

"Keep them out of the fight, the terrain is not suited for using cavalry and charging those fortified emplacements sounds like a good way to get them killed" Tatsumi replied. "Now any more questions?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, how do you plan to get your assassin in to kill Boreth and can you be sure they'll succeed?" Jessica Delvar asked.

"As to when it will be during the confusion that follows my diplomatic request for them to surrender: there will likely be a fair few enemies who'd rather save their skins and during that hustle and bustle it will be easy to get my assassin in" Tatsumi replied, Jessica smiled, he was smart the RA would be focused on who was running away and not who was running towards them. "Any further questions?" Tatsumi asked, no one had any and as such they went to finalize the plan.

Not to long after the meeting Tatsumi was approached by Makoto along with Fal, Air and Luna who were all dressed to fight and with Bulat nearby. "Tell me you four aren't serious about fighting in this battle" Tatsumi greeted.

"We are going to and more importantly we have permission to" Air replied, Bulat didn't interject.

"Who gave you permission to?" Tatsumi asked.

"That would be me" Aria answered surprising him, Tatsumi took a good look at Aria; her angelic beauty enhanced by a silver plate armor that was of the finest mithril, the set which had been a gift from Aria's parents had served her well and was designed with her choice of attire in mind, the beautiful pearl, silver and chalcedony diadem she wore as a crown only enhanced her beauty further and the fact that since he had last seen her- she had grown her hair out, it was now as long as her mother's.

"You did?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"Tatsumi I was about their age when I first started my career as an assassin and as far as I'm concerned they've excelled enough in their studies to where they can fend for themselves and they have done so excellently in every fight that they've taken part in, also Bulat has done an excellent job of keeping them safe and your sister has too" Aria replied.

"Wait my sister?" Tatsumi asked backing up.

"Nessa and Bulat are dating" Aria explained, Tatsumi nearly fainted at that.

"Whoa back up, my sister is dating my mentor is- I thought you were gay?" Tatsumi asked.

"So, did I but your sister is very persuasive she's- a lot like you" Bulat replied, Tatsumi sweat dropped.

"Ok I get Fal, Air and Luna but what about Makoto?" Tatsumi asked.

"Esdeath-nii's been teaching me for years and while I'm not the Emperor any more that doesn't mean I won't fight for my people" Makoto responded.

"Fine, just don't get yourselves or Bulat or Nessa killed" Tatsumi replied and left restraining himself from fainting to the chuckles of his stepsisters.

Two Hours later… Tatsumi began was at the head of the force, his soldiers arrayed themselves in formation outside the range of any enemy forces then Tatsumi and a small group of riders rode forward under the banner of a truce, it took a couple of minutes for Boreth to reply with his own delegation under General Romanovich and General Tashima along with himself coming to parley.

Tatsumi took a good look at them, Boreth and the two generals, Boreth was not accompanied by the two masked generals for once but he was dressed in attire Tatsumi hadn't expected, battle armor with a rather ornate helm which was engraved in the shape of a Manticore head. "Ah Tatsumi you come to parley with me" Boreth replied exuding a relaxed air about him, he clutched his staff firmly.

"I come asking for your surrender and that of your soldiers, enough people have died fighting this war, and this war isn't even the one that matters you know that Honest is the true enemy not me" Tatsumi replied.

"On the contrary while I do agree that former Prime Minister Honest is indeed the true enemy you are the bigger threat because of what you represent, you and your cousins pose a threat: any ruler who wishes to establish themselves must first deal with those who internal threats to their power, something your ancestors were no stranger to but in my society such actions need only be taken once: a purge of the old guard as has been done many times, in fact I've already designed the machine that will end your regime" Boreth replied and brought up a nearby wagon with a tall towering implement of death, a stock meant for holding the head while hanging from it was large sharp metal blade Tatsumi noticed the whimpering form of a captive, one of the many people from the countryside who was strapped into the trap. "Allow me to demonstrate" Boreth replied and nodded to the driver of the cart who had been holding a rope separate from the reigns used for the carthorses, let go of the rope, the blade fell and the poor farmer's head dropped, his eyes and face frozen in terror. "Quite deadly and effective don't you think?" Boreth replied.

"That contraption is a crime against humanity itself, I'll see it destroyed, surrender now Boreth I figure you won't but so you know that killing machine of yours will never see service again in fact it will be both the first and last of its kind" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll never surrender, not your army will be broken and the Revolution will rise!" Boreth replied and his smile turned into visage of demented murderous glee of the kind that Honest frequently had.

Tatsumi turned to the other generals. "I knew he wouldn't take the chance to do the right thing but will you two I wonder, Brezhnev and Gregor are war criminals but you two are new to me and to your ranks as my informants have told me you rose to prominence as subordinates of fallen generals; you two know that standing here is suicide and so do goodness knows how many soldiers: so to you and them I offer one last chance" Tatsumi replied then picked up the megaphone from the side of his saddle. "Attention all soldiers of the Revolutionary Army, this is Emperor Tatsumi I of the Golden Dragon Empire, this war is over, there is no escape and no one coming to save you, with that in mind I could have easily ordered no quarter, no negotiation but that would be unfair and against all laws of civilized warfare and we are all Imperials not Barbarians from the North or savages from the South and as such since you are all at the end of the day Imperials I as a fellow Imperial ask you a question. Why fight and die for the ravings of a madman when you could join me and be richly rewarded, I'm the future and best hope of all that remains of our glorious nation, the Old Empire is dead and a new one is rising, my Empire, and everyone who joins me this day will have the chance to take part, if you wish to do so else be remembered as monsters: Berthold Gregor is a monster, a murderer of innocents and a slaver, Nikita Brezhnev is a monster, a coward who uses innocent people as shields and who wants to murder children and Boreth Falkland… HE'S THE WORST OF THEM ALL! The man wants nothing more than genocide of all people that disagree with him even slightly, he would kill you all if it benefited him, he's only interested in himself not one of your lives matters to him. For me however every life matters: all lives matter, but above all else our choices matter: everyone has the ability to choose their fate, nothing is set in stone but what is set is that I take any death that happens on my watch as my own fault, that is on me, also I reward those who fight for me, what has Boreth gotten you, nothing more than death and destruction along with defeat after defeat always running but now he is trapped no need to go down with him; but as I said it's your choice: you hold in your hands a weapon and you can choose whom it will be used by: a brave dragon or a craven manticore, which are you?!" Tatsumi declared.

For the next moment there was silence but then some troops began to break ranks, the two generals to either side of Boreth turned to Tatsumi and both women handed him their ceremonial daggers. "I accept your offer Emperor Tatsumi, your father was a good man and my father spoke highly of him before Honest had him beheaded for sedition, all because he refused to hand me and my sisters over to him as hostages" the blue haired general Mitsuki replied.

"I side with you my Emperor; you are right we are not savages and Boreth took savages into his army! We as true imperials should not fight alongside those who have raped and murdered our people for centuries!" the blonde Natasha replied in a northern provincial accent, the two then crossed over to him.

"TRAITORS!" Boreth yelled and retreated behind the line, Tatsumi and his entourage left, no one but Tatsumi noticed that in the confusion of red uniformed soldiers leaving the hill one purple-haired officer was going up it shadowing Boreth's trail.

Shortly… General Natasha and General Mitsuki rode at Tatsumi's side, the troops who shared their views followed them and Tatsumi's entourage. Tatsumi took a breath then winced, hairs standing up on the back of his next and life flashing his instincts told him death was inbound. "RUN!" Tatsumi yelled, those surrounding him did so and those who hadn't heard his warning ran soon after they heard the loud crack of energy and an explosion disintegrated a company of soldiers who lagged behind, at this those who hadn't been running ran but again some didn't run fast enough and another crackling bolt of energy struck and dozens more soldiers fried to cinders. "MURSAK!" Boreth's loud voice echoed. "Get behind the lines, take a respite and recover your energy, fresh troops and my honor guard will lead the way" Tatsumi ordered Natasha and Mitsuki who yelled their orders out to their subordinates

Tatsumi turned towards his front line and signaled with Valruost, the soldiers advanced and his honor guard advanced rapidly to protect him, the last minute defectors fled behind the rapidly advancing lines which moved at full speed to recover their stamina, while Tatsumi and his honor guard joined the center of the formations leading them forward as the lines met and they rushed the hill not bothering to skirmish as Boreth wasn't giving them the chance. Line met and Tatsumi and those at his side lost themselves in the carnage

Above the carnage from a tower Boreth stood extending his staff his eyes green pupiless eyes "DIE: MURSAK!" Boreth declared and another green surge of energy came down and this time hundreds died, Boreth was alone in this endeavor he had sent all of his followers into battle to seek whatever death they thought best for them leaving him with about five trained guards, soon to be none.

Suddenly a door to the tower opened and the guards looked to see a solitary soldier with purple hair, who looked at them with smile before drawing a pair of Daggers. "Chancellor an assassin!" one guard yelled.

"Kill whoever it is!" he ordered not bothering to turn until he heard the first yell which disrupted his focus, he turned and noted his guards being ruthlessly slaughtered by a single person and with lightning speed, he barely had enough time to get his guard up before the remainder were slaughtered by the assassin whom he now had a good look at, she was dressed in a red army uniform jacket and cap which she tossed that aside revealing underneath a carapace of light purple and fuchsia Teigu plate armor as she sheathed the daggers resting her hands on the most bizarre weapon hilt Boreth had every seen, that being what looked like the handle of a giant pair of scissors with a panda sticker in the center where the handles met.

"Who are you?" Boreth asked perplexed as he had never met any Night Raid operatives outside Najenda, Tatsumi and the ones that had come with them for their week stay in Zartek.

"Your death: I'm sorry" Sheele replied with a frown and drew Extase from its sheath and lunged at him, Boreth dodged and readied himself for the melee. "You've been marked for death, as Guildmaster of the Order I've accepted the contract and taken it upon myself to fulfill it I'm sorry that I have to take your life but it is our way and you have to die for the future safety of our world" Sheele commented icily and was surprised by Boreth's parrying with his staff.

"I've heard of the Order of the Sorrowful Ones, is Tatsumi such a coward that he sends an assassin to kill me?" Boreth replied, Sheele smirked baring her teeth.

"No, he is not, he is merely preoccupied with your army and for you sake I hope you prove a capable opponent, I'd hate for the leader of the 'mighty' Revolutionary Army to be witling" Sheele taunted, Boreth lunged she parried and then adopted her defensive stance.

"Ophir: Blade of Wind!" Boreth declared an the staff turned into a Halberd and the two began the melee.

Elsewhere in the battle… "FOREWARD!" Aria yelled, her face partially obscured by her helmet as she led her flanking force, the RA soldiers on the flanks were lightly armored up close but they had very good positions, fortunately the armor of Aria and her soldiers held up as they charged into the jaws of the enemies frontline. "Razordawn: Rip flesh!" Aria yelled and slashed with her Teigu Rapier, the swift strike cut cleanly thru three armored RA soldiers as if they had been paper; to her left Air shadowed her while Bulat loomed large and proud over the RA soldiers, some of which took one look at the Hundred Man Slayer in his Teigu battle armor and ran where others charged towards him hoping to make their name, a freshly minted brigadier rebel general among them. That General was the first to die impaled by Incursio's spear and behind him came five more rebels who were shishkabobed and flung aside with speed. To Aria's right came four frenzied northerners who had charged into battle naked their bodies covered with runes and hair dyed red with blood came towards her, Aria noted their great axes smirked "A possible challenge" she thought.

"Noctis Wave: Cloak!" Aria declared and vanished from the sight of the four berserkers who looked around in confusion crashed into each other and as they got up they then suddenly they began to drop down dead, the first with a brutal slice across his neck, the second with his arm hewn off and guts torn open, the third died as his skull was cut in half and the last in hazy rage was cut down by vertical slice down his spine which was followed up by a horizontal chop thru his midsection. Aria then reappeared, as a shriek of rage was heard by another northerner, this one she recognized as their leader Vamu Saika who was angry that she had just slaughtered his personal bodyguards and he charged towards her with a Greatsword and clad in imposing northern battle armor, Aria side-stepped the charge then had to parry and counter slash before launching a probing strike.

This would have been an amazing personal duel the Angel Empress against the last Northern stylized King; opt word being would have been because as Vamu's rage had caused him to charge Aria he found himself ignoring someone else. That someone else was a 13-year-old lavender haired girl named Air Grundel who lunged at him from his side her leap going at his face like an attacking wolf and drove a dagger with two rapid strikes into both eyes blinding him. "AGAAGH!" Vuma shrieked and dropped his sword in his pain, Air didn't stop her attack with that and she outstretched her hand to Aria's shock as lightning cracked forth and tore into Vuma; the shock was enough to kill him but she kept blasting him with electrical energy until he was dust and Air was nearly attacked from the rear by Vuma's two younger brothers who had seen him fall, both brothers however before they could reach her were felled by Bulat, the older of the two with a spear to the throat and the later by having his head smashed in Bulat's Teigu armor clad grip, he then yelled out and charged thru remaining northern soldiers, as Aria noted a barrage of ice shards fell reinforcing soldiers as she saw Esdeath soar overhead on her Wyvern.

"This is going to be a bloody day" Aria thought then charged once more into the fray as a lone soldier tried running, no it was an officer and Aria wasn't going to let that officer escape especially not with general's braid on his uniform, the general clutched at his chest as he stumbled over a loose rock he then turned to see Aria blocking his escape.

"You may kill me this day, but the Revolution lives on: I'm but one of many eggs broken to make it come true! Just like you Aria Grundel!" General Brezhnev yelled and drew his saber, he knew he was doomed but he would at least die fighting: Aria waited for him to make the first move.

"That's Empress Aria Gildenstrom, the Capital Angel of Death to you Nikita Brezhnev! You wanted me and my parents dead my beloved Tatsumi told me EVERYTHING about you and Boreth's schemes! Expect your death to be excessive and agonizing as YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE!" Aria replied and easily countered a rushed strike and sliced the sword arm of her opponent off, Brezhnev grit his teeth and pulled out a pistol and fired at point blank range, the shots because of his accuracy and because Aria's battle armor was actually Dwarven Mithril from older days bounced off uselessly and the magazine emptied, he then grabbed a grenade from his side but before he could bring it to his mouth to yank the pin out with his teeth a gunshot fired from nearby by Tsukushi tore his hand to bits and Aria sliced his legs out from beneath him by slicing his ankles, she then drew one of her kukris and sliced up his guts. "Die in your filth! Die you monster in human skin! Die in your black blood!" Aria yelled her visage fully demonic and with a brutal slice from her rapier cut his liver in half, dark blood poured out of the gaping wound, Aria then closed his eyes the hard way with two swift stabs to both sockets, Brezhnev let out no scream but a guttural "UGH!" as life left him and his soul went to hell Aria then stomped his face to a pulp with a plate clad boot.

With Tatsumi… Boreth's honor guards charged with both of Boreth's two generals at their head, Tatsumi charged forward leading his soldiers both familiar faces and others people he hardly knew but all were united in purpose and following him, the two generals readied heavy machine guns that conventionally should have been mounted on a stand instead of that were being carried by the two grown men, these guns had a sizable amount of rounds ready to break their charge.

Those rounds were never fired instead, a barrage of arrows came from sky above piercing thru the two men and a few more behind, the two were down and their deaths didn't panic the honor guard. "Icarus: Star's End Salvo!" Sayo yelled from above her armor shining white amid the blood stained fields and she fired away hundreds of arrows as she used her trump card, the arrows tore down and thru the honor guard killing them all to a man, while panicked RA soldiers charged knowing that it was either die fighting or die on a cross, when faced with the option of dying quickly in an unholy sabot of a fight or dying slowly and in an agonizing quite public fashion over a few days most soldiers chose that fate. Tatsumi then noted a wagon which had Boreth's killing machine and casually flung a fire ball from Smaug at it in line with his promise, the fire consumed the contraption and the wagon along with a nearby ammo cache and about four or five rebel soldiers who had been using it for cover. Tatsumi then soldiered on towards the main tower where he knew Boreth and Sheele would be fighting.

Inside the watchtower… "It cannot end like this! No! Years of careful planning, years of fortunes spent, my dreams of the new glorious nation can't die here!" Boreth yelled and sliced towards Sheele who he was barely keeping up with. "I've seen your type before Assassin! He was an outcast and he provided me the labor to run my family's mines at a dirt-cheap price sold me a couple not to much like you from Trader Town I sold them to a couple friends of mine who wanted pleasure slaves when they were no use to me in my mines one of them had a ugly pair of glasses like yours; just so you know you and all the other purple-hairs would have been worked to death there but I see now that I'll have no such thing! You Daughter of a Whore and Whore of a Tyrant!" Boreth yelled in fury against Sheele.

"What were their names?!" Sheele asked angrily.

"They were trash the husband anyway, some man named Joris but the woman's name was Kii and I enjoyed having her warm my bed after her shifts in the mines!" Boreth replied and noted Sheele's utter anger.

"THEY WERE MY PARENTS!" Sheele yelled and unleashed a rapid flurry of attacks, Sheele's anger was on full display and her strikes came quicker as she pushed him towards the balcony once more, then she yelled something in a language Boreth didn't recognize and Extase glew bright with blue light, this sudden brightness was enough it blinded Boreth leaving him completely vulnerable and Sheele opened Extase's scissor blades and closed them on Boreth's arm amputating the limb and breaking his guard before drawing one of her daggers and delivering it thru the ceremonial helm into his temple. Boreth looked at her some life still left in him. "I'm sorry" Sheele replied and sliced him clean in half with Extase and decapitating him on the backswing, his staff fell from his lifeless hands as he upper body fell backwards as his lower body fell forward. "Agma Ka Videkk Akar" Sheele chanted and grabbed the severed head still in the helmet as Tatsumi and the Four Champions rushed in covered in blood. "It's over" Sheele replied and sheathed Extase, her armor was stained with blood and she now stood smiling holding Boreth's head in her arms. "You can rest now" Sheele thought, memories of her parents from days in the past echoing in her head and most prominently one image of them smiling at her, she handed Boreth's head to Tatsumi, who took it and hugged her, they kissed and took to the tower balcony hold and held Boreth's head aloft.

"The Revolution is dead! the Golden Dragon Empire is born! Long Live the Golden Dragon Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom I!" Mez roared to the victorious soldiers who cheered "Long Live the Emperor" in return.

The following day… Tatsumi's victorious army marched into the city of Alkan with the Emperor himself at their head and with about 5,000 remaining rebels being marched in tow. The final victory at Mount Ya'ash had been overwhelming, on Tatsumi's side 2000 of his warriors had died but on the RA's side 11,000 rebels had fallen including Boreth Falkland whose head was marched at a front of the column and who's helmet Tatsumi had repaired and was now worn by Sheele to recognize her killing of him, she also carried his Teigu staff which had bonded to her in the aftermath. Also killed in the massacre was General Brezhnev whose body hung from a cross of brass being carried by Tatsumi's Royal guard alongside Boreth's two generals who's heads occupied pikes that were carried aloft by Sayo and Chelsea to cheers from the audience, along with a number of civilian leaders of the RA who at the last had been pushed into military service. However, they had taken alive a number of RA civilian leaders who had surrenders out of cowardice, in addition to General Berthold Gregor, known as 'the Butcher of Gallia' among other things and who was the highest ranking RA military officer still living, alongside a couple of captured RA leaders. But the most numerous captives and these numbered in the thousands were captured RA soldiers, diehards who stubbornly were believing in the cause to the last and like the rest of the captives Tatsumi needed to make an example of.

"Tatsumi victory is now yours now what are you going to do with it and more importantly what are you going to do to make sure this kind of revolt never happens again" Esdeath asked from beside him as she was carried aloft alongside him on the backs of their troops.

"First we will hold a Triumphal Parade to mark the end of this war and the heroic victory of our soldiers, secondly I want to hold a special ceremony for the hero of the hour, I'm going to have to give Sheele the highest honor possible, and in this case it will be Grand Dragon; the highest honor of our new Empire" Tatsumi explained. "As for the RA soldiers I want to make an example of them and their leaders, I want that example to be the most grandiose and over-top punishments possible to ensure we NEVER see the ideology and beliefs of Boreth Falkland again" Tatsumi explained.

"I can help you with the latter" Esdeath replied.

"No I need to devise this myself, you can offer some suggestions but it's on me as the leader of the Golden Dragon Empire to decide their fates; the soldiers however will share a different fate from the leaders as they are more numerous and unworthy of the fate that will befall their leaders so as such their punishment while still extreme will be lesser" Tatsumi explained, then thought on the matter: he had time to do so as the Triumphal Parade would come first and that was an easy matter as it was in progress, Sheele's ceremony could come later but after Triumphs it was customary in the old Empire to have the vanquished enemy dealt their doom and Tatsumi saw no need to change that tradition as certain elements of the Old Empire had a place in the Golden Dragon Empire and this was certainly one of them. "I'll make an example of them that no one will forget, monsters like them deserve to die and I'll make sure that they die in the most hellish manner possible" Tatsumi thought then conceived a brilliant plan for a display of punishment and execution in the cruelest and brazen way possible, then he smiled, Esdeath took a look at that smile and smiled too as she figured that her beloved had come up with the punishment.

"Do you want me to take part in this?" Aria asked Tatsumi presently.

"No but you can if you want to, you killed the worst monster they had Aria and that's enough for me, besides I've got some plans for afterwards, I need to spend time with you and our girls but also your sisters and Makoto, this battle was hard fought and you alongside Esdeath and them stood out from all the others and I'd like to speak in private but also plan for the future, as for Kyoko and Mishi I want to assure them that everything that happens in the aftermath of this war happens because we need prevent one like it from EVER happening again, this isn't about destroying an enemy it's about destroying an idea: ideas rarely die and this one needs to" Tatsumi explained.

That afternoon… "Bring forth their leaders" Tatsumi ordered and his retainers brought up the RA's leaders. "You men stand guilty of high crimes against the people of the Empire along with high treason and war crimes: as such you will face judgement, do any of you have anything to say before I decree your fate?" Tatsumi asked.

"I have something to say; you're no better than the old Empire, no better than the Prime Minister and all his dogs" A former assembly member rebuked, Tatsumi picked the man up, the frail man's breathing was panicked as Tatsumi gripped his throat.

"I'm better then Volgoth, I don't engage in wanton depravity, I don't eat my fellow human beings, I don't rape innocents, I don't murder indiscriminately, I hate killing and having to kill, I don't stand and let evil win nor do I lose sight of who I am, and most importantly I remain human Volgoth is no longer human, no longer Honest, Honest has been dead since before I was born, before my generation was born, only Volgoth remains: I am still only human, imperfect but capable of good where Volgoth desires only to commit evil and has no capacity for good whatsoever" Tatsumi responded, using the real name of his enemy for the first time in public. "For you however I have no mercy, you committed crimes against innocents, willingly welcomed murderers, robbers and rapists into your ranks, were willing to kill innocent children for your ideals and wipe out centuries of history for your own sick agenda, one that seeks to murder any who disagree: for your crimes I have only the most brutal of punishments in mind for you and for your soldiers lesser but still brutal ones to make sure that no one ever tries to take up your demented ideas ever again" Tatsumi replied. "To you I invite to your last meal, a feast of victory mine, but you won't have any of the food, no you won't even see the faces of the victorious eating or anything at all but darkness" Tatsumi explained. "Guards restrain them I'm going to put out their eyes!" Tatsumi ordered and the soldiers carried out this order two men restraining a condemned man while Tatsumi marched with dagger that had been taken off of the body of one of Boreth's two generals, he enthusiastically carved out the eyes and the sockets of the leaders of the RA blinding them, after words he had black cloth bands wrapped around the gaping holes in the front of their faces as they screamed in agony; he then had them taken to a platform he had constructed, while they couldn't see him they heard him as he lead them below it.

"This platform is my own design though Esdeath helped, the spikes which you cannot see are her idea; you see above this is a grand banquet table, large enough for 5000 people and seated for that many, the ceiling will lower the more people gather above; and when the table is filled the roof will be brought down on you who be restrained to this ground, the spikes will be driven into your body but you won't die from the spikes no you'll die from being crushed to death: crushed and forgotten by the victors because after this feast ends I'll have this chamber filled with molten lead: consider yourselves doomed, there is no escape and you're in the jaws of death" Tatsumi explained, he then had them bound with strong cords; except for General Gregor and the one man who had spoken out. "All of them except for you and the general will meet this fate I've got something special in mind for you" Tatsumi explained and had him lead out to the yells for mercy and rage from the condemned and they returned to the surface.

Tatsumi then came to another platform that was overlooking the feasting platform; the center piece was a grand wheel, Tatsumi ordered Gregor strapped to it. "Now that you are here you'll be broken soon but first I'm going to have your mouth nailed shut, I've heard you were found of killing my people in this fashion so you will meet the same end" Tatsumi explained, then was handed a hammer and nails as the soldiers held him the wheel, the first nails Tatsumi hammered into his hands and feet to keep him stuck to the wheel, the second set were hammered into his lips, the nails held his mouth shut and an additional third set were hammered into his cheeks about the area of the jawbones. "No more words from you Gregor; I don't think you'd have anything productive to say" Tatsumi explained then turned to the last leader; a man named Phyllis. "You will take part in my feast and be fed a special dish: Gold" Tatsumi explained.

The banquet and Sheele's ceremony followed after and Phyllis was the centerpiece of the table, Tatsumi was true to his word and had molten gold pour down the man's throat, as muffled screams came from below as he knew the spikes were doing their job. "Esdeath a toast to victory and the deaths of all the monsters in the Empire" Tatsumi commented.

"And a toast to you, the strongest" Esdeath replied and two chinked glasses, Tatsumi drink wine while Esdeath drank water as she insisted on to insure healthy offspring, Tatsumi was rather insistent on his beloved wives and lovers staying healthy during their pregnancies but Esdeath was devoted to making sure that her children came out strong and had tribal knowledge with regards to how her people did so and most importantly was the drinking of water and goat's milk, and the consumption of the finest of meats and grains.

"Aria will you do the honors with regards to the wheel? I can tell your wanting to have some fun" Tatsumi asked.

"Gladly, shame I won't hear him scream" Aria replied getting up and walking over to platform where the blinded and silent general hung from a wheel she then sent it spinning; the wheel spun as they dined, the screams from bellow ceased as the condemned had ran out of breath and accepted their doom and within an hour the feast concluded, however some of the condemned were still alive underneath.

"Pour the lead in there now" Tatsumi ordered and a lever was pulled, and lead was pumped in underneath, Tatsumi then left the doomed to their fates.

Later outside the city… A forest of crosses had been constructed and now occupied a valley outside Alkan. "For the crimes against the Empire and high treason I sentence all these traitors to hang by the cross to die and they will hang from it until their bones turn to dust, here a forest of corpses shall rest and mountains of Skulls shall mark the road to Alkan for centuries" Tatsumi decreed, the RA soldiers were stripped, scourged, and blinded before being hung from crosses their bodies nailed to them Tatsumi didn't stay to watch their doom it would take days he did however oversee the construction of mounds of skulls from the dead of the RA during after the battle, 10 large mountains were made and marked the valley of the Oubliette as the vale beneath Mount Ya'ash was now called. The bones that weren't skulls were carted off Tatsumi then ordered the construction of a monument from their bones an arch serving as a warning to those who defied his rule.

All this was done within the period of 5 hours, apart from the construction which would take weeks and be completed long after the Emperor had marched East in search of new allies to aid in the War that Mattered which was what Tatsumi called his new war, one war had ended but another had begun and the fate of the world was in the balance.

That evening… Tatsumi had gathered for a private dinner with those that he wanted to protect the most. "I'm glad that daddy is doing alright and wasn't hurt in all the nasty fighting" Mishi commented.

"I'm glad you two were nice and behaved while I was fighting" Tatsumi replied.

"Daddy why did you have all those people killed?" Kyoko asked seriously.

"Kyoko, they were bad people and, in my experience, the only way to keep bad people from doing bad things like they did ever again is to kill them, the dead cannot do anything as they don't move" Tatsumi explained. "Also an example had to be set so that more people didn't follow their path, people that may have otherwise been good and become evil because of bad examples: for example Kyoko you and Mishi will be good strong, kind, caring women someday and that is because you have me and your mothers to be examples for you, people follow examples it's in our nature and if you make sure that bad examples are punished hard enough then people won't take after them again" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm just scared daddy you may end up turning bad" Kyoko explained, Tatsumi hugged her and held her close to him and looked her in his eyes.

"Listen my little Kyoko, I will never be like those I've killed, I can't stand killing, the reason I fight is to stop the senseless killing: I wish I would never have to kill again Kyoko but as long as there are people that want to see all I love and cherish destroyed I have to fight and stop them from seeing those plans thru, but trust me Kyoko I've never let this change my core principles: I've not had to compromise them as they don't affect what happens to me anyway but even if they did I wouldn't change my beliefs for anything" Tatsumi replied.

"Even to keep me and everyone else safe?" Kyoko asked.

"I'd never have to because I will do everything to keep you safe as it is my first principle" Tatsumi explained.

"So, Makoto how many baddies did you kill" Air asked changing the subject.

"I lost count at about 30, how many did you kill Air?" Makoto asked.

"53 including the Vamu Saika, Nora was so proud of me" Air replied, chuckles came from round the table; Esdeath smiled at her bloodthirsty sister-in-law.

"That's nothing Air I killed-" Fal began to say when suddenly the room felt surprisingly warm and they heard the snap of a lock as the door to room was sealed by some fell magic; suddenly two intruders appeared; one clad in ruby-red armor the other a beauty of deceptive design.

"What a quaint gathering we have here Agrael and it looks like we have finally caught up with him" Lashara commented. "Boy are you a hard man to catch and quite a looker; I'll enjoy playing with you" Lashara commented looking at Tatsumi who had already drawn Valruost and stepped in front of Kyoko and Mishi.

"Demons! What do you want? And who are you?" Tatsumi questioned ready to fight.

"Demons? Oh you confuse us with brutal brainless creatures of rage and destruction, no my dear young Emperor we are Devils, in fact not even of the conventional nature, we were once like you, mortal: once I was a fair human queen who made a pact to charm all the young men of my domain to warm my bed, after I died I became what I am today and continue my ambitions while slaughtering the enemies of my liege lord Valtor Abaddon, my partner Agrael was once a powerful elven sorcerer who made a pact with those he couldn't control and as such he became what he is now and his true name is forgotten though I've always been known by mine Lashara, Arch-Duchess of the Sixth Circle of the Black Pit and ruler of Helvidia one of the cutest little kingdoms on the far side of the tenth pentagram of Hell" Lashara explained. "But for you we are you foes; your world is going to be part of the domain of Lord Valtor thru his representative Volgoth Ugor, Arch-Demon of House Abaddon and such we are bound to serve his commands and he wishes you and those you treasure to be brought back to him but I think he'll be happy with you dead, I'll enjoy playing with you" Lashara explained and drew a whip, Agrael readied his staff.

The fight that followed was confusing and intense, as the two Arch-Devil easily launched an attack, Aria was knocked aside and knocked unconscious by Agrael's staff as she attempted to use Noctis Wave's cloak while Lashara went immediately for Tatsumi knocking Esdeath to the side where Esdeath found herself engaged by Agrael in single combat. Lashara used a spell to bound Tatsumi and mesmerized his mind as she took him to the bed. Esdeath saw this and tried to overpower Agrael but the demon was not going to let her have any ground: fortunately both demons had ignored the children in the room and this proved to be a fatal error: Makoto drew his sword after coming out of his fear and had to pick who to attack and this case he decided to attack the enemy with his back to him picking up Smaug, which allowed him to use it, and driving the Teigu blade into Agrael's back thru the demonic armor causing him to drop his staff.

"Katris Val" Esdeath declared and the Devil was frozen into solid ice so cold as to freeze a demon and with a slash from his sword Makoto shattered the demon. Lashara had in the meantime removed her armor with a spell and was getting ready to mount a stripped Tatsumi when a javelin pierced her back, she shrieked then phased out of existence. The two Arch Devils were defeated and Tatsumi was left on his bed naked and confused as to what just happened and what to do next.


	66. Chapter 48

Chapter 48: Treasures of the East

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Zarteck one week later… For Tatsumi victory had come in the first war now it was key to win the next war: The War that Mattered. The reason it was the War that mattered was because if it wasn't won all of Eden would be doomed to fall to demons and all that he fought for would be destroyed. With that in mind he needed allies, the Golden Dragon Army was large, but the demons would outnumber any force that could be mustered by his followers, what he needed was more manpower and ways to even the field.

With that in mind he'd headed to Zarteck and had plans to march east at the head of the diplomatic expedition, he'd be protected by a small army of about 600 elite professional troops and it would be augmented by the camp following with irregulars who could fight if need be; however the focus was a diplomatic mission and with this in mind he needed to keep the force small enough not to cause any unnecessary conflicts but large enough to protect the sizeable amount of diplomatic gifts and trade goods he'd be bringing along with him. "The first step in Imperial reunification is complete" Tatsumi explained to his council, his counselors were those he trusted most, his wives, but also a fair few relatives by marriage like Baldrin Gassarnel who served as his Minister for foreign affairs. "Now my loyal friends and subjects we will being step two: that step is to gather allies and resources for the War that Matters: now I've kept quiet for now about this but as I recently made known after our victory at the battle of Mount Ya'ash the real enemy is gathering his strength, we are at war for nothing less the very survival of all life on Eden itself and perhaps beyond; an enemy that our world hasn't faced in over 4000 years: Demons" Tatsumi explained, this had been made clear who exactly they'd be fighting from then on but Tatsumi hadn't elaborated on how dire the situation was and so he told them about the scale of the threat and how large the forces arranged against them were. "To put it simply in order to beat this enemy we'll need an army the likes of which our world has never seen and one drawn from all the known-lands; extinction is the price for failure and I don't intend on going quietly nor does anyone in this room, so in order to face this enemy we'll need allies, money to pay for the costs of war and reconstruction and to right the wrongs of the old Empire and the failures of my ancestors: with that in mind I've had Dorothea bring me maps and books relating to everything that we know about the lands beyond the Empire that we can reach, along with the people of these lands and the mistakes of the Old Empire which we need to set right: what we have witnessed over the past few weeks was an Empire's End, the end of an Old Empire and hopefully the start of a new one that will be better for the world, because if this new Golden Dragon Empire fails the world will fail with it: I cannot overstate how much is at stake as we are the best chance for our world's survival and how important it is not to give up because if we do then everyone on Eden dies or will wish they were dead" Tatsumi explained. "Cosmina, Dorothea: the map" Tatsumi ordered and the two empresses brought over a large map about the size of one that would usually hang on a wall and laid it out flat on the large table.

"This is a map of the known world of Eden, more specifically let us focus on our own continent that of Adonai, it is large and vast: and home to many different peoples and races" Dorothea explained, then drew attention to the center of the map: the Empire as it had been around the time Tatsumi had first left Karsawa. The Empire itself was by far the largest nation on the map let alone the planet and was made even larger by the fact that the Northern half of Adonai had been conquered and absorbed by the Empire; the landmass that the Empire offered was over half of the supercontinent of Adonai's land mass. (Author's note: the Northern lands cover an area about the size of Canada and Alaska combined, and this about 20% of the continent, so my fellow Earth readers let's just put this into scale, Eden is about the size of Neptune with its largest moon Eve (Eostia) being slightly larger than Earth and other two moons Adam and Able being the size of Venus, and Eden has three large supercontinents, 8 normal continents and several large island archipelagos comparable in size to Indonesia if not larger with some islands being as big as subcontinents: in short Eden is a very large planet and has large amounts of land to cover, the Empire may be the largest nation on the planet but its actual territory would only amount about 5% of Eden's total land masses, also it isn't the only world superpower on the planet however it is the most advanced and has technology few of the other nations can match also I'll add that because the planet is so large the people of the planet don't even comprehend how big it is and the only way to fully accurately chart the planet would be from orbit)

"There are a number of nations that are independent from Imperial control and while they may have been hostile in the pass to the old Empire with a New one being formed they could be possible allies even vessels, the exact strength of the demon host is unknown but if historical records are accurate and from the few surviving historical accounts there was an Empire who was based on their strength which spanned most of the known world if not far beyond and as such the amount of forces needed to maintain an Empire of that size would have to greater than anything we at the moment possess, with that in mind many allies will be needed and we have a time limit: scouts have reported that ruins from that ancient Empire are putting out strange lights and demons have been sighted, it can be theorized that some sort of nexus is at the heart of each of these ruins and that when activated they expand the range of the demons and no doubt increase the numbers that can materialize in this world and at some point they will activate enough to reach a critical mass and overwhelm everything with numbers alone" Dorothea explained then sighed as if pained.

"In order to stop their spread and by more time to gather allies and in order to do that, as much as it pains me to do so to millenniums worth of history, we must destroy any of the black stone ruins we encounter to prevent these nexi from being used, however the exact number in existence is unknown and how many they'd need to activate to cover our planet in demonic hordes is equally so, so I think we have about three months to stop this, any longer and the demonic forces will activate nexi that are out of our reach and likely reach the threshold needed to unleash doom on all of Eden, with that in mind we need to gather as many allies as we can and destroy any and all ruins we can find: they are made of an oily black stone and can be easily recognized by the fact no wildlife goes near them and plants don't grow near them; however the proper amount of explosives should be enough to destroy them or at least damage them beyond repair" Dorothea elaborated.

"With all this in mind we need to gather allies and restore fractured Imperial territory, according to Esdeath the last time when demons threatened our world and served this dark empire of the distant pass they were defeated by an alliance of all free peoples with the Dwarves, Giants and Lizardmen providing the sheer power and forces needed to defeat them, so above all else we need to restore those ancient alliances and get them on side: with their power behind the far more numerous peoples of all Adonai we'd stand a fighting chance and be able to retake Melitine, Melitine is the key to the whole plan, we need to defeat Volgoth, if he falls the entire demon force will have no leader and return to the hell from which they came" Tatsumi explained, then looked at the map. "The Eastern Kingdoms are the first allies we should court with the Dwarves that live in the East and the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth being the top priorities with them being the most advanced and powerful forces in the East, the Eastern Kingdoms are the closest to our position and from what Dorothea told me of her travels to the East have more of those black ruins than anywhere else she's been, destroying those ruins and getting the Eastern Kingdoms on side will allow us to buy crucial time and gain more allies. After we handle the East we will head towards the North, the Giants are going to be powerful and useful allies against the coming threat also there are Dwarves there as well as the Yetis who'd be keen to join our cause with Esdeath's help, then we will head west and get the Western Kingdoms and the Dwarves onside along with retaking the western provinces and driving back or hopefully killing Teketh and his army, before we lastly corner around and retake the south and get the Lizardmen on side, once we have gathered our strength and destroyed as many ruins as possible we will march on Melitine and stop Volgoth for good; this is the best path to victory and because we'll have to cover a lot of ground the entire journey we will have to quick as we are on a time limit" Tatsumi explained. "Any suggestions because this plan has been gone over by me, Najenda, and Esdeath and we agree it is the best course of action, so it will be the base on which we operate but I want to know any advice you have to make it better" Tatsumi asked.

The following additions took about an hour to hammer out: Tatsumi also gave orders to retake and restore imperial lands by diplomacy at first and if necessary force: however the former was the focus and Tatsumi had a good deal of capital to spend with his recent victories so even if he wasn't at a given location his name had enough merit to convince people to join him without being there.

After the meeting Tatsumi went about gathering his party for the journey eastward, Nymeria and her friend Alyssa were necessary for diplomacy with the Tsuwangdani, his inner circle were also a guarantee as were his protectors but he wanted to select a few more people, as much as he wanted to take all those he cared for with him it was necessary to have some of his friends and lovers to stay in the Empire and act as his representatives to help rally the Empire to his banner and to that he had to leave behind those who had gravitas and skill with diplomacy: these included generals such as Lydia and Natsuhi but also included closer friends like Bulat and lovers like Pais and Roxanna in addition to his relatives like his mother Akame and sister Nessa, even Makoto would have to stay as he was perhaps his greatest representative being the former Emperor. So with that in mind he choose the following from his harem to accompany him: Naomi for her Teigu and her smarts, Sayo because of their longstanding friendship and because she'd insist on following him wherever he went, Clementine for the same reasons, Chelsea because she was extremely persuasive and very good with words thus making her a prime diplomate, Leone due to her prowess, Gin for her sword smarts, Tsukushi for comfort along with her marksmanship, and lastly Cassandra due to her eastern heritage and ties in the east that may have some aid with speaking with Easterners that were of the same race as her. Mine would have to stay to help with diplomacy as would Lilianna for the same reason.

But five women were key to his plan, Dorothea for her knowledge of the world, which was second to none in the Empire, she also brought along Mimi and Cosmina for support, and would be needed to guide his way. Najenda for her inspiring words and ability to rally even the most stubborn people to his side, and Esdeath for her unrivaled skills as a military commander and they ability to intimidate some people that may otherwise refuse to aid him: it was a matter of diplomatic balance between respect and fear, between the two he considered respect to be the best option as it made more friends but fear had its merits and if he couldn't be respected fear was an option he'd use because he had to if nothing else though it would be less fear of him and more fear of Esdeath. Then there was Spear his protector and closest comforter who'd never leave his side and would be along with Seryu in charge of his security which would include all three of his bodyguard units (The Four Rakshasa Champions, Elite Seven and Three Sacred Swords) which would always be at his side. And of course, lastly there was his Angel, Aria who he was determined to have at his side wherever he went and who gave him that endless reserve of will and resolve to soldier on even when faced with the worst of hardships.

Planning out his next moves required him to think and best way Tatsumi could think was by training himself to be better and as such he headed to the training grounds where on his way to the melee grounds he found Sayo and Remus practicing their archery and unfortunately for the practice targets with their Teigu bows. Remus's Teigu bow as brand new and a recent addition to her arsenal: the bow was called L'Arc Qui Ne Faut which had an endless supply of energy arrows like Icarus but could fire multiple homing shots at the same time. It had belonged to the Revolutionary Army General Nuge, an overconfident military commander who rushed into battle when his subordinates begged him not to and who had led the RA forces in Malaquo. Nuge had died a rather ignominious death as during the battle of Kalaqui woods he had been killed by a rather lucky goblin archer that shot him in the back of his head during the start of that particular three-way fight. Remus had bonded with and taken his bow after the fight. Despite his training her in the art of the sword which was made as a defensive tactic she was a far more deadly and skilled archer giving Sayo a run for her money. "Hello, my lovely wives" Tatsumi greeted, Sayo and Remus turned to face him.

"Hello Tatsumi-kun" Sayo greeted and ran over to kiss him, she wore a white and black Gi for her archery training and looked cute as ever and even more so with her new hairstyle of two large buns on either side of her head beneath the ears, she sported her butterfly pendent as normal but she now wore a silver and pearl crown on her forehead as part of her new title of Empress. Remus was dressed similarly to Sayo, but she wore hair in a solitary pony-tail similar to Seryu's and her Gi was yellow green like her eyes, and her crown was made of gold and adorned with sapphires instead of pearls.

"Hi Tatsumi!" Remus shouted and put away her bow and hugged him and began kissing him affectionately on his cheek.

"Hey, do you two mind sparing with me? I'm in need of a couple of sparing partners and you two could always use some more skill with the sword" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, gladly Tatsumi, you know how much I love practicing with you, speaking of swords you think you could after practice give me and Remus time with your other sword" Sayo replied seductively and kissed him on the cheek.

"Gladly it will be good to kill time while waiting for the expedition to get ready for the march east" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm looking forward to it, you know when we first left our village I never expected to get this far, hard to believe a few months ago we were just normal country-folk and now look at us, you an Emperor and me one of your many Empresses about to journey to lands we never dreamed of visiting, trust me if my little brother had suggested this would be what would happen to us if we left Karsawa I'd have laughed all the way to Melitine" Sayo replied

"I know, you really though don't need to rub it into Ieyasu that you're older then him, you told me its only by three minutes" Tatsumi replied.

"Please Tatsu-bunny, Ieyasu acts younger than he is and will always be my little brother because of his immaturity. Speaking of he's got the easy job, keep Angela and Melitine safe, that giant shield does most of the work for him and he gets to spend his time goofing off and banging Angela: I'm jealous" Sayo replied adding in Esdeath's nickname for him as Sayo loved using it openly now that Ieyasu was nowhere to overhear it and out of affection for Esdeath.

"And what we're doing isn't easy? Besides you get to bang me whenever you feel inclined to" Tatsumi joked, Sayo laughed slapped him playfully on his rump then stopped herself.

"If you think we got the easy task I worry that you may have hit your head heard when I wasn't looking" Sayo replied, Tatsumi hugged her.

"I know it's going to be a hard task but remember why we're doing it: it's for us all, I'm not just saving the world because I'm the hero I'm doing it for those I love and those I'm sworn to protect; but ultimately to make sure that everyone who has died because of me not being there for the Empire and who has died because of pointless killing and Volgoth's tyranny didn't die in vain: I want to change our world for the better, I always said there is always good in people and I want to bring that good to forefront of everyone on Eden, to do things that everyone can be happy for and that I can be the person I need to be" Tatsumi explained.

"You know you shouldn't aspire to be something you don't want to be, be who you want to be Tatsumi, your choices are your own and don't let other people decide them for you" Sayo replied, Tatsumi kissed her.

"Sayo I want to be the one who changes our world for the better, for my children to live in peace and for the evils that have ravaged our world for centuries to be put to an end, if not for good to be pushed to a point where if they happen it will be something that incites outrage and is surprise rather than being just the way the world works: to change our world for the better and to allow myself and everyone else to be at peace and hopefully never have to kill again" Tatsumi explained.

"And that is why I love you Tatsumi, you care so much for other people that you're willing to do the right thing for the right reasons even when it's not the most practical thing to do, and more importantly you don't let others turn you into what you don't want to be" Sayo replied and kissed him romantically.

"Hey what about me?" Remus replied interrupting the kiss. "Don't I get a kiss too?" Remus replied, both of them chuckled and Tatsumi let go of Sayo and kissed Remus in kind, she blushed cherry red.

"Don't think I forgot about you Remus, now let's practice, I love you both equally but if the power of love was enough to win every battle we'd have already stopped Volgoth and have peace, at the end of the day it will be decided by whoever prepared the most and that caution will win the day" Tatsumi replied and the three of them went to the sparing grounds picked up practice blades and began practicing, none of them went easy on the other and it was two versus one. Sayo was easily though the weak link in this sparing fight and it scared Tatsumi, the fact that the person who had been with him the longest and who he had loved from childhood was so vulnerable if backed into melee alarmed him greatly and he resolved to train her to be as great as him if not better so that if the unthinkable in a fight were to happen and somebody managed to close the distance Sayo would make them regret it. With that in mind Tatsumi made sure during the spar to focus on Sayo and keep Remus at a distance, this was both a practical and tactical move, Remus was by far the superior swordswoman having been trained by him for longer and trained in use of the sword during her membership in the Group of Terror and had been raised as a fighter where Sayo had learned merely what was needed for life in the Empire, granted while Night Raid training and missions had ironed out a LOT of Sayo's flaws as a warrior they didn't cover all her bases and Tatsumi wanted to make sure that she along with everyone he loved and cared for was prepared for the worst.

"Sayo's sword counters favor her left hand, but she doesn't counter as well with her right which means I'll attack there" Tatsumi thought and launched a flurry of blows that disarmed Sayo before turning to deal with Remus. "Sayo! Your guard is too focused on your dominant hand, if someone closes the distance they can go right for that gap in your defense" Tatsumi remarked then engaged Remus fully, that fight took way longer as Remus was very much a prodigy with the blade and was coming into her own with regards to it and was fast becoming the best of his Sacred Swords in a melee, to a point where they were even. Until Tatsumi decided to break out a technique he hadn't taught her yet and easily disarmed her. "You're getting extremely good Remus, you really gave me a good run, but I haven't taught you all I know and even I don't know all could know about swordplay, trust me though you are a prodigy and soon I'll run out of stuff to teach you" Tatsumi explained.

"What about me?" Sayo asked.

"You I have a lot to teach, I know you're the best archer I know but I don't want to take the chance of some lucky enemy closing the distance" Tatsumi replied.

"Please I'll just fly away" Sayo joked.

"Take this seriously, I know most enemies you kill will be ones you've fired at from above but I've learned that neglecting ANYTHING with regards to fighting is liability that anyone who is shrewd enough to exploit that weakness will do so: besides would you rather I teach you or have Esdeath teach you" Tatsumi replied, Sayo frowned.

"Fine you win, you're being overcautious though" Sayo replied.

"I've learned that you can't just throw caution to the wind and expect to come out alive and I can't be everywhere to protect everyone I love at the same time, no I need to be sure every one of you is on par with or better than me when it comes to a fight so Sayo you'll be learning from me everything I've learned from Spear, Esdeath, Merraid- everyone who's taught me how to fight, you'll learn all the stuff they taught me and I'm not going to let up until you and everyone else who follows me into danger knows how to fight as well as me or any of the others who've instructed me" Tatsumi replied, Sayo chuckled.

"Hey no need to give me a monologue Tatsumi-kun, I was just kidding; now let's continue our sparring and afterwards I think you, me and Remus should go somewhere and relax, I heard from Lydia that there some interesting sights to see here in Zarteck and I'd love to see some of the ones you've saw win you first came here if you know what I mean?" Sayo replied, Tatsumi smiled, Sayo readied her practice blade. "Alright now show me how you really fight!" Sayo shouted and charged and thus their sparring resumed. They sparred for a good 20 more minutes before someone else decided to interject herself into that sparring session. " Ahc!" Tatsumi grunted as he parried a sword strike from another practice blade that had come at him from the rear.

"Not bad for watching your back" Shastavi commented Tatsumi turned to face her then sidestepped Sayo's attack and parried a blow from Remus with his left-hand blade.

"I've had the habit of doing so Shastavi, long before I ever had a bodyguard" Tatsumi replied then disarmed both Sayo and Remus. "Timeout" Tatsumi ordered, all three stood ready, Tatsumi waited for them to relax their stances. "Sayo, Remus, you two are done for now, Shastavi I want to see what you are capable off one on one against a fighter of equal skill, I've seen your fights with the traitors but they didn't have any real skilled Blademasters or troops; nope what I want to see is how you preform of someone who shares your fighting style, in short me your husband and Emperor, the one you are sworn to protect and if you can fight as good as if not better than me you'll fulfill that duty perfectly" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm up for that, you've got no idea what I'm capable of and if you think my father is formidable as an opponent let's just say he taught me everything I know and then some" Shastavi replied then grabbed Remus's practice sword and gave no room for hesitation, Tatsumi had to move quickly to counter her strike. One sword locked his left blade and he used his right to counter her other blade, the two swords clashed and a whirlwind of blows happened; every second strikes hit and ferocious ones at that, both combatants did so at speeds that Sayo and Remus quickly noted that they couldn't tell who was faster let alone who had the advantage. This indecisive bought continued for a good while as neither Tatsumi or Shastavi could break the other's guard and both only grinned as they both knew that this was very, very tight. It kept going like this for a few more minutes when Tatsumi decided to change style into that favored by Sheele and the Sorrowful Ones, which while it confused Shastavi didn't hamper her defense and she adapted to change rather quickly. Tatsumi then changed styles again, this time using Oarburgh swordplay techniques for duel blade wielding, again Shastavi adapted her defense and Tatsumi had to change once more as Shastavi had become an immovable opponent something that he hadn't really encountered outside of his spars with Esdeath and Kurome: and it kept getting more frustrating.

"I've studied many fighting styles from a young age, I had to Tatsumi in order to survive and have my father think I was worth keeping, you think your life has been hard mine has been harder" Shastavi remarked, Tatsumi then adjusted his plan and let her attack him, it was a bold feint and Tatsumi used it as a way of leveraging her defense against her, this allowed him to study her blade technique for weaknesses and found just one; minor but there and adjusted his style again but only this time he didn't use any style he had learned but one he had created himself in that moment and on the fly and this technique was designed with one thing in mind turning his opponent's offense into his defense. With this adjustment to his style the fight nearly turned to his favor but Shastavi still held him back but this time the defense was weakened and with a series of swift counter strikes he disarmed her of one blade and used his spare blade to pin her by the hair into the wall mat as he disarmed her of the other weapon, pinning her down with his body wait. "I- I yield" Shastavi replied, Tatsumi kissed her on the lips.

"That's for giving me the hardest fight I've had since I fought Honest, also for showing me that you indeed are able to protect yourself and me with full ability" Tatsumi explained.

"Oh really?" Shastavi replied and began to wrestle with him, this was a mistake as Tatsumi had a good deal more body strength applied against her at the moment and she got for her efforts her right arm pinned behind her shoulder while her left arm was pinned to the ground. "Damn, you- you are way overprepared" Shastavi replied.

"When you train with Sheele you tend to learn to expect the unexpected and to expect the expected to masquerade as unexpected, also for the wrestling moves I learned that from Gin, you're not the only person who is trained in the Elite Seven's fighting style here" Tatsumi replied, Shastavi grinned sticking her tongue out at him.

"Please you think I didn't know that; still though that was impressive, and you are the only person who's managed to beat me fair and square in a spar, well that wasn't my father" Shastavi replied.

"I'm not him, speaking of Teketh I'd appreciate you training me how to face him so that when we do end up running into him in the West, we'll be ready to give him the takedown he deserves" Tatsumi explained.

"Gladly, now I want in on what happens next now that you're done sparing for the day" Shastavi replied.

"Alright, I guess we can have a foursome" Tatsumi replied, the sweat on his brow flowed and he wiped it off.

Shortly… Tatsumi's first instinct after the sparring was to immediately get cleaned up: Zarteck had a number of natural springs that served for both private and public bathhouses and spas, but that wasn't what he had in mind, no the governor's palace which had been given to him as temporary dwelling had its own spring and that was both rumored to have the best water for baths as it had certain minerals that helped strengthen body and tend to injuries. The first question Tatsumi asked every time he arrived in a location is where was the best hot spring in the area, as per his normal habits of bathing and- using them for more secluded engagements, he had taken the hot springs near Night Raid HQ for granted but fortunately throughout the Empire large amounts of these geothermal wonders were available for his personal use.

The spring in question Tatsumi found himself in had been worked with to form a private bathing room and the tub for it was comparable to the kind of pool he was used to with his old stomping grounds near Melitine. His Wives laid the towels aside an helped him remove his attire then each other with their clothing, Tatsumi laid back in the side of the pool on.

"Relax, Tatsumi-kun, let us take of you" Sayo said seductively and in soothing voice before allowing him to rest his head on her breast and begin drinking, Remus and Shastavi tended to his groin, the erection Tatsumi had worked up was rather large and begged for attention; Shastavi began sucking the tip while Remus tended to his balls; Sayo moaned as Tatsumi drank from her right breast and fondled her left with his right hand as his left rested on her ample rump. The blowjobs bellow continued until Sayo steered his length into her rectum and she pushed him flat, Shastavi mounted Tatsumi's face and moaned as Tatsumi instinctively worked her tongue. Remus felling neglected returned to licking Tatsumi's balls, while Shastavi took a good look at Sayo.

"I like what I see" Shastavi teased seductively, Sayo to her surprise kissed her.

"You think I don't" Sayo joked and the two made out as Tatsumi did his work, things got heated as Remus tired of both of the two and pushed them both off to take Tatsumi for herself.

"Oh Tatsumi!" Remus moaned and made out like mad with him as she felt him pierce her folds. Tatsumi was perturbed by Remus's sudden actions but noted that Sayo and Shastavi seemed to be too focused on each other to note Remus had just single-handed pushed both of them off of Tatsumi and the two were quite happy to play with each other while Tatsumi gave Remus the whole works, diving into the water with her and going a good seven rounds before pumping her full of baby batter and she passed out. "Man, Remus needs to work on her endurance" Tatsumi thought, but didn't have time to rest as Shastavi swam over to him.

"Fuck me" she commanded in no uncertain terms; Tatsumi noted Sayo was laying back in the water grinning half dazed. Tatsumi obliged it had been a while since his favorite of the new Elite Seven his sword sheathed in her and he would be doing a LOT more of this with her as she was going to prove a constant companion in the days ahead: he was planning out ideas for interacting with the other two Elite Seven girls who had been assigned to the group by Esdeath: Osaka and Hiromi but that could be done whenever he felt like it. For now, the only thing on his mind was boning Shastavi and as soon as he was done with boning her Sayo. Speaking of he found her breasts pressing against his back and head on his shoulder as she kissed his neck and nibbled his ear in a playful kissing manner.

"Tatsumi" Shastavi moaned, her eyes began to roll forward in bliss as Tatsumi moaned in orgasm, impregnating her, before sucking her breasts as he resumed giving it to her.

When done with Shastavi Sayo had her turn and while he wanted to limit the number of rounds due to Sayo being pregnant, Sayo just didn't care and gave him twice as many rounds as Remus before yielding out.

An hour later…

"Your majesty!" a messenger shouted from behind the door.

"Yes" Tatsumi answered lazily as he was way too comfortable with the three-woman snug against him in the warm water.

"The preparations are ready; Empress Aria awaits you and the three Empresses accompanying you" the messenger replied, Tatsumi yawned.

"I'll be there shortly, 20 minutes tops, I must redress and make myself decent" Tatsumi replied.

"Very well, Empress Akame will be waiting for you outside this room to escort you there" the Messenger replied.

"I'll take it from here" Akame replied, Tatsumi got out of the water, dried off and as soon as he and his wives had finished that the four of them redressed looking great and professional afterward.

"How do I look?" Tatsumi asked.

"Like you've just had a full spa treatment, you smell like peaches" Akame commented.

"Peach scented Shampoo; part of the treatment" Shastavi commented and Akame escorted them to gathering point, Tatsumi was impressed by the dedication and grandeur of this procession, one that was meant to show of the wealth of the Empire but its power also; Tatsumi had been persuaded to take an extra 400 people with this expedition and it showed, this procession looked like a trading expedition but also to a degree a well-armed and secure one as the Empire's Finest soldiers had been gathered for the escort. Tatsumi climbed up onto a large palanquin which was pulled by a pair of Earth Dragons, though to call it a palanquin was a disservice as it was the size of a small house with room him and his empresses to live and sleep in along with layers of protection; the only drawback was that it didn't allow much for him to see out of apart from couple of small windows made of bullet-proof glass.

With him on board he didn't have much time to examine the surroundings when shouts were heard, and he had to brace himself as this caravan began moving. Dorothea found him shortly, dressed in a regal turquoise and orange Tudor gown with a crown of fine silver in her hair alongside her signature ribbon she looked like an Empress ought to and carried herself with a noble bearing she hadn't used before. "Ah Tatsumi isn't it wonderful, adventure awaits us in lands untraveled by most people in the Empire, in fact most wouldn't believe they existed, and in such accommodations, why I haven't traveled in a palanquin for 300 years now" Dorothea replied.

"Indeed- 300 years?! Dorothea how old are you?" Tatsumi asked.

"957, and still young, a side effect of Absordex, it has the ability to prolong a person's life-span and youth for as long as its wielder choose to, but there is a price, blood of living creatures are required, for me that is a large amount of pigs but the occasional robber and cutthroat have sustained my youth: I have many fields of research Tatsumi but my most sustained pursuit is a quest for immortality, I strive to understand Teigus to understand Absordex and by extension its ability to prolong indefinitely the life-span of its user and reverse engineer the ability but in a manner that doesn't require the killing of other living things and to make the effect permanent, essentially immortality, the most however I've done is figure out ways to prolong the human life-span and cures to wipe out numerous diseases to extend it further, but yet to attain true immortality" Dorothea replied.

"How is it no one notices how long you've been around" Tatsumi asked then noted her laugh.

"Tatsumi human ignorance and stupidity is as limitless as time and the universe itself, but to tell the truth the true reason people don't notice is a mixture of apathy and the fact people assume that I'm one in a long line of nobles, well I am but my family line died out years ago during the Great Plague of 1038IC, but true to point most people don't care about my age or me in general, the reason I'm alive today is that throughout the centuries the Empire had offered support to my research and once the bureaucratic grants came in I was forgotten in the rest of the Bureaucracy and afterwards no one noticed little old me; but you don't let my age distract you from me, you know who I am" Dorothea replied.

"I do, I just couldn't bear to leave you behind when I die" Tatsumi replied.

"You would not, upon your death I'll cease to use Absordex, what use is there in living forever when you can't share it with the one you love most" Dorothea replied. "Anyway you've distracted me for long enough, lets discuss business; first off I've confirmed without a shadow of a doubt you've gotten me pregnant, so congratulations, second we must review our course; I've taken the liberty of planning out the expedition for you, my knowledge of this region is extensive as I've traveled here during my many archeological expeditions and other research projects, as such I've selected a path that will take two weeks to traverse, as for the way back I've already prepared two contingency plans for that endeavor, but one of those is dependent on your skills as a diplomat, the other is just in case you fail in that task, but I have faith in you" Dorothea explained then pointed at about twelve major kingdoms and twice that many minors ones that would be best suited to join his cause.

"First stop will be the closest eastern neighbor of the Empire the Kingdom of Ambi: it's a humid place but rather open, the people of it are largely peaceful but they have warred with the Empire in the past as part of coalitions but not on their own, their King Porus is reasonable sort and renowned for being a good diplomat, so expect him to be an easy ally to gain, I recommend in order to secure alliances marriage pacts with local Rajs, Kings, Khans and Lords that would be sympathetic to your cause, the chief prize is the Supreme Matriarch Maltise of the Tsuwangdani, Alyssa and Nymeria have already gone ahead to speak with her and I predict a 95% chance she accepts your offer, she is an extremely powerful ally to have as her kingdom is one of the largest in the East. However above all else there are two rather important allies that you need to court above all the others: the Eastern Dwarves and the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth; they are the most advanced peoples in the east and aren't challenged by their neighbors out of respect for their technological superiority: they will be the hardest to convince, the Nova Atlanteans are notoriously isolationist it comes of some cataclysm that destroyed the Old Atlantean Empire: I'm not sure about the specifics as the records from that time period are lost to the ages, the Dwarves may have some but I doubt it as the force from the cataclysm was enough to collapse the vaults of several of the Eastern Karaks in aftermath; however some records MAY have survived and if they did I will wager a room of gold that they wouldn't share those records with any outsider" Dorothea explained.

"Thanks for explaining" Tatsumi replied.

"You're welcome and now I will begin your education on eastern customs, history and cultures; you'll need this information and you've nothing better to do as we journey east" Dorothea replied and began to elaborate on their history for the next three hours, along with having him read books she had brought along on the subject several of which she wrote herself. To most people this would have been a dull and boring process but Tatsumi was not most people, he loved finding out information of any kind, but especially that of things that most people wouldn't even consider looking or asking about, this usually meant history in all forms and the various practices across the world. As such he took to Dorothea's lessons like a duck to water and by the time they crossed the border of Harmene River which marked the bounds of the Empire and the East he had absorbed a large amount of information, and by the time they arrived at their first destination the Kingdom of Ambi he had learned all Dorothea had to teach him.

To the people of Ambi seeing an expedition of the Empire in such a manner was unusual for those of the current generation, a number of off and on wars had occurred between them and the Empire which had ended in status quo treaties in which neither side gained anything and took a population dent in the process. However, to see Imperials marching in such a dignified manner and carrying large amounts of goods and a royal procession gave them the clear message that the Imperials this time were there with good intent and desired friendly relations.

That in mind when they arrived at the border city of Hakshalla, emissaries from the king of Ambi bid them welcome and invited them to his capital in hopes of fruitful negotiations. Tatsumi informed them that they had the same intentions and was glad to hear that the king was willing to be reasonable and negotiate, he also informed them that he was a new ruler and that any deals they could negotiate would be to mutual benefit and informed them of his victory over the Revolutionary Army as a warning that while he may be new to his job he wasn't a stranger to war or going to be taken advantage of, he expected him and the King to treat each other with equal respect for the others achievements and station.

The following three days were spent journeying to Taxilla the capital of Ambi where King Porus welcomed them with open arms, the negotiations between the two monarchs took about two more days but by the end of it pacts had been negotiated along with an alliance against the demons who had been sighted in local ruins in Ambi and were an obvious threat, Tatsumi then with the aid of the king's forces and explosives destroyed all black stone ruins in Ambi, the charges were enough to collapse the structures and destroy any trace of the ruins, the Blackstone faded out of reality when shattered as whatever magic tethered it to their world was broken. After this brief two-day campaign King Porus had Tatsumi wed two of his daughters named Khalia and Beshava in turn annexation was made into the Empire with promises given to King Porus for fair trade deals and that he was allowed to retain his throne and royal style.

After the acquisition of Ambi, the Imperial expedition moved onto the Hamva steppes where a number of semi nomadic peoples, that were composed of humans, hobgoblins, four armed humans and Centaurs were locked in struggles and conflicts, the largest of these particular warlord khanates was ruled by the Great Centaur Khagan Olerius Stormhoof, this warlord ruled over a number of centaur khans but also some non-centaur warlords who allied with him for protection from their rivals, other Khans and Warchiefs held sway too and two minor kingdoms of settled people were eager to join Tatsumi in exchange for aid against a militant and aggressive khan who had enforced hard tributes on them, this khan, who was named Vagoi and was human, was also disliked by a number of lesser warlords who eagerly joined Tatsumi at the prospect of money and land along with retribution against this rival khan.

The Battle of Shandra-Gurpar followed and Tatsumi lead an army of about 4000 nomads, 2000 Ambi allies, along with 3000 allies from the two city states and 2000 imperials against this warlord who had near equal numbers. However Tatsumi had chosen the ground for the sight well as the ground was firm on high hills but mud had shaken the valley, Tatsumi then had his nomad allies dismount and fight on foot while setting up sharpened stakes and caltrops made of stone in the muddy plains below in addition to setting up mantraps which were large holes covered by tarps that were filled with sharpened stakes and thorns.

When the Khan's army arrived, they eagerly charged their largely shock cavalry based army at the fortified position. This proved very fatal for them: the caltrops and stakes along with concealed mantraps wreaked havoc on the cavalry mangling the horses of their enemies and stopping the charge in its tracks, the numbers were then thinned further by barrages of ranged fire, arrows, bolts and bullets felled riders and mounts by the hundreds and finished those who had been wounded, the most deadly were the longbowmen of Ambi who were deadly archers with a special longbow that when anchored in the ground allowed for deadly precision shots that rarely missed. The enemy army routed after the Khan was felled by one of these longbowmen, and the survivors surrendered on mass hoping for a merciful fate. That fate came when Tatsumi offered them a place in his army in exchange for oaths of loyalty and vassalage to the Empire. After this victory Tatsumi's agents discovered that another kingdom that of Sagommora had been using its money and influence to throw the various warlords and Khans along with the two cities states of Samaryana and Hakonni into conflicts to curtail the power, with this information Tatsumi managed to unify a number of the lesser tribes and rally the two city states to his side against this threat and called upon King Porus for war.

This war known as the war of the Golden Raj was a rather brief affair, the king of Sagommora used his money to hire a large mercenary army to spare the lives of his own subjects which were not so numerous due to a blight and famine that had hit the region, the money however was large enough to hire over 200,000 soldiers. The war became brief however when Tatsumi brought up Imperial wealth and bought the largest captains off and over to his side in addition to offers of land and treasure from Sagommora once it was made an Imperial province, this was enough to turn over 170,000 mercenaries against their employer with the remainder falling in with the turncoats after their leaders were assassinated by Night Raid strike teams. The Kingdom was turned defenseless and in a panic, uprisings occurred as lesser princes and Rajs turned to Tatsumi's side in hopes of maintaining their lands, those who didn't join were killed outright and their territory given to mercenary captains. The war itself lasted only two days as within the two days the King of Sagommora was assassinated and his successor knelt before the Emperor's army as a new Imperial vassal.

In the aftermath of this conflict other rulers choose to ally with the new power that was rising, the Great Centaur Khagan sent his daughter Addalla to negotiate with the Emperor and was wed to him in alliance in exchange for the maintaining of his status which Tatsumi granted. The wedding night was- well quite the spectacle and Addalla was fun to ride literally, however her hooves did a number on him and he woke up the next morning feeling extremely sore. With this alliance other rulers followed suit, negotiating annexation and marriages between their daughters and the young Emperor, while at the same time destroying eastern ruins that were of demonic origins. Volgoth's champion in the area Xana was rather annoyed by the developments and informed Volgoth of the new developments.

These developments were noticed by other powers too as Tatsumi moved further along his route more rulers paid homage, tribute and bent the knee to him. Eventually he came to the grand Karaks of the Dwarves in the Atalinai-Vagai mountains which the dwarves called the Karakii-Ivoki-Magzuth, which translated as the Copper Mountains for their massive deposits of that metal. The Dwarves however were very wary of him: the wariness came from a distrust of Imperials that had been well earned, specifically by the Silverblood Clan, a large clan that had lived in the Empire but had been driven out after the War of the Mad Emperor, the other two clans the Copperheads and Stonehelms were more trusting as they had not been wronged by the Empire but still treated Tatsumi with a good deal of suspicion. Out of the gate annexation was off the cards as was war, but treaties could still be made, and the Dwarves were keen to do so when Tatsumi informed them of the changes in the Empire and the threat of the demons. The Dwarves had long memories, and lived long lives, some of the oldest Longbeards had been around during the days of the Blackstone Empire which was called by them Vagna-Rukar-Umbaraki: which translated to the Wicked Domain of Traitors.

The negotiations took longer and Tatsumi spent another week hammering out the details, the most annoying point was that the Silverbloods wanted their old holds in the Empire back, some of which had become inhabited by humans and had become major cities in their own right. Tatsumi agreed but on the condition that any current residents in those holds that held Imperial citizenship be allowed to live there and that the Silverblood Clan would have to agree to become vassals of the Empire in good standing but with more autonomy then most. The Silverblood King Fundin V Silverblood agreed to these terms and wed his daughter Kema as part of the deal. The Eastern Kings followed suit but were not vassals and pledged to become military allies. As a result of these treaties Dwarven weaponry and armor along with their lesser automatons and runework equipment were allowed to be sold, however Teigus and their more advanced technology, weaponry, machines and vehicles along with greater Runic constructions were held back, those required the High King's approval and Tatsumi had not yet earned that favor, he did however have to earn the favor of the two Eastern Clans which required him to attack two large kingdoms who had warred in the past with Dwarves. During this time Tatsumi allied with Tsuwangdani and Supreme Matriarch Maltise whose beauty was fair above all of her race and who eagerly agreed to an alliance and annexation in addition to pledging the forces of the largest eastern kingdom to him. With these newfound allies the remaining kingdoms bent the knee, the two larger nations repaid the Dwarves and returned stolen relics and treasures to the Dwarves.

But all these acquisitions paled before the last and that of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth that dwelled in the Atlantean Archipelago off the eastern coast and that requires a chapter in itself so join me in this next chapter for the story of the Atlantean war where Tatsumi and this ancient remnant of a fallen empire fight against ancient evils and the forces of Volgoth Ugor and concludes Tatsumi's eastern adventures. Note that what has been told so far is an abridgement of the events that occurred, an extensive account would require a novel of its own and I may cover it more in the future but now let us move on to the next chapter.


	67. Chapter 49

Chapter 49: An Ended Empire

 **A special thanks to Neo Byzantium for help with this chapter: Neo most of what happens here was your idea and I give you all the credit due for it**

Melitine, Imperial Palace… Volgoth looked at his lord with utter fury. "What do you mean they won't be able to serve me further?!" Volgoth asked.

"I told you Volgoth that they would only serve you so long as you used them appropriately, as such you failed to utilize them properly and they have been taken from you, besides I have need of them for other pressing matters, yours isn't the only world that I've got plans for and a rival house has started a war against mine in Hell, as such I need my generals more than you do however you will be allowed to continue with the for you have at the moment, but lose them and they return to me and you will have no further commanders other then Graal and Lorhish" Valtor explained, he was in human form and smirked as Volgoth's face contorted into anger, Valtor waved his hand and the mark on Volgoth's head began to cause him pain. "Remember who you serve Volgoth Ugor, you serve me and as such you are under my control, you'd be wise not to take your rage out on me" Valtor replied.

"My apologies my lord, I'll endeavor to control my anger in the future; now I've other matters to attend to, the first strike of this war is ready to commence I've already readied the army that will attack, I need only select the commander to lead the force" Volgoth replied.

"And where do you intend to strike first, I wonder, if you intend to attack Tatsumi again I'd caution against it" Valtor replied.

"Do NOT mention that boy in my presence, the less said about that fiasco the better, also it would be overkill to send an army of the size it currently is after him, no I've targeted the first of the major wards, the ones under the control of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth, I trust you are familiar with them?" Volgoth replied.

"Indeed, I am, I have a history lesson for you if you have time" Valtor replied.

"Enlighten me, the first rule of warfare is to know your enemy, also I'd like your recommendation as to what commander I should send to attack them if you know more about them then I do" Volgoth answered in return.

"Very well: Three thousand of your world's years ago in the aftermath of the fall of Yeenkar, a new nation of humans rose to prominence on the world's stage, one of the many former subjects of the Empire of Yeenkar that rose up against them alongside those blasted Dwarves, those infuriating Giants and those drone-like Lizards. After the fall of Yeenkar this civilization called the Atlantean Empire filled the vacuum of the fallen empire, they had learned the lessons and did not worship me nor did they allow themselves to fall into excess, in fact they advanced rapidly making developments that this Empire of your people now are catching onto: they built marvelous structures, created weapons beyond the simple minds of Imperial peasants, and unified many humans under their flag, they were a great Empire that was poised to take your world by storm: for 200 years they ruled uncontested, innovating and growing, to a point where they were close to being able to leave your world and touch the stars themselves: they even developed weapons capable of leveling entire cities. But all this power draws the attention of others, and I never forget those who set back or ruin my plans: for the time they grew as I was distracted by more pressing concerns and had not the time or resources to spare to reign them in, they were smart enough to even anticipate my return, as I was distracted by other conflicts: ones of more importance" Valtor elaborated. "But all Empires must end so that new ones may rise, and such was the fate of the Atlantean Empire; but doing so was not easy, I discovered firsthand that wards had been made to disrupt the magic that allows lesser demons to take form and as such I had to rely on more elite troops who would not be hindered, but also on more subtle means. I came up with a plan, the first step was to create a diversion to distract the Atlantean armies, to that end I sent Xana and the finest most elite forces of the Black Pit: the Apollyon Legion some of the mightiest demons including Pit Lords, Infernal Guard, Knights of Damned, and my pride and joy the Condemned, led by two of my most formidable demon lords: Veyar the Despoiler and Nebiros the Cunning, with Xana's brilliance and the might of the legion they sapped the Atlantean Armies strength, winning battles that decimated their armies with no loss to me as the Legions of Hell do not die" Valtor explained further. "But all this was diversion Volgoth, I alongside the most powerful of Abaddon's Arch-demons who are knowledgeable in magic worked on powerful spells, ones that would shape your world: my armies bought time and distracted the Atlanteans from the threats under their noses, beneath their largest cities. The Spell we wove was powerful: and when we had filled it with enough power to do what it needed to do, we unleashed it. A Cataclysm of the likes your world has never seen occurred, a surge of magic and power that was let forth brought forth storms of raw magic that shook your world to its very core: every continent felt the explosion, but one that the Atlanteans lived on shattered, the force that decimated their homelands and caused the fall of their Empire was so intense that vaults in the Dwarven Karaks all over your home of Adonai collapsed and the walls of the Sky Giant castles fell: even those on the other side of your planet were not immune to effects: chaos now reigned, my purpose fulfilled I withdrew my legions and left your world in Dark age that lasted five centuries" Valtor concluded. "Such is the lesson I leave with you, for a time mankind may know power and prosperity and all Empires have their time in the Sun, however all that begins must end as few things are eternal: the Atlanteans didn't let hubris blind them but what blinded them was a threat they could see not knowing their downfall would be unseen, to this day they know not what caused that cataclysm, their once great continent a chain of islands as most of the land and their cities sank beneath the waves: all that remains is single nation of their surviving cities, while they maintain their innovations and power they are a shadow of their former glory and are slow to change and shut themselves off from the rest of your world for they fear that they brought upon their own doom; they are no longer ruled by Emperors but instead by kings that hold little power and by their own people who select their own to lead, to this day they trust few outsiders, and those they do are few and far between, only the Dwarves remain steadfast friends and some of the former vassals of their Empire, mainly those nigh unto the ocean. They are now but a shadow of their former selves and fear to reclaim that which they lost for they foolishly assume their gods smote them for failure to defeat my legions, a fool's belief that I allow them to keep" Valtor explained.

"Now it is time for them to end and share their fate, to finish what was started: I will have Xana lead the army as you said she lead the force that faced them before" Volgoth replied.

"Correct and a wise decision, beware Tatsumi however, your foe races to court the Atlanteans and they will eagerly fight alongside him against you for they remember well their history and swore long ago that if those in my power or I ever returned they would take up arms against them: they have not forgotten, much like the Patras General, she hasn't forgotten her peoples' role and that she survived is a great shame and hinderance to my plans: their people were the instigators of Yeenkar's fall yet they never rose to an Empire of their own which is one of the greatest mysteries of your world. Anyway you'd be wise to remember your history Volgoth, to know your history is to know the future for the actions of the past shape the present and the future; now go forth and conquer: if Xana fails I'll be shocked but not angry at her as she has more than earned my respect and I do not punish those who have: any failure though will be on you Volgoth remember that" Valtor agreed, he then casted a portal. "Farewell I must see to dealing Erasiel Darkar, that Phoenix is always my first concern because he has a habit of ruining anything, be grateful Volgoth that you don't have him to deal with and he is ignorant of your world because knowing him as I do he'd come here and ruin my plans for this world as well" Valtor responded and was gone.

"Xana!" Volgoth shouted, the Arch-Succubus appeared promptly.

"Yes? You have got something interesting for me to do, not that I was not enjoying the- how shall I put it 'hospitality of your sons' they are such needy boys and so hung and handsome: I must keep a few for myself" Xana replied.

"I've a task for you: tell me are you familiar with the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth?" Volgoth replied, Xana laughed.

"HA! This is too priceless those saps survived in one form, man I would gladly like to finish them off; tell me you want me to kill them? Please let that be the case I'd have so much fun doing so: way too much fun" Xana replied.

"That was my intention, an army is ready for that invasion, all I needed was a leader and after Lord Valtor told me of how you decimated the armies of their empire I figured that it would be only appropriate for you to finish the job especially considering they are a shadow of their former selves" Volgoth replied.

"With great enjoyment, oh this will be even more fun than fucking your boys: such needy boys I'm staking claims on them for personal pleasure slaves if you will allow me to do so" Xana replied.

"I will eagerly give them to you, call it an advanced payment for your reward in your victory: oh, and do erect a monument commemorating the victory it would be a shame if it was forgotten" Volgoth replied.

"It would be foolish not to do so: I'll requisition more Hellstone for the construction, there has been a surplus of it lately I wonder why that is?" Xana replied.

"It may have something to do with that boy blowing up every single one of the Yeenkar ruins he encounters; that is nuisance as it makes restoring those nexi even more difficult, especially considering he destroyed four of the active ones and ten more dormant ones on top of that" Volgoth replied.

"I see, that explains the influx, speaking of if I take the boy captive can I keep him, he is such a handsome thing that it would be a shame to waste him" Xana replied.

"NO!" Volgoth yelled. "He is mine! I will break him, rape him, kill him and torment his soul for eternity!" Volgoth yelled.

"Damn no need to get all hissy about it, I can understand the feeling, besides boys like him are dime a dozen on your planet, there seems to be an abundance of handsome men and beautiful women on your world: I'm not sure why that is" Xana replied. "Now I'll be bringing my personal household troops and my retinue: 4000 of Hell's finest, but that's hardly enough to conquer a nation where is the army I'll be leading?" Xana asked.

"Come I'll show you" Volgoth replied and lead her out of the Throne room down a number of hallways to a grand balcony: outside the new Grand portal had finished completion and large amounts of demons moved about the ruined parts of Melitine, but in the middle before the portal stood a legion of 200,000 soldiers, human-like but clad in dark burgundy armor. "That would be your army Xana, 200,000 of my son Izel's finest creations, there were an abundance of bodies to choose from, all fully armed, I have more troops in production, newer and more formidable soldiers completely artificial and with powers beyond normal humans, but those are still undergoing training, for the moment you'll have to make do with what you have: note each soldier is infused with a demon so double their numbers however I'm not sure if the wards will cause them to return back to hell I've never tested such a force against that but while they are infused inside their vessels they are tethered to this world" Volgoth replied then looked out. "Now I'll show you how I rose to power Xana, I have a way with words" Volgoth replied then looked over the soldiers.

"SOLDIERS!" Volgoth yelled, his voice was loud enough that inside the shield everyone heard it as did anyone within a twelve-mile radius. "Today we begin the conquest of Eden! You will be the spearhead of this conflict; your number the first that will fight for our Lord bellow. You march now for the heart of Nova Atlantea: the city of Triton! The Nova Atlanteans are the last of a dead Empire, you will crush this Empire once and for all, cast all that remains of it into the ash-heap of history and let those that survive your onslaught live in slave: the New Empire of Valtor rises! Our first battle is at hand! Soon the seas and islands of Atlantea will run red with blood and the banner of New Yeenkar will hang over the ruins! Glory to Valtor: Glory to Me! Glory to our Father Bellow to his Eternal Lord of Hell Lucifer himself! We will Triumph! General Xana will lead you: she has experience with your enemy; know that Hell's Finest fights at your side! Go forth my Soldiers, go forth and CONQUER! FOR VALTOR AND TO WAR!" Volgoth spoke, a roar of demonic cheers and the banging of spears and swords against shields followed this announcement.

"Soldiers! We march!" Xana replied and the two went back inside.

"How long will it take you to reach them?" Volgoth asked.

"Two days with the max range of the portal we can get to the eastern edge of the continent : but we'll need to construct ships to invade the islands, an amphibious assault is risky but it is our only option: also time will be needed for me to delegate command positions for the troops, I've subordinates that I need to dull out orders to, also I'll need to make preparations; that will take about a couple more days but as soon as preparations are made we will attack: I'm looking forward to snuffing out the Atlantean's once and for all, you know they aren't native to your world, they were a originally descendants of survivors from another fallen empire, forced to rebuild from scratch, only to find themselves enslaved by Old Yeenkar, then that fell to uprisings, and they resurged: a people that have been around for over 30,000 of your years must be extinguished: they've been around far too long: but that's to be expected of humans they are nothing if not persistent which is why humans are my favorite race because their potential for anything never ceases to be fascinating" Xana replied.

"Good, I expected nothing less from you: come back victorious or not at all, it would be a shame to lose you like I've already lost the other two, but war is war and I expect results as does our master" Volgoth replied.

"Don't worry results are mine to deliver: also your guards at the west gate of the city brought in a cowering messenger from some bigshot general: he's asking for the Prime Minister, so I thought he meant Socrathor but apparently he wants to speak with Honest" Xana replied.

"Ah; that explains things: I'll see to this personally, Xana you have your orders, follow them to the letter, I've a guest to see" Volgoth replied.

Shortly… Zack was scared, he hadn't expected the first thing to meet were monsters out of dreams, even as one of the supermen of General Tsunami's army he was scared: however, he did breathe a sigh of relief when Honest walked in it was good to see another human. "You wished to see me? Your name please" Volgoth greeted.

"Yes, Prime Minister I'm Zach- General Tsunami sent me to report that the western armies have been seen to and that pacification is underway: he is awaiting new orders" Zack replied stuttering.

"Tell him for now he is to keep his forces where they are now and continue to pacify the region: also inform him that I'm now Emperor and that all of his troops are now loyal to me" Volgoth replied.

"Yes Prim- your majesty: I'll see to it; I must ask though what happened to Melitine and why are all these horrible creatures about?" Zack asked.

"Those creatures are the servants of my God who has delivered me the throne and whom shall be worshiped, as for Melitine, that is no longer its name: it is now New Yeen: Capital of the Empire of New Yeenkar: henceforth I issue forth a the first of many decrees, to start with the gods of the Old Empire shall no longer be honored there is only one God and his name is Valtor who speaks thru me: his chosen servant Volgoth Ugor, General Teketh is to oversee the conversion and construction of new temples to him I'll be sending my servant Lord Prime Minister Socrathor to oversee this, for the time being General Tsunami answers to him, as soon as the work is underway Lord Socrathor will return here as I have other tasks for him: in the meantime I'll be sending my General Lorhish with you to escort you and Lord Socrathor west. New materials for the construction of proper temples and structures will be provided for along with manpower for construction: other than that, you have nothing to trouble yourself about, just remember your loyalties" Volgoth replied.

"I- Yes: but see your majesty I want to know something" the soldier replied.

"What is that?" Volgoth replied.

"My daughter is she ok? Her name is Kira, long black hair, same eyes as me" Zack replied.

"Your daughter is in good hands, she is in my harem, she will be well cared for" Volgoth replied.

"But I didn't give my approval to this" Zack stammered back.

"I did not need it: now see to you carry out my orders, delay following them and the results for you can be quite- unpleasant to say the absolute least" Volgoth replied and revealed his true form, the soldier ran out. "That should give him the message" Volgoth replied.

"You're a vile monster" Honest said inside Volgoth's mind.

"Flattery won't get you out of your shackles and a good thing, your sense of loyalty to your family was always frustrating to my plans; but that's to be expected, the day you found me trapped in that old ruin, your curiosity was your downfall and enjoy eternity in those chains" Volgoth replied.

"I want to be with my Lillian, let me go vile demon!" Honest yelled inside.

"NEVER! No, you let me in, and this is my body now; you have no further need and you will NEVER be free: for 30 years you fought me, no more I am in control I make the rules now! YAHAHAHAHAHA!" Volgoth replied and laughed.

City of Cataharya, Kingdom of Salhay, Eastern coast of Adonai…

Tatsumi looked out at the sea and at shipyards from the Royal Salhay Palace; a large number of ships about fourteen in total of the finest work of the Cataharyan shipwrights were finished and provisioned by his newest ally King Amek va Nemeryos of Salhay. "Never seen the ocean before my Imperial friend?" King Amek asked, he was young man the same age as Tatsumi, with dark tan skin as was typical of the men of east, his hair was a deep cerulean and his eyes were grey, he wore an ornate robe and a crown that was extremely flamboyant and overdone compared to Tatsumi's more humble crown, at his side was jeweled Khanda.

"No: I spent most of my life far inland and really only left my home a few months ago; my life has changed so much, I just wanted to make a difference I never expected to make such a huge one and at the same time see the world: hell I never dreamed a place like this existed" Tatsumi replied.

"I understand, the world is full of wonders, when I'm older and have children to carry on my line I hope to explore the world: perhaps you could join me on such an adventure" King Amek replied.

"I'd be up for it, provided there is a world left by then and I'm still alive, I'd love to know more, there is so much about our world that is in mystery I'd love to unravel as many mysteries as possible: I must however thank you my friend for your hospitality and your generosity for providing this fleet" Tatsumi replied.

"Please it is the least I can do for the man who helped repeal the treacherous Kaahadi Kingdoms, they would have overrun us and I'm glad to call you my friend and be your loyal vassal: my sweet sisters love you dearly" Amek replied humbly.

"Yeah, Taksha and Amedi are a handful in bed, they're a lot like Shastavi, stubborn, brave, beautiful and smart" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm glad you love them as well, you know I'm fascinated by you Tatsumi and even more by your life story: especially considering we both share a loss of our fathers; slain in battle by our enemies, you'll come thru" Amek replied.

Tatsumi looked at the ocean, noted the blue water and seas in the morning calm. "I hope the Atlanteans will be as friendly as you my friend" Tatsumi replied.

"They should be, granted however they are suspicious of outsiders, though they have remained good friends to my people: also to the Dwarves, but that's beside the point, they may be slow to trust but once friendship is earned it transcends many a lifetime, I here that the Atlanteans live twice as long as he normal man, some of their rulers lived to be 2 centuries or more and they possess things you'd never imagine in your wildest dreams" Amek replied.

"Still though I need their help against Volgoth, the demons threaten our whole world along with our whole universe and we have to stop them before all that is good dies" Tatsumi replied.

"The only thing required for evil to triumph is for good to either do nothing or be deceived into doing wrong: anyway, my friend your wife the Queen of the Serpent people wished to see you about something" Amek replied.

"Business or pleasure?" Tatsumi asked.

"She didn't say, though you are a true man among men if you managed to earn her love and respect; stories of Queen Maltise are rife and well known that she is very proud and expects the best both from herself and others, only fools tried to take from her by force" Amek replied, Tatsumi went inside, it didn't take him too long to find Maltise.

One of things that Tsuwangdani were renowned for apart from their skills at war and their serpentine aspects was that the women of their race were said to be of the fairest in the world: Tatsumi agreed with this sentiment as many of the Tsuwangdani women were fair to look upon but Maltise was in a league unto her own. The lovely Maltise had all the curves that any would expect but her face was that of true beauty with skin that was a yellowish-bronze, her lovely eyes were deep as emeralds, her lips were supple her fangs fine and well kept, her hood was a deep purple with amber stripes as was typical of a Matriarch, her hair was deep red-brown and kept in long curls that had golden wire strings wrapped in them, her crown was of the finest silver and gold and bejeweled with emeralds, diaspros, and mother of pearl: her dress was blue and allowed for her tall to flow out, her arms both sets were graceful but strong, her hands soft as silk, and her feet and legs were likewise as soft though her slippers at the moment concealed them, in one hand she held her scepter which was a long gold staff with the carved diaspro statue of asp atop it. "Greetings my lovely Tatsumi" Maltise greeted, unlike most of her kin she spoke in a rather human voice which was to say she did not accentuate the S's like other Tsuwangdani.

"Hello Maltise" Tatsumi replied the two hugged and she kissed him. "What do you need?" Tatsumi asked after breaking the kiss.

"I'd like to see you in private my love, I- long for your touch and am worried" Maltise replied.

"I can grant you my touch but what do you worry about?" Tatsumi asked as they walked together.

"The sea, that is what; my people shun it: it brings bad tidings and is filled with unknown things" Maltise replied.

"I'm surprised, I didn't think you were afraid of anything?" Tatsumi replied.

"Afraid? No, my beloved, not for myself but for you and the others of my people that do fear the sea: this is my first trip on the ocean, those of my kind have not traveled it in many years" Maltise replied.

"If it's any consolation I've never sailed before either: I'm just as new to this as you are, but don't worry I'll be there with you and the ships are large enough you'd never know you were at sea to begin with" Tatsumi reassured.

"Thank you, my concerns at not needed then, now let us withdraw to our current quarters and mate: my people are restless and eager for it" Maltise replied.

"How long does it take you to have a baby once I- well get you pregnant?" Tatsumi asked.

"The same time as your kind, you need not worry though, though when it is ready, I'll lay an egg, or several, you will expect many hatchlings, it is common to lay about nine eggs among my kind" Maltise replied.

"I'm going to have so many children: I'm worried I'll lose track of them all" Tatsumi replied.

"Don't worry your children will remind you constantly" Maltise replied and they arrived at their quarters, Tatsumi looked the Four Rakshasas who had been following him per norm and he turned Kurome who had gone thru another growth-spurt, her body was changing further and she was starting to resemble Akame a lot more in terms of her body, menstruation had set in and Kurome's hunger pangs got more often, it also was made complicated by increased libido as her body matured and unsurprisingly his Red-Rose was now pregnant with his child.

"You four stay out here got it? I know how badly you want more of me well wait your turn, after Maltise and me have our fun you four can have your turn with me provided that word doesn't come in that the ships are ready" Tatsumi ordered.

"Yes, my Emperor" All four said at the same time then assumed guard postures, Tatsumi walked in: but was surprised to note something, Clementine, clad in an orange leotard laying on her chest seductively.

"Hey handsome: I've been waiting for you to show up" Clementine greeted.

"What are you doing here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh Maltise asked me to show her how to best please you, I think that as your first love that I'm more then qualified for that, oh by the way I'll be at your right side the whole time we are in Atlantea, we don't spend nearly as much time as we used to, Aria seems to be your favorite I'm a bit sad I thought you loved me the most" Clementine replied then teared up, crocodile tears obviously, Clementine was jealous of Aria and wanted to be sure she wasn't just delegated to a lower rung in the harem because of it, also she was very much interested in power of her own.

"I love you dearly Clementine" Tatsumi replied.

"I know you do, now demonstrate how much you love me and give me your best, Maltise watch and learn how to please Tatsumi, it's going to be quite the show; also when Tatsumi and I are doing it give us some space, I like to move about a lot so as to make things interesting" Clementine responded and explained, then unzipped her leotard under which was nothing.

Maltise locked the door and removed her dress and soon after he underwear, leaving her bare as the day she was born, her skin while yellowish bronze was scaly to a degree, her breasts large and ample E-cups, her arms gracefully spread like some goddess of the east, these hands were soon put to work removing Tatsumi's imperial robes and his underclothes as she did so she kissed him across the right side of his face and down his neck licking it with her serpentine tongue Tatsumi smiled as Maltise thru her touch aroused euphoria inside his mind, her hands were put to work as she fondled his erection. Clementine walked over and knelt taking the length into her mouth and began sucking slowly and sweetly before licking it with caressed she was joined by Maltise as Clementine explained the finesse and effort that went into giving Tatsumi a joyous blowjob, something Sayo and Chelsea had educated her in doing. As she did this Maltise wrapped her tail around Tatsumi and massaged his skin and held him so that he didn't have to focus energy on standing as much she then used her tail's strength to carry him to the bed as soon as she felt Clementine had shown her enough to work with.

Tatsumi laid down flat, his face was quickly covered by Clementine's wet pussy which he began working her magic on. At the same time, he felt a strange feeling of warmth around his length and realized immediately that Maltise had begun giving him Paizuri: this was a pleasant experience albeit a bit rougher than a normal titjob as her scales were present. As Maltise became more aroused Clementine noted her body change color in terms of skin, the yellow-bronze skin she usually had become pink and her eyes became completely lavender, also the lined patterns of her hood and tail became bright shades of their current colors. This however was normal biologic response of a Tsuwangdani while mating and in the heat: the colors that a Tsuwangdani changed however were notably different, even her tongue had changed to being a sky blue and her blowjob was extremely fine as Maltise had detached her jaw like a normal snake to fit the whole length that wasn't in the warmth of her breasts inside.

However this was a new experience with Clementine as she hadn't until know seen a Tsuwangdani mate, and she smiled then let out an eep as Tatsumi's tongue hit her g-spot and she soon orgasmed, Tatsumi did likewise creaming Maltise's mouth which she swallowed eagerly; to Tsuwangdani human semen had an extremely different taste then it did to humans and tasted like sweet wine to her. "Now Maltise allow me to demonstrate how best to please Tatsumi vaginally and enjoy his length, while I do so enjoy Tatsumi's tongue, it is quite a pleasure as I suspect you know well" Clementine explained as the two swapped.

"Indeed it is and it would be even more enjoyable if he had the tongue of one of my kind, but any males of my kind would be unfit for my royal body" Maltise replied and took her place on Tatsumi's face and he eagerly began to work, this would be to her benefit as the juices produced by a female Tsuwangdani's orgasm were a potent aphrodisiac, but it would also be trouble as Tatsumi on an aphrodisiac was extremely dangerous thing as it amped up his formidable stamina by a factor of ten, it was not something to be trifled with and it meant that it would take a good amount of Tatsumi's harem to exhaust him; something that would be even more dangerous when they had to get him on the ship to leave and to make matters crazier Tatsumi would be completely aware of everything unlike with what happened in the Temple of Antiope in Tokorra as that aphrodisiac had opium mixed in with it.

His work with his tongue was bliss for Maltise her skin changed shade again to a bright green to denote this: another thing about the Tsuwangdani was that their skin changed hues and colors based on strong emotions too with warrior Tsuwangdani in heat of battle turning bloody crimson or joyous Tsuwangdani turning blue when sad or purple when happy, also they could control this to some extent to allow for very potent camouflage. Clementine decided to do a bit of experimentation herself to see what other colors Maltise would turn to if she did certain things to her with her hands such as fondle her breasts, doing that turned Maltise a nice shade of viridian, drinking from those assets milk-white and playing with her tail a sunset orange. As she did so she enjoyed Tatsumi snug and inside her. "My beloved Tatsumi oh my father was so perplexed when I told him we had married and done each other: it was so amusing, but at least Tatsumi had earned his favor and my love" Clementine thought then noted how Maltise reacted to a kiss, her whole body blushed cherry red and turned an even brighter shade of strawberry red when she added tongue into the mix. "Perfect, too perfect, she's putty in my arms, being shaped into an amazing partner for my Tatsumi-bon-bon, I think she'll do good and have a happy marriage with him, like mine" Clementine thought.

Tatsumi orgasmed as did the other two partners, Tatsumi's body felt a massive surge of energy as he gobbled up Maltise, things then escalated very quickly as he took Maltise missionary and drank ravenously from Clementine's breasts. "Someone just woke up" Clementine remarked then shrieked in bliss as Tatsumi fingered her aggressively, Tatsumi moaned loudly into her breasts. In fact, Tatsumi's stimulation of her was too aggressive and she realized something must have happened to bring this out of him. "What though?" Clementine thought, hazily thru all the pleasure, and she realized that something in Maltise's juices must have changed him and that he was under some sort of aphrodisiac. "Shit" she moaned both at the pleasure and at the realization, she then then had to rush out his reach run to the door.

"Girls I really NEED your help with Tatsumi now!" Clementine said thru a slightly ajar door.

"That's unlike you to ask for help" Mez commented.

"Look Maltise's pussy juices are an aphrodisiac, Tatsumi's now going at least ten times normal" Clementine panicked out, as if to grant credence to Tatsumi's state Maltise moaned extremely loudly and Clementine glanced to note that Tatsumi had finished filling her pussy with his love juices and was now going to do the same to his ass.

"Damn, you mean it: Alright Four champions things just heated up, Suzuka go get Cosmina and bunch of other girls, Tatsumi needs all the love and affection; don't know how long it will take it to bring him out of it but we need to do our best" Akame replied, Suzuka sighed and bolted to do as ordered, the other three Rakshasa walked in stripped and walked over to the bed.

"Oh Tatsumi" Mez teased, Tatsumi smiled at the addition of three additional girls; Akame and Kurome grinned as Tatsumi finished releasing in Maltise who passed out worn out by Tatsumi, Kurome being the one with the most stamina and most practice took him first: Kurome had dealt with men on aphrodisiacs before but never Tatsumi and they didn't have his constitution, but still she could handle a good deal of him, Mez and Akame joined in alongside Clementine who had only begun to warm up. Tatsumi went thru another combined 40 rounds with all four of them and Suzuka arrived with a small army of his harem members about 20 of them in total counting her and all of them ready.

That lead to about three hours and hundreds of rounds and only after exhausting every single one of his harem mates including the rather inexhaustible Mashiro and Cassandra he finally collapsed exhausted into the groups of exhausted girls. One of the many house servants accidently glanced in, shut the door on the scene and went to find the nearest thing that would cause him to forget that image.

The exhaustion however did not hinder them from leaving on time, Tatsumi and the others awoke well rested around late afternoon and after a farewell banquet from King Amek they boarded the ships that would take them to the Atlantean isles.

The following morning… Tatsumi looked out from the main-deck of his ship which had been called the Golden Dragon in his honor alongside four of his wives, at his side was Angelas, one of his newer wives and his spiritual advisor that he confided his sins and matters of faith to: their wedding had been a humble affair which she had officiated and had none of the grand flare that his other weddings had; it was more like the ceremony with Lubbock and Yami. Speaking of that couple the two were nearby playing dice with the sailors and winning, Tatsumi had a feeling that Lubbock had borrowed Leone's dice to get the streak he was on or he was just that lucky. Leone was with him too. "Did you loan Lubbock your dice?" Tatsumi replied.

"I didn't even bring them with me Tatsumi, their still hidden somewhere in Grundewick manor, Lily and Syura took them from me for 'my own good' and they were probably right to do so, though they didn't have to be so smug about it" Leone replied.

"Personally, I miss them, Lily especially" Tatsumi replied.

"Trust me those two are good at sweet talking, better than me: I would have gone with them, but I wanted to travel with you" Leone replied.

"I'm surprised that you were such a sinner, tell me more about yourself Leone" Angelas asked.

"Please we'd be here all day, also my personal honor while I may have conned and cheated people, I never killed anyone that didn't deserve it and I was never a harlot, Tatsumi is my first and only" Leone replied.

"I can verify that" Tatsumi added. "Anyway, how do you to feel about this new experience?" Tatsumi asked.

"I'm enjoying it and look at the lovely ships, they have to be best in world that's how splendid they are" Leone replied.

"Yeah I doubt the Atlanteans have anything better then these" Mine remarked from behind, Sheele frowned and face palmed.

"You don't know that Mine" Sheele remarked, then wrapped her arms around Tatsumi's back. "This world is full of interesting things and you've yet to see them all" Sheele replied.

"And you have?" Mine replied.

"No and while I've seen some interesting things over the years I've not seen everything it has to offer; not even Hadrianus I Maximus the Navigator, one of the Empire's best Emperors and its greatest explorer ever saw everything our world has to offer" Sheele replied, Mine still was smug. As if to grant credence to Sheele's words an extremely loud horn of the kind never heard by anyone on the ship outside the experienced seamen they had hired for the journey roared, also the roar of some very loud engine was heard and Tatsumi looked up to see about five very fast moving objects preforming aerial movements above them, then he turned and saw something extremely out of the world. Ships made of metal, one which was flat and long with a solitary deck tower and a few guns, in fact strange objects were flying off of the massive deck into the air and extremely fast speeds. Other ships were present too massive in size and with decks with massive guns that had barrels as long as four carriages at their largest and with the smallest being the size of cannons, also a number of smaller ships of similar design could be seen.

Before Tatsumi could take in much else a loudspeaker blared. "Attention Imperial ships and yes we see the Imperial banner flying on your masts prepare to be boarded for questioning, you are in the waters of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth, any attempt to retreat will be treated as a hostile act and our guns and jets will out range and destroy you, any attempt attack will be treated likewise, hold your ships in position and fold your sails: we will be sending a military delegation with myself at its head: cooperate and you will not be harmed, this is a normal procedure for any foreign ships in our water" the voice spoke it was a unique accent, Tatsumi was warned in advance and his experienced captains knowing full well this was normal followed the instructions to the letter.

Tatsumi noted a fast moving boat about the same size as his and that was clearly powered by an engine similar to that in a tank and was flying a flag of truce alongside their normal colors approached his ship, something which was easy to spot as in addition to the flag of The Old Empire it also flew the banner of Night Raid and the Banner of the Golden Dragon, it was also the largest ship and the most ornate so it was easily identified. The ship arrived and attached a boarding ramp and well-armed professional marines boarded first weapons at the ready for anything, Tatsumi cautiously approached accompanied by Esdeath and Aria who had come to his side in the meantime and by his bodyguards and standard bearers. The Marines parted to allow officers thru at the center of them was a middle-aged man in an admiral's uniform, he had silver hair and a scar across his check his skin was Caucasian, and he walked with the air of authority and the experience of an experienced old salt. "Identify yourselves, I am Admiral Hadros Sturnn of the Commonwealth's navy, you are in our waters" the Admiral ordered.

Tatsumi stepped forward, Spear was going to speak for him, but he cut her off. "My name is Tatsumi Gildenstrom, seventh of my family name but also first of it, last Emperor of the Golden Empire and first of the new Golden Dragon Empire, I come to seek the aid of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth against an enemy that has destroyed the Old Empire and if not stopped will destroy all of Eden" Tatsumi replied, getting straight to business.

"I've not the power to make any such pact and if I did what enemy would be so formidable as to destroy the world's largest power and send it's Emperor into exile?" Admiral Hadros asked.

"I'm not in exile, I'm reconsolidating my Empire and seeking new allies for it: as to that threat that is so powerful to threaten Eden in its entirety I can name it and hope you treat my words with full caution and not as ramblings of a madman. For behold the greatest enemy that has ever threatened Eden has returned the Demons of Valtor Abaddon under his new servant and representative: the usurper Volgoth Ugor, he murdered my Father and Uncle and has usurped the throne from myself and my Cousin before him and I implore for your aid, already many have joined my cause and many more will and we need everyone we can get to fight against this threat" Tatsumi explained the Admiral's look turned forlorn and full of pain.

"I'd normally disregard your claims this if not for these facts first that omens are ill of late and secondly scouts of our Commonwealth have seen demons lurking in the old ruins of our ancient oppressors the tyrants of Yeenkar, in addition to this similar tales too have come from many traders that have come to our ports as of late and your arrival is but the latest to bring such tidings however you are first to bring up the name of Valtor and of this new name Volgoth Ugor is the name of the threat and word has come that the Empire is in turmoil from other merchants but we knew not the source of it. Regardless however such matters of diplomacy are beyond my authority and are the providence of our king and our parliament, we will allow you however to bring your fleet to port in our Capital of Triton but expect to be watched and escorted to the city: also if you bring forth an army on your ships in anticipation of the demons reaching us it is to stay aboard until we negotiate a treaty of military access" The Admiral replied.

"How long will this take?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because of your warning and rank you will have an audience with our monarch immediately; be warned however that while your feet step upon our soil you answer to our laws as do any of your subjects also your ships will not be permitted to dock until you have approval to do so, as such you and your entourage will be aboard my ship for the duration of the trip to our capital and until approval is given for your audience, we take this measure in strike abidance with our laws and advise against not cooperating" he explained.

"Fine, but I expect that those in my compony with be treated well and with respect as accorded to the rights of diplomacy" Tatsumi replied, the Admiral nodded in agreement, with that Tatsumi collected a small entourage of his security, his harem, and his advisors all of which were accompanied by weary marines, Tatsumi noted the sea blue uniforms but also sandals worn instead of boats and white cloth sashes made of some cotton fabric, this attire was more ornate for the officers and their sandals were more protective: if not for the climate Tatsumi thought that such attire wouldn't be well suited for the weather he was used to, but considering the warmer climate of these isles and the fact that temperature was in the low 80s (AN: the Empire uses the Imperial system for measurements, and thus they measure temperature accordingly) and Tatsumi could see that their choice of footwear was good alright, Tatsumi noted his boots were warmer by comparison but Imperial footwear tended to favor them instead of other options.

Attire aside the Atlanteans were sharp, crisp and professional with all the discipline Tatsumi was used to from his own troops, the fact however that he was essentially giving himself as a hostage for diplomatic procedures annoyed him, the Atlanteans were extremely paranoid compared to other people he had negotiated with so far but considering that they had extremely advanced technology that Tatsumi suspected they were afraid of either being stolen or misused by foreigners that was understandable. That being said Tatsumi kept himself watchful, the Atlanteans had not requested him and his entourage to turn over their weaponry which was most likely due to hubris in assuming their own weapons were better and that Tatsumi assumed was correct as did everyone. Once aboard the ship they were escorted to guest quarters and placed under house arrest for security purposes, then the ship moved very fast and within a couple hours it arrived at their destination and once Tatsumi was allowed walk out on deck with his eyes took in an amazing and aweing sight.

The city of Triton was extremely fair to look upon and had no other like that Tatsumi had ever seen. Towering and ornate structures made marble were abundant with fine columns in a Dorian style, amazing statues of marble depicting scenes and rulers of past glory were abundant, but towering over it all were massive skyscrapers, building that in Tatsumi's opinion would tower of Melitine's Imperial Palace at least let alone any other building in that city, hell they were the tallest structures he had seen so far, and the sparkled with glass and polished titanium. Other things were abundant spires of marble with ornate along with temples and other structures that were painted with mosaics of great glory, gods, and all sorts of other things. Looming over it all on a large hill that Tatsumi assumed must have been about 500 feet tall was a massive palace complex that rivaled the one in Melitine. "I'm amazed: when this war is over this is what I see the future for Imperial cities if not even more grandeur displays of architecture, I'm certain that there is a good amount room thanks to Volgoth that needs to be rebuilt, too many people have died, and I wonder how many people live in this city, with buildings this large you could easily have people live in hundreds of homes inside them" Tatsumi thought.

"I'm amazed! I never considered it would be this impressive, I've heard stories but never in my life did I ever expect to see this for myself and- so much that can be learned from this: so many advances and so much history I must see do what I can to learn everything I can!" Dorothea exclaimed from Tatsumi's side.

"You may learn our history, but you will learn nothing of our advances, our technology is too dangerous to fall into the hands of those who cannot understand it" Admiral Stromm responded noting her.

"I don't understand why you would horde such knowledge and advances, sure there are those who would misuse such knowledge but that is inherent with all knowledge that there will be those who would seek to use it with evil designs, as the Empire's most renowned and respected scientist I've made so many advances in so many fields and I've always shared my creations to better my nation and lives of my fellow Imperials: I never once considered hording my knowledge it would be an afront to my very principles, let alone it would be backwards in the extreme: I'm never skeptical and look into everything I have interest in with full desire to understand. Also I'll let you know that even if you don't share your knowledge the Empire is advancing and when my husband has restored the Empire I will be expanding our research even further; so much so that the Empire may even develop technology beyond yours, in fact I swear that in a decade we'll have become the most advanced nation on Eden and have developed the means to travel beyond it" Dorothea replied, then clung to Tatsumi passively and protectively in case her words provoked undo anger.

The Admiral sighed. "Many of our people now a days share your view Empress, they are becoming more influential too, there are however those like myself and the King who are traditionalists and we fear that sharing our knowledge may result in another cataclysm" Admiral Stromm replied.

"Cataclysm?" Tatsumi asked.

"About two millennia the Old Atlantean Empire had reached its Zenith, so great were our advances that our hubris grew so grand that we believed none could challenge our domain. Then the enemies we thought vanquished by our ancestors the Demons of Valtor returned and they came in great numbers and with great strength, we thought our technology would be an advantage against our ancient foe after all our ancestors had vanquished them with weapons of bronze but we proved blind, our generals fought battles against these foes and our enemies won victory after victory though we won a number ourselves, those however came at great cost and every death for our side was one that weakened us for the demons cannot truly die, they will return if slain in battle just as strong as before. Our ancestors prayed and fought but our hubris still blinded us and our gods did not favor us, though we beat back the Demon armies it didn't save us from The Great Cataclysm, there was no warning and when it came an explosion of the like our world has never seen and hopefully will never see again shattered our continent and most of our lands sunk beneath the sea; the demons left afterwards seeming content to leave our shattered Empire to suffer" The Admiral explained. "But our people survived and we withdrew from Adonai to rebuild on the shattered remnants of our home isles, we kept much of our technology but we resolved never to share it save with those who proved worthy and since that pact no outsider has ever proven, we guard our secrets well and we will not reveal them even under the worst tortures" the Admiral replied. "We decided that our new nation or empire if you will would stay on our isles and we would let it be an empire of trade rather than an empire of land and we focused our efforts inward, we have innovated and our people live lives of comfort that no other people in the world save perhaps the Dwarves could have: they alone would be those we'd share our innovations with but they have no need for their advancements are beyond even us, in fact they could rule the world if they wanted to but they stay in their mountain holds with no desire to expand save it be to reclaim lost holds, I would hazard a guess that they understand the truth of The Cataclysm but we never asked and I doubt they'd tell us even if they knew. Anyway, I don't think we will ever understand how The Cataclysm happened but we know why, it was because we dared to consider ourselves gods when we were naught but humans, simple creatures and though we live longer than other humans due to our advances we are still mortal and will have to pay the ferryman Charon at some point and journey into Erebus" he concluded.

"Death is inevitable, and is as inevitable as the passage of time itself and time devours all things for it alone ignores death: I understand your reasoning but I don't think it was your gods that brought about such a calamity, you said your people were at war with the Demons and perhaps that it was their doing as they left soon after" Dorothea replied.

"We have considered it but even if they were responsible, we learned the lesson which is that one should never be blinded by hubris and man should never consider himself a god less he be smote by divine wrath by powers beyond his comprehension" Admiral Stromm replied. "Anyway enough talk of our past, as soon as we arrive your party will stay at a transient's hotel for the duration of the time it takes for us to get approval for you to move about: ordinarily this would take days but given your message and status that process will have to be expedited also the King and Parliament will wish to speak with you in person Emperor Tatsumi, however do not expect the people of our nation to bow to you like the other peoples of the east have, we do not submit to any rulers but our own that we have selected and we pride ourselves, if we do all know that we are not your subjects, also refrain from ordering people about, there are citizens that don't take kindly to that and any Atlantean will likely refuse to be bossed around by a foreign monarch even if his an Emperor" Admiral Stromm explained.

"Don't worry I'll treat everyone with respect due to them: there won't be any incidents, that applies to everyone in my following: however I do expect that we do be allowed to stay together as groups, I will NOT allow my people to be sepperated from each other, also I would ask that our arms not be taken from us, we will not attack you but we reserve our right to defend ourselves if threatened, besides I don't think you could take our Teigus from us if you tried, doing so results in pain from touching them without consent" Tatsumi replied.

"You will be allowed these privileges but do not misuse our trust, those betray us do not live to regret it nor do we give second chances to betrayers" the Admiral replied.

Tatsumi nodded, the ship docked, and they were escorted to a large building that was surprising luxurious, Tatsumi noted that offshore were a number of large windmills also that the roofs had some form of reflect panels, also other structures that Tatsumi assumed generated power were visible. The accommodations were good, and he was provided a rather large and spacious room that was designed with foreign leaders in mind: Tatsumi noted however that as soon as they were inside the door had no knob inside. "These will be your quarters for the duration of your stay until you get proper approval, take this young emperor, it is a cellular phone I will call you on it to inform you once we've gotten approval for you to be allowed to move about freely and for your ships to dock I will also call it to inform you when the King is ready to receive your audience, there is another phone in here that will allow you to call for room service which is on the house: the door opens on the other side: you'll forgive this precaution but this is standard and no one from a simple trader to a visiting monarch is exempt from it on their first trip, if approval is granted once you need not worry in the future, do expect to receive a similar welcoming committee at sea but proper paper work will be granted and allow you in: call it a passport as it allows you past the port, for the time now however you shall stay here" The Admiral explained.

"How long will it take to get everything approved?" Tatsumi asked.

"The initial things to allow you to move about freely will take about an hour in talking over with our port authorities, the rest however may take a few more but expect to see the king and parliament before the day is over, expect to him to provide your permanent accommodations as is customary with foreign leaders and diplomats, remember these accommodations are temporary and we'll try and clear you as fast as possible as your message about demons is high priority to our national security" The Admiral replied and left Tatsumi in his chambers with his wives and protectors; his other security detail members and advisors were provided separate accommodations as it was a known fact what their emperor was want to do in private. And thus, respected his privacy. The door locked shortly and Tatsumi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well this isn't remotely what I expected, great I'm essentially a prisoner with diplomatic immunity: well at least its temporary and for only a couple hours at most" Tatsumi remarked.

"Personally, I expected this, though I too do not like being locked up even if it is a golden cage" Esdeath replied.

"Well not much for it now but to wait and pass the time" Aria replied.

"I know exactly how to" Tatsumi teased.

"Please you just had a massive orgy this morning, tell me you aren't already recovered and wanting another one" Aria replied.

"Hey that wasn't planned, I just wanted to spend time with Maltise, it escalated quickly" Tatsumi replied, Aria frowned.

"You're insatiable you know that?" Aria replied.

"Yep but you love me regardless right my Capital Angel?" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course, I do, even if you are a handful in bed, I wonder if your father was the same? Hell, I wonder how many Emperors and Empresses had your stamina" Aria replied.

"Please I'm not as demanding as Merraid I, I've read the stories and heard more from Merra" Tatsumi replied.

"You come close, but then again you aren't of habit of bedding everyone who suits your fancy unlike my namesake was: she was truly a nymphomaniac, one story tells that she offered herself to her entire army and any soldiers that survived a hard battle, by the end of the battle she was victorious and by the end of the following day she was still energetic as you" Merraid commented.

"I didn't need to hear that Merra" Aria replied.

"Prude" Merraid remarked.

"Am not, I've got standards, Tatsumi only and always, also I'd add I was raised completely differently then you Merra" Aria replied, Merraid blushed, Chelsea laughed from nearby.

"She did make a good comeback sis" Chelsea remarked. The tension was obvious Tatsumi simply laid back and waited.

"First come first served and done so alone" Tatsumi remarked as he laid back seductively, to his surprise Tay-Tay stepped up and removed her vail revealing her lovely face.

"I'll do so my Emperor; I pledged to serve you as your loyal protector and assassin and I've decided that to show my total commitment and loyalty I offer myself to you as your consort and my maidenhood to you" Tay-Tay replied and stripped revealing her well-endowed and fit body, her ample d-cups on full display; Tatsumi smiled as he did the same, the others of this harem took a good look and did the same and waited their turn.

Tay-Tay straddled him and kissed him on the lips as he entered her, snapping her barrier, she showed no sign of pain and merely kissed him as she began to slowly move up and down on length, Tatsumi's hands rested on her rear taking an ample butt-cheek in either one, which he fondled gently, Tay-Tay moaned at this and cooed as he broke the kiss and kissed her slowly down her face and neck to her right breast, he kissed the nipple and began stimulating it with his tongue licking it in a circle pattern to cause it to become aroused, once it was he began to drink. The drink was long and her delicious milk flowing into his mouth and down his throat and Tatsumi mentally graded it as he had with every partner. "This is so sweet" Tatsumi thought.

"My Emperor: Tatsumi- you're- amazing I've never felt this way in my whole life, ravish me and give me your all" Tay-Tay replied smiling then kissed him on the forehead and wrapped her arms around him. Tay-Tay's sweet moans were an arousal factor for all the girls in the room but they restrained themselves, especially a pair that were virgins and had grown quite desirous for the touch and loving embraces of the man they were sworn to protect but those two remained clothed and vigilant by the door in case of threats to their leader though they planned to see to this desire in time. Granted Merraid showed no restraint and fondled a nearby Akame who moaned blissfully, Cassandra and Gilberda joined her in pleasing Akame and herself, Cassandra showed restraint when it came to her stepsister and focused her efforts on Akame. Kurome and Tsukushi moved over to the bed and sat near Tatsumi and waited for him to finish pleasing Tay-Tay, which took him about 10 minutes as she easily reached her virgin limit and laid to the side in a haze and Tatsumi then turned to Kurome and Tsukushi.

He noted that Kurome's breasts had grown larger over the time he had spent since they left Melitine, though she kept her hair the same, her breasts were now C-cups boarding on D-cups like her sister's, granted however those were put to shame by Tsukushi's ample breasts; Peony snuck up behind him and Cornelia flanked him from the side while Dorothea did the same, Tsukushi eagerly wrapped her breasts around his length and soon all five girls had their ample racks wrapped around it, Tatsumi licking Peony as they gave him head.

After this Tsukushi was the first to mount him and cooed as she did so, Cornelia and Dorothea kissed him, while Kurome and Peony licked his nipples, Tatsumi latching onto Dorothea's perky left breast and drank. "This is the life, this is what I need to cope with all the insane shit I have to go thru, I never dreamed I'd ever enjoy this kind of pleasure and their love along with themselves are what I fight for, much less the future; though I expect to be overwhelmed by wonderful children" Tatsumi thought and let himself enjoy as the ladies tended to him, he orgasmed Tsukushi dismounted and was replaced by Peony; every time released one girl would replace the other and it was a delightful experience, soon all five had moved aside to allowed Esdeath and Sayo, both of whom had noticeable baby bumps but that wasn't going to deter them from the fun.

"This is going to be fun" Esdeath remarked.

"I know" Sayo replied and fondled Esdeath's breasts to a loud moan from the former and from there things escalated into an orgy and reverse gangbang of Tatsumi by every girl in the room apart from the two who stood watch and restrained themselves from throwing themselves in, time would come for that but they wanted their own private time with their emperor.

Fortunately for Tatsumi the Admiral had taken a couple hours longer than expected and he had just finished pleasing everyone when the phone rang, the noise startled him as he had never heard something like it before, but he picked it up and pressed the button to answer. "Emperor Tatsumi you've been cleared for entry, I will be sending an aid to allow you out of your accommodations, the King himself has granted your audience, I called him while I was waiting for the department of foreign affairs to grant you entry, also you'll be interested to know I've informed the Imperial Embassy of your arrival and they have requested you meet with their representative, they want to know about events going on in the Empire" The Admiral informed him.

"I'll meet with my fellow Imperials first, I trust the embassy is on the way to the palace, hopefully a guide around here is standing by" Tatsumi asked.

"The King sent his daughter to show you around, mind you she is quite free-spirited and was interested in meeting you; note that she is to be treated with respect" The Admiral replied.

"That's an interesting thing; I didn't expect this" Tatsumi replied, trying to do his best to talk on the phone as his harem redressed him, having already done the same themselves.

"The King was insistent on that a royal representative be sent to show you about, he was of the opinion that a royal monarch should be treated with by someone of royal blood" the Admiral replied.

"Thank you, by the way can I keep this device for the time being, it will be useful during my stay" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, however it must be returned before you leave our nation for security purposes" the Admiral replied.

"I'll do that, don't worry I'm no thief, at least not from my friends: I'll steal from evil people but that's about it" Tatsumi replied then hung up.

"I'm sore, Tatsumi you think you could carry me" Tsukushi asked.

"I can hold your hand if that helps" Tatsumi replied, the two held hands, Tsukushi kissed him, Tatsumi's face was a mess of lipstick but that was cleaned up by a diligent Spear.

"Can't have you walking around with that on your face, as Emperor you need to look presentable at all times in public" Spear commented as she finished cleaning.

"I know, but I want to show my affection for the wonderful women in my life" Tatsumi replied, Spear laughed, kissed him, and smiled.

"I think you've more than shown it today: twice and I'm still sore from the first time, you were however a lot gentler this time around: remember etiquette lessons, also that people here are different from those in Empire and as such take all steps you can to avoid offending them" Spear replied, Tatsumi smiled.

"Don't worry I won't, and we've had this conversation about locals a LOT now Spear: I'm fairly certain that its sunk in with me" Tatsumi replied.

"It pays for me to remind you, it's one of the many things I'm here for: remember that and I'll always be by your side and won't hesitate to help you with anything" Spear explained, they kissed again the door opened, both Hiromi and Asawa who had been in guarding it took defensive postures. "Relax you two" Spear ordered.

"Emperor Tatsumi; you are allowed to move about the lands of Nova Atlantea, remember that while you are here you will be expected to follow our laws, her highness Princess Ryoko Asakura awaits you in the lobby along with a representative of your Empire's embassy" the messenger explained.

"You heard him, let's go see what this new land has to offer" Tatsumi remarked.

They descended down the stairs, not realizing that there was an elevator, with this decision they ended up surprising the welcoming committee. Tatsumi suppressed a gasp and seeing the princess of Atlantea, she was beautiful with porcelain skin, long blue hair tied in a ponytail, bright blue eyes, she had a figure equal to that of Akame, her attire consisted a fine white dress of cotton and rather unique style, a fusion of a toga and gown. She was amongst a number of soldiers in crisp uniforms; Tatsumi also noted another woman, she had long purple hair and wore the white and red uniform of an Imperial Diplomat, she was equally beautiful and about as well-endowed as Sheele though her beauty was distinctly different from Sheele's and she wore no glasses, at her side were four Imperial guard soldiers looking as disciplined as ever.

"Welcome to Atlantea and Triton Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, I'm Princess Ryoko Asakura and I'm pleased to welcome you cutie- I mean your highness to our wonderful homeland, I'm sorry about the inconvenience of your arrival but security is a tradition here, hopefully soon enough we can make the process less intrusive but for now it's a necessary evil for our security; but I'm glad to finally meet you" The princess greeted and walked up to shake his hand.

"May I intrude?" the Imperial Ambassador asked.

"Feel free to Ambassador Cordelia, I see no trouble with you interacting with your monarch" Ryoko replied and the diplomat approached him, the Four Rakshasa and Elite Seven along with his Sacred Blades assumed defensive postures.

"Relax" Tatsumi ordered, and his security detail allowed her to approach.

"I've questions to ask, many of them, I've not heard news from the Empire in months but last I checked Makoto I was Emperor, what has changed, and I've heard no such knowledge of a Tatsumi Gildenstrom" Cordelia inquired.

"Consider this your update: first off the Empire has fallen as has Melitine, the Demon Volgoth has taken the city; fortunately thru the brave sacrifice of General Budo Prince Makoto along with General Esdeath and number of influential leaders have escaped: before this I discovered a truth using the Teigu Kronos: Mirror of Time and General Budo discovered this truth first and I verified it with the mirror: that I Tatsumi am Tatsumi Gildenstrom seventh of my name and the son of Emperor Isshin, second of his name and known as the Lost, and his wife Empress Akame, my mother escaped an assassination attempt that killed my father and took me as an infant and raised me in secrecy; she is still alive and is currently preforming diplomatic missions for me on the behalf of the new Golden Dragon Empire: I'm considered the first Emperor of this new Empire and have claimed the title of Golden Dragon Emperor in honor of Tatsumi I and Tatsumi III who are my namesakes" Tatsumi explained. "Also I'll inform you that the Revolutionary Army has been destroyed, and that Prime Minister Honest was killed by Volgoth, in fact the two were one and the same and the demon has assumed his identity for a long time in fact the one we knew as Honest was Volgoth all along: as such I come gathering a coalition of all of Eden's people against Volgoth and his dark master the Arch-Demon Valtor, I'll forgive your ignorance of recent events and if you do not believe me I have all the necessary regalia, documents and witnesses to back up my claim and if you don't believe that I'll show you the truth with Mirror of Time" Tatsumi added.

"I First Empress Aria Leyael 'Grundel' Gildenstrom affirm my husband's claim and right of birth with my whole heart and soul" Aria declared

"I Empress Esdeath 'Patras' Gildenstrom verify my husband's claim" Esdeath declared.

"As do I Empress Spear 'Chouri' Gildenstrom" Spear replied.

"I Empress Seryu 'Ubiquitous' Gildenstrom recognize my beloved Tatsumi's claim, and just and righteous rule as the first Emperor of the new Empire" Seryu added, additional verifications by other members of his harem followed and Cordelia was convinced, even if it wasn't true, the fact that the Empire had fallen into Civil War was known and if Melitine had fallen then truly what mattered claims at this point.

"I recognize your authority and apologize for my brashness my Emperor; as recent changes were not known to me; I place myself and the humble staff of our embassy under your rule" Cordelia explained. "I must ask though if it is true about General Budo's death?" she added.

"It is true, unfortunately he sacrificed himself to save me" Esdeath replied.

"Two Rakshasas also sacrificed themselves as did two Elite Seven, not mention hundreds of royal guard troops" Mez added.

"What kind of enemy can slay such a force let alone breach the Royal Palace?" Cordelia asked.

"A kind beyond any of us, but we have to fight to save our world, now why do you ask about the General's fate?" Tatsumi asked.

"General Budo was my father, I was his youngest child, my mother a western concubine; I loved my father dearly and loved me" Cordelia replied

"I see, my condolences; he was a good man and a good friend the Empire never had a more loyal soldier" Tatsumi replied.

"If my father sacrificed himself to save you I will follow you my emperor and pledge my whole self to you, my father wouldn't have died for someone he didn't believe was his rightful lord, that he did so is enough for me to believe you are who you say you are" Cordelia replied.

"Thanks, I accept your loyalty" Tatsumi replied.

"Know that I'm not just a diplomat my liege, I served in the guard like my father albeit for not as long before I was appointed diplomat here: I've brought my armor with me and will gladly don it in your service as I have with Emperors Makoto and Yoritomo before you" Cordelia added.

"I welcome you into my honor guard then Cordelia, I need any and every one I can get to fight the demons" Tatsumi replied.

"Speaking of my Father wishes to speak with you on that matter, I'd be loath to keep him waiting" Ryoka replied

"Then let's not do so any longer, every moment spent in idleness is one Volgoth uses to gather his strength further" Tatsumi replied and they left with the escort in toe and normal people were surprised by the arrivals, Tatsumi did note in the distance his ships arriving, the great ships of the line were nothing by glorified wooden rafts in his opinion now compared to the warships of the Atlanteans. "Ships like those are the future" Tatsumi thought and looked at the sky. "Maybe ships can sail skies and beyond" he thought, then smiled at the thought.

Meanwhile… Xana took a hard look from her advance base tower to note the construction of warships: the demonic ships were built using hell-steel imported in from the foundries of hell itself. "A grand sight to behold" she said to Volgoth who looked on thru a mirror. "Preparations are underway, the ships will take a day or two to build, I'm working my slaves to their best, but it takes time to build a ship right otherwise they'll be floating coffins" Xana explained.

"Good, make ready your forces, what of the Atlantean, have they seen any sign our troops?" Volgoth asked.

"None so far, a few local hunting parties from the eastern kingdoms have been seen but I made examples of them; they won't interfere in our operations; I'm looking forward to finally destroying those blasted Atlanteans once and for all: that they survived my efforts is an insult to my pride: expect me to return in victory with their leader's head or not at all and as such Lord Valtor will have other tasks for me" Xana replied.

"I'd saddened to lose your service if you fail: I wonder if Lord Valtor actually desires my success" Volgoth replied.

"Lord Valtor's plans are beyond your knowledge and mine; what he considers success is beyond our comprehension, remember that this world is but one insignificant marble in a broader multiverse and more things live out there that are of far more importance to him" Xana replied.

"When you put that way, I can see the point, though I'd very much for the sake my pride see this universe be mine, after all you have your pride to attend to I have mine" Volgoth replied.

"Indeed, if you have no further words for me, I'll resume my work on the invasion" Xana replied and Volgoth vanished.

Back in Triton… Tatsumi's retinue was allowed to parade thru the city of Triton on route to royal palace of their king, it also shared the Parliament building: according to Cordelia the Atlanteans lived under what was called a 'Constitutional Monarchy' in which the people selected their own leaders to govern things via a parliament which passed laws and governance, the King played an advisory role and had the call on military action and cultural matters in the form of festivals, holidays and local religious traditions; the King also was the head of their religion from a political standpoint as all religious officials were appointed via the monarch. Tatsumi took notes on the way they ran their government, but noted a few problems, the first issue he had was that parliament held power to declare war which was in Tatsumi's opinion a mistake to hand that power to civilians rather than military leaders and the head of state, second issue was that there were no term limits as to how long politicians could hold office, sure they had 2 year terms but a shrewd politician who could make a career out of their role could conceivably hold their seat indefinitely if they were good at getting the votes they needed. The way the votes were handled was an issue for him too, the way it favored a majority rule, which to Tatsumi was an issue because he believed that majority rule let people who were in the minority not really have a say in the way their leaders acted.

The biggest issue by far though was the terms though and the lack of limits on them. Tatsumi had studied imperial history and knew for a fact that a great deal of the Empire's failings had come from maladministration and corruption that were endemic with long-term governors which in the Old Empire were bureaucrats appointed by the Emperor and his Prime Minister: all it took was one bad Emperor or Prime Minister to muck things up and appoint corrupt officials that the people couldn't dislodge short of uprisings or assassination, Tatsumi decided that the people should elect their own viceroys and governors, civilian only however he didn't trust people who didn't have knowledge of military affairs to manage the military commands, in fact it seemed like a recipe for politicians to start wars that dragged on for years on end and when they were dragged in they would fear to do anything that would allow victory. That in mind Tatsumi devised that all civil government positions outside direct Imperial court and military would be elected, the terms would be for two years and the officials could only serve for two terms: this dealt with the flaws of unelected bureaucrats and allowed the people a say in their government also it dealt with risk of uprisings to avoid the issues that came with people getting attached to a leader and thinking they'd be better leader for the Empire as a whole. Of course the Military wouldn't be immune to his term system, military governors would only serve for one two year term and be appointed by him directly which made sure that people who were competent would always be in positions but not have to worry about issues, also this didn't apply to field command positions for actions only governance.

This thinking was helpful for Tatsumi as it kept him from worrying about the Atlantean King and the possibility he wouldn't believe him: though he had devised a contingency; he had brought the Mirror of Time and if he had do what he did with the RA leadership convince them with it he'd do the same with the Atlanteans, he hadn't had to do this so far with anyone he encountered as they had other issues that allowed him to get them on side. When they arrived at the royal palace Tatsumi was only slightly impressed; granted it was an amazing building by all means, but the Eastern style palaces, Dwarven Holds and Tsuwangdani spires put it to shame, to say nothing of Melitine's Imperial Palace: compared to it the Atlantean Palace was little more than an over glorified castle.

Tatsumi didn't disclose his thoughts to anyone of course and kept his opinions to himself and reserved them for his biography if he ever lived to have one written, as at this point in time he had no idea if he'd succeed against Volgoth and his world would end up destroyed by demons and him along with it after witnessing his worst nightmares come true. But fortunately, this would not be the case, Tatsumi would go on to triumph but that is far in the future from this moment in time my readers and I will refrain from touching on the subject any further until then. (An: I mean it guys! BUT hopefully I will have it done this year)

All that aside as he found the interior of the palace way more impressive, the statues of distant past were a centerpiece of the entry hall along with portraits of past glory, marvelous structures that were even grander than the ones he had seen outside; a testament to past glories: perhaps they had lost a deal of their technological knowledge like the Empire did and had regressed accordingly: it was a tragedy in the mind of himself and even more so in Dorothea's mind, especially given that the advancements in the paintings depicted marvels such as flying vehicles, ornate spires of some sleek metal, clothing that was of sleek and unnatural fibers and many more inventions that were sadly lost to history.

"Such a shame that glories of old are in the past" Ryoka commented, she had noted Tatsumi's looking around.

"Indeed, the Empire has had much a similar glory, once we were friends with the Dwarves and made inventions beyond imagining, but that knowledge was squandered, lost due to infight and centuries of civil war: one Emperor even in a quest for knowledge declared war on the Dwarves in an act of madness that we call the War of the Mad Emperor; even then the Empire still had more tech that is beyond us now the Dwarves took their innovations and abandoned the Empire to its fate and closed themselves off from us: I hope to restore those ties, I'm ashamed and outraged even more I think of the stupidity of my distant ancestors" Tatsumi replied.

"Hopefully one day such technology from our nations' pasts will be brought back; I'm one in favor of our people sharing our knowledge and innovating again, granted we have been but in certain fields we've become stagnant; surely there is a better alternative" Ryoka replied.

"There always is, Princess Ryoka what kind of man is your father?" Tatsumi asked.

"Just Ryoka, no need to address me so formally, as for what kind of man is my father, well he's set in his ways and in our traditions: I personally disagree with that but there is an old saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks, my father is very much the same way, he's twice as stubborn as a Dwarves and when it comes to old things he's an immovable mountain: mother is somewhat like it too but the two allow me to have a free reign, a newer generation is coming into power Tatsumi and I hope for it to change things" Ryoka replied.

"Change things for the better I hope" Tatsumi replied. "Personally I just hope I can get your people's help, I've no interest in conquering your nation; I need to merely rally as much of the world as we can against the greatest enemy its ever face, this is a War that Matters, if we lose all of Eden loses and our world will be consumed by evil" Tatsumi replied.

"Hopefully; now let's go see my father he's expressed quite an interest in meeting you; especially given your 'reputation' and that he takes your warning VERY seriously; our people don't let anything fall to chance with regards to demons: those monsters destroyed our Empire, and before that were the masters of our ancient oppressors: the Yeenkarai! We won't hesitate for minute if we have to face them" Ryoka replied, they arrived at the main door; which was as large as one for the Royal Palace in Melitine: Tatsumi noted that the door slid to the side and it was made out of a sleek alloy this part of the palace seemed older than the rest of the city almost as if the city had been built around it.

In the center of the Throne Room on thrones made of marble and padded with golden threaded cushions sat the two monarch of Atlantea: their King Marek Asakura and his wife Queen Ayoka Asakura.

The King was a man it late middle-age Tatsumi figured about 37 at minimum, probably how old his own father would have been if he were still alive and thinking of his father made the green Spector come to mind, but that was a distraction, despite middle-age features he still retained some of his youthful features, his hair was the same shade of blue as Ryoka's and his eyes were as grey as steel but polished to a crispness, his hair was in a ponytail and wore royal attire similar to Tatsumi's own but he favored a brocade robe made of fur and with a fur trim and wore a crown of gold with the carved figure of a mermaid in diamond as the keystone, his bearing suggested he had been a monarch for some time and Tatsumi figured he himself might look like that in his later years.

The Queen by contrast was a dazzling beauty with the same blue eyes as her daughter, her hair however was snow-white bordering on silver and she looked a good deal like his wonderful Najenda who stood near him, granted though an older Najenda with blue eyes as Najenda's lavender eyes were a clear contrast to her, also while she resembled Najenda in terms of physical appearances she had less endowed figure then Najenda and shared her daughter's lovely lips and cheeks. Her attire consisted of a similar gown to her daughters but it was blood red with Byzantine purple silk wraps around the shoulders and as sleeves, she also had a LOT of jewelry, golden and silver rings on most fingers, bracelets on either arm two smaller ones and a large cuff bracelet, about five or so necklaces and an amulet of truesilver and ruby along with a massive golden diadem studded with lapis lazuli and sapphires.

"Come forth my esteemed guest Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, the Golden Dragon Emperor and seventh of his name" King Marek beckoned, Tatsumi approached the throne and offered out his hand, the two shook hands in firm grips.

"It's a pleasure to meet your highness" Tatsumi greeted.

"Likewise, your majesty: I'm King Marek, sixteenth of that name and 187th king of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth, and 29th of the Asakura dynasty" Marek replied. "Now that introductions are out of the way I must inquire into the state of things: I hear you bring news of ill tidings and fell enemies from the far past returned to destroy us all" Marek replied.

"Far too true: I would relate the full tale, but we have not the time to do so as everyday counts, and we are racing against a clock" Tatsumi explained. "I will give you a summery; the Arch-Demon Valtor has returned and mustered forth a champion Volgoth Ugor, he has taken the Empire's heart Melitine and has called forth legions from hell itself in addition to an unknown number of cultists and man-made abominations with the singular goal of conquering our world and perhaps beyond it; brave men and women of the royal guard died to ensure my escape along with that of the last remaining members of the Imperial family and a great deal of the Empire's finest minds and soldiers: many of our people are protected by a Dwarven barrier that has kept Melitine from being overwhelmed in entirety but Volgoth's reach grows daily" Tatsumi explained.

"I'm familiar with the name Volgoth, and your tidings are too familiar, similar people have reported seeing demons across the lands and not just here and in your Empire but in lands across the ocean like Isles of Wakaku and the Empire of the Sea Elves Evenath Galadhan, even the Dwarves report sittings and I heard from one of their diplomats from the far west the earlier this week" Marek explained.

"I've a few questions, you said you're familiar with the name Volgoth but I've spoken to my ambassador and news of our Empire did not reach her until today and I kept the matter of Volgoth secret during my war with the Revolutionary Army how do you know the name, secondly I'd like to know more about the lands beyond here could they be called to our aid, and lastly I'd like to know if that Dwarven diplomat is still here as I'd very much like to talk to him to send a message from other Dwarf Holds and myself to their High King" Tatsumi inquired.

"I'll answer your questions: first as to the Dwarven emissary he is still here but it will take him days to reach his king so as long as you do not mind waiting on him you'll be fine, now as to the matter of the lands across the sea I'd recommend visiting one of our libraries to learn more of them, as to whether they can aid us, no, they are too far and have their own troubles to assist us, the Elves especially are in the middle of a war with an extremely deadly warlord from the further east; some illegitimate son of a faraway dynasty bringing forth legions of warriors from many exotic lands with the vanguard of black armored warriors that fight to the death, and as to your first question; Volgoth is not a recent threat; his name may not be in your records but it certainly is in ours" Marek answered and then began to elaborate further.

"In the distant past all humanity was unified under the Empire of Dawn, the First Empire, all races of men descend from them. But over 10,000 years ago after five millennia of power the Empire collapsed, reasons unknown to this day: but in that vacuum another power rose from their home in the distant south of Adonai in the jungles of the southlands a people who had long been warriors rose, their rise was rapid and they soon retook lands of the old Empire, for a time they were just and righteous rulers; ruled by two kings and a priest king at a time for so great was their domain. But somewhere along the line, someone made dark pacts and Secret Combinations that changed this Empire and they eventually forgot their old gods, worshiping one ascendant demonic dark god and his legions of fallen angels; they used their newfound demonic allies to conquer all the lands of men, built massive cities, pyramids, ziggurats, towers roads and many other structures of an oily black stone that is said to be made of hardened evil from the rivers of Hell itself. They called themselves Yeenkarai after Yeen their black twist capital in the south, that lies ruined to this day, they ceased to be men and became monsters, they became evil creatures of darkness, half-men half-demon or monsters in human skin, their cruelties defy imagination, any rot that exists in your Empire would seem kind by comparison: by the day thousands died from the tyranny of their kings, the excesses of their nobles, their common folk that were of Yeenkarai stock did whatever they wanted to anyone who was not of their people, and thousands of more were sacrificed to their evil demonic god and his angels. Virgins were defiled by their priests and made to lie with animals and only after enduring the most heinous of tortures were their sacrificed on their alters, their tyranny lasted until 4000 years ago when people that had been enslaved could take no more and when they provoked the ire of the Dwarves by attacking and defiling one of their mighty holds or Karaks as they call them in their tongue, they too also provoked the Giants and the Lizardmen along with any and all other peoples; madness drove them. But they were above all else above their evils above anything merely tools and instruments of a greater plan: all their murders, all their debauchery, all their secret combinations, all their evils and sins were done with their god's dark design and when he had no further use for them he cast them aside: save one their last Priest King, a man whose name is forgotten but who's spirt lives on in demonic form, for centuries the Priest Kings of Yeenkar bread with succubi and incubi to form half-human-half-demon children and eventually after centuries of breeding brought to the fore a one so full of demon blood that he was human no longer: in the last stand of their race in the far north he sacrificed himself and all that remained of his people in the name of their lord to create one of mightiest of Hells creatures: an Arch-Demon which was named Volgoth, this creature knew naught but pure hatred and had no mind for the ritual consumed it, the creature was far from perfect but it was mighty, it decimated the armies of all who opposed it and then when all seemed lost a Dwarven High King and Runesmith Throi the Fearless forth of the name of Throi the White of the Great clan Silverblood took forth a relic of his kin, a crown that had been forged with runes and made of metals that have no name in our tongue, with courage he took up his hammer and smote his Anvil of Doom, chains of light bound the demon and invoking a ritual binding he trapped the demon in a crown: the Crown of Nightmares. Throi had defeated the ancient evil and thwarted Valtor's ambitions and we thought for good, but it was at a cost of his own life for he died from wrath of Valtor's General a vile monster known as Rel'Gov, who slew him before he and the other demons abandoned their war. Afterwards our ancestors alongside five other tribes of humans swore in pact with the Dwarves, Lizardmen, and Giants in addition to various other races from lands beyond ours to fight again should that evil ever return, that oath sworn in the blood of the countless souls who died fighting the demons has been remembered by above all else where many things have since been lost to the time: we invoked the oath only once and it availed us not in saving our Empire though it drove back the Demons, since then things have changed greatly" The King told.

"Since then young Emperor, much power that was in the world was lost or kept away, the Dwarves whose memories run the longest spend their vast knowledge and creations to maintain their mountain Empire against dark things in the deep, the Lizardmen seclude themselves and likewise too do the Giants, younger races like the Centaurs, Hobgoblins, Sea Elves, Tsuwangdani and our own have risen to take our places in the sun, but if the Golden Empire of your ancestors has fallen no great power remains to challenge the demons, however there is still hope, the Oath of Lost souls is still in place and the ancients remember it still, though there be only three of the five tribes of humans that swore that Oath that remain and one of those numbers only one soul and on the verge of extinction, first tribe that remains are those who of whom your people descend from as do many nations of men, our people are another and the last of that third tribe stands by your side as your Empress; the Last Patras; her people were the most firm and first to rise against the tyrants of Yeenkar, and when the time came to fulfill the oath's call they were first to come to our aid, now it is my sorrow to know that only one of their people remains: which ever human devised the destruction of one of Eden's oldest peoples and one of the few forces for good left in our world deserves to rot in hell for what they've done whether it have been in ignorance or not: it was still an act of evil" The King explained.

"I see, so Volgoth isn't a new enemy?" Tatsumi asked, knowing that the significance of this history that his nemesis was an ancient foe from his worlds past.

"The Ugor part of his name is new and I assume it means something along the lines of ascendant in their black language but I have no idea if that is true; regardless this Volgoth is of a different sort then the primal beast faced by our ancestors in the distant past, this new Volgoth is cunning with guile beyond that of normal humans, too intricate are the schemes, and all his actions are planned in advance, as such our efforts to combat him and his forces should be treated with more planning then before: I trust that you're experience against his forces will come of use here. Also I'd recommend we make defensive preparations now: I'll be recalling our naval forces prepare a defensive fleet, I'd ask for you to bring over any soldiers you can muster along with those you brought with you: many people in our city bear arms and will have to be called up to defend their home" King Merak replied. "But those matters would be best discussed with our chief General Alexis Dukas, she's the head of our military and defensive forces and planning will have to be done with her" the King added.

"We must not delay with idle talk any longer, we need to prepare for battle and I'm sure we only have a matter of hours at least and days at most, no more than three most likely; I'll see your general and discuss these matters, if your parliament wishes to meet with me tell them there are more pressing matters then diplomatic formalities, our world is under threat and your city is the first target of those invaders and will be the site of the first battle in the War that Matters: I don't like killing or war, but this one is a necessary evil and MUST be fought for our survival and that of everyone on the planet" Tatsumi replied, the King bid him take his leave and his retinue began to depart.

"Send at least one of your Empresses in your stead Emperor Tatsumi, if you cannot be there one of them can address the Parliament's concern" Queen Ayaka added.

"I'll do that, Aria you're good with words you speak in my stead my beloved Capital Angel" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course, my darling Tatsumi I'll do just that; I can be quite persuasive" Aria replied and left accompanied by the Three Sacred blades.

"And you tasked her with that because?" Esdeath asked.

"Esdeath sending you would have a wrong impression, besides I've need of your military advise when planning the defense; besides don't you find it interesting that the Atlantean's best general is a woman like yourself, I wonder if she's of a similar mind as you" Tatsumi replied delicately, Esdeath smirked.

"Once again you prove you have political wisdom and court knowledge beyond your years Tatsu-bunny, in fact for someone who wasn't raised in traditional Imperial fashion you've turned out much like your uncle but way shrewder and you've let your feelings not cloud your judgement, you do what needs to be done and strive to do the right thing even if it isn't expedient to do so: too few people do so these days, it is a mark of strength Tatsumi. It takes greater strength to spare a life then to take one and you recognize it: you may not have been born a Patras, but you have the spirit of one" Esdeath replied.

"Thanks, my Ice Queen, my mother believed in tough love" Tatsumi replied then smiled at the image of his mother and memories of her growing up.

"My father believed much the same, she didn't coddle you even though she loved you dearly and you were all she had left of her old life, she raised you to be strong and to be a the ruler the Empire needs along with being worthy to bear the name Tatsumi" Esdeath replied then clung to his left arm, Spear held his right hand.

Shortly… Tatsumi was stopped by Dorothea who asked to visit an Atlantean Library, he granted her permission but assigned Cosmina, Nui and Junko to guard and watch her. Tatsumi didn't know that this would be an important decision along the line because during her research Dorothea learned a great many things that were worth knowing, one of which would later save his life at the end of his journey, but also answers to questions she had that would decide the next path in his journey as Dorothea had one question on her mind. "How did Volgoth return and come to possess Honest?"

This echoed in Dorothea's mind but also Tatsumi's, but it was in the back of it as other matters had his focus: fortunately, the attendants the King had sent with him got him access to their chief military headquarters, access that was rarely given to outsiders. It proved to be a rather confusing structure to move thru as its design was rather unique among their architecture, he noted that the Atlanteans had some weird fascination with Centaurs and Minotaurs for some reason: the Centaurs he could understand because of their proximity to the eastern lands but Minotaurs?

Those creatures lived in west, within the Empire's Western borders and beyond in the Western kingdoms, they weren't exactly world travelers by any means as they were very reclusive creatures that preferred to live in their labyrinths undisturbed, a rather interesting choice of lifestyle but some did venture out. He had meet one Minotaur once and killed it as it had been one of the combatants in Esdeath's tournament: as to why a Minotaur had chosen to try and win Esdeath's hand was beyond him though considering the fact Esdeath hadn't advertised that as a prize it was probably a desire for money: how many people would have backed out if they knew the prize was her everlasting love and affection, would he have been one of them.

Tatsumi was distracted by these thoughts as he entered the office of their chief general Alexis Dukas and- well comparing her to Esdeath was not off the mark, she had the figure of his wife and height too as she rose when he arrived, but that was where similarities ended. Alexis was a tall beautiful women but her dark tan skin was sharp contrast to the lighter skinned Esdeath, her hair was bronze in color was long and styled in two long braids in the same style as Saraya's hair, her eyes however were same golden shade as Leone's and Syura's and were it not for the distances involved he would have taken her for another of Honest's children and dismissed that out of hand; she wore an ornate set of armor with the image of Sea Dragon emblazoned on it in addition to the usual general's braid, sash and medals of rank and military accomplishments, to the side on either hip was a sword of the same design, Teigu like and possibly a Dwarven Arm forged in ages past.

"Welcome Emperor Tatsumi I've been expecting you, I trust his majesty already explained who I am but I'll give you a proper introduction: I'm Supreme General of the Commonwealth Alexis Dukas, the Marshall of Nova Atlantea, head of His majesty's army, Slayer of the Sea Dragon Vokrul who had menaced our seas for three centuries, bearer of the Twin Blades of Poseidon the Dwarven arm of my household, and reigning champion of Tsura Di Makr Blade Dance tournament three years running. I'm certain you have lofty titles but we'll keep introductions brief, an enemy as you said threatens our homeland and as such we must prepare our military forces: I've already given orders to mobilize reserves and secure our civilian population who cannot bear arms in our complex system of underground bunkers: I've also given orders to make full use of our arsenal of all weapons apart from nuclear fusion bombs" Alexis explained, then looked at Esdeath, then made the face of admiring fangirl.

"Oh joy! I never thought I would have this opportunity! General Esdeath Patras: you are a legend among military minds the world over and I'm a HUGE fan of your work, such brilliant tactical maneuvers, granted some people complain about the cruelty of them but they have no knowledge of warfare" Alexis exclaimed.

"I'm glad to hear that my deeds are so widely known and admired I look forward to working with you" Esdeath replied.

"This is a dream come true! I am a huge fan and I finally get fight alongside my ideal and kick ass" Alexis replied. "Anyway let us see to planning the defense: I'm speculating that the navy will be busy but our army and air force will be equally so: first objective would be to gage their strength then prepare accordingly I've sent scout jets to survey for them along the Eastern coast of Adonai" Alexis explained and thus began military planning.

"First and foremost are the enemy's objectives: the city is one but there are other things, are you familiar with ruins made of an oily black stone?" Tatsumi began.

"I'm quite familiar with the ruins of the Yeenkarai, any Atlantean child has heard tale of them as a warning toward being rotten and any adult who's gotten even a passing desire to learn history knows enough about them; those ruins are something we keep our distance from but we've left them intact for centuries as a reminder to what happens when Empires become corrupted and that we were once slaves to evil people: those who have no knowledge of history are doomed to repeat it" Alexis replied.

"Good, we need to destroy and all of those ruins: there are nexi inside them that can be activated by our enemies to allow more of their numbers from hell itself to pour into our world" Tatsumi explained, she smirked.

"I'm all for destroying things but there are those who'd not want them destroyed out a desire that we not forget our past but considering the threat they pose national security takes priority, I can inform units in our military to destroy the lion's share of them today, there are however a few that would take a week to remove, the largest of these is called Khanath: it used to be the provincial capital of our lands when the Yeenkarai ruled them and it was the last city of theirs to fall in our lands: I'd note that the city is rather large, about 2/3rds the size of Triton and about as large as our third largest city; it's also mostly intact; the stones were impossible for our ancestors to destroy but considering they didn't have high-yield explosives or explosives of any kind I can understand why" Alexis replied.

"Khanath, where is this ruin?" Tatsumi asked.

"Near Triton, about 10 miles from the suburbs; we've made sure to give it a wide-birth, stories abound that those who live too close to them catch Yeenkarai Madness and become like the Yeenkarai in ways, that and demons get spotted in them from time to time, a mixture of real and imagined ones; though never mistaken identity, not even the biggest Danger Beasts go near those ruins" Alexis replied.

"I've got a bad feeling about it, is it coastal?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, it used to have a thriving harbor Poseidon knows how many thousands of years ago, you suspect that our enemies would land there?" Alexis replied.

"If the city is big as it is there is probably a nexus there and they'd go to activate it first to bring in more demons: I don't know how exactly those things work but I get a distinct feeling that this close to one there would be an a lot of demons brought in if activated" Tatsumi replied.

"Well there is an advantage: we'll need to set ambushes; I'll order troops to destroy what ruins they can, and we'll set up fortifications near Khanath, there are a number of high hills around it that could be easily converted into redoubts" Alexis explained.

"Alright now what about the navy, I'm betting that in order to bring over the Infused soldiers that Volgoth has mass-produced they'll have a fleet of their own, each ship we can sink would be an advantage" Tatsumi replied.

"I'll leave navy matters to the navy: I'm an army woman and our army is state of art and we've been preparing for war with demons for centuries, also the warding towers will make it difficult for them: you see after the cataclysm the survivors after forming the Commonwealth requested aid from the Dwarves to reconstruct the Ward Towers, during our Empire's height we exchanged knowledge with the Dwarves on how to build them an built a large number of them, a Cataclysm destroyed many of them and damaged many more besides: but since then we've rebuilt them, they've an interesting effect on demons they seem to unbind whatever tethers them to our world at least with the weaker ones but even the stronger ones weaken in their presence: they'll be safe as the Dwarves installed shielding in them and all generators for that are underground beneath the royal palace, they'd have to take it to destroy the wards" Alexis explained.

From their they discussed other matters, Tatsumi then spent the rest of the day seeing the city and what it had to offer, Princess Ryoka was insistent on showing him around herself: Tatsumi knew immediately she had a crush on him as she had the look every other member of his harem gave him before joining it, plus it was obvious that her father would want to cement an alliance with a marriage, he'd been going thru the procedure a lot recently with the other kingdoms that had joined him and he knew for fact this would not be different. Other things happened to in this time, he joined Dorothea in learning anything and everything the Atlanteans knew about the Yeenkar Empire, which was a lot more then Dorothea could have ever dreamt of and put her book on the subject to shame. "I'm going to have to rewrite the whole book" Dorothea had remarked when Tatsumi had seen her.

All the while as this was happening, Tatsumi's army was arriving, the locals were at unease with the arrival of foreign troops but put at ease that for every soldier Tatsumi brought about 5 Atlanteans stood at ready for battle. Speaking of their military Tatsumi was amazed by their army's resources and options: they had Tanks too but more state of the art and a whole lot more then in he had, Alexis didn't give him exact details as to the force Atlantea had for battle, the only thing she told him was that it would hopefully be enough and that the technology advantage could even odds. All these preparations lasted two days and Tatsumi had brought over virtually his entire Eastern army and reinforcements from King Amek and the Dwarves had joined him.

The automatons of the Dwarves were like nothing he had seen before: marvels of engineering that made Atlantean tanks look like wooden carts by comparison in terms of complexity, the Dwarves had many other advancements too: their warriors were all heavily clad in armor, only their breads were exposed as their warriors war masks of copper enameled metals that were called Mahalvagul and Gurtaga in their language but in the imperial tongue were known as Adamantine and Bismuth Bronze Steel: called so because of its sheen but harder than Titanium, their armor was scored with runes that warded off wounds and harm from them and made the armor lighter and stronger at the same time. All this protection allowed them to fight where they preferred to: up close and personal with Axe, sword, mattock, halberd, hammer and great-weapons though they were equally deadly from range as they wielded crossbows that could fire magazines of 20 bolts at a time and reloaded on the fly, along with guns that fired blasts of energy instead of bullets and that varied from rifles to heavy cannons with multiple barrels, comparable to the guns Jervis had mount to his arms. And of course they brought artillery, cannons and mortars that fired explosive warheads, flamethrower cannons, hell there were even hand held flamethrowers that Tatsumi swore were of the same design as Bols's Teigu, perhaps it had been made in the east and to top it all off they brought mobile fortresses tanks of their own design along with in the sky Gyrocopters and Aryoplanes that ran circles around the Atlantean jets: the most imposing thing of all was a massive goliath of a machine as tall as a Skyscraper that they called a Sentinel Golem and which they said was powered by the soul of a Dwarven warrior who had been on the verge of death but wanted to live on and fight for his people.

All this firepower Tatsumi hoped would be enough as the Dwarven force numbered only 15,000 in total one from each clan and these were those they could spare: even his own forces seemed paltry, 30,000 troops was a far cry from the armies he commanded against the Revolutionary Army and of them very few were from the Empire itself, nearly all of it was allied auxiliaries and mercenaries. "It seems the Atlanteans will be doing most of the fighting; over 300,000 soldiers have been mobilized and more are on the way; hopefully, it will be enough: no idea how many demons will be against us" Tatsumi thought on the second day there.

The third day the sky darkened, red clouds like blood heralded darkness approaching and the forces of Order readied for battle. The first battle of this war was fought at sea and Tatsumi had no part in it nor did any of his soldiers, the Atlantean navy and Admiral Stromm did the fighting in that battle, their warships and jets found themselves at odds with demonic ships that were hulking masses of demonic metal the size of castles and festooned with cannons that fired raw balls of magma and fire at them: any ship hit by one of the larger guns sank beneath the waves. These ships were meant as a diversion by the demons to conceal hidden transport ships that were hidden by magic, even though they were concealed the transports did suffer losses as torpedoes that missed their mark from the Atlantean Submarines hit other target. These massive demonic ships did have a crucial flaw, their guns were not fast to move and didn't have the range to combat aerial attacks, the air force of the Commonwealth and the few Dwarven squadrons had full control of the skies and dropped bombs and fired missiles at the ships.

The naval battle at what was called Poseidon's Point lasted only four hours but in that battle the demonic ships had sunk beneath the waves but so too had 23 of the Commonwealth's finest ships, especially the destroyers and frigates which had been sunk by single rounds from the demonic guns; magma melted holes in the hull of these ships and they quickly sank. This victory however while major was not a victory worth celebrating as the transports had escaped the fleet and had sailed as expected to Khanath.

Khanath: Nova Atlantea 2 hours into the War that Mattered… Tatsumi overlooked his forces and noted that it was a far cry from the armies he had led prior to this but they weren't inexperienced, Tatsumi had fought about 40 major battles and 30 minor ones in the Eastern Lands and had done so with less soldiers: fortunately the numbers were augmented by another 10,000 troops, these were Esdeath's ice constructs and Esdeath had gone to work on them within a couple hours of Tatsumi giving her orders to prepare for battle: she would have made a lot more but she hadn't gotten the time, if she had a week she'd have made nearly ten times the amount. But 10,000 Ice warriors, split between Ice Centaur cavalry, Ice warrior infantry and Ice warrior skirmishers and archers was a force to be reckoned with: Esdeath even went to the measure of building up a stockpile of ice javelins that she planned with Yami's help to drop from the sky above on the demon army, Tatsumi went a step further with Esdeath's plan when he heard of it and requisitioned a large amount of knives, caltrops, spikes and other sharp objects that would be thrown thru the portal. The portal would open some 5000 feet in the air and the deadly payload would be dropped about five minutes ahead of the initial Atlantean air strikes.

Still though Tatsumi took one look from his telescope on the highest of the hills overlooking Khanath and when he saw the demonic ships appear and start pouring out troops, he was prepared to concede them the numbers advantage. "The time is now Esdeath; give them your surprise" Tatsumi informed running into her tent, she smirked and bolted to where her stockpile was, while Naomi relayed the same message to Yami. Tatsumi took one look at the demon army then at the absurd amount of weapons that Esdeath incased in a massive sphere of ice: she flung that thru first and shattered it after it went thru, allowing the deadly projectiles to start achieving terminal velocity.

"Demons of Sheogh I welcome you: to HELL!" Esdeath yelled and launched thousands of ice javelins which poured downward. On the demon side of the battlefield the drone like infused did not look upwards Xana did and she along with Graal and Lorhish ducked undercover as the barrage bombard the army, thousands of their drones were destroyed along with a demon for each soldier. Things did not get better from there: the icy darts then shifted in a massive glacial gust which felled thousands more. Esdeath's attack had probably killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 40,000 to 60,000 demon warriors with this strategy.

Then began the air strikes; Xana ordered rapid movements, she had ordered the cumbersome armor of her non-demon troops cut down to a minimum to allow for speed, the demons had no such hinderance from their own armor and the demonic cavalry which rode fiery black Nightmare destriers clad in hell-forged plate and carried demonic knights in similar attire bolted ahead followed by the demonic infantry, the fiends which numbered about 100,000 and were much stronger then the weaker imps and horned enforcers that couldn't manifest due to lack of energy, but they themselves weren't at full strength but still were a threat, and above them actual demons felt less affected these included succubi and the Hell Knights along with demon legionnaires and above them the Demon lords and Arch-devil General were barely affected at all. This speed advantage allowed them to close across the ruins; a force splitting off to reactivate the ruined nexus, but they were in for a rude surprise as while Khanath hadn't been leveled in its entirety the nexus was destroyed and left over explosives were soon detonated bringing the ancient temple pyramid down on them. Soon the demons closed into artillery range and cannons opened up; the barrage did damage, but it did not slow their advance and the more powerful demons shrugged off shrapnel and absorbed the flames left over into their essence.

Tatsumi turned to his troops clad in his armor and grabbed the Night Raid banner from Roxanna and held it aloft. "Soldiers of the Golden Dragon Empire! The War that Matter begins now! We must fight, not for glory, loot, or nation but for our very survival! These monsters are the source of all the ills that plague our world: we fight in the ruins of their dark servants from an ancient past: we won't let that empire of evil rise again, no the Empire of Eden the Golden Dragon Empire will rise because it must to save our world! Do NOT give ground, do NOT run, if you do the price for doing so will be your life along with that of your family if the demons win: kill 10 of them for every one of your number that falls give no quarter for we face monsters not men! To Battle!" Tatsumi yelled and drew Smaug dawned his Dragon armor and waving the Night Raid Standard. "Who Fears the Night!?" Tatsumi asked.

"THEY DO!" A roar went up

"Who Rules the Night!?" Tatsumi asked.

"We do! Fear the Night! For the Emperor and for Night Raid!" the crowd chanted, Tatsumi then mounted his Raptor and hooked the banner to a holder for it.

"Go Forth unto battle! For Eden!" Tatsumi yelled and the soldiers advanced in disciplined ranks to their pre-planned positions. The Atlanteans were already fighting when they arrived or rather they had begun skirmishing; bullets flew and roared towards the demon lines, dark blood red arrows of hell along with fireballs came back in response and the main host soldiered on with the disposable troops in front and the elite demon soldiers of Xana's direct command behind them.

On the other side of the battle Xana shouted jeers of contempt; her voice echoed in the mind of the Atlanteans and copies of her appeared everywhere across the lines, catching them in a trance of some kind. "Fear my wrath Atlanteans know that it was I: Xana Azamoth of Abaddon Arch-Devil and one of the six Dark Marshals of the legions of Lord Valtor Abaddon am the doom of your civilization and knew it was I who decimated the armies of your Empire in the far past: I assumed your people destroyed by my Lord's grand plan I was surprised and pleased to see that they weren't that I may have the pleasure of wiping you out myself: no quarter will be given you will all die from the oldest of your elders to the child born today all of you will DIE!" Xana ranted; then her copies shaped in visages of primal terror that caused the front line troops to lose cohesion; Tatsumi's troops were ignored by her due to her not noticing them and he took that moment to hold his banner aloft, the banner of Night Raid while foreign was enough to drag them out of terror's depths and the troops fired into the rapidly advancing demons; their tanks and light vehicles fired as well and the Dwarves let out a roaring cry of "BARUK KHAZAD!" and charged followed by their automatons who in robotic voices copied their battle cry. The Dwarven charge smashed into the left flank of the demons who had not been anticipating such a maneuver.

"Fortuna favors the brave!" Tatsumi yelled and then turned to Esdeath and Aria who rode alongside him along with his champions and Spear. "CHARGE!" he roared and this forces charged towards the demon center. The Ice constructs collided thru first and the demons tried to assemble a formation, Esdeath then summoned a colossal meteor sized ice ball and flung it, the ice did huge damage and ground fiends and demons to a pulp as it hit and broken shards hit enemies.

"Susanoo!" Najenda yelled from her horse, the blue haired Teigu shot to attention. "Wreck them" she ordered, and the Teigu was the first living thing to collide into the ranks his mace mangling the thru the lines.

Amaterasu and Koro were sent in after him with curt orders from the their partners, and a gaping hole opened in the demon lines, not wanting to risk being surrounded Tatsumi order his troops to knock similar holes all over the lines, then the Atlantean's reinforced sending tens of thousands of their troops to aid their allies with Alexis at their head: the Dwarven Sentinel soon arrived too and with all the intelligence of a dwarf it methodically took in the enemy ranks and- Unleashed a salvo of rockets! Many hatches and joints in the armor opened up and huge amounts of super-heavy and many barrel guns came into the open and fired not bullets but blasts of molten plasma and large mass slugs the size of cannon balls being fired an extreme speeds, this fire power slaughter thousands of demons a minute with shots being fired with such force and energy that they crashed thru the bodies of the first enemies they hit and thru to ten man men behind. To the add to this arsenal dwarven heavy war spheres were deployed from opened holes and the spheres folded out words into heavily armored automatons which were then shielded by a protective energy field from which they poured small arms plasma fire rounds out wards: the Sentinel then opened up with even more weaponry. "Shit" Xana thought. "Graal deal with that" she ordered but then stopped the demon lord as a more interesting target caught her attention.

Tatsumi had been sepperated from Esdeath and Aria in the fighting along with Najenda and others, all he had with him at his current position was his four Rakshasas, Spear, and Clementine who in all the confusion and hassle of battle was still at his side and was covered in blood all from dead demons also Alexis and her Atlantean Honor guard was there along with his royal guard and a whole ragtag mix of his own troops and Atlanteans who had charged in behind them. It was towards this motley collection of profession warriors that Xana along with Graal, Lorhish and a number of dismounted Hell Knights advanced ready for battle. "You!" Xana yelled, Tatsumi turned immediately towards the new opponent

(Song Begin: Le Chant De Roma, Akame Ga Kill OST) "Lord Volgoth was quite disappointed to hear of the failure of Agrael and Lashara to kill you: allow me to correct that failure, unlike my defeated mentor Lashara I've no taste for green eyed men: I HATE green it's so alive and taunts me for being what I am. Oh the glory that will come for this battle, I'll bring Lord Volgoth your head and he'll praise me for finishing you and the Atlanteans once and for all: Valtor sought to humble your people Atlanteans so he sent the cataclysm to destroy your Empire, that you regressed so far as to cower away from the world for fear it was your own hubris that doomed your empire: no it wasn't your hubris nor your overconfidence that doomed your Empire it was because you posed a threat and needed to be culled: I lead the legions that decimated your armies and Lord Valtor along with the strongest Demon Warlocks wove the spell that leveled your Empire: and now I'm going to finish it: I'll kill two Empires today, a weak Atlantean one and a rising dragon that has foiled too many of my lord's plans: Graal, Lorhish kill the Emperor with me, Knights of house Azamoth kill the rest!" Xana yelled, her voice echoed over the battlefield and for miles so great was her rage and the statement she wanted to make.

"MONSTER!" Alexis yelled. "THEY DESTROYED OUR EMPIRE BUT THEY'LL NEVER DESTROY US!" She yelled and the Atlantean's rallied cutting Xana and her immediate troops off from any possible reinforcements while the Atlanteans across the field fought the wrath of Tempest on the high seas.

"I'll deal with you later, first you die young Emperor!" Xana replied and lunged towards Tatsumi but was blocked by Clementine.

"You'll have to go thru me first bitch!" Clementine replied, Xana smirked this would be fun. Lorhish and Graal however ignored her, Graal charged towards Tatsumi.

"Graal smash!" Graal yelled and charged with his axe at the ready, Tatsumi moved aside then Four Rakshasa Champions moved to his defense. The five of them dodged out of the path of the axe and Graal yelled in anger as his swing missed and began to swing at the nearest target: Akame who had both swords drawn and who sidestepped the swing driving Muramase into his right hand. Against a normal opponent this would have ended the fight but the poison had no effect on the demon but Akame wasn't stupid enough to stay in one place after striking she then used Kiriichimonji to slice at his arm; that wound did more damage and she had cut half-way thru the arm before having to draw back her blade and parry the massive blade; to her side Kurome summoned fresh puppets that began to swarm Graal to save Akame, the zombies were enough to blind the beast in rage and while he was distracted all four Rakshasas gave hand signals and hit Graal with the Emperor's run technique, with this technique all four Teigu users attacked from different sides and would bring their Teigu weaponry onto separate parts of the body: this was meant to overwhelm a large opponent like a Danger beast or an oversized opponent like an orc and was perfect against Graal.

Mez's blow struck first and cleaved the right arm with her naginata, Suzuka's followed amputating Graal's tail to a pained roar, Akame's blows severed his hamstrings knocking him down before Kurome drove the killing blow into the skull, she wanted to use Yatsufsa's power but Graal's corpse vanished into dust seconds after the blow struck, she then casually killed two Hell Knights and one Succubus Honor guard in a single swing. At the same time Lorhish found himself locked one on one with Spear and was fast becoming the next casualty of the fight as Spear's Imperial fist style with her sword was something that he'd never seen the like of and something his sword skills couldn't cope with, combined with Lorhish's lighter armor and the gaps I offered it came as no surprise that Spear decapitated him her blonde hair was dirtied by black blood. "My hair! Great now I'll have to use a full bottle to get this out" Spear complained then turned her attention to the enraged Hell Knights and Cerberi. "Bring it" Spear replied smoothly. "Hammer of the heavens!" Spear declared and Yadviga brought down bolts of lightning into the demon ranks.

Xana found herself locked in a battle against Clementine trying to get to Tatsumi who rather than fighting was rallying the troops not letting the Night Raid standard fall and using it as a spear in his offhand while swinging Smaug to decapitate or dismember any enemy with his right. "Oh, this is fun" Xana exclaimed and she parried another Estoc strike with her demonic dueling sword, her buckler cracked as Starcrusher hit it again.

"I wonder what your insides look like outside you: I wonder how much of you I could take apart before I killed you" Clementine replied. "I hope to find out! And how loudly a demon screams!" Clementine added in a shout and cackled madly as she struct around in methodical fashion; usually Clementine would in the middle fights with her enemies put on the mask of an insane lunatic it usually freaked most out by Xana wasn't falling for this trick and Clementine's style of fighting with its methodical strikes, parries and probes for weakness in an opponent's technique was obvious to Xana; however she was surprised that this human was putting up this kind of a fight, much less making her take the defensive. CRACK! Another blow from Starcrusher impacted Xana's shield and she felt the shield begin to give way and resolved to use the next attack to her advantage and when it came the shield gave way but Xana grabbed the chain of Star Crusher to her shock it caused her great pain though she managed to pull Clementine toward her and drove her sword forward, the blade snapped uselessly against the copper colored Teigu armor, hell-forged weapons were renowned for their durability but the force Xana had put behind the attack was enough that her blade snapped that and the blade had reached the end of the millennia lifespan. Suddenly Xana found herself wrapped in chains. "Starcrusher: Entrapta!" Clementine declared and her entangled Xana's wings and her left arm then to Xana's utter shock, horror and pain Clementine sliced her right arm and wing off with her Estoc; Xana shrieked in pain and Clementine pulled the chains tighter and drove her Estoc into the ground.

"Now I'll find out what you look like inside, I'll be taking this as a trophy" Clementine explained and yanked one of Xana's beloved Dragonstar gems from her breast plate before drawing a rondel dagger, she quickly removed Xana's armor then proceeded to disembowel the Arch-Devil General, Xana's pained shrieks howled across the field and demons panicked giving way, but Xana lay down on the ground she looked up at Clementine who had left the dagger in the wound and had her Estoc in hand. "By the way I happen to love my Tatsumi's green eyes and I don't appreciate anyone especially some hellspawn bitch insulting him or anything handsome about him: you think you're too good for him bitch?! No, he's too good for you: now go back to hell bitch!" Clementine replied and beheaded her. Xana's head rolled for a second before fading out along with the rest of her. In Hell Xana's newly reformed self let out a roar of anger, rage, and grief, as well as of failure.

Clementine's actions were enough with Tatsumi's rallying calls and the death of the Demonic leadership the demons began to rout when fresh troops from Triton arrived and the Atlantean fleet arrived off the coast; caught between the sea and the ruins the remaining demons were slaughtered to the last, with only the most stubborn and insistent staying to die brutal deaths and the rest willing conceding to being sent back to hell in the slaughter, within another half-hour the battle was over.

(Song End)

Triton the following day… "What you've done for my people Emperor Tatsumi is more than any other foreigner has ever done, from this point forth I dub thee friend of Atlantea and willingly join your cause as a most honorable and loyal ally" King Marek thanked Tatsumi.

"I'm glad to have you on board, we need everyone we can get to fight Volgoth" Tatsumi replied, the King smirked.

"Considering the fact his dark master destroyed our Empire and caused us to lose trust in those around us you'll find every Atlantean, myself included, willing to fight him: now I'd like to seal our alliance" the king replied and Princess Ryoka and General Alexis walked over. "My daughter has offered her hand in marriage with my approval, as my eldest child she holds the fate of Atlantea her hands, I think our old ways have limited us and I see now that there is no way to stop others from learning our secrets, even if we kept them to ourselves people would find them out on their own and I'd rather have a say in that matter: so with you can promise me that you will not misuse our knowledge I will grant your Golden Dragon Empire access to our innovations and as a reward for saving my people by warning us of the impending danger" King Marek explained.

"I may or may not want to marry you as well Emperor Tatsumi, with your approval, as you're as fierce in battle as you are handsome and I'm offering you it only once" General Alexis replied.

"Accepted: I trust that preparations for a ceremony will be made?" Tatsumi asked.

"They will be made quickly" the King replied.

The Following day in Atlantean style Tatsumi wed the princess of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth and the Commonwealth's best general, he was not however the chief talk of the city as Clementine was being cheered for as the Avenger of Atlantea for killing Xana and she was enjoying every minute of it. The rest of his harem gave him and his new brides space and privacy while making sure that he would not be disturbed and preparing for the next stage of their journey.

"Tatsumi" Ryoka cooed then kissed him, Tatsumi was then surprised to find out two things about his new brides one that the Atlantean dresses were a single piece outfit and that both Ryoka and Alexis went commando. Feeling that he was over dressed for the occasion the two relieved him of that inconvenience.

"By Poseidon, you must have been a child of his" Alexis commented upon seeing Tatsumi's length.

"No gods in my pedigree, at least not that I'm aware off, human beings all" Tatsumi replied then found his length smoothed by Alexis's breasts, Ryoka sat on his face begging for him to lick her clit, he did so with gusto and joy before proceeding to the main event, he popped their cherries one after the other then press both against his chest and ground his length in between their vulvas. Things got all the more kinky from there as both demonstrated techniques he'd not read about, the riding of wave, the mermaid's dance, and kisses of pleasure, suffice to say the movements of these were exotic but the two only managed to show him so much before they passed out fatigued. "Virgins" Tatsumi commented then was surprised by a certain four armed General

"Try me then" Cassandra replied Tatsumi wondered how she had gotten in but then looked at the front door and the absence of the four champions. "You left that unlocked" she commented.

Meanwhile in the Northern part of the Empire… A young woman smirked; her golden yellow eyes looked at her partners in front of her. "Put it in Varus, I'm eager to have both my holes filled, perform poorly and I'll get my whip" The woman remarked, she smirked as both partners penetrated simultaneously, and smiled as she enjoyed their work for about five rounds then both of them were passed out limp. "Nancy you are too much for any one man to handle; too much, well I guess I'll have to write those two off my list of potential husbands" She commented to herself and put on a frilly purple dress, she turned to four silent handmaidens. "Make sure these gentlemen are returned to their families and give them a letter of rejection, they aren't good enough, neither of them" Nancy replied.

"Yes milady" One handmaid replied, a knock on the door was heard, Nancy answered making sure to conceal her 'toys' with a click of a button. out front was young boy.

"Mommy" Kobi greeted.

"Yes Kobi? My cute boy" Nancy replied picking him up in a hug.

"There are people to see you, Uncle Valdis wasn't at the castle, too busy fighting, so they came to you instead" Kobi replied, Nancy smiled and put him down.

"Take me to them please" Nancy replied and was lead to the guest hall where three people sat two of which she recognized.

"Hello Nancy" Liliana greeted.

"Hey sis" Syura greeted removing his helm, Nancy fainted.

"Well that's one way to make a first impression" Liliana replied.


	68. Thanks for the Support

Thank you for the support so far

Well I'm amazed, we're nearly to 100,000 views and we have 300+ reviews, I'd like to express thanks to you guys for the support it really encourages me to keep on pressing on to the finish: speaking of we are approaching that sooner then you think and I intend to have Empire's End finished by the year's end. Now some business to state, first off Killing Kuroinu is a secondary story to Empire's End which means when it comes to writing Empire's End takes priority until its done so those of you who are readers of both stories know that if new chapters are slow in coming that's not because I'm dead its because my focus is elsewhere.

The next matter of business is that I've noted a lot of reviews lately on the subject of Volgoth and Honest: now let me explain first off the two are sepperate persons, Honest is possessed by Volgoth and isn't a willing participant in ANYTHING Volgoth does that is evil, he did from time to time break thru and maintained security and caring for his family which he wouldn't let Volgoth harm, however now at this point Volgoth has asserted full control over Honest's body and trapped his soul inside it. Now to those of you who are insistent that Honest is beyond redemption you are horribly mistaken, first off you have to remember ALL the evil actions carried under his name were done so by Volgoth, secondly human souls from bodies that are possessed by demons are not damned to destruction, demons are, also the dynamic of life and death is way more complicated then you guys seem to think.

Which brings me to the next matter, namely the Blood Clan, I've told you guys hundreds of times at this point that it is NOT canon nor will it ever be, I'm not sure what spawned this in the first place: you guys can live in your fantasy but know this it will NEVER be made canon and has NOTHING to do with this story at all. Also to the person who added that Tatsumi can't die you are wrong, first of he is only human, albeit one who's been become OP thru a manner of extreme training, Dwarven superweapons, and sheer skill and willpower but he is human which means he is mortal, secondly the last thing Tatsumi wants is to live forever if it means that he has to live in a world without Aria who certainly is mortal, third point while his body may day his soul, along with every other, is immortal and the souls of those he loves and considers friends are tied to it by Asha so that they can be reincarnated: they will be so in Erasiel's universe and because they will be born as magic users they will be immortal in body too.

Now that those things are out of the way I'd like to inform you that going forward things will get sporadic in terms of chapters being posted: I have been able to write the two I have due to spring break, but I am a college student and the next semester starts next week and as such I will be focused on my schoolwork especially since I will be actually taking the classes that will be required for me to become a trained specialist in the field of computer programing: considering that my life's profession and being able to live independent of my parents are at stake by this first course I will be devoting a great deal of focus to my education and thus writing will be slowed. So don't expect updates to be like this though I'll try my best to get one chapter up a week. Also note that going forward things will be more and more exotic as we explore things of my own creation: also for the record the grand total of mainline chapters not counting the epilogue, historical summery and Erasiel's turning over the chronicles to Asha will number 65, so for reference that's 15 more chapters I have to write and I'll note that they won't be short by any means and thus will take longer to write.

Now that's all I want to say, thanks for your support and I'm glad that my story is as popular as it is, we've certainly shown the critics that this story has way more traction and deserves its popularity, hopefully we can close the 100,000 views mark by the end of the month. So that's all for now, review the chapters also try and keep your reviews focused on your thoughts about the events of the chapter, try not to go into the weeds, also note that guest reviews that are insulting or derogatory will be deleted: feel free to voice opinions and suggestions in your reviews but remember at the end of the day this is my story and any and all decisions about how it will go are my call at the end of the day. Also I'd like to thank again my Co-author Neo Byzantium, without your ideas and your support I don't think this story would have ever been written let alone turn out the way it did, also for your slice of life universe that has inspired this story. Now I bid you all farewell for now, the next chapter will be set in the North and will clear up mysteries and questions revolving around Volgoth's origins but also the reasons why the Northerners were so savage, also mysteries of the Patras clan will be touched on and Esdeath, Nancy and Nora Saika will be at the center of these upcoming chapters especially given Esdeath's history with the North: also Giants and Norse style Dwarves will be among the things up north and icy Danger beasts along with Northern warriors of the Old Ways will be among the threats along with more sinister things that Tatsumi and his brave forces will face: also he'll have a large army as the North is Imperial territory so he doesn't have to worry about diplomacy as much as in the east. From there a detour in the western deserts will occur as Tatsumi unlocks secrets of his dynasty before heading south to destroy the remnants of Yeenkar's heartlands but also learn more about Sheele and the mysterious order of the Sorrowful ones before heading west. These arcs will be interesting and amazing work and I hope you're all looking forward to reading them as I am for writing them. So see you guys in the next one and if we smash 100,000 in the time between this message and the next chapter expect a thank you in the beginning of the next chapter, if not it will be in whatever chapter we happen to pass the milestone in. So until then this is Nathan signing of


	69. Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Echoes of the North

Que the Intro

(Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It's a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It's a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

100 miles from Marekgard, Northern bastion of the Empire along the former northern border, one week after the battle of Khanath and three days after the conclusion of Tatsumi's Eastern expedition…

Tatsumi never was a fan of flying, the fact that gravity could kill him from this high up was not conducive to enjoying it; maybe if he had been born with wings like a bird or some other natural means of flight he would've enjoyed it but fate had not blessed him with wings, nor with living in a peaceful safe world let alone an easy life, in fact fate seemed to be out to kill him from the first day he was taken out of Melitine by his birth parents and from there life had been a struggle. Granted some of the hardships had been of his own making, though this current grand adventure was all Ieyasu's doing. "Ieyasu" Tatsumi thought, then frowned considering the fact that he was up north in the air struggling to stay warm in the colder climate that wasn't helped by being high in the air, fortunately while the skies were cloudy there wasn't any snow falling or ice forming, and he had to go thru this all while Ieyasu was (And was correct about this being the case) sitting by a warm roaring fireplace drinking hot cocoa with Angela while having her read stories to him. "Ieyasu you lucky bastard, here I am out on a world tour gathering troops and braving dangerous climates and exotic creatures along with demons and hostile natives while you sit on your ass in Melitine all pampered and living like a prince" Tatsumi thought, then remembered that he was an Emperor and that considering that his best friend had gone thru a lot and was enjoying the good life it came at the risk that any moment Volgoth could bypass the shield and snuff out all remaining life in the city with sheer numbers of monsters.

"I know that look, stop it Tatsumi" Sayo remarked from right next to him.

"What look is he making Sayo other than being lost in thought?" Aria replied.

"He's thinking about Ieyasu goofing off, well I'm annoyed about our current state too, in fact part of me wishes we never left Karsawa but there is no turning back and besides if we didn't nobody would be able to stop Volgoth; we've been dealt a hard life by fate and being annoyed about it won't change anything; besides look at it this way, when this is all over we can sit beside the fire telling stories to our kids years later and not have look back on this hard point in our life" Sayo responded.

"Alright! I get it but thinking about him is better than having to worry about all the unknowns and any possible misfortunes that may be in our path" Tatsumi replied. "Besides, I hate this cold, its freezing my ass off" Tatsumi replied and wrapped the furs around him.

"You'll get used to it, you're strong enough and give it some time: to me this is a just an early spring warmth, you haven't seen a hard winter in your life yet Tatsu-bunny, I've seen plenty of hard winters" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi grinned, she placed her right hand on his shoulder. "There isn't anything in the north you cannot handle Tatsumi, remember perseverance is the most important aspect of strength, I've been thru worst winters, you can weather the north: besides its early spring and the weather isn't as bad as it was when I was fighting up here" Esdeath added.

"Yeah, you're right; besides, it could always be worse, Esdeath you're from this part of the Empire can you fill me in on what I might expect while we're here" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh I can most certainly tell you a LOT about the Northern Empire and the North itself as I've seen what's on offer up there in war, though come closer if you're cold we should share furs to conserve heat" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi moved closed Esdeath in her black mountain bear fur coat wrapped the extra fur blanket she had around him along with her arms, Sayo and Aria cuddled up to him as well along with Spear and Seryu; it was way warmer now.

"Where to start, well I was born in one of the worst winters on record, to one of the most resilient and persistent tribal clans to ever roam the world, the Northern Empire is home to three types of people Tatsumi: the Fortified settlers who are of Old Imperial Stock from the Heartlands who've built massive strongholds and cities in the Imperial style but with a great deal more weather-proofing. Then there are Strignavi-Vandar, two distinct groups of people who are mix of Northern and Imperial blood and live in the same styles of life with some differences, they life in similar types of dwellings to the fortified settlers and they are descendants of people that were originally from the northern provinces of the Empire when it was first established and mixed since then with imperial stock, they tend to be harder and tougher people then most and are fond of axes, furs, fishing from the lakes of this region, and generally beating the shit out of anyone that picks a fight with them, they're also extremely stubborn and tend to own more firearms, halberds, and spears than anywhere else in the Empire and are rather protective of their territory and have their own nobility in the form of Boyars. In fact, they are so stubborn Tatsumi that if you were to put a Strignivi in room with a dwarf and have them engage in a debate you will never be able to get a winner. Then lastly you have the Nomadic clans and these are the most numerous peoples of these lands and there are many clans and peoples: Cussars, Pechna, Humga, Finskiis, Routals, Teutos, Karchas, Vaegirs, Gyksos, Mancha, and until recently the Patrassi my people, the Patras Clan, once we were greatest of the Northern Tribes, our legends said that before the Dark Empire of Yeen rose we were rulers of all these lands and further north; but we were beaten and thus after we were free we resolved never to take lands, never to rule empires, we would be a people that roamed the lands but especially the lands of our home. Our people made many enemies but also many friends. But all of my clan save me is dead their bodies lie under earth and snow and their souls fight in the heavens against evil now. As to the other clans they are nomadic largely though some have consistent cities and towns where they trade with the settled people but otherwise their cities of many tents move across the northern provinces and sometime further south but not often, they are a mix of different peoples, different colors both of skin and eyes along with hair, and traditions in addition to different styles of fighting with different weapons and armor between them and not to mention different and intricate patterns of clothing in all forms. They largely keep to themselves but are friendly largely to settled peoples and spend more time fighting and raiding the lands outside the border as a matter of vengeance for them doing so for far longer, when they aren't at war they are hunters and herders who keep herds of Aurochs, Cattle and Boars and that they are constantly moving about to lands that provide the most for their lifestyle before moving onto the next" Esdeath explained.

"Anything I should know about the people that live further north?" Tatsumi asked, Esdeath frowned and suppressed noticeable pain.

"There is MUCH I know about those people, they like the Nomads are not a singular people but rather a collection of settled peoples that are ruled by select clans in coalitions, they possess much in the form of technology but haven't even made the simplest of fire arms; they think such weapons are for weaklings, they are wrong any weapon is a weapon for a strong warrior, true strength comes in skill of a weapons use rather than style or power. They are a folk of two pantheons, those who worship the new gods of the south and these live closer to the Empire, and those who worship the Old Ways from the further north; with there being little difference, they fought amongst themselves more often than not but when one clan, usually from the further north and usually worshipers of the Old Ways, took control they would raid and attack the Empire, not seeking to conquer but to rob an plunder. The people of the Near North are closed to civilized and more likely to trade and be friendly towards outsiders, they don't practice slavery, worship the Imperial pantheon in addition to some tribal deities and totems, and are usually fairly nice people, they are warriors but not overly aggressive, they tend only to raid if under a clan from further north or in times of famine and disease. But those of the Far north are Barbarian savages: they may live like civilized people in settlements, wear clothing, keep records and do other things that civilized nations do but their actions and interactions with other people are of savagery and they will fight you more often than not, they do not like outsiders unless they prove their strength and worship the Old Ways largely, they did practice slavery and enslaved the Yetis for centuries, until my conquest these people lived with freedom to pillage and ravage other lands, they fought with each other as often as with the Old Empire and tended to follow the strongest, the most ardent have been subdued and their numbers have been significantly culled and are under the administration of the Yetis whom they had enslaved for generations" Esdeath elaborated. "As to the non-humans that dwell in the north Tatsumi, you'll have some hobgoblins but they tend to have a bluer skin then then those who live in the Empire due to the climate, but the more numerous peoples are the Yetis, they usually stand about 8-9 feet in height and their bodies are covered with hair and fur that is either brown of various colors, black, or white, despite their resemblance to beasts they are far from it and are quite civilized, they do wear clothing, use armor and weapons made from Copper and Bronze as they have not the knowledge of coal be it mined or Charcoal and tended to live in caverns and valleys that were easily defendable, they are less advanced then the humans due to having largely been enslaved for so long and those that stayed independent weren't large in number. After I broke their chains they serve as vassals to the Empire and they have quite a good knowledge of figures and governance I see many great things from them in years to come. There are also two other people's worth mentioning: the northern Dwarven clans and the Giants or Sky Titans as they call themselves, those two I know little of as they are reclusive. The Giants I know more of but not beyond what they wanted to show, they live in massive fortresses with walls twice their height and fortifications that you couldn't dream of sieging, they also tend to be extremely advanced and whenever they do leave their holds they are towering forces clad in armor plates as thick as stone houses and wield weapons that would flatten entire battalions with a single strike, they are deadly archers too with massive bows the side of ballistae and with twice as much power behind their arrows which are made from the log not the branch, I employed about 20 mercenary giants in my armies up here, 20 were enough and I'm not sure how many Giants there are as they seem to breed no differently than us. As for the Dwarves, I know nothing of their culture, they are so reclusive that the most in terms of response I got from a visit to one of their holds was a messenger automaton telling me that no visitors were allowed unless they bore the banner of their kin, they are so shut off that I didn't even bother to disturb them: you can't pay me enough to fight Dwarves" Esdeath continued.

"That's understandable: now what allies can I trust to come to my banner?" Tatsumi asked.

"To be fairly honest all but those who follow the Old Ways in the North could convinced to fight for you, any of the Northern Imperial leaders will recognize your authority as Emperor as a good number of them are supporters of me, in fact that part of the Empire has a great number of people who cheer my name and a bulk of my armies are composed of soldiers from their lands, also they are very respective of Imperial leadership and because of their isolated nature they don't care if there is a change in leadership it simply means that money that was going to leader A is now going to leader B. As to the Giants they are likely to join if you inform them of the demon threat as they have a history with them, though you will have to treat with their leaders individually as each fortress is autonomous from the others and while they do have a king each one does their own thing. The Dwarves are a complete wildcard however, any negotiations with them are based on being allowed into their holds to speak with them and then things get more interesting from there as Dwarves as you know are rather stubborn and know how to make a deal: fortunately the Eastern Dwarves have sent a delegation to them so they'll likely be more open to you then most, also they don't have any bad blood with Empire as they live too far from it and the only real bad blood they have are with the Northerners" Esdeath explained.

"And the Northerners?" Tatsumi asked, Esdeath grinned.

"You really don't have to worry about them, they also wouldn't be of much help their manpower is largely spent and they are going to take a decade at least to have their numbers go back up; my war with them has weakened them to a point that even if you were to take every soldier from my army up north with you to fight against Volgoth there would be no risk of uprisings, even if you were to take a good amount of levies from the Yetis too: Tatsumi the Northerners are a people that are struggling to recover and those that aren't are loyal to me first and foremost for my defeat of the Saika clan, and you have Nora to help rally the more stubborn holdouts" Esdeath replied.

"I see, well how long do you think it will take to get people on side up here?" Tatsumi asked.

"About as long as it took to get the east on side, fortunately the population isn't as large as elsewhere on the continent due to the harsh climate and terrain which means there are few settlements and those have most of the population" Esdeath explained. "But do not trouble yourself with the Northlands for now, the Imperial lands of the north are your first concern and the key to it is the bastion we are in route to as it is the largest city in the northern empire and rivaled only by a couple, note though that the power that controls it are a religious order the Knights of the Radiant Dawn and they can be rather- zealous and have a number of customs that are required by all guests to observe however they are minor and shouldn't be too difficult for you to abide by" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi leaned on her.

"Thanks, I'm going to get some rest now, tomorrow we'll be there" Tatsumi replied and used her breasts as a pillow his hands on her swollen belly.

"Sleep well my Tatsu-bunny, you'll need it" Esdeath replied, Mine who was nearby leaned against them and wrapped her arms around Tatsumi who had drifted into sleep. Esdeath remained alert for some time her mind lost in thought and memories of her childhood.

Northern province of Ostgarad 13 year prior… Esdeath looked at her target, to most the large raptors of the north wouldn't be considered as something worth risking life and limb for even if they did have the best meat in the Empire, Esdeath Patras even at the young age of 5 was not one such person and had hunted these creatures before. Despite her child age she was rather large for a child of five looking like she was twelve: her only weapon was a sharp iron dagger which in her young hands was like a short sword. As soon as the beast was lulled into a false state of security, she leapt from the tree mounting the creature and with practiced skill that had been refined from killing its kind before she slashed the throat of the raptor and it fell over dead. Esdeath then dragged the creature back to camp where her father had been waiting.

"Look what I brought daddy" Esdeath shouted eagerly.

"You brought dinner, good my sweet girl, this was a strong one about 10 years old at least, and rather big, you are strong and that is good: come let's see to getting this butchered, the rest of our family waits for the fruits of your strength" Esdeath's father replied, Esdeath giggled and dragged the limp large body to a tent where it was then butchered: the scales would be used for armor, the teeth for arrowheads and tools, the meat for eating and the bones for a number of things.

"Good work my daughter, remember that the strong survive and weak perish but that the strong should defend the weak so that they may become strong, also remember that strength of mind is even more important than strength of body" her father replied.

"Daddy I have a question?" Esdeath replied.

"Ask and I will answer" he replied.

"I want to know that when I become cheiftess one day how will I know who will be the best person for me to marry and how will I know who is the strongest and worthiest?" Esdeath asked.

"They will be stronger then you, braver then you, wise beyond their years and importantly they will prove themselves worthy of your love and affection, remember though that the first duty of a Patras leader is the future of the clan and that the lives of your children take priority over personal glory, it is not shameful to run to preserve the lives of the unborn, and that you should always strive to make sure that any child you raise becomes strong, whether they become stronger then you is up to them but you should make sure they are strong, remember that you are as a woman stronger than any man as you will have to go thru the hardest task that a man cannot do, that is bringing in the next generation to the world, barring them in your womb and birthing them and raising them; remember that in the end your duty to your family and clan precedes any other calling or duty that you face" Her father replied.

Presently… Esdeath could not help but shed tears, memories of her father and honestly anyone of her clan pained her dearly. "Father would be proud of you Esdeath" she told herself mentally and looked at Tatsumi sleeping, his head resting on her breasts. "He looks so peaceful and sweet like this, yet can be so fierce and brave in battle, strength is his and he is worthy to be my love and the father to a new Patras clan; my retreat from Volgoth was not cowardice but what was my duty to my family and clan, I was wrong to be ashamed, I was for a time afraid" Esdeath thought and noted her regrown hair, before she drifted into sleep she noted two things, the first being that Tatsumi was even more loveable when he used her as a body pillow and that Akame was sharp and awake.

Esdeath slept and as she slept, she dreamed, pleasant dreams of a hopeful future setting on a throne at Tatsumi's side and with sweet children that were of their likeness playing around in the room. Too sweet, also she noted that Tatsumi was older and had a beard. "You look even more handsome with a beard" Esdeath thought, her dream got better, her and Tatsumi had many adventures and she fought many glorious battles in her dream. The dream lasted not long enough but it felt like a beautiful world that would last eternally. She awoke however when she noticed she could not feel Tatsumi in her arms and noted that the Air manta had stopped.

"Good morning my Ice Queen" Tatsumi greeted, Esdeath yawned then sat up and noted that he was standing up. "We're here now, I've been waiting for you to wake up, how did you sleep?" Tatsumi asked.

"Very well, though I'll note that you look a lot more handsome with a beard" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi looked confused she giggled then kissed him on the cheek.

"Esdeath I'm not able to grow a beard, at least not yet" Tatsumi replied.

"You should grow one someday, you had one in my dream and you looked a good deal like your father's portrait with one" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi frowned at mention of his father. "I'm sorry my Tatsu-bunny I should know better, especially since I share your loss" Esdeath apologized, Tatsumi hugged her, she stood up.

"We're here at Marekgard its quite a sight; well we're outside the city, not enough room for an air manta there" Tatsumi explained, Esdeath joined him and they left the howdah where the others were waiting on them.

"You're finally awake Ice Queen" Mine remarked.

"Can't say I'm not surprised that you are up before me Pinky, you kept me awake for a bit with your snoring" Esdeath replied.

"I don't snore" Mine shouted annoyed.

"Yes you do, and it sounds like four angry cats in a sack fighting each other and a crazed half-starving weasel thrown into that sack for good measure" Esdeath replied, Mine snorted and looked at her with irritation and suppressed the desire to punch her knowing that fighting Esdeath was never a good idea and especially given that Mine wore a gown not suited for fighting in.

"Never mind you that you two, we're awake and ready now and all we need to do is go into town and talk things over with their leaders, Syura and Lilianna let me know that they are expecting us and are quite interesting in meeting with me and my entourage: now that I've explained are goals let's do them as time is a luxury we cannot afford to waste and don't have in abundance, every second counts and I want to make deals in a quick and expedient manner but also get the best deal possible remember the fate of the world is in our hands failure is NOT permitted because failure means death or worse for us all" Tatsumi explained in as an authoritative a manner as he could muster, not that he needed to but it helped to practice. Shortly after they assumed their ceremonial formation and walked to the city which was left than half a mile from their landing site where a tuckered-out Air Manta now slept.

The guards at the gates were expecting them and Tatsumi noted that they were NOT normal guards, but rather professional Knights in some of the finest armor and equipped with the best weaponry, they allowed him entry though they neither bowed nor obstructed, simply let them in without a word. From there they were met by another knight that wore a household coat of arms on a tabard over his armor, that depicted two noonday suns in bright white yellow.

"Grandmaster Valdis's sister sent me here, she awaits you at his mansion I'll lead you there I'll warn you in advance that he expects you to abide by our laws while here and that he hopes you will speak words of wisdom and seek to make agreements in line with the Empire's laws" the Knight explained.

"Trust me you don't need to worry, show me the way then" Tatsumi replied, the knight nodded and led them thru the fortified city, Tatsumi noted that a lot of drill grounds where professional Imperial soldiers and knights trained and noted the loud noises of gunfire from practice ranges along with the twang of bows and crossbows; even the average person was armed from the child to the old women everyone had a weapon of some kind and walked with confidence and pride of their nation in their heart. Tatsumi noted the banners and the architecture as normal noting the ornate temples, towering bastion towers and fortified castles, in addition to statues of might warriors from ages in the past, not to mention the other sights, Tatsumi noted though that style was different than other places in the Empire, in fact no two cities he had been to in Empire apart from those close to Melitine shared the same architecture with each been a unique style of their own, the only time there was any unified style in a place Tatsumi visited was with neighboring towns and cities.

The mansion he was taken to was more like a Governor's palace fused with a citadel castle, with a bit of Dwarven construction built in, in fact a number of buildings had Dwarven architecture which could be attributed to historical alliances in the past, a lot of cities that had Dwarven support in construction had weathered both the test of time and even the most determined of foes that assailed them, even if they were defeated the dwarven built structures couldn't be broken by means that humans possessed and nature hadn't even worn an edge. "The Dwarves must have something with their construction techniques that preserves structures from time and weather" Tatsumi thought. But the focus on architecture had to be put in his subconscious for the time being because as he and the others arrived there were number of sentries at attention awaiting him along with- Syura and Lilianna. "Welcome to our hometown Emperor Tatsumi" Syura greeted.

"Your hometown?" Tatsumi asked confused as he thought Melitine was their home.

"We were born here, and father generally lived here for a number of years before moving to Melitine and beginning his political career; consider this our original home and this place in particular is our old house" Syura explained.

"I see, why is it a Military fortress then?" Tatsumi asked.

"It happens to be the abode of the Grand Master of the Knights of Radiant Dawn which our father was once the leader of and was until we were about three" Lillianna explained. "Valdis is out and about leading an army to suppress a large bandit army that has been causing trouble in the countryside, but our half-sister Nancy is eager to meet you and can speak in his absence, Valdis will be here soon though he left a few days ago and should be due back later today" Lilianna added. Tatsumi nodded and he along with his retinue were lead inside, the knights of the household rose to attention as he passed, Tatsumi noted that the gauntlets they wore were the same design as the ones that Volgoth had started wearing when he began his demonic transformation to hide them from sight. The inside of the mansion was about as grand as the exterior and Tatsumi noted photographs and paintings of Honest and his family in their younger years, noting a picture of a wedding portrait of a middle-aged Honest and a woman who looked exactly like Lillianna, Tatsumi stopped to look at the picture then at Lillianna.

"That's my mother Lillian, Dad loved her more than anyone else and when she died- well a part of him did, the righteous part of him, and he never was the same after; granted he wasn't the same when he returned from the journey he had been on beforehand" Lilianna explained.

"She looks so much like you, I'm honestly surprised he didn't as he had no qualms against incest try to replace her with you" Tatsumi replied, Lilianna frowned then slapped him hard.

"Don't put that idea in my head, gross extremely gross, besides you know that he'd never have done that and she's basically irreplaceable to him, as much as I may look like my mother she was cut from a different cloth then me, she was according to dad always sure of herself, brave, a formidable warrior with a kind heart that nobody could ever rival I have some skills in fighting in honor of her memory and because Syura thought I'd do better if I could defend myself in all honesty I could have handled those thugs that ambushed me when we first met if I had a weapon, that aside Tatsumi I'll be blunt he could no more replace my mother then you could replace Aria: anyway he wasn't the same before she died anyway as he was, according to some of those who knew him well, depressed and sullen when came home, his mentor had died in battle against the northerners and our grandmother died of cholera soon after that battle to protect the town of Tal-Rai where he was born, that's a city now a days mostly due to my father's meddling to make sure it grew and prospered and due to its location on the Northern frontier, and he came back with- his crown" Lilianna replied, Tatsumi's eyes went wide.

"Wait you said he came back with his crown, you mean his Teigu?" Tatsumi asked.

"I just said he did, what's odd about that?" Lillianna asked.

"Syura did your father ever tell you where he found his Teigu?" Tatsumi asked, Syura was surprised.

"He told me he found it not to long after grandma died, some the raiders that had been part of the group that killed his mentor escaped and they tracked them to some old ruins, after killing the raiders he found the crown among the ruins near where the final raider fell to his sword" Syura explained.

"Those ruins are nearby?" Tatsumi asked, he had a head full of suspicions now: the Atlantean King's story about Volgoth's origin echoed in his mind, the fact that the final stand of Yeenkar had happened in the North and that the demon newly formed had been trapped inside a Teigu; perhaps? "That would be interesting I'm going to have to check Kronos to be sure but if it's the case then- there is more to my enemy then I ever could have known" Tatsumi thought, his thoughts however were interrupted by something that completely overrode his thinking and pushed back everything into his subconscious, that being a new arrival and a familiar face.

That new arrival was a beautiful young woman about his age, she had short black hair that was in a pixie-cut, the golden yellow eyes that denoted a child of Honest, her attire was that of a purple gown and she wore purple gloves made of silk with a lace trim, her shoes were high-heals and her height was comparable to Lillianna's and Leone's. Speaking of being comparable to those two, her massive bust was the equal of either sisters' bosom and jiggled, her corset only enhanced her figure. She held in her hands however a remarkably familiar face, that was a child about 12-13 who was the spitting likeness of Makoto, the body double Kobi. "Welcome to- "She began to say then looked to the side at Mine who was looking right back at her and shooting her glares of contempt, he face went from a smile to a frown. "Welcome to my home Emperor Tatsumi and those of your company: especially an old friend of mine" Nancy replied.

"Friends?! Hardly Nancy, hardly in fact you were the last person I wanted to see again" Mine shouted angrily, not caring about the formalities, she may have been dressed as an empress complete with royal crown, gown and hair styled in a regal hairstyle but that was not going to stop Mine from being- well Mine.

"And I thought I wouldn't see you again Lady Mine Canallia or should I say Pink Empress Mine Gildenstrom" Nancy replied. "Especially not after you ran away you should have seen the uproar in gossip that followed that, nobles accusing others of being responsible for it, a fair few of them ended up causing more trouble on top of it not to mention not being faithful to your family's wishes" She added, Mine was getting annoyed and would have caused a ruckus were it not for two things, Tatsumi interrupting and Spear restraining her.

"Pardon my wife's rudeness but I think formal introductions are in order" Tatsumi replied, to his side Pais approached having become his herald.

"Presenting his Imperial Majesty Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, seventh of the family name, first of the new Emperors of the New Empire; The Golden Dragon Emperor, son of Emperor Isshin II the lost and Empress Akame, ruler of the Golden Dragon Empire, Demonslayer, Vanquisher of the Revolutionary Army, and chosen champion of the Avawahy; Dwarf-Friend and Consort to the Serpent Queen…" Pais introduced and recited a list of other titles, but you get the picture Tatsumi had a large number of them and would amass more in the future as you might expect, Nancy merely grinned sizing him up.

"It's a most esteemed pleasure to meet your Imperial Majesty, Golden Dragon Emperor Tatsumi, I have no lofty titles as I am but a lowly daughter of Prime Minister Honest and a courtesan, my name is Nancy and I bare no surname because of my being born a bastard out of wedlock; one of the MANY sired by my father, this is my adopted son Kobi; my father brought him in as decoy for Emperor Makoto and entrusted him into my care, I have three other children but remain unwed and let that factor into your calculations regarding me" Nancy greeted in return.

"Mommy can I say hi?" Kobi asked.

"Of course, my son feel free to" Nancy replied.

"Hi" Kobi replied.

"Nice to meet you Kobi, though I'm sure you know me, we've met before" Tatsumi replied.

"Yeah, I remember you, you were Emperor Makoto's minister for fun, what happened to Makoto-san and how did you become Emperor?" Kobi asked.

"Well that's a long story and I'd like to wait until Valdis returns to discuss it" Tatsumi replied.

"Ok I can wait" Kobi replied.

"Nancy you said you have other kids; can I see them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh it would be rude of me not to have them meet you" Nancy replied and led Tatsumi and some of his immediate protectors upstairs a couple minutes later they entered a large playroom with about three kids of varying age inside playing though the oldest was about 4 years old or rather the two oldest as two there were two twin girls, both had white hair, dark skin and yellow eyes and it was clear very quickly who their father was because immediately after coming out they ran toward Syura shouted "Daddy!" and jumped on him, Syura grinned.

"Wait they're his kids?" Tatsumi asked shocked.

"I was just as shocked as you were" Lilianna commented from next door. "I- didn't notice I thought they were Syura's with someone else but given how often that he and Nancy spent taking care of them when they were kids, I should have been suspicious" she added.

"Those are my daughters Jillian and Lillian, aren't they adorable?" Nancy replied, Tatsumi noted that they were adorable also didn't display to his surprise any signs of deformities that usually could be attributed to inbreeding but then considering that the two parents were half-siblings and had a number more genes to work with then those of the same parentage it was noticeable. The two-year-old boy was white haired and had yellow eyes not to his surprise, but his skin was lighter. "And this is my son Joshua, look at him isn't he adorable too?" Nancy replied.

"Who is the man in shiny clothes mommy, and why does he have a crown, and can I have a crown someday?" Joshua commented.

"He's Syura's son too?" Tatsumi asked, Nancy looked at him and shook her head, then gave him a hard look.

"You'll probably be sick if I told you who his dad is; best I save that particular detail for later WAY later; just so you know Syura and I can't be together any longer, he told me about what happened and about our father: I'm- shocked and surprised though considering his habits I should have realized that his hedonism went further but for it go into full sanguine debauchery and committing disgusting abominations its- well enough to make me want to change my beliefs though my personal convictions are just part of who I am, I'm a hedonist and proud one at that, though I show a great deal of restraint and- well let's just say I've got tastes and my sights on you" Nancy replied. "Consider my marriage offer as an alliance between our family, you and I have similar agendas, we want the Empire to change albeit to different extents but I agree that the demon who killed my father and- is the root of senseless horrors across our whole world must be defeated and the Empire reformed and rebuilt with checks against corruption and abuse; too much has happened over the past century that has left the Empire in a sorry state, a shadow of its former glory and as of recently gone, torn apart by civil war with leaders fighting over scraps of glory and power to do whatever they want to the people of the Empire and willing to kill many people for their goals all before it was torn asunder by an ancient evil with dark machinations" Nancy added.

"I see, alright for the time being I'll play along, just know that there is more to this story then it appears and- I can't afford to stay in one place too long as time is fleeting luxury and every minute spent in idleness or in prolonged negotiations is one where that ancient evil gets stronger" Tatsumi replied, Nancy nodded.

"Trust me that you will be treated well while you are here, also I've sent messenger to the other lords of the Northern provinces to meet with you here, some have already arrived, expect to spend no more than a few days here at most during your negotiations also while you are here you are permitted to stay in our household anything you have need for will be provided along with anything you want and I'd like to discuss other matters in 'private' if you don't mind your majesty" Nancy replied.

"I certainly mind! I don't trust you as far as I could throw you" Mine commented, Tatsumi frowned.

"Look Mine I need ANY ally we can get, even if they have questionable motives and plans out of the deal, those matters can be dealt with after the war, so many things are wanted by everyone I treat with and to point I agree with them because I have to in order to save our world if we make it thru the War that Matters and win we can hammer out details afterwards but until that time I don't care who I work with and if I'm going to have to do some crazy stuff to do so I'll do it to save our world" Tatsumi explained.

"Fine but really are you really going to- "Mine began but was hushed by Sheele who knew quite well what Mine was going to say and stopped her from saying it in front kids.

"What's a hedonist mommy?" Kobi asked.

"I'll explain when you're older" Nancy replied.

"Can I be one?" Kobi asked.

"Only if you want to, but it is not a respected thing, but considering I'm illegitimate and not likely to be respected by other people I have nothing to lose but my self-esteem and my personality. Especially because I'm RICH!" Nancy replied.

"Shouldn't we really get down to business, I don't care what is in the past between you two I'm here to negotiate not to argue, so with that in mind we need to iron out the specifics, now do I have to wait for Valdis to start them or can I work with you directly Nancy?" Tatsumi asked.

"You'll need to speak to Valdis, despite being his half-sister I don't have much say over the local leaders as I've spent most of my life in Melitine, my father didn't have time to introduce me to people up here in fact he seemed damn focused on making sure that few of us traveled here, I'm guessing he feared something might happen to us; though I'm sure it was all for political matters; now I've spoken briefly and these are matters I'd rather not discuss in the presence of my children so we must speak privately your majesty" Nancy replied, she had her children leave apart from Kobi who refused, mention of the Prime Minister seemed to make him not want to leave Nancy's embrace.

Shortly… "My half-siblings explained the full story of everything that has happened since I left Melitine, at first I was skeptical as many people would be but the pieces of the puzzle fit all too well once they were all accounted for: I'm saddened to hear the man who was my father has been dead for so long and that he's now fully entrapped by the demon Volgoth, I agree that this is a threat that must be dealt with, I've had my share of questionable things that I've done but I refuse to let the Empire die let alone the whole planet to a demonic monster that has had control of my father from before I was even born" Nancy explained. "Now as to matters concerning that subject there is more about my father you should know, I've done some learning while I was here and my father did entrust a great deal of his past to me during those moments when he was speaking rather than the demon: that in mind I'm not exactly sure when in his life the demon came into the picture, clearly before any of us here were born that much is apparent, but not too far in the past as my father wasn't always a politician he only become one in his early 40s so its somewhere between that point and leaving the Radiant Dawn, Syura and Lillianna told me that they believe it's their mother's death that drove him but that alone isn't reason for any human being to turn evil let alone the exemplar my father was in the past; no something else is at work here; something I can't make sense of" Nancy elaborated.

"With what the Atlanteans and their history has revealed shows that the name Volgoth is not new to Eden's history; somewhere in the distant past the demon was created and sealed away, how did it come to Honest is the question? To which I think I've got a theory; perhaps something Honest owns was the source of the trouble, a Teigu to be specific as the Dwarves trapped the demon in one, trouble is Honest has two Teigus well had two until he took Satake's Teigu and which one was the one the demon was trapped in?" Tatsumi replied, Nancy smirked.

"It has to be the crown Ephialties; I remember when I was a little girl, he found the Darkblade he was extremely happy for the whole week and celebrated when he found it" Nancy answered, Syura nodded in agreement.

"I remember that too; the crown though he's always had it, as long as I knew him" Syura added.

"I'm surprised anyone would let him wear a crown like a king" Mine commented.

"A king is inferior to an Emperor in rank, there are a number of kings that control lands in the Empire but the all bend the knee to the Emperor" Spear commented.

"Now that this is out of the way I'd like to prove it but I'd also like to iron out specifics, are there going to be any specific things that might be a deal killer to Valdis when negotiating with him" Tatsumi asked, Nancy smiled.

"Fortunately Valdis is rather easy to convince, it's not him you should be worried about, it's those further north; the lords of the Northern Empire are proud loyalists to the crown and will recognize a claimant in the absence of a ruling monarch; especially one with the ability to back up said claim, the nomads however will be harder to convince though as they tend not to stay in one place and getting to contribute troops is difficult especially given they tend to quarrel between themselves, other than that though you'll have little issue in the Empire, but up in the Northern lands, well those lands are newly part of the Empire and getting the locals to fight for a monarch of the nation that has only recently conquered them will be extremely difficult especially given the mercurial natures of the people up there" Nancy replied. "Anyway as for matters of formality Emperor Tatsumi I could easily put myself at your services I'm quite the charming diplomat and if you are going to look into my father's origins I'd very much like to see them for myself, besides its boring cooped up in here, none of the drama of Melitine or the fun of it either; and I've a vested interest in finding a husband as soon as possible to stop the stream of suitors that barrage me day in and day out, whether it's in Melitine or here nobles tend not to get the message I'm not interested if they can't prove up to muster the worst part being is that I don't have the luxury of my father to deal with the more persistent idiots: I'm going to have to marry you and that is non-negotiable" Nancy explained.

Tatsumi nodded. "Agreed to, I'll do what I have to besides you may be of use to my cause and to me: I don't care about your hedonism but there are two standards I have, first off don't sleep around with any man that isn't me, and secondly your hedonism better have stopped with adults" Tatsumi replied, Nancy grinned.

"Why in the world would I extend it beyond adults, I've got standards of common decency to uphold only a monster would sully a child in that way, also you shan't have to worry about me betraying my fidelity to you: I'd be a fool to pass up an imperial marriage much less when you'd have martial power to cut my head off if I did cuck you: that aside we have other matters that you and I must discuss in private" Nancy replied, Kobi looked at Nancy then at Tatsumi, Tatsumi looked at him and noted something on his neck; a familiar mark.

"Nancy are you familiar with the name Valtor?" Tatsumi asked shrewdly.

"Never heard of him, why do you ask?" Nancy replied honestly

"Because that's who Volgoth serves and his mark is on Kobi's neck" Tatsumi explained, Kobi looked at him in amazement then Nancy looked at the mark.

"Kobi could you please tell mommy about this mark on your neck, I thought it was somesort of tattoo or birthmark but where did you get it" Nancy asked; Kobi's eyes became cold and looked at her before turning red with gold irises.

"Hello Tatsumi" Volgoth said thru Kobi as a medium.

"Volgoth" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm not surprised you were astute enough to notice that mark, this boy served his purpose in forcing you into rash action but wasn't able fulfill his role as a puppet, no matter I have no need of any puppets not anymore: I'm the Emperor now. I've been paying attention to your actions of late and am- impressed, you've managed to crush the Revolutionary army in record time, turning most of them to your cause in the process, then play quite the diplomat using the threat of me to form a new Empire: well-played, you've also cost me half of my Arch-Devil Generals and an entire army of my soldiers something which is rather infuriating to tell you the truth: but all your efforts will be for naught as my servants continue to expand the power and reach of my armies but you have set me back greatly; know now however that I'll not waste more time hunting you; no you are a nuisance that I can remove with ease once I've assured my victory" Volgoth replied.

"I'm not going to let you get away with it Volgoth, you murdered my father, my uncle, my aunt, along with millions of imperials including that good man you consumed to become what you are now, in addition to robbing me of my birthright and robbing the people of the Empire with overharsh taxes, arbitrary laws and thru straight up kidnapping and legalized slavery, you've raped goodness knows how many men women and children and murdered far many more: I will not let your crimes go unpunished I will save my world and in doing so see that Justice is fulfilled and build a new Empire from the one you destroyed end this chaos and bring order to Eden once and for all" Tatsumi declared, Volgoth cackled.

"Well then challenge accepted silly boy, so many have tried to change your world and they have fallen in chaos, Chaos is a ladder boy and so many try to climb it only to fall breaking themselves in the process, what makes you any different than them, the only to change your world is to destroy everything wrong with it by wiping out all resistance; I wish you luck you'll need mountains of it to defeat me" Volgoth replied. "Now this puppet has outlived his usefulness I think I'll dispose of him but how to do so?" Volgoth asked.

"How about you let him go" Tatsumi remarked.

"Oh, I will with a broken neck!" Volgoth remarked and would have tried to but Syura teleported to Nancy's side and placed a palm on Kobi.

"Asha Invekna Pureose!" Syura casted and a surge of white magic flowed into Kobi's body breaking the brand and causing Volgoth pain in Melitine, Kobi looked at everyone.

"Where am I?" Kobi asked confused.

"You're safe my dear Kobi, you're safe" Nancy comforted.

"Where's my parents- wait they're dead: the old man with the cane killed them, then he took me to another man he wasn't a man at all but a monster: he touched me in horrible ways, did things to me for days and- then I faded to black I don't know who any of you are?" Kobi explained.

"Do you remember anything that happened?" Tatsumi asked intently.

"Nope apart form the- things he did to me I don't want to talk about it they were- evil! Anyway, my name is Kobi, but I guess you all know that what is your name and why are you dressed the way you are, I've never seen shiny clothes like yours before?" Kobi answered.

"So, you don't remember anything, do you remember the love and attention I've showered on you?" Nancy asked holding back tears.

"I- do remember bits and pieces, you're my new mommy and you're nice: nothing like that monster he gave me to you, why would he do something like that?" Kobi replied, Nancy suppressed her tears.

"Because he had some good in him still, though that good is now gone; the good man he was is dead and has been dead for years now that monster was living in his body; before I was even born: I'm just a child of the monster inside his body; unlike Syu-kins or Lillianna, they're the kids of that good man" Nancy explained, then held him close. "I promise I won't let any monsters do anything evil to you ever again, I'll protect you; and so too will your new daddy" Nancy replied glancing at Tatsumi for the last part, Tatsumi smiled.

"Kobi I'm your new daddy or will be soon because I'm going to marry your new mother; don't worry you'll have an entire nation that will keep you safe as I am Emperor Tatsumi of the Golden Dragon Empire, you'll grow into an adult in times of peace I'll end the monsters that threaten our world and make a new world free of them" Tatsumi explained Kobi teared up.

"This is too good to be true, please don't let this be a dream I'd hate to wake up in that Monster's- claws again" Kobi replied shivering.

"Don't worry you'll be kept safe you don't have to worry about him anymore, he's my problem to deal with now" Tatsumi assured then stepped up and hugged him and Nancy.

Meanwhile in Melitine… "YEAAAAAAAARGH!" Volgoth yelled for the umpteenth time then held his hand to his face: that surge of power he had never felt anything like it before it was something that he had never thought conceivable let alone possible. But empirical evidence as he just learned was impossible to ignore and that pain felt like he had he been hit by a baseball bat. To the side of his throne a bored demoness filled her nails clad in an imperial dress she had taken from imps before they could burn it, she yawned. On the opposite side Rel'Gov looked at Volgoth with mild concern and mild amusement as a demon's first time being hit hard by light magic was always memorable especially if they were overconfident like Volgoth.

"Boring" Daeva commented, then the throne room door opened and in walked two people, Socrathor and to Volgoth's surprise Teketh.

"What is it? I thought I gave orders for you to stay put Teketh" Volgoth commented.

"I came to see for myself if things were true and they are, I'll give you my loyalty in person though" Teketh replied.

Volgoth stood up from his throne and over to Teketh towering over him at this point to a massive 8 feet in height. "I see, kneel before me" Volgoth ordered, Teketh dropped to the ground Volgoth looked at him with disinterest. "Hold out your hand" Volgoth ordered Teketh did do. Volgoth looked at him, then smirked before slicing off Teketh's sword hand, the general howled; then the limb was replaced by a black claw.

"Now you are like me: do you pledge your eternal loyalty" Volgoth ordered.

"I Teketh Tsunami pledge my loyalty to you Emperor Volgoth Ugor; from this day till my last and pledge my life to the Empire of Yeenkar and my soul to Valtor" Teketh replied, Volgoth smirked then planted his claw against Teketh's face chanting in a demonic tongue as he branded him with his mark, after he was done he bid Teketh to rise.

"You're now sworn to me, betray me and you'll suffer torments unimaginable both in this life and the next: General Teketh Tsunami your new orders remain the same as the old ones with a catch I want you to purge any weakness in your army, only the best may serve me, those you think worthy bestow my mark on as you have mine, wear your new limb and mark proudly Teketh Tsunami Hell Knight of House Abaddon and favored servant of Lord Valtor and myself Volgoth Ugor" Volgoth ordered. Teketh bowed and left. Volgoth then turned to the three demon generals he had remaining and noted Daeva being- well lazy as far as he was concerned, no such thing would be allowed in his presence.

"DAEVA!" Volgoth shouted and the demoness startled nearly dropped her nail phial but caught it barely.

"I'm right here you don't have to yell, now what is it?" Daeva replied.

"I'm noticing there are some major issues as of late, right now I'm having to have a new army built from scratch to replace the one that was- unfortunately, destroyed by those Atlanteans and that- boy" Volgoth replied. "In order to do so I need to intensify our efforts to reactivate the nexi and destroy the wards holding us back: to that end I'm sending you North to the Far North specifically, Lord Valtor informed me that a great concentration of ruins on this continent are up there mainly because the forces of Old Yeenkar designed them as holdfasts and there they withstood their enemies for 50 years before they fell. Since then however northern barbarian tribes have established long traditions and customs of worshiping our lord master and his other servants the Old Ways they call them, and there are still a large number of worshippers despite Esdeath's conquest of the North that decimated their population and I'd like them to be enlisted in our cause, use them to reactivate the nexi, extend the range over the Northern lands and destroy the Dwarven and Giant wards that threaten us, also if you encounter that boy kill him" Volgoth ordered, Daeva shrugged.

"Alright, it beats listening to you rant all day, I swear this place is so dull, the only thing to recommend is the fashion the people here made such lovely frilly dresses and I'd rather be somewhere exciting preferably where Erasiel Darkar is; so hopefully I run into your enemies and they kill me and send me back home where maybe I can be sent to go against him instead of all these boring humans, they die too easily and aren't remotely fun to fight" Daeva replied, before Volgoth could make any retort she teleported away, Volgoth grabbed a leg off of a nearby cart took a chomp out of leg of meat then smirked.

"You can struggle all you want inside but you have no way of escaping me" Volgoth remarked aloud, Socrathor and Rel'Gov looked at him with confusion but did not bother questioning it.

Meanwhile… Tatsumi had been led off by Nancy to her private quarters, it only took her one second to lock the door behind them and two seconds to plant a kiss on his lips, he opened his mouth and their tongues battled for dominance. "You're a good kisser" Nancy remarked after breaking the kiss.

"You're not so bad yourself" Tatsumi replied, she fondled his rear.

"Such a cute ass now let's see what you're packing" Nancy commented, she stripped him and herself holding off on his boxers till last. "Well, you're more hung then Syura" Nancy commented then took a lick, before wrapping her breasts around it. "My mother educated me in some tricks and Syura gave me a good deal of pointers, he once commented that if a woman has big enough tits, she should wrap them around her partner's cock and work them" Nancy replied then began working.

"Lilianna told me he said that once" Tatsumi replied, Nancy smirked.

"Was that before she fucked you or after, never mind I'm guessing that was after she had her titties wrapped around your cock, you know I never took my prudish half-sister for the type who'd bed the first man who she felt romantically attracted to, much less after just meeting him, but I guess being desperate will do that to you, at least she's not as big a prude as Valdis, did Syura ever tell you about the time the two of us thought it would be a good idea to fill his room with palace courtesans, my recommendations of course, he fainted and we laughed our heads off" Nancy replied.

"Yep, Lily told me about that, Nancy do you have any preferences you'd like me to take?" Tatsumi asked, she smirked slyly.

"Oh I've got some fair ideas but for our first time I'll just keep it simple, when we have our honeymoon oh that's where it will get extra kinky" Nancy replied then licked the tip of his length in a teasing manner before continuing to move her breasts up and down but also from side to side or taking one breast and moving it in the opposite direction of the other, she then turned around parking her snatch above Tatsumi's lips. "Lily told me a good deal about what that tongue of yours can do, prove to me she wasn't exaggerating" Nancy teased, Tatsumi obliged, this got quite the jolt out of Nancy who immediately lost focus and jolted upwards letting out a loud moan of bliss.

"YEEEEAAAAH!" Nancy moaned, then as Tatsumi did his thing she yelped more things such as "I've never noticed that spot before" or "Nobody's ever done that to me before" and similar sorts of reactions before she resolved to return the favor and give Tatsumi her best. That left the two at a race to see who could make the other cum first, a race that ended in a tie as both released as exactly the same time.

Nancy rolled off of Tatsumi then presented her rear looking over her shoulders with a smirk. "I want you to ride me- gently and to caress my lovely ass cheeks and my back at the same time; shower my backside with kisses" Nancy requested, Tatsumi acceded to those orders, his hands fondled her butt cheeks as he entered her. Despite not being a virgin Nancy had all the tightness of one, as he entered, she grinned back at him in a goofy teasingly seductive manner.

"You're- surprisingly tight" Tatsumi replied.

"I've got naturally tight holes, both my ass and pussy, my mommy has those and I inherited them, all the boys I was with before loved it, however far too many of my suiters would cum upon entry, completely disappointed no what I desire in a husband is two things, first of that he is able to love me despite all my baggage and secondly he has to have a greater stamina then me or be on par I mean could you imagine if I had been saddled with some lackluster noble boy, I'd have gotten bored of him and started bedding any other man who took my fancy till I found the right one; that is one of three reasons why my father never married me off" Nancy replied, then cooed as Tatsumi's hands caressed her back, she lay on her front hands forward. "Too good" Nancy moaned.

"What were the other two reasons?" Tatsumi asked.

"You'd stop if I told you and because I don't want you to stop until either of us is out of energy I'll keep my mouth shut on those two subjects, though I can say both reasons have to do with my having kids out of wedlock, so many prudes that complain about it, I'm grateful you aren't a prude otherwise I'd be besides myself" Nancy replied then smiled as Tatsumi continued, he decided not to push the subject and just give her the best time of her life. Nancy cooed, blushed and smiled as Tatsumi took care of her, no previous partner not even Syura had ever come at her in such a fashion nor could they rival the technique and method behind every stroke, granted Syura had about the same sized package but still Tatsumi could do way more with it and had some sort of sense where to put it. "You're blessing to the human race Tatsumi, every woman would enjoy your work especially if they are of a similar disposition to me: you must have some sort of sense because your- OH FUCK! Hitting every spot including ones I never knew I have and trust me I have more than enough experience in this matter" Nancy commented.

"She is a willing woman for you Tatsumi, she'll be useful to all your ends and she's obsessed" a voice whispered in Tatsumi's head. "Khaneesha?" Tatsumi though. "Yes- oh it is enjoyment to see one who bares my family's blood in minor amounts so well and is as enchanting as any incubus" Khaneesha whispered back mentally.

"What do you mean by that?" Tatsumi asked mentally, Khaneesha smiled from her palace in front of her mirror where she was watching the display.

"My older sister brother Pladius an incubus of great power and great prowess happened to fill the snatch of one of the Oarburgh shadow queens or rather their ancestress during the time of the Empire of Yeenkar, that blood has been watered down by humans over the centuries to a point where no demonic features are present but a fraction of incubus allure remains in your bloodline, you're descended from the Golden Emperor who wed a Shadow Queen and her sisters, of their lines the boys would take the surname Gildenstrom the girls Oarburgh as part of a marriage arrangement, generations passed the blood being watered down but every member of your house has a single drop of demonic blood that enhances your pheromones, allows you to project an aura of attraction and of charisma but you have no control of it" Khaneesha replied, this fact was disturbing to Tatsumi.

"Did my ancestors take this blood willingly?" Tatsumi asked, Khaneesha cackled.

"You think that a incubus's partner can resist the alure, they were completely subservient much like the Audette sisters were to you, the demons that dwelled in Yeenkar were rather unrestricted by laws, they did whatever they wanted to and whomever they wanted to do, you may have demonic blood but it was no fault of your own, don't give up anything because of that choice, you had no more say in it then you did in who you were born to; you define what you are, by the way keep up the pressure, the war down here is progressing quite well and your efforts to undermine Valtor's schemes is amazing and forced him to divert a lot of his forces away from my family's warriors" Khaneesha replied.

"What do you get out of all this anyway?" Tatsumi asked mentally while his dick was inside Nancy's naturally tight pussy and his lips on Nancy's breasts suckling them to cute moans of enjoyment.

"Recognition of my family's power but more importantly humiliating House Abaddon, there is nothing more humiliating for a great house of Sheogh to be humiliated by the people of a world who had no business winning, before you ask Sheogh is the name of the particular part of Hell where my kindred all dwell in, the realm of the Four Horsemen where four great houses rule over all" Khaneesha replied.

Tatsumi then shrugged mentally and returned to boning Nancy, soon both of them had exhausted their energy, but Nancy passed out asleep first, his length inside her womb her breasts pressed against his back using his last reserve of energy he tucked them in and wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep.

Sleep proved equally pleasant and dreams even more so, though not much of it made sense and the plots of his dreams felt like badly written novels of the kind sane people avoid like the plague, the most interesting thing from these dream experiences was when he ran into a giant man eating lima bean and smashed it with Leone's hammer.

Leone woke him up the following morning, Nancy still slept on top of him. "Look at you, you really wore her out" Leone teased.

"Is that unusual?" Tatsumi asked, Leone chuckled.

"Not really with regards to you as I know from experience, but she told Lilliana that she could outlast you, I'm guessing that didn't' happen" Leone replied.

"Yep" Tatsumi replied, then carefully began to extract himself from under Nancy who at the moment was so passed out a marching band could not awaken her from that sleep. Tatsumi redressed in his clothes from the night before or rather did so after a quickie with Leone who lifted up her fancy dress to reveal she was commando underneath and had him bone her doggy style, that didn't wake Nancy either despite Leone's meows from Lionelle, that aside he redressed soon after and Leone led him out of the room.

"Valdis is waiting for you downstairs, he got back this morning I told him that you were a heavy sleeper" Leone explained.

"Speaking of what time is it?" Tatsumi asked, Leone pulled out her watch which was a fusion of a pocket watch and a digital watch and was covered in actual gold plating. "10:34 AM on Aurelii the 22nd of IC 1524" Leone replied, Tatsumi smirked.

"Don't look at me like that, it's easy to keep track with this luxury watch" Leone explained.

"Where did you get that?" Tatsumi asked.

"I snatched it from my father's office after I threw him out the window in the ballroom, I don't think Volgoth has any appreciation for a good time piece, besides it's an inheritance" Leone explained, Tatsumi shrugged. "Hey, would you rather I left it for Volgoth?" Leone teased, Tatsumi smirked then laughed.

"Some things never change Leone, you're still a thief" Tatsumi replied.

"Kleptomaniac and con-artist, there is a big difference I can't help myself as a klepto and any idiot that thinks gambling pays the gambler is begging for a rip off: Tatsumi the odds are stacked and in my favor; too much of this is so easy to do, besides my father has been dead for two decades now I'm sure he'd have no problems with me having his watch after he was gone" Leone explained then put the watch away.

"I get it, I get it, just don't ever scam me" Tatsumi replied, Leone smirked.

"I have no need to do so, if I want something from you Tatsumi all I need to do is bat my eyebrows, flutter my eyelashes and ask you for whatever I want" Leone replied.

"Did you let Valdis know about your- heritage" Tatsumi asked.

"I've refrained from doing so until you meet him, that way if he does think looking down on me is a good idea he has you to deal with as a consequence" Leone replied then smiled wrapped her arms around his left arm and walked with him out of the room first to meet with his following and then to a central hall where she then instructed him where to go, soon they arrived in the meeting room where Valdis stood, Tatsumi noted the glaring similarities he had with his father to being a mirror accurate version of one of the many paintings of Honest in his youth. He had short white hair, the yellow eyes that were a dominant trait of his family, was of a muscular and athletic build, he wore a heraldic tabard of his plate armor, his skin was much like Honest's and of a light tone. His height though was a staggering 6'6 the same size as his father but with not as much girth, he wore a proud beard too and a white cloak.

As Tatsumi entered the room the Four Rakshasas stepped to his side and Valdis knelt with a deal of respect. "Rise Valdis Grandmaster of the Knights of the Radiant Dawn we will speak as normal people, I'm Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom seventh of my family name last ruler of the Old Empire and first ruler of the new Golden Dragon Empire you've already met Leone who is your half-sister." Tatsumi introduced and indicated the woman next to Valdis.

"I see, you care with the stature of an Emperor you exude an aura of authority; my sister and younger brother told me of your arrival I apologize for not being here to great you in person your majesty and hope that my half-sister Nancy hasn't left a bad taste in your mouth" Valdis replied.

"Nope only good tastes, sweet milk" Tatsumi replied, Valdis blushed and fainted.

"Prude attack!" Lillianna and Syura said at the same time and caught him. Before giving Valdis, some wake up slaps to bring him out of his state.

"Does that happen often?" Tatsumi asked.

"Way too often for my tastes" Syura remarked as Valdis began getting back up.

"What happened?" Valdis asked confused.

"You were talking to your Emperor and you fainted, try not to in the future" Lilianna replied.

"My Emperor? What I have not exactly recognized his claim yet, I demand to see proof first and foremost, if you are the rightful Emperor, you'll have the means to verify your claim" Valdis replied rather sternly.

"Alright, Spear my papers please" Tatsumi asked and Spear who had been at his side pulled out the box that stored the Imperial documents he'd received from the late General Budo in addition to new documents that had been penned by Makoto and a number of other witnesses, Valdis opened the box and looked thru the documents but also at the photograph of Tatsumi and his parents which was colored so his eyes were clear to see, in addition to these were other things not in the box that proved his heritage, the Bracelet of Kings, the Golden Crown and if he had to he would use the Mirror of Truth.

"These are- well- impressive, these are in the royal seal, I've seen it before so I can tell its legitimate but I'm still uncertain if you are indeed Tatsumi Gildenstrom the son of Emperor Isshin II the Lost, do you have any more proof?" Valdis asked, Tatsumi smiled.

"Yes I do" Tatsumi replied and removed the Mirror of Time from his back where he kept it he then took Valdis's hand in his and led him into the realm of Kronos and from there to the past where Tatsumi showed him everything he needed to know.

After this Valdis took the knee and drew his sword and offered it to Tatsumi. "My sincere apologies my Emperor I'm sorry that I doubted you, I pledge myself and the Order of the Radiant Dawn to your cause" Valdis apologized, Tatsumi took the sword and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Rise Grandmaster Valdis, we have much that needs to be done, muster your troops and ready them for war as a great evil now threatens to consume our world" Tatsumi explained and returned the blade as Valdis stood back up.

"What is this threat my liege, I've heard what my siblings have warned me of, but I must hear the full truth from you what is this new threat?" Valdis asked.

"The monster that killed your father" Tatsumi explained bluntly, it was a true fact albeit one that was not the full truth. Tatsumi then looked at Valdis clearly as he took in the knowledge that his father whom he strived to emulate had died not just died been murdered by a monster. "The new enemy we face is the Arch-Demon Volgoth Ugor, he has taken Melitine and crowned himself Emperor, your father was killed by this monster his strength wasn't enough" Tatsumi explained. "Legions of demons now threaten to consume our world, we are at war, and it's the only one that matters; whatever petty conflicts are engaged in within the world at large don't matter not anymore everyone who can fight this threat needs to or we will all be destroyed; I know that as Paladin dedicated to evil you will take this duty with all the seriousness it deserves but there is one thing caution with any troops we have as every demon we slay can come back whereas everyone that dies on our side is dead for good, I'm securing a coalition of those willing to fight and those who'll stand against the evil that desires to destroy us all so to that end I need to restore my shattered Empire and forge a new one to face this evil, I'll take anyone I can get to fight this because at the end of the day our enemy will kill everyone, that is the enemy we face, an enemy not bent on conquest but on our destruction" Tatsumi explained in full.

"You have my sword, I'll take caution in every action I take in this war my liege and we will drive these unholy abominations back to the fiery deeps they came from" Valdis replied, Tatsumi nodded then looked out a nearby window, it faced north, but overlooked the city and he noted in the distance banners of the Northern Imperial Lords arriving at the gates.

"We've much to discuss; now as soon as I conclude my business here, I ride north, no telling what I'll find up there but there are armies up north that can be brought to my cause" Tatsumi explained.

"I see what role will I have?" Valdis asked.

"You're widely respected around the north, I want you to rally anyone who will join our cause to it, the only people that my army will not permit are demons in human skin like brigands or deserters from the Imperial Army, I cannot abide deserters in my ranks as they will likely run in a crucial moment of a battle" Tatsumi replied.

"I understand do you wish those deserters I run into hung in accordance with the laws?" Valdis asked.

"No instead I'd have them used as indentured servants, they can serve as workers until this war ends as punishment for their crimes, you may however kill the brigands, kill those you may with the sword and any you take alive crucify as an example, I don't permit you to kill women or children of any kind, in my new Empire children are to be protected and even if one commits a crime death will NOT be a punishment, as for the women I just can't stomach seeing one die or dead" Tatsumi replied.

"I understand my liege your commands will be followed to the letter, anyone under my command who ignores them will face full justice" Valdis replied.

"If any soldier disobeys my orders they are to be put on the frontline of the battle, let the gods of war decide their fate for their crimes, if they fall in battle they'll have absolved themselves of their crimes and if they live well they've earned a second chance" Tatsumi explained.

"I do not comprehend that decision" Valdis stated honestly.

"I need every soldier I can get, we cannot afford to be picky we are facing an enemy that seeks to destroy us all and everything we stand for, at the end of the day on the field of battle we are all face the same prospect that of death" Tatsumi explained, with that out of the way Valdis nodded.

"I beg your leave my liege, I must see to preparing my soldiers" Valdis explained, Tatsumi nodded and let him go it was a minutes before Tatsumi sighed and sat down his wives surrounded him noting his pained expression.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi who took a deep breath, shed a solitary tear. "How Esdeath did it come to this? I was just someone country bumpkin looking for adventure and wealth and now look at me the last Emperor of dead Empire leading what is our world's best hope in the face of Armageddon, and- I still don't understand how and why our world is in such a state what caused all this evil that rots our world, I know the demons are responsible for it but why? What is it they want out of all this, what does this Valtor want with our world there are surely countless worlds like it and why Honest of all people why him Lilianna what you told me of your father when he was younger sounds like a man who would never stoop to this level, I know any human can become evil but for him to take the change he did and having seen Valdis I- can't understand it, and the fact that Volgoth said he had been dead for years- This whole thing is wrong on so many levels and something is behind it all something went wrong and I have to know where and when" Tatsumi replied.

"Well we're near where my father was born perhaps there are answers there" Lilianna replied, Tatsumi's eyebrows flinched.

"To defeat your enemy, you must know them Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi smiled.

"Lily that helps but is there anything here that could answer questions, you said your father lived here would he have left anything behind?" Tatsumi asked.

"Actually, he left quite a lot behind, everything that reminded him of mother anyway Tatsumi, but other things too" Syura replied.

"Any journals?" Tatsumi asked, Syura grinned.

"Yep, granted they'd be years old now and covered with dust, but I think you'd find answers there, how long do you intend to look into this?" Syura asked.

"Until I find out why and how Honest became Volgoth and where that demon came from in the first place, I know the Atlanteans told me how he was created but how did Honest come by him, and more importantly where did he find him" Tatsumi replied.

A few hour later… Tatsumi found the remainder of that day to be completely serious, overly so, he had all negotiations with northern lords, then after that he had to accept about 5 marriage contracts from said lords in addition to a sixth from Nancy as he wanted to make sure that they stayed loyal, then on top of it the rest of the day was spent in the library learning what he could find about Honest and the Order of the Radiant Dawn as well, along with the Northern Empire and lands further north. It was during this research that Tatsumi came to a conclusion, Honest had fallen to evil far too quickly for a person of his acts of good described in his journals, yes he had lost the person he loved most along with his mentor and his mother but that alone was not enough to drive someone to evil, he knew that from Mashiro along with Sheele and a few others who had lost those dear to them, no there was something else.

Soon after coming to this conclusion he opened the last journal that Honest had written in before leaving this home of his for good, it was there that he found the missing link in the chain, as Lilianna and Syura had explained their father had indeed found the Shadow Crown Ephialties not to long after his mother's death but the exact location was uncertain until he read about it, the location was a far too familiar set of ruins made of course of black stone and clearly tied to the Empire of Yeenkar along with the exact spot where it was, about 12 miles from Kal-Rai the birth place of Honest or as the journals made clear Valdis Dietrich Unwillingborn the child of rape.

The fact that Honest had been born of Northern raiders was a startling revelation and an ironic one. "Those Northerners were idiots, they had no idea what they unleashed: they made two mistakes, the first being to attack Kal-Rai and their leader choosing to rape Honest's mother and of course the second to try and wipe out the Patras clan, these two mistakes doomed their civilization in the long term as they had no idea how much the two individuals would unleash on them" Tatsumi thought then noted Esdeath who had come up behind him, she held a book herself the title being 'Study of the Patras Clan'

"Hello, my beloved Tatsu-bunny" Esdeath greeted and sat next to him and nestled against his shoulder. "I just finished reading this book and I find it fascinating how many inconsistencies and mistakes are in it along with missing pieces of information but that is to be expected as the author wasn't a Patras and thus couldn't grasp the fullness of my people, still though it is a good read" Esdeath explained.

"You should write a book yourself on your people" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath smiled.

"The thought had occurred to me, but I've been much too busy surviving over the years, perhaps when there is peace and you're setting on the throne I can do such a thing, it would be a shame for my people's history to lost, and I'll write it alongside my memoirs of my military career and our current adventure" Esdeath replied.

"I've found the place where Honest first began to fall, you know anything about it? Its near Kal-Rai and about 12 miles from it" Tatsumi explained.

"Indeed I know the spot, my people remember it well as it was where we had our finest hour and we were the ones who made it a ruin, Charn the place is called or rather is called nowadays its true name is long forgotten and it was named such because it is a charnel house where the last of an abominable empire met its end: my tribe passed by it in the days and- it was where I first saw a demon" Esdeath explained. "There is more to it though I- had a strange experience, there is some sort of magic about the place, memories of times gone by and you see things long past, I'm not sure what caused it but it's not normal not by any means so I advise caution especially now that demons have returned and Volgoth obviously knows about the place from Honest's memories and will try to reactivated a nexus there if there is one" Esdeath explained.

"Then we'll be careful, but we have to search it, you know I wonder how much of our world's history is lost and never to be found" Tatsumi explained.

"Far too much in my opinion" someone else replied, but Tatsumi knew it was Dorothea and for her to turn up in a library was about expected as the suns rising on a new day and setting on an old one. "Far too much of our world's history is lost to time, granted though I've preserved what knowledge I could, and I have experienced a good deal of Imperial history myself thanks to my Teigu prolonging my life" Dorothea added.

"To extend one's life must have a price" Esdeath commented knowing full well Dorothea's price to persist long past when her body should be bones.

"You know quite well that to prolong my life I must take others, it's a rather unfortunate reality luckily for me animals fill that role just as much as humans, and the only humans I've drained actually deserved it" Dorothea replied.

"True, but still it's a horrifying sight when you see it" Tatsumi replied.

"I went numb to it centuries ago, though it is horrifying for those who haven't seen the sightseeing a husk drained by me but such are the consequences of prolonging my life and I hope one day thru understanding Teigus and other sciences I can create a way to prolong life indefinitely" Dorothea replied.

"Who'd want to live forever, this world is such a horrible place I'd rather live forever in a happy place" Tatsumi replied.

"I'm aware of the concept but all the same it's the dream of every scientist who studies medicine to crack the secret of immortality and I've come close over the years but many of my advances happen to get ruined by civil war; if one thing is consistent about the Empire that hasn't changed at all from the time of birth to the present day it's that Imperials are fond to fight each other for the most petty of reasons and the most greedy ones too, human stupidity is as infinite as time and the universe along with knowledge there is no end to it: also as someone who experienced and fought in some of the Empire's worst wars firsthand I can say the consequences of human stupidity are as abundant as stupidity itself" Dorothea replied.

"What was the most brutal war you lived thru, not counting the current one" Tatsumi replied.

"The war of the Mad Emperor of course; Ah it was quite a spectacular conflict which was so unnecessary and had no winners both sides ended up going thru bad periods of history, I was only 27 at the time when it occurred and I fought in that conflict let me tell you Dwarves are not an enemy you want to face, I also snatched Absordex in that conflict, I'll add though that dwarven blood is far more potent than that of humans or pigs the regenerative effects are more prolonged then the two, I actually went 125 years without aging and I didn't realize the effects of my Teigu until then, a very interesting turn of events; though I've got a chapter of Dwarven wrongs in one of their grudge books" Dorothea replied.

"How many do you think?" Tatsumi asked.

"One for stealing Absordex and about 225 for each dwarf I killed during that conflict with it: granted you can repay those with the right sum, Dwarves do accept payment in gold for Grudges or in services rendered and often in retribution, don't worry though I settled those long ago, at great cost to the Imperial treasury but I snuck that in with war reparations nobody ever probably noticed it" Dorothea replied, Tatsumi frowned. "I always settle my debts Tatsumi, I'm rich and can afford to, what use is money to me? I lived longer than most people and had a lot of time to think about things" Dorothea replied.

"So, what kind of things?" Tatsumi asked.

"A lot of concepts that a vast number of ignorant people believe in are horribly wrong, granted I don't doubt deities a few specifically due to the fact that demons exist, that evidence alone suggests that there is an afterlife and the second law of physics states that anything has an equal and opposite counterpart, so yeah there is an afterlife though whether the Imperial gods are real or not is beyond me, but Asha does exist, Syura's resurrection and power proves that as nobody can die and come back to life thru any means known to science and that indisputably in my earnest opinion proves Asha does exist and that you would be wise to choose her as your patron goddess and make her worship widespread in the New Empire as clearly of the gods that we know she is the only whose existence is proven fact and because she has a vested interest in our world and universe as a whole so that means she should be treated with utmost respect and reverence" Dorothea replied, Tatsumi was surprised by this turn in the conversation but he had been leaning towards this anyway, going forward the new chief deity in the Empire's Pantheon would be Asha as the goddess that helped save their world well if he won, but all other faiths would be allowed save ANY worship of Valtor whatsoever.

Tatsumi closed the book he was reading and took his leave of the library and bumped into Angulas who looked stunning in her new attire, it was a mix between religious garb and royal garb, she wore a crown of silver studded with pearls with a notable triangular pattern it was attached to a religious headdress and looked stunning. "My husband" Angulas greeted. "Avawahy watch over you always, I- was wondering if you and I could spend some time in private" Angulas asked shyly, Tatsumi knew what she was getting at, their honeymoon had been an interesting affair and she was uneasy about the whole experience even after her enjoyment wanting to in the future do such tasks on her terms, she had just given him her invitation for it and for a day that had been rather dull he was quite up for it given that fact, so with that in mind he kissed her chastely in answer and the two withdrew to his quarters for the stay, the room had belonged to Honest and the irony that he would be staying and making love in his nemesis's room was not lost on him.

Angulas let him undress her he did so in a gentle and relaxed manner making sure clothes were placed in a nice and neatly folded pile, she then undressed him in a similar manner, Tatsumi took a look at her, the ample E-cups were obvious but her figure was surprisingly athletic for a priestess, that in mind now that the clothes were off it meant that her shy demeanor was tossed to the wayside as she assumed her assertive side, repression that had been in place for most of her life due to her vow of chastity could now be resolved with her new husband. The scene that followed was similar to their honeymoon so the following could essentially be a rundown of what happened with that particular event.

Angulas took Tatsumi and in an act of strength that most people would not think possible for a woman her size picked him up, slung him over the shoulder and tossed him on the bed before leaping atop him. Tatsumi did not get a chance to moan as he entered her as her lips were on his at about the same time and when he tried to open his mouth to moan, she had her tongue inside it faster than you could say knife.

"Tatsumi relax, let me take care of you, Avawahy has blessed me with this body and it exists only to serve you in whatever way you desire so let me do the work for the first couple of rounds" Angulas stated after breaking the kiss, she then sat up and bounced up and down on his rod. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" Angulas moaned repeatedly, her moans were usually just that or some variation with her saying his name. Tatsumi merely said nothing, he just let her take care of him, and while she was taking care of him, he had time to think of this next moves and more importantly how big a force he needed to take on his march North. Unlike in the Eastern Kingdoms where he had to take a limited force due to the diplomatic nature of his goals in that region, the North was part of the Empire which meant he could march with an army, the question was how big did he want to take with him, more importantly what forces from the North would he take back with him.

Angulas moaned louder, Tatsumi released, she then climbed off took his still erect length and began to preform fellatio on him. That did not distract Tatsumi from his thoughts, but he did let out light moans. The problem with taking forces out of the North was two fold in Tatsumi's opinion, he needed to take a large enough force to do significant work against the Demonic army but at the same time not take too large a force that the recently conquered North rebelled leaving him with another pointless war. That in mind Tatsumi had just the person in mind to help him secure the North, someone born and raised in it, Nora Saika the last surviving relative of the last northern king Numa Saika, whom Tatsumi had dubbed as Numa the Doom of the North and Esdeath had referred to as Numa the craven, and boy could Nora deliver. Their marriage while it had been done for political reasons had developed as was expected of anyone in a romantic relationship with Tatsumi at this point into one of love, and Nora was quite a handful.

That in mind he had to worry for her, granted while Nora was a formidable fighter and a genius her status as a member of the Saika Clan was not one that was going to be liked by the Yetis or by newer Imperial settlers who were pouring into the regions now that the Winter had ended the Season of Spring began which would be followed by the Season of New beginnings as a new year would begin and Tatsumi hoped that by summer Eden would be safe from evil, he'd be on the Imperial throne as a ruler and would be welcoming his first children to the world. Tatsumi had no idea at the time that he would be correct about his future plans for he was too focused on the moment as all humans tend to be. That thing in the moment was how best to balance Nora's desires and influence with that of the newcomers from the Empire and the independent Yetis who were now a free people for the first time in centuries and as such were proud new citizens of the Empire these two groups would NOT be eager to welcome a Saika into any position of power, however they would not be able to stop him from doing so as the two had already married: the chief reason for Nora's marriage had been to merge the bloodlines of the Saika Clan and the Gildenstrom dynasty into one, which would be critical in the future for ensuring the Northerners remained part of the Empire.

Tatsumi interrupted his own thoughts as Angulas had finished her blowjob and was now presenting her cute butt-cheeks in his direction as an invitation, she had saved her favorite as the main show and Tatsumi took that ass with gusto, Angulas let out a unique moan "Ceow-oh!" and smiled as Tatsumi took her doggy-style. That led to Tatsumi losing his train of thought and being completely focused on his passionate actions. That left no room for serious thought and Tatsumi and Angulas could care less at that particular moment about the future or anything unrelated to their actions in that moment of time, not even considering the fact that the first round had gotten Angulas pregnant or had it, because Tatsumi after the third round released inside her babymaker about seven more times before they were done, at the end of it Tatsumi simply laid back with Angulas sleeping soundly on him he then made sure to gently extract himself from the bed and wrap Angulas in the bedding to keep her warm.

After that Tatsumi sought out Nora who he found looking at a picture of Honest and his wife. "Hard to believe that one person like that could fall so far" Tatsumi remarked as he approached.

"The North is a harsh land Tatsumi and produces harsh people, northern blood flowed in his blood you can tell by his size and his posture" Nora replied.

"I could tell it by his diaries, according to them his mother was raped by a northern raider and he was the result of that encounter: your people's old traditions created a monster and sowed the seeds of their own doom; your people attacked the Patras clan and nearly destroyed them Nora can you think of how much of world history has been impacted by your people that they dug their own grave" Tatsumi replied.

"I know quite well what my people did, I'm not like them not remotely, I was born the daughter of Kardemus Saika, a ruthless and cruel tyrant but a military genius, he was twice my mother's age when I was born and she was his slave, her only purpose to serve his carnal needs and to do whatever else he wanted, I was little more than means for him, but when I proved smarter he thought it was best to use me to his advantage. However through my life I saw what happened when my people raided, I could not lower myself to the level of a slave master, I saw the way my father treated my mother when she no longer held any appeal he tossed her aside, it disgusted me to see people who couldn't defend themselves raped and murdered by those who were well armed and abused their state to commit atrocious acts. When my brother Numa took the throne I thought he'd be different but the apple didn't fall too far from the tree: while Numa wasn't as bad as my father he was still an evil man: the Revolutionary Army liked to mythologize my brother as a stalwart hero resisting the tyranny of the Empire and a symbol to their cause, but that couldn't have been further from the truth" Nora explained.

"How bad was your brother? I heard vague details from Esdeath, but she hardly knew him" Tatsumi asked, Nora frowned painful memories resurfacing then sighed before explaining.

"Numa was an evil man not unlike our father Kardemus, though he gave off an aura of nobleness and selflessness to the public it was a mask to obscure his crimes most of which were out of the sight of the common folk. He raped so many women from both the Empire and tribes that wouldn't join him in fact I'd wonder how many children have been or will be born of his rapes he viewed any offspring not of his direct wife Kemaki as no better than the contents of chamber pot which I find appalling that anyone could compare human beings to the waste of the body, he had his enemies buried alive in pits or thrown into massive gorges or abysses that dot the North to say nothing of throwing captured enemies into Bear pits to act as training fodder for his War Bears, along with ordering anyone that so much as looked the wrong way at him to be executed on a whim and in whatever way he wanted to have them die by, hell if a concubine bored him he'd do a number of horrible things, once I watched him test out a new dagger he had made for him on one of his concubines who made a bad joke and had another one led to a training field where he used her for archery practice, he did all this just to show that he could and what would happen to you if you opposed him. I swear if it were not an egregious sin to kill one's kin, I'd have opened his veins and sliced his throat in his sleep: my brother was ruthless, casually cruel, haughty, arrogant, egotistical, shrewd and overconfident. He was also fond of doing things just because he could, building roads just to ride his chariot down them, holding massive public events where he partied and had mass orgies and executions just for his enjoyment while dressing up as the god of excess Vedeku, building a massively tall tower just prove he could build something taller than a Giant's castle. When Esdeath invade the North I took my troops and left my homeland, I knew that after she buried most of my brother's army alive by herself and without taking a single casualty in her army that she would conquer the north in fact I was leaving before that because I had read up on the Patras Clan and knew that if one of their number survived they would exact bloody vengeance on the Saika Kingdom for all that had happened. I knew my brother would not take her seriously and would be stupid enough to fall for her strategies so not wanting any part in this I fled, those two idiots of brothers of mine followed me along with stragglers out of cowardice" Nora replied. "So there we were, exiled, I refused to follow traditions and renounced the Old Ways, my brothers didn't agree with me but my troops numbered more than theirs, in addition to being better equipped, better trained and loyal to the end, we went mercenary joined the Revolutionary Army those two idiots decided to join personally with their barbaric followers and I along with my troops remained mercenaries and when you started winning I knew for a fact that the only way I'd survive and that the Saika Bloodline would survive would be to marry you and so did" Nora explained.

"I- never understood your brother was that bad, Esdeath told me he was scum but didn't give exact details beyond that, that just makes the way he died more ironic; so how do you think people are going to react to you returning?" Tatsumi asked.

"That depends, the Saika kingdom like I said was destroyed by Esdeath as you know and as such many northerners have been put to the sword the vast majority being from the Saika clan, there aren't any male Saikas left alive, my sisters and half-sisters are essentially reduced to vassalage and ruling a broken people, many tribes joined Esdeath, the Yetis too: speaking of my brother's only way of being worse than my father were the amount Yetis that died under his rule, we are talking hundreds of thousands of Yetis that were worked to death building all sorts of flamboyant and excessive buildings, statues, and monuments, if my brother wanted to have something built to his own grandeur he'd do it just because, the Yetis hated him greatly and many revolts happened because of that. I really pitied the Yetis in fact I freed a number of them during my march southeast, they didn't join me, but they did turn against their former masters; in fact numerous uprisings happened over my brothers rule and Esdeath's invasion actually coincided at probably the worst time for the Saika Kingdom as the largest Yeti slave revolt in history lead by a charismatic Gladiator and supported by one of the Sky Titans a good chunk of manpower was tied down fighting them then my brother sent the bulk of what the kingdom had in full to attack Esdeath and you know what happened next: a small army that was Esdeath's baiting force lured that army into massive valley beneath several glaciers and she buried that entire army alive by shattering the glaciers" Nora replied. "So I can't imagine as a whole most people in the north being happy to see me, the remaining Saikas are a bit of pariahs as is and while I did have some manner of respect among the other clans I doubt that any of those chiefs would welcome me warmly though I don't see any issues with any of the civilized factions, either Yeti or Northern Human fighting for you, the Dwarves and Giants may but you'd have to have a pretty damn good reason to get them to haul ass out of their unassailable bastions and march to war, goodness knowing the Dwarven Kings in the North they'll want you to hunt the toughest Danger Beast the North has to offer, and the Giants well who knows. The Only group that will not follow you are any tribes that follow the Old Ways especially those from the Far North were spring never happens and where the nightly cold will kill in minutes those above ground, the people there are savage even by our standards, they are zealous old-way adherents and eat their enemies raw and are led by an 8-foot giant of a man named Oskak Svengold who regarded my brother as a weakling, he will be a major threat to the North if left uncontested especially if he makes pacts with his dark masters" Nora replied.

"I'll make sure to prepare to deal with him, hopefully though we won't spend too much time up north, we have a time limit you know" Tatsumi replied.

"Indeed and time breaks for nobody: that in mind you and I should make preparations, its late in the day and tomorrow we will set out on our journey, that in mind have you planned for the marriage contracts you've signed?" Nora asked.

"I'll address those when we return, honestly though time is imperative and I'd rather not be distracted from that goal; there is only so much time we have until Volgoth's servants activate Nexi out of our reach and when he does there is no telling how many he needs to overwhelm the planet, so we need to keep moving, keep destroying any nexi, keep gathering allies and keep soldiering on, and most importantly savor any and every moment of time we get to enjoy ourselves because being grim and bleak hearted all the time really is not good for my sanity or anyone's for that matter, too much is at stake and too much needs doing and after all I'm only one person so thank Asha I'm not alone in my endeavors" Tatsumi replied, Nora smirked kissed him and leaned on him.

"Speaking of moments of enjoyment I think we should share one, after all while the Saika family no longer has a man left alive I can continue my family line thru the Gildenstrom family and it is imperative for the future that our bloodlines merge as the North needs to have some semblance of recognition of their traditions, the good ones specifically, and besides it is cold outside and we northerners know how to warm a winter night even if the winter wanes" Nora replied and kissed Tatsumi on the cheek then began to nibble his ear in a kiss, Tatsumi moaned then picked her up carried her over his shoulder as she playfully struggled and the two retreated to Tatsumi's quarters where his concubines relaxed, they looked at him.

"I'll get to you lovely ladies in a bit right now Nora and I need to spend some time" Tatsumi replied and laid her on the bed, both of them removed the others clothes and their skin felt the warmth of the fur blankets that were on the bed, Tatsumi entered Nora quickly to her smile and moans he then gave it to her with gusto their lips in passionate lip locks as their genitals merged Tatsumi's length snug inside her warm vagina and Nora's breasts pressed up against him. His concubines watched the scene and removed their own clothing, the two went at it for a few rounds before the eight women watching could not hold back any longer and flung themselves on the bed with Tatsumi with Steela shutting the curtains.

What happened afterwards was something Tatsumi couldn't recall clearly other than that he tired out rather quickly due to his earlier session with Angulas and that the day had been long enough, with that he passed out, his concubines taking great care to make sure he and Nora were warm under the furs before retiring to their own quarters which were adjacent to his room.

That night proved to be a cold one and fresh snow fell overnight, the following dawn Tatsumi and his retinue had to trudge thru the foot of fresh snow to get to the temple where Tatsumi would wed Nancy, that was the last thing he had to do before leaving he also noted that Nancy had been rather insistent on making sure a large number of bags and boxes were added to his baggage train and also noted she an ornate whip at her side. When he questioned her she explained that it was a Teigu Whip with rather potent ability which brought a sense of extreme pain to any ordinary person hit by it even if it was a grazing blow and was covered with barbed spikes: it was named Painbringer: Whip of Agony. That she traveled armed was not a surprise to him, that she insisted on taking her children with her was another. Speaking of she had actually told him the answer of who was the father of her son, Tatsumi suppressed the urge to vomit when she told him that the boy's father was none other than her own father: granted Honest had said he slept with his daughters but knowing that they did so willingly and some of them had children with him was another matter to what had been told as he had no idea whether his nemesis lied about it but given that Nancy had two daughters with her half-brother her having one with her father wasn't as surprising as it could have been.

That aside their wedding proved to be a rather enjoyable affair and Valdis couldn't hold back the tears of joy, then about an hour after the ceremony the two traded their wedding garb for thick warm clothing, armor, and fur coats and joined their force to march north. Tatsumi had collected about 20,000 soldiers for the journey, while it may have seemed like overkill for a journey into friendly lands they were still being pacified as the North despite having been decimated still had decent sized groups of marauding warbands that didn't surrender or rose in uprising, in addition to these threats the North had some of the world's most dangerous Danger Beasts native to it, a tenth of Teigus that had been made for the Empire held the entrapped soul of a monster of the Far North and that aside there were other hazards too, including possible warlords.

The journey however would follow a certain sidetrack Tatsumi took a side path to visit places outlined by Honest is his diary however the big focus was on the City of Kal-Rai the birthplace of Honest and the flashpoint that had set all events in motion. Esdeath also had him go out of his way to visit a certain location, the place in question was what she had dubbed Caranatti-Vekkai-Patras, or the Graveyard of Patras, the place was where her father and the rest of her clan had met their end and Esdeath insisted on visiting to pay her respects and to have Tatsumi do the same.

This graveyard bore markers that were recently built, Esdeath explained that she had these monuments erected on her march north a few months earlier and they were meant to honor the fallen. Tatsumi noted that one monument stood taller than the others and that had belonged to Esdeath's father and the ones nearby belonged her half-siblings foremost being her five half-brothers, her aunts and his Bloodsworn which Esdeath explained were the best friends and personal protectors of her father and were considered part of the family, all 50 of them fell in battle fighting to the last. Esdeath had acquired during their stay in Marekgard a large amount of marble which she had ordered carved into totems which were painted blue and were now raised in a circle around the area, this took a few hours but the finished result was a large circle of marble totems which had a special thing about them. Into the totems were carved specific boreholes that when the wind blowed thru them produced a distinct melody that melody was a respectful tune that when heard Esdeath sang a song in her own language to it, the song was beautiful to hear and Tatsumi smiled. The song went as followed in the Imperial tongue. (To the tune of Le Chant De Roma: AGK soundtrack) "Children of Sacar, sons and daughters of time. Long have we roamed the lands, long we have moved, ever brave, ever seeking, never forgetting. At the Dawn of Man, we reigned tall and proud, great glory was ours. Empire of Dawn, Empire of time, our glory in days past. Our glory lost; our glory lost. Shadows rise against us all! Chains bound us in pain! Against tyrants we Rose, fighting on! Surviving against all odds. Doomed to wander till days end for failures of forebears, we live on. The Strong Survive, the Strong Thrive, the Strong Protect, and the Strong never forget. The World is old, the winter calls snows that fall cover all, remember still the fallen ones of Patras blood shed by the strong. Here we shall remember still all that has happened both good and ill." (Song End) After this Esdeath sung a lament for her father. (To the melody of the Lament for Boromir) "From the Western lands where the mountains rise and castles stand tall and proud, the Western wind comes blowing and its voice is great and loud. What news from the west oh gallant wind to you bring to me tonight, what news of My Father great and bright for night calls and no rest is in sight. I saw him ride over autumn plains under tree and under sky, I watched him pass over nameless trails in the lands were mortals lie, into shadows of the north I saw him ride no more; the North wind may see fall of lord of Evermoor. Oh, Father from wooden glades westward I looked afar, but you came not from western lands where good men are. From the Eastern lands the East glides, from jungles and the thorns, the smell of spices it brings and like the widow mourns. What news from the East oh crying wind do you bring to me at eve, where now is my father fair he tarries, and I grieve. Ask not of me oh child where doth dwell for many lands their lie, both known and unknown under the changing sky, so many past the east roads to find the eastern sea; ask of the Southwind word of him for no word comes from me. Oh, Father dear the great roads run east but you came not from those lands with no man or beast. From the jungles wild and sandy dunes, the south wind crows, its warmest grace blows to cold embrace from the sighes of the wind from the north. What news from the south oh warmest wind do you bring to me at dawn, where now is my Father roaming thru, I ask of thee anon. The warmest sands send their sighs for he wanders here, he comes to home with hunt in tow to hold thee my deer. Bounties great and herds felled he brings to those for whom he longs, a feast to feed the masses free, by the fire warm, his heart at peace comes to hold his daughter dear and sweet, the north wind calls for his blood treasure this moment sweet for the Northern Wolves have teeth. Oh, My Father dear I did not heed, the warning the south wind gave, now the northern lands will ever be your grave. The Northern wind roars and growls bloody tidings it brought, broken swords, murdered souls, and shattered lives it has wrought. From the North come those who take from those are free, they took from it all from my clan all except me who lives free. Oh, Patras clan these broken lands shall ever be thy grave in harsh northern lands where few dare brave" Esdeath sung in her language, then looked at Tatsumi. "Immen Nakati Patras, Patras Ina Aki" Esdeath remarked.

"Huh?" Tatsumi replied.

"A Patras is strong; a Patras protects the weak" Esdeath replied. "Come let us not tarry in these parts any longer, I cannot change the past Tatsumi but I can change the future and we must change the future so that there may be a future lest all people end up like my clan, lost and forgotten" Esdeath explained and they began to move.

"Esdeath how old are your people, how long have they been around?" Tatsumi asked not to long after they had gotten back on the road to Kal-Rai, the two rode the same raptor Esdeath holding onto him.

"Older than any people on this world today, in fact they were once the first to rise, my people were bringers of the Dawn, Patrasii Nur as the Dwarves would call us, Patrasii means people in their tongue, Patras mean the people, and Nur means dawn, so Patrasii Nur meant People of the Dawn and thus when we settled our home became called the Dawnlands and when we grew to encompass the circuits of the suns the Empire of Dawn. Oh our Empire lasted for over a 1,000 years in peace until the rulers grew weak, wicked and the Empire collapsed as Patras fought Patras over scraps of past glory, so it was that when the city of Yeen rebelled and the Shadow people rose up they weren't able to fight effectively as punishment for the crimes of our ancestors we were enslaved by the victors, the first of many to be brought into bondage by the Shadow people and not the last. When the day came and we were free once more that generation of Patras had learned the true meaning of freedom and had decided to never stay in one place too long to prevent that freedom from being lost, and eventually we wanted as a people, giving homage to whichever nation rose in our homelands the lands the Empire now calls home and we fight for them freely as thru the aid of others we broke our chains and for fighting alongside the Empire we were allowed to live as we had for centuries. That in mind we never forgot, now you may wonder why I tell you this now Tatsumi, it is out of an abundance of caution and because you know what happens when an Empire becomes corrupt and weak, when it fights among itself and what people take advantage of that infighting, my people made the mistake first among the nations of humans, don't let this Empire fall like ours did to evil" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi nodded, Esdeath held tighter and planted a warm kiss on his cold cheek.

They spent another two hours on the road, the snow falls were the last cries of winter that would soon give way to spring but it was not uncommon for when Eden's winters ended in the North lands to end with one final set of snowfalls before the thaw, it actually brought to the Empire extra water as large aqueduct networks were in place to catch and ferry the melted water to irrigate the lands and for other uses. Then as if to rub in the fact that winter wanted to go out with a boom a massive blizzard suddenly came on, Tatsumi and his retinue would have been forced to make shelter if not for Esdeath. "Asda Mahad Vona!" Esdeath declared and collapsed the storms power into a single orb which she then collapsed into raw power that she absorbed. "Now we may continue" Esdeath stated non-plused by the whole experience, the rest of the party was humbled by the display of Esdeath's power and they did not speak at all for the rest of their journey to Kal Rai.

Tatsumi took one look at Kal Rai and knew immediately something was off, according to the journals of Honest it had been a small town, now it was a large city with imposing stone walls and- golden statuary and all other lavish decorations with rather large structures comparable to those in Marekgard and Zarteck, but not in the league of Melitine or Tokorra which were way larger and had way more impressive feats of engineering. The Gates to the city opened and out came a group of riders clad in the armor of the Knights of the Radiant Dawn, the leader of the group removed his helmet and revealed a man in his late 30s.

"Your majesty, we received a messenger eagle from our Grandmaster, is it true though is former grandmaster Honest dead?" an older knight stated as he rode up.

"Yes, he is indeed dead- killed by the Arch-Demon Volgoth Ugor who now threatens the entire planet" Tatsumi answered, the man grimaced.

"I only asked to know if it was true, I only ask did he die valiantly?" the knight asked.

"Yes" Tatsumi replied the knight took him at his word.

"Alas for him he was beloved by people here in Kal-Rai and through the surrounding lands Squire take the news to the earl and the mayor they will want to hear it, his deeds are legendary; oh it is the greatest of sadness, was there anything left of him after he met his end?" the Knight asked.

"No, the demon consumed him entirely" Tatsumi replied, the knight shed tears, it clearly pained him dearly. "As to how he died its rather- complicated- I'm still trying to put it together, as to him what did he mean to you?" Tatsumi asked.

"He was my brother- well half-brother, I'm Templar Dietrich Adolphus Castnir, my mother was his mother, my father sent him to a monastery soon after he was born as he had not the means to support him at the time, I wasn't born yet and didn't meet him until I was 16 and he came searching for those willing to join the Knight of the Radiant Dawn, he recognized my surname and explained that he was my half-brother, I being young and wanting adventure joined the Knights and I became is squire alongside another; a woman from Marekgard named Lily, those two married and I served as their best man. A few years later we came here to drive off some northern raiders our mother died not to long after from cholera, Honest was distraught and after we tracked down the remaining raiders he left me and a few others behind to establish a chapterhouse here to guard against future attacks, since then I've been in charge of the defense of Kal-Rai as it grew" The knight explained.

"How did people react to him becoming the Prime Minister?" Spear asked from Tatsumi's side.

"That was one of the greatest days that I can remember and everyone around here can that was alive back then, it was a matter of pride for our town that one of our own who came from such tragic circumstances had risen so high in the Empire, and even more so when he used his powers to allow our city to thrive, he even went so was as to designate our city as the main trade hub of the region, a lot of good people moved here and set up businesses and well the city has grown since then though it has been growing for a long time and now that the Northern raiders will no longer pose a threat I don't see anything to stop Kal-Rai from becoming larger and more prosperous" Dietrich explained. "Now your majesty just so you know there are people here who are respectful of my late brother so I cannot stress the importance of respect for him, also I heard that you travel in the company of his children, best to keep them under security people here will pester them for tales about him" Dietrich explained, Tatsumi nodded.

"Don't worry I'll do my best to keep them and everyone with me out of trouble, we'll be staying for about a day while we wait for our local forces to consolidate for the march north, as for Kal-Rai I don't ask much save that those who are willing to fight for me against the demon Volgoth along with any threats to the Empire, which will now be referred to as the Golden Dragon Empire hereafter, do join my cause only the willing though, those who do not desire to take up arms may stay other than that I ask nothing more than a place to stay while I make ready also there are some things I'd like to look into around here: also an Imperial edict an ruin made of Oily Blackstone is to be destroyed, the demon uses them to gain power" Tatsumi explained.

"Yes milord, I will inform the leaders come inside our walls and while you're here see the sights our city has to offer and please endeavor to pay your respects to our late patron and hero the Prime Minister" Dietrich explained, the knights then led them inside, Tatsumi's army dispersed, they had their orders to take respite and recruiters were ready to start mustering the willing to battle while the quartermasters saw to the procuring supplies needed for the army using the allotted funds to purchase them.

Tatsumi and his retinue were led to the city square were Tatsumi noted the solid gold statue of Honest but not as the prime minister no it was as the gallant paladin grandmaster in his prime albeit with some creative liberties, Ephialties was noticeable in the depiction but other than that it looked like near spot on to paintings in Honest's home. Apart from the Statue which was called the Great Crusader with a plaque detailing Honest's birthday, his term of service as a knight and with a year mark his birth near watching an engraver was carving in the he current year to mark his death, a large citadel chapterhouse of the knights stood nearby on a hill, also a large bazaar was around the center along with more impressive structures like a ducal palace for the Earl, two large manses a city hall, a large tavern and pleasure palace amongst others the city was definitely worthy of its status as a trade hub as the wealth it had made showed in the architecture alone not counting the people who even the poorest among them would be considered high up on the middle-class.

"So much I'll need to keep secret, the full truth should be kept secret, these people respected Honest and- honestly I wonder how many of his actions were his own and how many were Volgoth's if Volgoth was telling the truth and Honest had been dead for 20 years and he was in control of him then Honest himself isn't to blame for my father's death nor any of the others who've died under Volgoth's rule all that is on Volgoth" Tatsumi thought, he decided then it was best to keep the circumstances of Honest's death secret at least outside his kin as Tatsumi believed firmly they off all people should know the full truth, but for the time being he'd have to keep those matters quiet as he didn't have all the information as to how Volgoth killed and hijacked Honest's body and more importantly how much of Honest was left inside the demon before he took full control.

Tatsumi proceeded to the Earl's palace where he found the local Earl a man in his early 80s sitting in a chair, he was a jolly fat man, the mayor of the city was also there and she was a younger woman in her early 20s about 21 at minimum. The Earl was dressed in purple and green clothing which was a mixture of the flamboyant trousers and shirts in Tudor style with brocade robes made of bear fur that had been softened to an extreme degree and were festooned with gold and platinum; the man wore a hat of the kind usually worn by earls which was less floppy but still high quality, he wore to a sash of purple silk indicating his rank, the man's facial features were notably aged with large wrinkles and bags indicating a restless life and his beard was snow white but notable were blue eyes.

"Your Imperial majesty" the Old man greeted and began to rise.

"No grandfather don't stress yourself" a woman nearby commented, she was in attire similar to that worn by Lilianna and Leone at the moment, but the colors were orange and blue, she had however familiar traits, long white hair slightly tanned skin and Gold eyes.

"No my darling Julia I'm fine don't trouble yourself: my apologies your highness my Granddaughter worries too much about my health; I'm perfect fine for my age, my apologies I am Earl Melvin Castnir, this is my granddaughter- by adoption Julia, she is one of the daughters of my recently departed stepson Honest, I'm saddened to hear of his demise; I look back every day of my life wondering if it was the right choice to give him to the monks of Zez-Ki-Ell but considering he lived a good and righteous life I don't regret it even if it did lead to his doom thru his actions he saved countless people while he lived; you may wonder how I became earl of this humble city, well of truth I was the only one with a semblance of noble blood and because of that my stepson gave me the job; I remember when I was but a humble merchant now the man I was would be regarded as poor here in Kal-Rai" The Earl greeted.

"It is good to make your acquaintance too my Emperor, I lady-mayor Josephine Silenus of Kal-Rai, I'm relatively new to my job so forgive me if I seem at ease" The mayor greeted.

"Thank you, but no need for formalities here beyond my request for recognition" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh yes that, now what would Honest have done?" Melvin asked himself. "Ah yes I pledge mine and my family's loyalty to you and your house Emperor Tatsumi VII Gildenstrom until the end of our days or the end of time" Melvin pledged.

"I pledge likewise on behalf of the people of Kal Rai your majesty" Josephine likewise agreed.

"And I accept your fealty, temper it with honor and with justice, now that I've cleared up that formality I ask your forgiveness I have- business that needs attending to, does anyone around here know the route to the ruins known as Charn" Tatsumi replied, at this the old Earl was shocked.

"That place? Charn is a dark place my emperor why would you seek to go there?" Melvin replied with a fright on his face.

"There are questions I have that need answering, I'll be honest with you, Honest found something there and that- something is where the demon came from, he didn't know it at the time and I have to find out how and why, but more importantly I need to destroy those ruins, they are part of a series of nexi that the Arch-Demon Volgoth uses to bring more demons into our world and extend the range at which he can control them" Tatsumi explained.

"I see, if that is the case my son Dietrich can help you, he went with Honest to those ruins when they hunted down the Northern raiders years ago" Melvin replied.

"Thank you" Tatsumi replied and turned to leave when the girl Julia approached him, the four champions readied their weapons. "At ease she's not an enemy" Tatsumi ordered, then noted her.

"Hello your majesty; I'm Julia daughter of Lady Khevaki Rosendale and my late father Grandmaster Honest, my father sent me here to oversee Kal-Rai, I haven't heard recent news from the Capital in about a year, much has happened and I'd like you to fill me in" Julia asked.

"Allow me to handle that" Leone replied.

"Who are you?" Julia asked.

"Empress Leone and your half-sister" Leone explained, Julia smiled and then hugged her rather tightly. "Hey- air and I'm pregnant" Leone exclaimed.

"Sorry, I- get that way when I meet new relatives, I never saw you in the palace before though" Julia replied.

"Father didn't know I have been born; it happens" Leone replied, Julia chuckled.

"Leone, I want you and Lily to stay here with some others, Syura I want you to go with me to Charn" Tatsumi ordered.

"Yes, Tatsumi I'll do it besides, it'll be worth getting to know my extended family" Leone replied.

Later… Tatsumi selected an elite honor guard of about 200 people to join him on his ruins expedition, it wouldn't have been expedient to take an entire army, but those he took with him were people that he knew could handle themselves and had experience fighting demons and as such knew what they were getting into, Tatsumi noted the looming black mass which had only been a ten mile journey away near them, also an eerie mist moved about the place; the mist was darker than normal also noticeable was the barren land around the ruin and not a snowflake could be seen, and also outside was an oddity a Dwarven shrine. They made camp a good distance away not knowing how long they would be out there thus needing shelter in case of the weather changing into another freak blizzard and that they needed to send in scouts. During this time Tatsumi decided to break out the Mirror of Time and looked in finding himself in the world of Kronos where the Teigu resided as he usually did.

"Greetings Tatsumi Gildenstrom what do you seek of me today?" Kronos asked.

"How far can I go back now?" Tatsumi asked.

"About 500 years before you risk being lost; your ability grows daily however" Kronos replied.

"Alright then I need you to take me back to when Honest was last here at Charn" Tatsumi explained.

"So shall it be; beware though Tatsumi the ruins chronal energy is surrounding them you may experience being thrown into a time walk not to different from this along with anyone else that enters the place with you, so stick close and beware the past has unsettling secrets as you know too well" Kronos replied.

"Thanks for the warning now show me what Honest did here and show me any dangers this place me have" Tatsumi replied, then took the hands of Krono whose eyes glew green as they were teleported back in time.

(Song begin: Hall of fame)

"YARGNATH!" A Raider yelled, Tatsumi drew his sword to slice at the enemy both he and the blade passed thru him.

"Right can't change the past and the past can't hurt me" Tatsumi said to himself, then noted the raider's head come flying back towards him and he turned to notice the familiar face of Honest who was about 40 and used a much different weapon; a long great-mace with the head craved in the shape of a star.

"Come my battle brothers purge these barbarian filth no quarter lest they return and molest our lands further" Honest yelled pulling down his visor and a number of knights dismounted and charged alongside him, Tatsumi turned as he heard war cries from the Northerners which while few were well armed and eager for blood and notably clad in armor with the same mark that had been tattooed on the raider who had killed Esdeath's father that of a blood red bear with the mark of Valtor on its brow. "They're Red Bears just like the ones who killed Esdeath's tribe" Tatsumi replied, Kronos looked at him. "Not just her tribe Tatsumi, countless millions have been slaughtered by the Red Bears over the centuries and they play no small part in Honest's life as they did with Esdeath's" Kronos replied causally dodging northern spears and darts thrown Tatsumi just ignored them and tried to keep track of Honest as he hewed down northerner after northerner, their black iron plate cracked as the mace made short work of them and ground their skulls to mulch; Tatsumi kept an eye and watched the Raiders fight to the last but not so much as one of the knights fell their armor held up and while Tatsumi noted some injuries being sustained nothing life threatening happened.

(Song end)

With the raiders cut down Honest took deep breath and pulled up his visor and looked at the blood stained ground noting that noting as Tatsumi had earlier that no snow was in sight, but also the lifeless fallen for scenes of his fellow knights, for the briefest moment Tatsumi noted Honest looked at him. "Come here my Squire" Honest ordered, Tatsumi began to move.

"Yes, Grandmaster are you injured?" A younger knight asked.

"No Vespasian I'm uninjured how are the others?" Honest asked.

"I'm fine not too sure about the others but there aren't any of us dead on the ground sir" Vespasian replied, Tatsumi took a hard look at the younger knight who looked a lot like Lubbock to him.

"Good, now let us search the ruins, more of them may be skulking about inside, also make sure these are dead take their heads off, after we have made sure they are all dead we'll build a massive pyre I want the Northerners to know that whenever they raid the Empire there will always be Imperials that will fight back and drive them away" Honest replied.

"Yes Grandmaster, I understand, what of the ruins, I don't like the feel of this place" Vespasian remarked.

"Neither do I, it is ill that the snow does not fall here and the ruin is too pristine for how long it has been here but that aside we must make sure that all these raiders are dead, any of them that escapes is on that will return again to ravage our lands and take innocent lives we must save those lives here and now by killing them all here, every life we save is a life that matters remember our order's duty to protect the innocent; we cannot allow evil to live to fight and destroy another day" Honest replied and noted an northerner groan and ready a dagger, before that northerner could get up Honest was atop him and pulverized him to bits with his mace. "As you can see what happens if we let them live, they will take lives, if I hadn't noticed that Vespasian he could have easily taken your life my squire" Honest added.

"I understand master, do you wish to keep our force together or split up to cover more ground?" Vespasian asked.

"Divide our forces evenly, leave some men here to guard the horses, I don't want them to wander off or be harmed by anything that would do harm to them" Honest ordered, Tatsumi noted the knights divide up he followed Honest who had decided to cover the northernmost side of the ruin where Tatsumi noted him spot five of the surviving raiders that were trying to tamper with the Dwarven shrine. The raiders were completely blindsided and without a chance to react Honest and the four knights and five squires with him cut down the raiders rapidly with Honest felling the final one of them. It was then Tatsumi noted Honest look at the altar.

"Grandmaster?" one of the knights replied.

"Yes, Sir Caseyyon?" Honest replied as he took off his helmet for the moment

"What is it?" the Knight asked in turn, Honest took a hard look, the fallen northerner at the foot of the altar and Honest noted the dwarven runes glowing and atop the alter a black crown, polished onyxes glimmering in the light of the runes for the suns did not shine thru the clouds.

"I'm uncertain, it seems to be what they were trying to take, but it- didn't budge: I'll examine it to see if there isn't any damage done, we must clean this alter however the dwarves built this and it would be dishonorable to let the blood if evil men stain their fine works also if there is any evil inside that ruin this no doubt keeps it at bay" Honest replied then placed a hand on the crown, the crown glew a dark red and on impulse flew onto Honest's head, something Tatsumi had seen happen before to Ieyasu with Spectator doing the same thing. "AEYARHAAGH!" Honest yelled the other Knights rushing to aid him but as soon as the obvious pain happened it stopped.

"Grandmasters are you ok?" A knight asked.

"I- don't know this- the crown is a Teigu, I've been selected" Honest replied.

"Grandmaster does it cause any pain?" the knight asked.

"I'll see" Honest replied then went to take the crown off but found he could not as much as he tried, the crown had latched onto his skull. "I can't remove it doesn't hurt however" Honest replied.

"I see, Grandmaster let us continue our task" the knight replied. Tatsumi noted Honest put his helmet back on then he and the other knights moved about the ruins, Tatsumi noted from time to time they seemed to fade in and out of reality but when the knights had returned a pile of northern corpses had been amassed and a pyre was made using a large amount of wood, the flames roared to life and thick black smoke soared skyward, then Tatsumi noted they made smoke signals of the kind that he read about as being used to inform the Northerners that one of their raiding parties had been destroyed it actually helped deter other warbands into staying away from that area which lead to them either returning home or attacking elsewhere. Tatsumi noted the vision fade soon after and he was once more in Kronos's domain.

"I see, now Kronos are there any dangers I should worry about inside?" Tatsumi asked.

"Only what you see, much of the threats that lurk within are illusions, but demons do lurk inside" Kronos warned.

"I've got a personal request now" Tatsumi explained.

"What is it Tatsumi?" Kronos asked.

"I have to know what happened to Esdeath's tribe also who lead the raiders that killed them" Tatsumi replied.

"Very well I'll show you, but you won't like what you see" Kronos responded.

"I know, but it honestly can't be as bad as watching my father die or my aunt being eaten alive and my uncle being raped and murdered by Volgoth or any of the other atrocities I've seen" Tatsumi explained, Kronos smiled knowing that Tatsumi at least had accepted the fact that there were worse things he had seen.

That still the sight was not pleasant, not remotely. It started out on a normal day where Tatsumi noted the encampment of the Patras clan, their abodes were humble yurts that could easily be deconstructed and reconstructed whenever they moved location, the notable things of note were the warriors who were clad in scale armor and wore raptor skin cloaks and ornate helmets decorated with wolf pelts, their weapons were an assorted mix of bows, glaives, sabers, rapiers and spears and those warriors guarded the camp. Tatsumi walked inside and noted the people dressed in clothes made from flax, hemp and furs, the most prominent however was a man with a rather ornate fur outfit that was colored in bright reds and blues, his head bore a brass helm studded with rubies with a bear's head atop it, he had long blue hair and ice blue eyes and at his side was- a young girl in his likeness clad in a simple white shirt, a skirt and fur boots with a dagger Tatsumi knew anywhere at her side. "Chief Darancar the hunting parties are late returning" A warrior reported, he was clad in the gear Tatsumi recognized as being that of a high-ranking warrior.

"I see, ready a search party it is unlike them to be late, odds are they either ran afoul of Danger Beasts or their bounty is enough to require more people then they have to carry back" Chief Darancar replied.

"Yes chief, thy will be done" The warrior replied and left.

"Father can I go with them?" Esdeath asked.

"Yes my strong daughter but I will be going too; if there is a great beast that attacked our hunters there is great glory to had in slaying such a strong creature" Chief Darancar replied, Tatsumi noted a number of other people moving about too, but then looked up at a nearby high hill that overlooked the camp just in time to spot the red and black armored warriors of the Red Bears as on was ready to sound his war horn. The loud below was followed by war cries from the northerners but bellow the Patras clans folk immediately rushed to find whatever weapons they could which was easy as Tatsumi noted that a large amount of arms and armor were scattered through the camp. The Warriors then took up defensive positions and the entrances of the camp, it was then the northerners charged down and their numbers were great a least a thousand while the Patras clan numbered less than half of that force even with women and children taking up arms to join their fathers and husbands to fight.

Tatsumi noted however that before the Northerners committed their charge a number of their warriors stepped forward and in a surprisingly disciplined manner readied longbows made from ironwood trees Tatsumi also noted a number of more northern warriors arriving these he recognized as being clad in armor of and flying the banner of the Saika Clan about from what he could see 600 of them but there were likely more. Despite knowing he couldn't take part in the battle as he was an observer he drew his blades the same and charged up the hill, not fatigued in the slightest and sliced thru the archers to no effect, it was then he noted they had brought oil and had their arrows wrapped in a thick ball of cloth that Tatsumi knew must have been coated in fats and tar, they then dipped those arrows in oils and Tatsumi knew what they were going to do, they wanted to force the Patras defenders out of their camp by setting it alight.

"This is too smart for Northerners" Tatsumi thought and noted at the front of the infantry but behind the archers was a massive giant of a man about 8 feet tall with thick white hair and an impressive beard, clad in rather ornate black and blue armor with a notable polar bear fur decorating his shoulder guards and a menacing helm with the symbol of Valtor on his breastplate, his helmet was carved in the image of bear and was clearly made by Dwarves and out of mithril as the runes were apparent and the sheen of the alloy had the gleam of true silver and in his hands he carried what had to be the most ornate, frightening and largest great axe that Tatsumi had ever seen and that menaced with two heads which were engraved with dwarven runes and forged for causing pain also the halt was clearly made of the same steel alloy, that helm and axe though were clearly stolen.

Near that man was another man who while shorter still was about three inches taller than Tatsumi, his head bore a crown of gold and gems, his armor made of extremely fine iron was decorated with gems, gold and bore the carved symbol of the Saika clan, his beard was shorter than the white haired giant but still impressive and his hand held a rather familiar blade as it was one that Nora now held but had belonged to her brother.

"Today the Patras Clan which has long been our greatest foe will be destroyed no more shall they slay those who follows the old ways and they are weak with the death of their great chief and their failed siege of Kalsliv" The Northern king stated.

"Yes, blood for our god Baldor; the last of the First Empire's descendants die here King Numagar" The white haired giant stated.

"LOOSE ARROWS!" the King ordered and the archers who had lit their arrows alight fired Tatsumi noted the arrows hit the buildings and fires started breaking out, the Patras defenders had no choice but to abandon the camp and sally forth less the smoke impair them. With the Patras sallying forth the archers brought up normal arrows which when fired let out a shrieking whistle as they descended, fortunately the Patras defenders had the time to armor up and few fell to the volley as they hid behind large aspis shields, they then assumed formations. With the failure of the archers the King ordered a charge. Tatsumi joined in it to follow them into battle. That charge was a thing to behold Tatsumi noted but it didn't intimidate the Patras warriors as they kept their formations and when the charge came both sides hit hard, Tatsumi noted that however despite the Northern numbers and equipment the Patras fought with skill beyond their smaller numbers and for every Patras that fell three northerners fell with them, but Tatsumi knew it wouldn't be enough for them to have won they would have needed to kill 10 northerners, eventually as Tatsumi noted the formations started to crack, he noted amidst the chaos and confusion Esdeath darted about driving her dagger and her sword into gaps in the armor of the northern warriors, of the Patras warriors she had the most kills as Tatsumi counted each enemy his future wife felled he noted however with sadness the deaths of other Patras children who attempted to emulate her and among them were children who looked like her as to be siblings. He noted however the tide turned at one crucial moment just when the Northern tide seemed to retreat he noted the archers readying there arrows again and fired, more Patras fell and Tatsumi noted that of the four-hundred less than 70 remained it was then that a group broke off after Tatsumi heard shouting in their language, about 20 or so and those being Esdeath and her father, they ran and Tatsumi followed but so too did the northern bowmen and they loosed, the Patras warriors slowed by armor couldn't serpentine as fast as needed and though their armor was strong Tatsumi noted a few fell with bodkin arrows in their backs, it was then he noted Esdeath ahead her father behind.

"Go my daughter GO!" Darancar yelled and Esdeath did as told running looking behind briefly to note that after her father had said that more arrows came, striking him it was then he noted that the others who had held back had been slaughtered, Tatsumi noted the remain ten or so Patras including the chief and his wives make their stand, then the Northerners fell back, Tatsumi noted that was only for one purpose. The arrows flew and the Patras held their shields aloft but they were only ten brave souls two of which were children against a rain of hundreds of arrows with more and more following it was then Tatsumi noted they gave into exhaustion arrows felled four as the remaining six collapsed it was then Tatsumi noted there that Esdeath's father had about a dozen arrows in his armor and some thru his chest but still he stood the lone warrior amongst the wounded in defiance. "NORTHERN COWARDS!" He boomed. "NOT ONE OF YOU DARES TO FACE ME IN FAIR BATTLE! INSTEAD YOU COWAR AS CRAVENS BEHIND YOUR ARCHERS, OH YOUR ARCHERS FOUL FIGHTERS, DESPOLIERS OF YOUNG GIRLS HAVE YOU NO COURAGE? HAVE YOU NO MANHOODS?" Darancar ranted, Tatsumi heard laughter, noted that some still lived amongst those on the ground, women, and children mainly who had either hidden beneath the fallen men or who had lost their ability to move but still breathed. It was then Tatsumi noted a single archer step forward firing a single arrow, that shaft tore thru the distance and struck Darancar Patras in the eye he smirked and said "You have no courage, my people died like warriors you fought like- craven vermin" then fell to the ground his hands limp. "Esdeath- I'm sorry I- wasn't strong enough my daughter" Darancar stammered out weakly as the other Patras survivors looked at him. "Eternity Queen- my soul to your web" he muttered then passed.

Tatsumi's mind was flushed as he noted the significance of that last line then noted a young boy who looked a lot like Esdeath pick up the blade. "Face me you monsters: if you have even the courage of child, send your strongest warrior I'll kill him" the boy shouted, the archers shouldered their bows and the white-haired giant strode from the ranks of the warriors axe in hand.

"You should know the price for failure, you will not die today little boy but serve as my slave for the rest of your days should you fall" the Giant said.

"I am Yandral Patras named for my grandsire and last chief of my clan now that my sister has left, I'll die free" the boy replied and the two clashed, a short duel as the giant hit him with handle of his axe knocking him down and out before killing the last two men old warriors who had seen many winters killed with ease he then tossed his axe and grabbed the two women who were left by their hair causing them to drop their weapons. "These three are mine this day; no man may touch my prizes any that does even you King Numagar will find my axe in his skull and his testicles crushed to jelly" the Giant proclaimed then dragged the women of his shoulder both screaming and kicking but their fatigue had exhausted them he then picked up the young boy. Tatsumi looked as the northerners came down, they finished off each man left alive and any women and children left alive were taken by the raiders who removed their armor and gangraped the survivors till they died. Tatsumi could only watch then as each sight happened he tried and failed to kill any of the monsters knowing even though it was fruitless as he couldn't change the past his instincts to kill monsters who were in the act overrode his logic and he couldn't do much, then the memory ended tears in his eyes.

"Northern bastards: every single one of those warriors was a craven monster" Tatsumi stated.

"Know Tatsumi that many of them are dead, many fell in future raids and many more died when Esdeath had her retribution in the Northern conquest, only a few from the far north remain and as they are on your path they will be slain by you" Kronos replied.

"The Giant man, who was he? And did the boy and the two women survive? I dare not hope they did but if they do live still, I have to know" Tatsumi asked.

"The Giant you know the name of, Nora Saika told you it and of him, as for those the child Yandral only lives and only after taking abuse from that monster of the kind you know too well for your kin suffered it, the two women died some time ago, the first died about a year after she was taken when her master tired of her and the other who was the boy's mother died when he was 13 sacrificing herself to allow for his escape. As to where the boy lives now he roams the north free but does so in grief and shame, braving the north's dangers in search of means to restore his honor, killing any evil man or Danger Beast he comes across but he dwells when not abroad in the halls of Karak Durgan the mightiest of the Northern Dwarf holds. When he was 13 after his escape, he nearly died in the frozen wastes but a wandering dwarf war party took him in as one of their Clanlings: you see Tatsumi the Northern Dwarves have a tradition of taking the northern children that are thrown out to die by their tribes to be raised amidst their own as their numbers are few and they need as many warriors as they can to survive" Kronos explained.

"So Esdeath isn't the last Patras?" Tatsumi asked.

"She never was, but she does view you and those whom you count as family as Patras and you know that she loves you, however do not tell her of her brother's survival, time is in flow and I know not the future only the past which to this day he lives" Kronos replied.

"You know the lives of everyone on Eden?" Tatsumi asked

"That and more my power is beyond that of your comprehension and my sight sees all that has past to the most recent second that has passed" Kronos replied, Tatsumi nodded then left. He found Esdeath looking at him in the real world.

"The scouts have reported back, there are- strange things going on; you still wish to press on inside for yourself" Esdeath asked.

"Yes, in fact I'm going to personally set the charges at the heart of this evil place myself" Tatsumi replied.

"Did you see what you desired to see?" Esdeath asked.

"Yes and more; it'd take too long to explain but I know now how Honest fell under Volgoth's power, that demon was trapped inside the crown that masqueraded as a Teigu and once Honest touched it his fate was sealed and the crown couldn't be removed" Tatsumi replied.

"Then let us see what is inside" Esdeath explained.

The party Tatsumi choose to enter the ruins was small but to the point, every member carried a number of explosive charges that were high-caliber, the best Grundel Arms could make and perfectly capable of shattering the ruins, Tatsumi also had other parties assembled, once the charges were all set they would detonate them all from a distance away simultaneously.

Tatsumi decided to enter the city from the Northern side stopping to pay his respected to the Dwarven alter. "Here lies Throi, First of his name, born of Clan Silverblood and High King of all Dwarves, master Rune smith, Demonsbane, and savior of the World, may he rest in sleep here till the end of time in rock and stone" Esdeath read.

"You can read those runes?" Tatsumi replied.

"Of course not, Dwarven runes are only readable by Dwarves as they teach their writing script to no one not of their clans but the script beneath are words written are in the Patras tongue and script which is easy to translate into the Imperial language" Esdeath explained then they entered the ruins.

Tatsumi did not have to go too far before things started getting unusual, the place had extremely negative energy in the air of it and that was the least of things. First off time seemed to not have any passage while they were inside at least not in the normal fashion.

In fact, time seemed to be relative and when the first occurrence of weirdness occurred Tatsumi was easily perturbed but not surprised unlike the rest of his group and Mine who let out a few colorful obscenities when it happened. Time flew away and they found themselves in the distant past, about 10,000 years ago and the city which had been ruined and uninhabited was now in its prime and people moved about. Most of them that weren't chained slaved had dark skin and wore attire that was blood red and burgundy and color and was main robes; they had dark hairs and festooned their bodies with jewelry the women openly flaunted their breasts and Tatsumi heard loud drums from a pyramid as he saw a severed head roll down the steps Esdeath clung to him as the drums pounded and then as suddenly as they had been brought there they were back in the ruins. At this experience Tatsumi then began placing bombs of the pyramid as he knew quite well it was a sacrificial temple where human beings were killed in offering to Valtor. After that they moved on planting charges as they went, more visions occurred as they seemed to be brought back in time, periods of war where the ruins faced battle between armies such as Dwarves fighting Imperials in the War of the Mad Emperor along with battles between the Yeenkarai and their enemies Tatsumi noted one encounter was when the Knights of Honest's company killed northern stragglers about 2 decades before. As they went more charges were set.

It was then he found the heart of the city a black pyramid that loomed over everything else in the city dwarfing any structure and beneath Tatsumi heard the hum faint it may have been of magic. They entered the structure weapons drawn, Tatsumi's bodyguards with Teigu blades drawn, Sheele with Extase in hand and Aria and Esdeath with rapiers at the ready.

Inside the pyramid the weirdest shit happened, more time travel occurred but that was normal by this point, no the weird things was that everything in the place was pristine and untouched, also sarcophagi decorated the halls along with statues that seemed to be watching them. That was confirmed when two statues rose to life, each statue held a colossal spear made of the black stone. "Make my day. Roman Artillery: Pumpkin Over Charge" Mine stated then declared her Teigus ability and fired two shots from Pumpkin at full blast both of which connected shattering the statues into dust and then nothing Tatsumi looked at her amazed.

"Neat setting Mine" Tatsumi commented.

"Please I've used it before, but you haven't seen it in action, good riddance you want me to blast any more statues?" Mine replied.

"Every single one of them; you have no ammo limit so blow them up" Tatsumi ordered, Mine smirked.

"With pleasure" Mine replied and they journeyed onward, things became louder from then on as Mine blasted any statue they saw, the noise however did attract attention, demon soldiers, but they were easily dealt with.

Deeper inside they went until they came to a black door that was intricately etched with carved imagery that was repulsive, Tatsumi simply had it blown up with a single charge then noted the heart of the matter. The Ruin's nexus was a looming dark red spiked obelisk that was decorated with demonic marks and glew with evil light: Tatsumi then had multiple charges set around the room.

"Why are you doing that?" A voice asked and a portal opened and what looked to be a human man in his twenties walked out.

"Because I'm not going to let demons destroy my world" Tatsumi replied.

"You must be Tatsumi, I've been quite interested your efforts, don't worry I shan't fight you that would be anti-climactic and in all honest a waste of my time" The man replied.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked.

"Valtor Abaddon, ignore the human form I'm actually fond of assuming it, I find your efforts quite interesting; Volgoth may try his best but you keep on going" Valtor replied.

"And why aren't you stopping me, I'm just as much your enemy as I am his?" Tatsumi asked.

"I find you interesting me and in the end it doesn't matter to me whether Volgoth wins or loses I have his soul either way, your planet was the perfect place to create an Arch-Demon devoted solely to me, this place was where Volgoth was born or Volgoth Ugor as he is called now" Valtor replied.

"What does that name mean anyway?" Tatsumi asked.

"It means Shadow Ascendant; he is my shadow and where ever I go in the future he will be there at the head of the battle" Valtor replied. "But never mind enjoy destroying this place if you win at the end of all this I will give you my personal congratulations, it isn't often that mortals foil the plans of higher powers and I find it amazing when it happens as it is humbling for those involved" Valtor replied then left. Tatsumi planted the last of the charges, the rest of the charges were planted and soon within two hours the teams finished their jobs and after backing up a considerable distance detonated the explosives, the loud boom was heard for miles, Tatsumi's entourage then returned to Kal-Rai and readied for the march North.


	70. Tragedy has struck, please read

To my readers it is my tragic duty to inform you that writing of the next chapter will be delayed, a tragic event just occurred today June 3, 2020. While I was upstairs in the kitchen my beloved conure Woodstock flew off of me and landed on the floor, my younger brother who is very oblivious to where he is going accidently stepped on her breaking her spine and killing her, she died today and I am in much pain because of my grief, with that in mind I need to take some time off to find ways to regain my happiness at the moment I can't bring myself to write anymore beyond this message.

With that in mind I'd like everyone to pay your respects to Woodstock here in the reviews, the next chapter will be dedicated to her memory as have been chapter 20 to my best bird Buddy when he died and chapter 29 to my Elder Birdsmen Lemony when he died, also on a brighter note we've now passed 100,000 readers and I'd like to express my thanks for that good news. However for now I must mourn, I likely won't start writing until after my beloved Woody is buried in the yard outside my room next the place where Buddy lies at rest. I hope one day to see them once more when I leave this mortal world; which while not as cruel as the world of Empire's End is still full of much suffering and grief. That in mind I hope you'll leave your kind words I need them in my time of grief.

Until next time this has been Nathan (Side note to that one reviewer who asked if I was a boy or a girl I am most certainly male) and look forward to the next chapter when- I feel the strength to write again.


	71. Chapter 51

Chapter 51: The Icy North

 **AN: Thanks for 100K views.**

 **Dedicated to Woodstock 'Woody' Peko Cheney 2018-2020, taken too soon from our world, ignorance of where you are walking leads to tragedies unbidden, my brother I forgive you your ignorance, but pain is great.**

Song This is War) A warning to the people (Show the people of the Empire) the Good (Tatsumi stands with Night Raid, his generals and his new army in his new attire and flag of Night raid and Golden Dragon on shared pole held aloft by its standard bearer) and the Evil (Volgoth in front over a demonic host with the Six Arch-Devil Generals in front with Valtor's shadowing form and Mark in the background and Argardon towering over the rest of the Generals along with Boreth and his inner circle scheming) This is War. (Tatsumi and Esdeath protecting Makoto and his sisters) To the soldier (Bulat wearing Incursio without the helmet and Air siting in his lap) the civilian (Angela holding Ieyasu's hand as she rallies the people in the shield) the Martyr (Budo's dead body) the Victim (Kyoko being held and comforted by Tatsumi) This is war. (Armies clashing) It's the moment of truth (Isshin's Ghost without his face mask looking at Tatsumi) and the moment to lie (Volgoth grinning at his servants) , the moment to live (Tatsumi finding resolve in a fight) and the moment to die (Soldiers dead on the ground), the moment to fight, the moment to fight, to fight, to fight, to FIGHT! (Que battle montage) To the Right! (Spear destroying a Dwarven Automaton) To the Left! (Esdeath killing a Revolutionary Army soldier with her new sword) We will Fight to death! (Sheele taking down a target yet to be revealed) to the End of the Earth! (Eden from space) It is a Brave new World! (Tatsumi kneeling before Supreme Matriarch Maltise) From Last to the First! (Emperors showing Tatsumi's Grandfather, Father, Uncle and Makoto) To the Right! (Bulat killing a Revolutionary Army General) To the Left! (Mine Firing away) We will Fight to Death! (Tatsumi slicing an enemy in half) To the Edge of the Earth! (Eastern Lands) It is a Brave new World (Strongholds of the Giants) a Brave new world! (Dwarven capital of Karak Hammerdeep) (End battle Montague and show Melitine under shadow of Volgoth with Red sky above) A warning to the Prophet (Syura clutching a Staff of Asha) the Liar (Volgoth sitting on the Imperial Throne with Graal and Lorhish to either side of him) the Honest (Aria with her new long hair and new outfit clutching her new sword) This is War. To the Leader (Najenda in her new get up and with her new ponytail with her Desert Eagles in hand and Susanoo at her side in a battle pose) The Pariah (Esdeath in her new outfit with her hair cut short levitating ice shards) The Victor (Spear in her new Teigu Armor Valkyrie with her new Teigu Greatsword Yadviga held aloft atop a mass of dead enemies) The Messiah (Tatsumi in the Golden Emperor's Armor with wings fully aloft and his sword Michael in one Hand and his shield Enoch in the other facing off against a Argardon) THIS IS WAR! (Mangled bodies of Volgoth's victims and of enemies killed by Tatsumi, add also Koro devouring baddies as Seryu grins maniacally) It the moment of Truth (Tatsumi with Akame his mother hugging him) the moment to lie (Boreth Falkland scheming) the moment to live (Tatsumi in bed with Merraid and Akame) The moment to die (Tatsumi killing the Skaven King) the moment to Fight! (Battles) the Moment to fight! (Tatsumi and Spear side by side) The Moment to Fight! TO FIGHT! (Night Raid vs the Arch-Devil Generals) To the right (Najenda firing her desert eagles) to the Left (Susanoo destroying a blob of Revolutionary Army soldiers) We will Fight to the Death! (Falkland's two generals killed by Sayo's arrows) To the Edge of the Earth (Map of Eden showing Tatsumi's journey so far) It's a Brave new World (Tatsumi overlooking the cities of the Lizardmen) From the Last to the First (Line of the Emperors of the Empire) To the Right (Spear driving her new Teigu Greatsword thru an enemy) To the Left (Akame slicing down several Skavan at once) We will fight to the death (Tatsumi fighting Volgoth) To the Edge of the Earth (Tatsumi overlooking a city not Melitine) It's a Brave new World from the Last to the First (Line of Emperors again with Tatsumi included) It's a Brave new world! (Empire's End logo appears) (Song End)

Cold. That was the only thing running thru Tatsumi's mind at the moment, they had passed out of the Northern Empire into the newest Imperial Provinces, the lands known simply by the Empire as the North but named Valskaar by the natives, or rather the southernmost, each tribe seemed to have a different name for the lands and new Imperial names for each of the 10 new provinces that came with Northern annexation would add to that confusion so for the sake of writing and for my sanity the lands will be referred to as the North and Far North respectively.

But anyway, Tatsumi was cold, there wasn't any snow fall and little snow remained on the ground as Spring bore its life giving power to northern lands. However the cold remained about 40 to 50 degrees and Tatsumi was unused to it fortunately his furs kept him mostly warm, given that Tatsumi was from the Heartlands of the Empire and Melitine in particular (Even though he spent most of his life in Karsawa but that was in the same province) where it rarely dropped below 60 even during the night this cold was an experience he didn't like, especially given how the cold sunk its teeth into him. "It's only going to get worse the further north I go" Tatsumi thought, despite being inside a palanquin it still felt cold so as such those among his wives that were unused to it (Practically everyone bar Esdeath, the Oarburghs and Nora) huddled around him both for warmth and just to love him.

Speaking of his wives Esdeath and Nora were not in the palanquin as they were riding outside, Esdeath on her wyvern Yandral to keep an eye out for ambushes as there were still pockets of raiders resisting Imperial rule in spite of her efforts and those of her administrators and there were the local danger beasts to worry about too also Nora shared a similar duty but road on horseback rather than on a winged flying terror that could wreck entire squads of trained solders on a whim. "I wonder how much longer it will take for us to reach the nearest city?" Tatsumi thought, granted they had visited a fair few of the southernmost cities as the more southern tribes were far more civilized then those further north and could build stone bastions about as good as most Imperial cities and were rich from trade with the Empire, those tribes had welcomed him with open arms and willing threw their lot in with his cause due to loyalty to the Empire as these people had joined the Empire willingly to get protection from the more aggressive tribes further north and were NOT by any means fans of Saika kingdom even when it still existed and did not pay tribute to it and rarely traded with them they also didn't practice slavery as their local faith was against it.

However, as they had gone further north the tribes became more suspicious, the human ones at least, the Yetis flocked to his cause because of Esdeath's presence as they remembered her as a breaker of chains and destroyer of their enslavers. Tatsumi noted that other tribes too joined his cause out of either fear or respect for his wife to say nothing of Imperial troops that joined his cause on sight of their beloved general and their loyalty to their Emperor.

All this however had not been enough in his eyes he had more allies he wished to gain and had sent messengers to call on everyone he could offering money if words alone couldn't sway them and he really wanted the Dwarves and the Giants on side. Fortunately, the former were proving receptive to diplomats sent by their kin from the east and were willing to speak with him in their capital of Kraka Azgul Drakka which was further north and was a massive ice covered peak. The Giants too were receptive, but he would have to entreat them individually by castle, however they were easier to convince to join his cause as he needed only to have his diplomats invoke the pact of old and they'd join his cause willingly.

The Giants though were scattered about and would take some time for them to mobilize but they were worth it as they weren't the normal kind of giant one may think of that being a lumbering brute that wasn't smart and used branches and wore nothing to protect them, not the Sky Titans of Eden were extremely smart, long lived with members of their race living for thousands of years at a time and they were extremely advanced, they made armor that was essentially as strong as a mountain lived in castles that were the size of mountains, had advanced tech that rivaled the Dwarves and to top it off they numbered in the hundreds of thousands and had a number of allied races that lived under their protection and would fight alongside them, in short Eden's Sky Titans were extremely powerful and a force more than equipped to fight demons and they had experience doing so with a good number of their older warriors having been around during the war with Empire of Yeenkar.

However while the Giants did each have their own self-contained bastions that they lived in there was one Giant that could rally them all: their High King Ymir Mountaincrusher, a giant so big that he could easily be dwarfed a large hill at about 500 feet tall and with the knowledge of a thousand libraries in his head, he was about 6000 years and had experience. It was to the castle of this Ancient Titan Tatsumi ventured, the name of the place was the Palace of the Sky which could easily be spotted on the horizon for the day was clear and it loomed large.

A hour and a half later he found himself at the gates: which were guarded by a Giant and five colossal Cyclopes, the one eyed relatives of the giants that specialized in smithing and were warriors first and foremost they tended to be less bright then their giant cousins but were smarter than most imperial peasants and each was comparable to the cyclops Tatsumi had faced in size but they were more civil then him. "Hold Imperials!" the Giant captain boomed, he was about a 100 feet tall and had armor that was emblazed with gold but was made from strong materials, he had a proud helmet and even more proud brown beard and eyes that were blue as the sky but looked at them with suspicion, he held in his arms a Greatsword that Tatsumi figured could slice thru a city block of houses like they were made of butter.

"I am Golden Dragon Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom of the Golden Dragon Empire. We come in honor of the pact of old, demons threaten our world once more, they have taken the Imperial city of Melitine, I ask you to fulfill that oath; we have need of your aid" Tatsumi explained the Giant looked at him and then at the sizeable force.

"Open the gates!" the Giant yelled and a large metal gate the size of the Imperial palace opened. "You may enter young Emperor, we know what you say is true for our guardian stones sensed their arrival, High King Ymir is expecting you, treat our halls with respect but leave your army outside our walls for you are coming in peace" the Giant explained, then he and the Cyclopes next to him stood at attention and let him pass, the spears as long as tall trees held by the Cyclopes in respect and one their number stepped aside to act as their guide.

The inside of the castle was vast. "You could fit Melitine in here five times and still have room" Tatsumi thought, then noted the various structures, some were the size of small mountains and Tatsumi assumed they were made for Giants but there were a number of buildings in line with human structures and he noted a number of humans bustling about as they went in, the looming cyclops towering over them as they moved and the loud thuds of giants moving were audible along with the trembling of the ground at their steps though they moved slowly not because they couldn't move faster but because they were avoiding crushing humans. However, one structure loomed tall about 10,000 feet at least and it was decorated lavishly as would be expected of a palace: Tatsumi knew that it must have been the palace.

"It is a marvelous sight, the Palace of the Sky, it was a marvel built by the original giants and cyclopes and despite its age is still beautiful to see" the Cyclopes commented.

"Indeed, it is, I never got your name by the way" Tatsumi commented.

"Polyphemus of Strongforge clan, I choose the way of the warrior rather than that of the smith, my kin were proud to see one of their own use the weapons our smith brethren make" the Cyclops replied.

"Have you ever used them?" Tatsumi asked.

"Yes, against the beasts of the North both of nature and of man, you'd be surprised how many of your race desire our wealth and technology and even more surprised how many have died to six door-wardens, thousands have fallen before me I'm about 5000 of your years, you say you fought demons, I've fought them too and am glad for the chance to face them once more for they were worthy opponents" Polyphemus replied.

"I'm looking forward to fighting alongside you Polyphemus" Tatsumi replied.

"And I you young emperor I'll request of the High King I be assigned to your army: mind you though our armies do consume much in the way of food" Polyphemus replied, Tatsumi chuckled. "But worry not we bring much in the way of supplies and can go long times without eating" Polyphemus replied.

"What about the Giants are they much different" Tatsumi asked, the cyclops laughed a loud thing that required much ear covering.

"You're comparing sheep to mammoths; we are different, and the Giants are much wiser and eat less but still a great amount: they loom over us and we proudly fight alongside our wise cousins" Polyphemus replied.

"Ok, I once encountered a Cyclops named Zogathol and he was massive, nowhere near as small as you, he was as big as the walls of this castle" Tatsumi replied, Polyphemus frowned.

"Ah him, the exile, he had grown large and dared to be grow larger in station, he attempted an uprising in misguided belief that the Titans were too soft on you humans and thought your people a good source of food; that rebellion was crushed and Zogathol was exiled for his crimes, that he still lives is a dark thing for my great-great grandfather fought hard to stop him" Polyphemus replied.

"No, he's dead, we killed him, or rather Akame did" Tatsumi replied, Polyphemus laughed, a loud sound that shook the earth and threw Tatsumi off-balance.

"A human killed an ancient. Well it seems that Zogathol was right to fear humans, if one of your own slew him perhaps it was the for the best that he feared your kind" Polyphemus replied, and they then discussed other matters. Tatsumi noted the humans that watched his entourage from the streets. He noted that the humans that lived under the protection on the Titans were way more wealthy and wore more lavish clothing then those worn by other northerners, they weren't too physically different with white, blonde and red hair being common amongst them along with blue eyes, their stature was larger too about 7 feet was average height for these people but by contrast to other northerners their less developed body strength was apparent. These people had lived under the protection and in the shadow of literal Giants and behind giant walls he doubted that any of these people had ever conceived of travelling outside their safe heaven, which was large enough Tatsumi reckoned to survive indefinitely, they needed only the barriers, but still he noted that there were well armed soldiers amongst them and just as well equipped as any imperial soldier without firearms however.

"You see how they look upon you my love, these people would've never conceived such strangers existed in distant lands and much less would visit them as honored guests" Merraid whispered in Tatsumi's ear she then nuzzled against him more then she had been before.

An hour later… Tatsumi took one look at the giant palace in front of him and suppressed a gasp because it was even bigger up close and- to his eyes could not see the top of it from up close even though he had seen it from afar. "I never imagined such awe inspiring sights would be awaiting me, I thought Melitine was glorious but this- between the Halls of Maltise, the Dwarven holds in the East, Triton and now this: I've seen more marvelous things than any other human being on Eden has seen in centuries, and I wonder what other marvels our world holds, were I not destined to rule I'd travel the world for myself and I may even do just that" Tatsumi thought, the mere thought of leadership however brought him out of his awe and made the golden crown weigh more on him. "Centuries of Emperors and not one of them has seen everything our world has to offer, but of them I've got more burdens to bare then any of them: more than any Tatsumi before me" Tatsumi thought, at that he considered that during the time spent travelling he'd look further back in the past with the Mirror of Time try and grasp the wisdom of previous Emperors.

"Tatsumi the knowledge you seek is great but there are other ways to learn it" Kronos replied mentally.

"I know but I want to see for myself: besides, I don't have much else to do while traveling" Tatsumi replied mentally.

"Tatsumi I've seen centuries of your ancestors trying to grasp at knowledge, don't let your quest for knowledge overwhelm your duties to your people, however there is some information that may help you" Kronos replied.

"What is that?" Tatsumi asked curious.

"In the north east of the Empire not too far from Tokorra is a desert: the Khazika Desert where your most famous ancestors, the previous Tatsumis and other great rulers of the Empire both male and female are entombed alongside their families: entombed with them too are great artifacts of power, relics of bygone eras, records and treasures too protected by Dwarven machines and guarded by layers of traps, automatons, many have tried over the centuries to rob these tombs but all have failed to breach the tombs inside, your ancestors rest eternally there but their knowledge and legacy remain, including the greatest of treasures" Kronos explained.

"What is that?" Tatsumi asked.

"The Emperor's Armory, where sitting on racks on display are some of the mightiest Imperial Arms, along with an arsenal of Dwarven armor and arms, centuries old but still quite functional and unclaimed but capable of being used for war, also there are the tools of the Dragon Emperor for you see your ancestor discovered a secret, two actually, first that humans could not forge Teigus in true purity and that his creations were but echoes of those made by Tatsumi the 1st and those paled before the Dwarves own creations, and the second thing was that the knowledge to make them was far too dangerous to reside in the hands of humans in this world for they are far too susceptible to corruption and evil, he took the knowledge he learned to his grave along with his tools: for in his life a bloody civil war the likes of which the Empire had never seen and would see far too often in coming centuries was caused by those who bore Teigus and misused their power" Kronos explained. "Why you may ask do I trust this knowledge with you? It is because the enemy you face is one that will destroy our world, not just that you are the last hope of our world the only one with the will to lead the fight, Tatsumi have you considered why it is that humans of Eden are so susceptible to evil, it is because the demons and their taint corrupts and warps the hearts of humans twists them into monsters in human skin: thru your actions in destroying those ruins power that corrupted humans is now being returned to whence it came, if you win then that power will be gone and humans will be far less likely to be evil and to do so on the grand scale, every evil actions that has occurred in the Empire on a grand scale will be a thing of the past and a thing that rarely occurs: you must fight, you must be strong, you must be brave, you must gather the knowledge and relics of your ancestors and continue in your quest for if not then we will both be doomed along with the entire universe" Kronos added.

"I will be strong, brave and I will fight against this evil, as soon we finish our tasks up here and have rallied the allies, we need I'll head to the desert" Tatsumi replied, Krono smirked and Tatsumi could help but think of it.

The large palace doors opened and out walked a rather large amount of well-armed giants at the center of them was a young giant woman, she loomed over Tatsumi and the others but compared to the other giants she was rather short. The Giantess had long brown hair in a set of ponytails, grey eyes, and an extremely well-endowed figure that was her races equivalent of the hourglass and having breasts that were in their equivalent to the E-cup range, she wore a large orange gown with golden trim and on her head a crown that must have been carved from a rather large block of gold, she wore also a belt of intricate design. Then to his surprise and that of everyone else she pressed the belt and shrunk to the size of a human and walked up to Tatsumi who had at this point dismounted from his palanquin.

"Greetings from my father I'm Princess Diane, daughter of King Ymir, High King of all Sky Titans and those who serve us: my father heard of your request and is awaiting your arrival, he has granted permission for an alliance" the giantess greeted. "Formal negotiations will begin soon, but shan't take too long, for the demon threat is obvious from our instruments and you've invoked the Pact which means the threat requires all to fight against it: come my Father awaits you, we must speak and then we feast as you must hunger from your travels" Diane added, Tatsumi proceeded inside following her and followed in turn by his entourage.

"Man, I wish this ground wasn't such a pain to stay standing on" Tatsumi thought as each step the giants took shook the ground and thus made it tricky to keep up his footing. Diane by contrast had no such issue and had assumed her regular size.

"How is it you're able to do that?" Tatsumi asked presently.

"What?" Diane replied.

"Shrink yourself to human size and turn yourself giant again" Tatsumi asked.

"A Mass Shifting belt: it allows us to blend in as humans, some of our kind take interest in your race and some more take human spouses and thus to avoid the risks that come with accidently trampling on your spouse we invented these belts that allow us to be the same size as a human more or less" Diane explained.

"That's amazing, are any other innovations you've made?" Tatsumi asked fascinated by their technological marvel if one could adjust their size what else were they capable.

"None that I personally have made unless you count making snowman the size of houses an innovation but we Sky Titans as a whole have invented numerous marvels, that door you passed thru getting in is fully automated for one, other things we've built are those large statues, they hide our massive turrets, you've seen our heavy guns on the walls too; you know you humans have a fascination with guns now a days well we had them first as did the humans in here but our definition of a pistol is what you'd consider a cannon, not to mention the plumbing, the Thunder-hammers, the Sky launcher, oh and the ground-bridge that allows us to travel from castle to castle without stepping foot outside our walls, and the marvels we've made to allow us to produce so much food" Diane explained then waxed further about other inventions that Tatsumi noted while distinct were situational and really only useful for the giants themselves or those of their size, he also regretted getting her excited as she began stomping harder and thus causing him to have no shortage of stumbles from the hard ground.

Fortunately, that all came to an end rather soon as they arrived at a massive door that was intricately decorated with all sorts of glyphs, pictures, runes, and other things; Tatsumi got only the briefest of glimpse before the door opened sliding upwards after turning. Inside he found the largest throne he'd ever seen, surrounded by piles of treasure, on it sat the Giant Ymir, he wore gold enameled armor and the many layers of scale were apparent, he wore on his shoulder what appeared to be a cloak that was made of a massive dragon, with the large beasts head on his left shoulder, his crown was ornate and made of gold with gems the size of the windows of Melitine's royal palace, the giant had a massive beard that was braided and had dark brown hair of the same color as his daughter's locks, his hand held a massive hammer. "Welcome to my hall little dragon" Ymir greeted.

"I'm- amazed to meet you" Tatsumi replied.

"You need not explain your reason for visiting, I know too well the threat of the demons: my grandfather's grandfather faced them and every Giant since has lived in waiting for their return for our Skalds sing of the day when a hero shall arise to banish their threat once and for all: we noticed the surge of demonic energy, both entering and- well leaving our world: I assume you're doing for the latter?" Ymir replied.

"Yes, we've been blowing up Yeenkar ruins wherever we find them" Tatsumi explained.

"A wise tactic, the destruction releases the demonic energy inside them and returns it to hell from whence it came; we attempted a similar strategy, but our ancestors had not the means to do so" Ymir explained.

"Really? It's been easy enough for us, about 200 pounds of explosives will do it" Tatsumi replied, Ymir laughed.

"We had not that marvel, it was only 2 millennia ago that we grasped the concept of gunpowder even then our needs for it require greater amounts then any human could use in their life time to arm our armies; besides we had little use for it our armor withstands the weapons well enough" Ymir explained. "But the past has little bearing on the now, and now we must defeat and destroy the demon threat, we have the means to do so now and the pact must be honored: I'll send word to my fellow giants to make ready for war but it will take time our kind have not waged war on such a scale for an age. Also we must see to sealing our alliance I know that your Imperial customs for alliances are usually sealed with marriage and I will make no exception, my daughter Diane whom is my youngest child of 17 years will wed you Golden Dragon: an apt name for a monarch whose duty will either make him the greatest ruler and leader our world has ever known or doom him to forgotten as a tide of evil consumes our world and universe" King Ymir replied.

"And having seen you in person you are cute; a good catch for a husband" Diane replied and shrunk once more with her belt.

"You will have to stay for a couple days, preparations must be made for the wedding and you will no doubt want rest before heading further north: also I'll see to sending some of my people with you, about 20 or so should do to provide you aid against the more hazardous areas. Further north you go and the far north is colder, we will provide you means to keep yourself warm but beware the further you go the colder it gets and the sooner you must make shelter for the nights in the far north slay even the hardiest of our kind much less your own" Ymir added. Tatsumi nodded and began to ask the Giant King about himself and about his people. The History of the Sky Titans began in another world where they were near extinction, their solitary nature was a doom and those that survived fled on flying castles; according to Tatsumi they found a way to travel to Eden and built new homes in the North, they were there before the first humans dared venture north and were a thriving community for they banded together to prevent a similar fate as befell their ancestors from befalling them: the bastions were made strong and seldom allowed outsiders entry; but those allowed were those that earned the trust.

Any further knowledge of their history for Tatsumi was simply a case of very similar stories to those of the Empire's own history and could fill numerous volumes of history that in turn could fill a whole library by themselves, with that in mind I must bring an end to this discussion. Suffice to say Tatsumi and those who accompanied him enjoyed their accommodations.

Later that evening… Tatsumi took a hard look from the balcony window of his quarters; the room had been built with humans in mind and the sight he saw fascinated him. The Sky was bright with Aurora, lights of radiate color of so many types too numerous to list and more exotic then any rainbow. "An amazing sight don't you agree" Nora stated coming up behind Tatsumi, dressed in a polar bear fur coat and her crown Nora looked like the queen of winter. "The northern lights you Imperials call them, we call them the Star Dance and they are wonderful for those who've never come here and for those of us who live here they are something you wouldn't want to do without, Dorothea told me that they are caused by blast of energy coming from the suns, according to Dorothea there is a field around Eden and that energy gets absorbed by it but some of that energy gets thrown further north and creates the lightshows" Nora explained, then looked at Tatsumi.

"Our world is so big and then when I look at the sky at night, I think it's so small; and what am I? A single man nothing more: Nora I stand as the ruler of the most powerful human civilization on Eden and yet for all that those lights make everything seem small make me look like a grain of sand in a desert or a blade of grass in a massive grassy steppe no one person in their lifetime could ever see everything that our universe has to offer" Tatsumi commented.

"It's a marvel how that works: anyway I came here for pleasure not to talk about philosophy it is a perfect distraction from one's own issues to talk about the wider world: by the way so Hiromi and Osawa have been making eyes at you and you have yet to make a move; so when are you going to fuck them?" Nora replied.

"When they feel like doing so, I'll let them make the first move but I will have a talk with them about it" Tatsumi explained, he heard the fur drop and Tatsumi turned to find she wore nothing underneath, he looked at her beautiful body and clutched her breasts in his hands to a moan from her.

"Few people know how to warm a cold winter night like we do" Nora replied. Then she kissed him, he breathed as she undressed him letting her do her work. Nora was for being rather new to the whole sex experience and having only had him as a partner quite good at giving him head, and even more so at massaging his length with her breasts. Nora's lips engulfed the upper third of his length and she grinned as her tongue licked pre-cum from the tip. "Such a good taste, Tatsumi I'll keep you nice and warm" Nora thought and stopped pushed him onto the bed. "I'm not about to have you waste that baby batter in my mouth, its going right in the oven" Nora commented and took him into her with an audible moan. A moan that was added to by another who had snuck into the room via the side door and locked that door behind her, Tatsumi took one glance to notice Nancy who was wearing a bondage costume one that left little to imagination and left both breasts and loins exposed she jumped on his face.

"Please me servant!" Nancy demanded in a dominant role; Tatsumi complied and Nancy moaned, then kissed Nora and eagerly fondled her breasts, cooing into her ear after breaking the kiss. "Don't worry gorgeous, I'll take good care of you too" Nancy cooed then took one of Nora's nipples into her mouth to an audible moan one that became louder as Nancy's left hand groped her butt cheek aggressively; she drank forcefully while Nora was left to moan in enjoyment as this continued for the night.

The following morning Tatsumi was approached by one of the giants a large and imposing giant but well dressed in the garb of a diplomat. "Emperor Tatsumi; his highness informs me that Dwarves have arrived seeking you attention; they arrived early this morning from the air: they represent the Silverblood Clan" The giant replied.

"Where are they?" Tatsumi asked.

"They are awaiting you in the south wing of the palace: they wished to speak to you regarding their northern kin" The Giant replied.

"Thank you for telling me this- what is your name?" Tatsumi asked.

"Utgard, the dwarves are waiting for you eagerly" the Giant replied, Tatsumi nodded and turned to go and was joined by his four champions in accompanying him along with Sheele and Seryu.

Shortly… It took about 20 minutes to actually find the Dwarves but when Tatsumi found them he did so easily as a number of them were grumbling rather loudly, as he approached one dwarf noted him and said something in his language the rest popped to attention, from their number came the most well-dressed dwarf. "Your imperial majesty, I Rurin of Minor Clan Smoothspeaker bring you tidings from our kin the Icebeards and their fellow clan the Stonehammers: their Kings extend to you an invitation to Kraka Azgul Drakka: their mightiest hold and greatest city; they have their response to the pact and are willing to join if you right a grievous grudge for them; they wish to discuss the details in person; what message do you wish be sent in return?" The Dwarven Diplomat asked.

"Tell them I'll be there, how far is their hold from here?" Tatsumi asked.

"About five days march north of New Iskgard formally Kalasliv where the Imperial Army is based, about a week from here all that being if the weather holds up; they dwell on the edge of the Far North" Rurin replied.

"I see, we'll finish our negotiations here and then I'll take a force north from there: inform them of this, also find Empress Esdeath and have her go with you as my envoy, also stopover in New Iskgard so she can rally the rest of her army" Tatsumi responded the Dwarf nodded and the dwarves left him be.

Tatsumi at this point in his journey north had been extremely successful in acquiring allies, Imperial troops that had been part of Esdeath's invasion force flocked to him as their new emperor as did the tribes near the old Imperial border and the Yetis joined eagerly though mainly to follow Esdeath rather than him. That said with his efforts of diplomacy he had grown the 10,000 strong expeditionary army he took north to near 800,000 soldiers, with those being largely sent south with orders from him: those troops had two tasks, the first was to contest Volgoth's loyalists and soldiers sworn to the New Empire of Yeenkar chiefly Teketh and the second was to convince thru show of force outlying warlords to either join him or kill them so they didn't pose a threat; the general in charge of all this was Nymeria who along with a few other generals notably Audrey and Lydia took their orders very seriously and who were determined for his sake above all else to get the job done. Any other forces that joined him would be sent to join this force, at the same time in the eastern half of the Empire his eastern armies would make moves to suppress similar threats west of the Matahai Mountains and in the south-eastern provinces where forces still loyal to Teketh via his subordinate General Krolm who was all the perfectionist his superior was and but nowhere near as brilliant or as nasty, granted that didn't mean he wasn't guilty of war crimes he was less despicable then Teketh because at least the women he raped weren't his own daughters but that was a low bar in Tatsumi's mark and the fact that he did rape innocent women and girls was enough to earn him a 'kill in the most brutal method possible once his forces were destroyed' order.

Just thinking of Teketh made his blood boil and he was tempted to send the Elite Seven to kill him but that wasn't necessary and in all honesty he needed them with him because there was no telling what he'd face, something which in about a week's time he'd find something that would give a whole different meaning of no telling what you'll run into than normal, if you could define anything as normal in his world. "The only sense of normalcy I've got in my life is that I'm sure to find myself in a dangerous life-threatening situation that will require me to kill one or more people or beasts; I hate this lot I've been dealt" Tatsumi thought then frowned, Seryu and Sheele noted his frown kissed him and he smiled again.

"Keep your mind on positive things Tatsumi; you don't need to let evildoers trouble you while you're safe inside a Giant's castle" Seryu reassured, Tatsumi looked at her with a smile.

"Always the optimist Seryu, my Justice Queen" Tatsumi replied.

"It helps to be positive after all if I let what troubles me in life show I'd go bat-shit crazy am I right Koro?" Seryu replied, Koro barked. "I know you don't like me keeping it all shut up in my head, would you rather I vent it on the world?" Seryu replied.

"I really wish that I could understand what Koro was saying" Sheele replied to laughs from the four Champions. "Please we all know that as Teigu users we can hear our Teigu's speak to us, I'm fairly certain Koro functions the same way" Sheele replied annoyed.

Tatsumi could not help but shrug at this turn and decided to find for himself somewhere more interesting to be instead of wandering castle halls that made him feel smaller then he already did. That in mind he decided to find a good place for sparring and with that done then he commenced his daily training regimen which was another normal thing for him.

Halfway thru his regiment Princess Dianne showed up. "Hi!" Dianne greeted eagerly distracting Tatsumi and throwing him off-balance thus allowing Seryu and Sayo who were team attacking him to disarm him and begin to beat the crap out of him with training blades.

"Time out! Time out!" Tatsumi yelled and the two stopped, well Seryu did and Sayo gave him a couple more for good measure. "Hello" Tatsumi greeted calmly, then noted the giantess blushing.

"For a human you're- quite fit and strong" Dianne teased, Tatsumi blushed remembering of course he trained only in his trousers and so she had full view of his chest.

"So how do you feel about marrying one?" Tatsumi asked.

"I find it a fascinating prospect, it's not unheard of but rare for an outsider let alone an outside monarch from a distant lands far from our kingdom, an Emperor unheard of? But I always wanted my husband to be someone unique and as one of the younger daughters of my father I have the luxury of being picky; you're a catch and you are rather fortunate that we developed mass-shifting to allow us to become your size otherwise you'd go to pop my cherry and find yourself inside it" Dianne replied then giggled, a rather loud noise that sounded like normal laughter.

"So, Dianne how are you as a fighter, I need every one of my wives that travel with me to be as good or better than me so I don't have to be worried about them in battle" Tatsumi asked changing the topic.

"Tatsumi I'm a very good fighter by the standards of my people which for the record I've trained extensively for war as is my lot as a younger daughter, you needn't worry about me, my armor is far stronger than anything you wear and my skills with my hammer are unparalleled, also you'd be surprised how terrifying a giant can be to those who've never seen one before" Dianne replied "I'm looking forward to our wedding ceremony and the bedding, don't worry I'll be human-sized during both so you shan't have to worry about me crushing you during either" Dianne replied then shrank to human size with her mass-shifter. "You up for a good spar I'll demonstrate my skill" Dianne replied, Tatsumi nodded.

Despite the fact she was wearing a frilly dress Dianne fought as if she wore no clothing whatsoever and the raw strength of her attacks came swift, Tatsumi's practice blade snapped like a twig after a few minutes under the onslaught and she rapidly dropped him down to the ground with a series of strong and swift punches. "Ouch" Tatsumi groaned, luckily extremely luckily, he had no broken bones or an injuries bare a couple bruises.

"Yeah, I move faster than you'd think I've no idea where humans got the idea that giants are slow moving dimwits as they are as wrong as they are about world being flat, but you lasted remarkably long compared to my other sparing partners; do you think you have to worry about my safety?" Dianne teased.

"Nope; not remotely; still though you rely a lot on raw strength and unrefined attacks: there are a few things I could teach you to help refine that style but not much" Tatsumi replied, Dianne returned to her normal size

"When you're my size raw strength goes a long way, also most of the time enemies are too busy running around scared to fight back and we move rather quickly" Dianne replied, Tatsumi picked up another practice blade.

"Alright well I've got to continue my instruction you want to watch?" Tatsumi asked.

"Oh, I'll watch" Dianne replied and then sat down a respectable distance away crisscross.

The training was a well spent and lasted a few more hours the rest of the day was spent by Tatsumi doing a mixture of things chiefly reading and getting laid, that latter one was limited to his own kind as the other giantesses that weren't Dianne or her handmaids which were going to be wed to him as concubines regarded him with uninterest, they seemed overall to him to be interested only in other giants. Despite this they were nice to him as were the male giants, as a whole the giants were a cordial jolly people even if they were massive people.

The rest of his stay was spent in this fashion, the only other moment of interest was his wedding to Dianne who looked like the queen of summer in her orange wedding gown, it was a risqué and revealing gown too showing off a good deal of cleavage an left her mid-section bare. The wedding as a whole though was an amazing affair, the cake was great, the food was good, and the drink well he limited himself to water and soda as his hosts warned him that if he were to consume any of their alcohol he'd be hungover for a week something which he had no desire to experience at any point let alone when he was out to save the world from destruction at the hands of demons. He noted also that the Giants however were rather jolly about the occasion and the only thing keeping him from danger of being stomped was that before any giants could consume any alcohol of any type was the rules of hospitality towards humans that required them to drink in a separate room that was locked from outside to keep drunken giants from wandering out.

Yet all of this paled before the bedding which in place of him carrying the bride off she carried him, in normal form to her bedroom which was locked behind, she then dropped on what had to be the biggest bed he'd ever seen on a massive pillow that had been filled with goodness knows what and that resembled Aria's a good deal before she sat on and shrunk herself to his size. "Oh you are in for quite the experience Tatsumi, there isn't a human monarch still alive that has been with a giantess princess much less married one left alive in the world anymore, it has been over 200 years since then, I hope you'll forgive my inexperience I've only read books on the subject and I'm not sure the same rules apply to humans, I won't be rough with you and you will treat me the same" Dianne explained then stripped teasing him, Tatsumi removed his clothing and waited for her to climb up to him, naked apart from her garter and stockings.

She took one look at his erection and smirked. "For a human its big I wonder how it'll fit I'm not teasing you and there won't be any foreplay at least not for our first time, all I want is for you to do what I say and what I want right now is total control I do want I want and you just get to enjoy it, not a peep outside of your moans from you" Dianne explained then flaunted her amble E-cups and kissed him full on the lips before kissing him down his body and taking his length in her hands. "Small by comparison to any giant's in fact you'd be about average size, but as a human at human size its big" Dianne commented then began blowing him, she was sloppy with it but gentle: her lips slowly licking it and tongue played with it teasing it. Tatsumi immediately shut of his brain and his worries and just lived in the moment, letting Dianne do what she wanted to do to her new husband, the blowjob lasted for about 2 minutes before she decided to shake things up and wrap the length in her breasts before resuming her licks with lust in her eyes; Tatsumi kept his cool in and restrained himself from release until she had found and pushed his limit and he released, she grinned as the white seed covered her face and her breasts before licking her face.

"Salty, I like salty, now for the main course" Dianne remarked then sat up, moved towards him in a teasing manner before hovering over his length. "You're still hard; good you'll need it" Dianne replied, then held his length with her hand, steadied herself and impaled herself on the length. "OOHHH!" Dianne moaned not in pain but with pleasure and she immediately began to bounce up and down with enjoyment. "So good! I have never felt this before! AHH!" Dianne moaned then as Tatsumi began to open his mouth to speak she leaned down and kissed him, her tongue invaded his mouth pinned his down and she kissed long and hard.

The kiss caused Tatsumi to lose himself in bliss as the happy princess rode him for a solid 10 minutes before he released and when he did, she was not done no she had her rear spread out invitingly. "More please" Dianne asked and at this point Tatsumi lost track of himself as his pent up tension was drowned by a sea of pleasure and with it his sense of anything else around him, right then only he and Dianne mattered and nothing else did and they spent the whole night doing so as Dianne despite being a virgin before they started was a giant and while her mass-shifter has made her human in terms of size and weight as well as brawn (on par with Esdeath's) it didn't suppress her stamina.

The following morning Tatsumi had to process the fact that he was on a giant pillow the size of a carriage naked with a giantess sleeping next to him, after processing this development he then woke up Dianne who after a few more rounds of last night's enjoyment helped him and herself down from her bed. Tatsumi's clothes had been brought to him by a servant and he dressed into the change of attire. Later that morning he gathered his retinue and the 20 giants and 40 Cyclopes that had decided to join it and left to fanfare and was reminded that he was in the north by the biting cold that had been kept out of the Giant's castle city by the high walls and an energy field that kept it in a state of warm weather year round.

The rest of the day was spent traveling to the city of New Iskgard where Esdeath awaited him with her legions that were fully armed and ready on their general's say so for their orders, her subordinate commanders then pledged themselves to him in short order. Then came the journey further north.

One week later… "Well look at that!" Sayo declared and Tatsumi turned from Merraid, Chelsea, Taeko, Saraya and Cassandra with whom he had been hammering out details regarding the Oarburgh Clan's role in the New Empire and faced the sight to the front and gasped. Looming tall and silently as it rose into view and in the sunlight of a clear day was a massive mountain peak about 18,000 feet high if he had to guess, the mountain however was carved out, with large statues decorated with gold, silver and gems and made from the finest stone loomed at the front of massive gates the size of Melitine's walls, in front of the mountain and surrounding it were looming statues of smaller size then the goliath structures carved into the mountain's face but still taller than a four story building. In spite of having seen a fair few impressive Dwarven holds in his time in the east Tatsumi was still amazed by the ones he had yet to see, particularly due to the fact that no two holds were the same in design or scale, also there was one feature that set this one apart and that was that the peak of the mountain was carved into the stone figure of a massive dragon, which loomed over the lands below. Tatsumi then heard the noise of rotating blades and looked up to note Dwarven Gyrocopters flying above, he could barely make out the clan crests however their colors were enough to tell him that they were not from the eastern clans and that they were clearly the northern dwarves taking a good look at the new arrivals to their doorsteps.

However that wasn't to say the Eastern Dwarves weren't waiting, he noted outside the hold gates as they arrived at them an eastern Dwarven party easily distinguished by their attire and style of beards were debating with Dwarves that Tatsumi assumed were from the Northern clans, their long blonde and red beards lighter skin tone and mammoth tusk horned helms along with the fur cloaks made of polar bear pelts along with their style of craftsmanship with regards to their armor and weapons made that clear as the Eastern dwarves had a darker skin tone and black beards in addition to eastern-style attire, also looming near both parties were Dwarven automatons of different styles but armed to the teeth and armored like a battle tank. "Umgi on our doorstep" one of the Northern Dwarves declared as Tatsumi's party closed in meaning it was time for Tatsumi to work his magic with diplomacy and for Merraid to shut up about Oarburgh politics that as he saw it really didn't matter until Volgoth was defeated and really would have bored him to sleep if Aria, Spear and Akame weren't constantly jostling him to stay awake. Speaking of Aria, she had taken to wearing a dwarven style dress in place of her usual traveling garb that was purple and gold in place of her usual blue and white and the reason for that was quite apparent as she approached the delegation first as his diplomat.

"Humans, well come forward manlings our eastern kin-folk say ye are to be trusted we'll see for ourselves and here what you have to say before Oathgold" a northern dwarf commented he was clad in the garb of a Dwarven Thane which meant he was in charge of the delegation his beard was white which meant he was an older dwarf.

"Greetings master dwarf, I am Empress Aria Gildenstrom and my husband has appointed me to speak first" Aria replied courteously, Aria noted a small group dwarves carrying a chest which they opened up to reveal well-crafted small gold brick-like tablets decorated with runes. "I swear before Oathgold to speak no untruth and not act with guile" Aria replied and then looked at Tatsumi and those with him, indicating for them to do the same which they did in short order.

"Good well done Umgi, we'll now speak earnestly, know that any untruth spoken will result now in a grudge that must be righted" the Dwarf Thane indicated. "But where are my manners you've introduced yourself young Empress and it is only right that I do the same, Thane Hrothgar Icebeard at your service and your family's, Doorward of Kraka Azgul Drakka the mightiest of Karaks in the North and seat of the Icebeard Clan, I speak for King Frori Icebeard as his nephew and if you prove worthy I will grant your party entry and an audience with my royal kin" The Thane explained.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Thane Hrothgar, I'd like to introduce my husband, Pais if you will" Aria replied, the Empress Herald stepped forward and read aloud the normal introduction, Tatsumi then stepped forward.

"Greeting Thane Hrothgar, I come this day invoke the Oath of the Great Pact against the Demons" Tatsumi explained, the Dwarf's face was surprised but recovered quickly.

"That is an old pact; one that is not invoked lightly, our kin have told us of the demon threat and we have seen the signs, a great host gathers to the north here in a looming black city, one of the ancient abominations of Yeenkar and one far too intact for my liking, it's a strong bastion inhabited by the worst of the savage tribes of the North, led by an vile monster of a man, my adopted human son escaped from him as a child who had been enslaved by him and knows more of this monster Oskak Svengold his name is, the name of that vile city is known in our tongue Ushan-Vogkar-Drooka; which means in your tongue City of the many skulls though they call it by another name Trondhehm, which in their tongue means Iron Bastion, many Dwarves fell in the past purging the fiends of Yeenkar but alas we had not the means to destroy their vile city, also they live on in the spirit of those who call the place home in these days: We'd gladly help you against this threat but we need something done for us first, our King will explain suffice to say while you have proved yourselves to our Eastern kin you have yet to do so for us, prove your worth and we'll aid ye" Hrothgar replied. "Because of your knowledge and the word from our Eastern kin you have earned the right to enter our hold, however you must swear first the oaths of hospitality that you act in accordance with our rules and laws whereas we in turn will swear the oaths to see that you are treated fairly and well, also note that if you wish to trade you will be allowed to under these oaths just mind the fact that all purchases must be done honorably and that all our merchants have their own scales, an old saying about humans is when trading with them be kind but also firm and keep an eye on them, also to keep your own scales ready for trading and your axe ready in case of a thief" Hrothgar explained then bid the entire retinue to step forward, four more dwarves arrived carrying an Oathstone which had engraved on it the dwarven rune for hospitality, said dwarves set the stone down and the one carrying the chest of Oathgold brought it over to them, the dwarves then set out an Oathgold brick for Tatsumi's entire retinue, 75 bricks in total and, then bid them come over.

The next hour and a half was spent by every member having to recite the same oath in dwarvish "I swear on my honor and that of my family to honor the laws of hospitality, to treat those that dwell here with respect and honor, to act with integrity and honor and to speak no insult or lie within to my hosts, and I swear under pain of death that I shall not seek harm my host in a dishonorable fashion and if I commit wrong to set the grudge right in accordance with traditions for the grudge" Tatsumi had done this before in the Eastern holds but they had at least allowed him entry beforehand, this was the first time doing so at the gates and outside in the cold snows of the north so it caused his tongue to stumble a bit. The Dwarves then swore a similar oath also in their own tongue but it was the inverse and went as so "I swear on my honor and that of my clan and family that I will treat my guest with utmost respect, with honor, and fairness, to provide the best of my labors for both trade and as gifts, to not raise arms against my guests in my halls save under threat of death, to treat with respect those that enter into my home and offer the best of my ale, meat and accommodations as I can do so; this I swear in behalf of my hold and my clan and should break this oath I must take the oath of shame and seek an honorable death either as a doom-seeker or in accordance to the law lest my name be forgotten and I be barred from resting in the halls of my ancestors"

With these oath sworn Hrothgar approached the gates and said words in Dwarvish, the gates opened inwards to allow them entry. As soon as the last of their party passed the threshold the gates shut behind them and they entered the First Deep. Horns blew and Dwarves began to sing the song of their keep. "Welcome here our honored guests to home our hold of warming hearth, for here we dwell with happy hearts to work and warm the heart. For here the keep is warm, from fires bright that roam, here we do our best to make you feel at home. We welcome you to be, in the North's mightiest keep, we welcome you to the Dragon Keep, Dwarves of the Deep welcome to new friends to meet, we welcome you from the cold we welcome you to the Dragon Hold, welcome to the Dragon Hold" they sung.

The song was short and to the point and from the first hall of the First Deep they entered the second hall where the merchants and diplomats lived along with the first lines of defense, Dwarven warriors in barracks, also there were taverns and guesthouses along with a couple of other structures meant for visitors to see, also on this level lived a number of the craftsmen who were at work and as Tatsumi noted a mechanist's animoculary where Dwarven Automatons were built and maintained, the lesser ones at least, along with a few temples to the Dwarven gods but these were smaller shrines and Hrothgar explained that the structures here were lesser compared to what was further down, he also explained that the further down one went into the keep the more grand it got and the more respectful he would have to be as the upper classes and grander works were stored.

"Why are the ceilings so high in here?" Tatsumi asked.

"Why indeed, well mainly for the Giants, we trade with them often enough that we need to keep them large, secondly for our larger constructs and vehicles, and thirdly it allows us room for our engravers and stone-masons to practice their craft and make our holds greater" Hrothgar explained. Tatsumi thought that over and noted that Dwarves must have built some larger machines and remembered the one that was used in the battle for Nova Atlantea and noted that the roof was at least five times taller then it.

"They must build even bigger ones then that" Tatsumi thought, Merraid leaned on him then spoke to him.

"Aren't Dwarven holds a marvelous sight Tatsumi, it makes me feel at home, the great tunnels beneath Tokorra were made by Dwarven hands as were a number of other structures in the city above not mention the undercity; plus being inside a mountain let alone near one it makes me feel at ease; I dare Volgoth to try and attack this place I don't think the demons could get past the front gate" Merraid commented.

"They couldn't get within a mile of the gate Empress Merraid, the great Rune-wards in the lower deeps disperse and banish the energy that allows the demons to take shape in our world; and many such stones dot the hold, by the way the other holds and the Stonehammer clan lords have sent their emissaries to the royal court, our kin's words asked for it and we have granted, earn the respect of our King and you earn the respect of all the Northern holds, such pacts will be sealed with blood, oaths and a feast" Hrothgar explained.

"Sealed with blood?" Tatsumi asked.

"A bloodoath, but also it is customary to ensure a lasting alliance thru marriage to the royal family of the clan; one of the King's Daughters will wed the young Emperor if he succeeds, such is our custom for sealing such pacts however you must prove your worth to him first of course" Hrothgar explained. "Anyway the King's halls are lower, in the Seventh Deep to be precise, and if you'll follow me we have a way to expediate your journey there" Hrothgar explained, the dwarves then lead them to large room which had an elevator, the doors of which opened to a button and was large enough to fit a Dwarven throng of about 200 warriors, a dwarf once everyone was inside then turned to a panel and spoke his tongue "Seventh Deep" and the elevator descended and arrived about 40 seconds later at the floor in question, then after exiting the elevator Tatsumi saw a truly marvelous sight.

The Seventh deep was a marvel, a wonder to human eyes and to the eyes of Dwarves as well for in this level were some of the grandest works, most of them in fact: gold was abundant and glistened from buildings, the roofs of the deep were covered in gold and engraved in murals of great Dwarven feats, history and runes, with the ceilings occupied by shining giant chandelier lamps of ruby that shined with the light of sun, star and moon, other smaller lamps abounded along with roads of true-silver and structures made from the finest stones, along with statues of Dwarven kings, the buildings were marvels of engineering with great towers rivaling the skyscrapers of Triton in height, aqueducts that were intricate and spread about bringing water that was pure as true-silver and shimmered in fire light, statues from the mouths of which flowed molten magma, fountains that were made of silver and decorated with ornate figures, vehicles that moved with speed on both ground and air, in fact the technology itself was about a thousand years at least ahead of anything offered in Atlantea or the Empire, and while Tatsumi had seen such sights in the Eastern holds they were of a different style of construction and focused less on aesthetics and more on actual practical structures and what aesthetics they did make were completely a world away from what was depicted by the marvels of the North, also Tatsumi noted large scale factories more advanced and far more clean then any in the Empire as no smoke came from them and foundries were smiths were at work shaping all sorts of crafts, weapons, armor and jewelry, there were also great towers full instruments used to measure all manner of things. But above it all was a massive Dwarven citadel with high walls plated with gold and statues that loomed over the city, it was every bit as grand as Melitine's Royal palace and equal in size and was topped by the massive golden statue of a Dragon in flight, Tatsumi also noted vehicles flying above the streets and above that patrolling gyrocopters that came and went in out of the caverns from airfields.

"Welcome to the Seventh Deep, the heart of Kraka Azgul Drakka; here is the heart of the North, look well upon it for centuries of Dwarven hands have made it what it is and will continue to grow it in splendor thru centuries to come, you are the first humans from the Empire to see it in five centuries and possibly the last if the world ends but hope it does not come to that: come follow me into the heart of our city for here dwell the greatest of our number and of our crafts, thru the hardest of work one earns a place here and it is considered a great honor to even visit it let alone live within" Hrothgar explained and then led them onward, Tatsumi was given a tour of the many sights on offer or rather those on the path to the palace and by tour only explanations of them before being led along, the King was waiting for them and it would be rude of them to be late even to take in the marvels of their hold, there would be time for that later well not really as Tatsumi was on a tight schedule to save the world before either Volgoth got too strong or his wives went in the later trimesters and thus wouldn't be able to aid him something that was worrying for him as Aria and Najenda were well into the second trimester.

When they came to the palace hill, they were halted by guards in the finest armor Tatsumi had ever seen, it shimmered of Mithril, Adamantine and of metal far rarer, some even wore armor that was Teigu like in design and wielded weapons that were clearly Teigus. That aside each soldier while having personalized his or her own armor, especially when it came to beards for the men, wore over that the same sash and plumed helm in addition to badges that while they varied some were similar. Tatsumi had been told those badges represented their minor clans and families within the Great Clan as a whole and the sash represented the Clan Icebeard as a whole, while the helmets were for their rank as they were of the elite guards of the King, and most abundant of these carried massive Warhammers and were called hammerers it was explained that the Hammerers were guards of kings and the tradition came from the far past where the first High King had been saved by Dwarven warriors wielding said weapons and thus it became common practice for such warriors to guard their most important leaders, in fact it was considered the highest honor and the most elite wielded Teigu hammers and wore Teigu armor, also looming above these were massive automatons which Tatsumi had thought were statues at a distance but were actually Grand Ancestor Centurion Sentinels, these massive machines were powered and controlled by Dwarves whose bodies had suffered injuries beyond treatment and had voluntarily transplanted their spirits inside to guard their kin and these ones specifically had ancestors from ages ago, for a Dwarf to become one with one of these machines was considered a high honor and glory for their family and clan, these machines according to Hrothgar numbered in the thousands throughout the holds of the north as many warriors had faced grim fates in the many battles faced against the monsters of the north, both beast and otherwise. "Imigi!" a Dwarf captain shouted in Dwarvish and the guards readied themselves in swift fashions with weapons at the ready. (Imigi: Halt)

"Hogdul!" Hrothgar replied, the dwarves relaxed. (Hogdul (Hoeg-dul): At Ease)

"Thane Hrothgar!" the Captain replied. "The King has been expecting you; you bring Umgi into the Seventh Deep, Imperial Umgi by the look of em" the Captain continued.

"They've sworn the oaths of hospitality, the King requested an audience with the young Emperor" Hrothgar replied.

"I see they may enter but they'll leave their arms at the door to the throne room as is custom" the Captain explained, Tatsumi nodded and this was where he had to dismount his palanquin to go inside due to diplomatic rules and the fact the Dwarves were not likely to let him take it inside also it would be rude to present himself as taller then he already was, he was accompanied by half of his retinue with the less ceremonial guards staying behind. The inside of the palace was about as grand as the outside of it, however the moment he stepped in he was surprised by what looked like a human sized construct made of gold and well a desk next to it.

"Throne room" Hrothgar stated, and the construct activated to reveal its actual height was about a foot taller than then the average Eden human.

"Follow me" the Robot replied and lead them along.

"Here G3-86 will guide you to the throne room, I must inform my family of the news: also you'll have need of an experienced tracker for the task the King has planned for you and my adopted son is the best one I know, he's the Master of the Hunt" Hrothgar explained and the Dwarf walked away, Tatsumi was confused by the turn of events but followed the strange machine that was leagues ahead of anything he'd ever seen.

"Greetings Human, I am G3-86: Fully autonomous and intelligent robotic droid page, a model Gravakk-Kagul Engineering product, I am programed in every known language on Eden, armed for defense, trained in etiquette and programed to act as a page for his majesty King Frori IV Icebeard, High lord of the Icebeard clan, King of the Northern Holds, Slayer of ten thousand foes, and humble servant of the High-King Durin III Goldenbeard; I will be your guide in his majesty's palace and will lead you to his throne room" G3-86 explained.

"Ok" Tatsumi stammered out surprised by this advanced machine as the Easterners hadn't used machines of this model and while they had similar advances, they were focused towards warfare rather than service.

"I understand your confusion, most Umgi have never seen a service unit of my model, I'm a recent model produced within the last decade last year in fact, further advancements are made daily in all industries, the animonculii you have likely encountered before are obsolete models built 3 centuries ago, old model machines are presented externally for humans to acquire for the proper sum, as since of the War of the Umbarakai Emperor human contact trade limits were instituted by the High King on technology deemed too advance for humans and said technology was banned from sale in the Empire, technology obsolete by 300 centuries or more is eligible for sale to non-imperial humans according to the decree limited such trading, any violations of this law by any dwarf is considered dishonorable and punishable by banishment to the Lower Deeps to act as Ironbreakers for the rest of that individual's life" G3-86 replied.

"Umbarakai does that mean mad?" Tatsumi asked.

"No, it means Oathbreaker, there is no higher crime in our society and eyes, to atone for such mistakes cannot be made by the Oathbreaker themselves but can be made by a descendant" G3-86 replied

"Any information on Teigus in your information banks" Dorothea asked, the Droid looked at her and then looked at her again.

"Information restricted: no information on such objects are permitted to be discussed with Humans in accordance with the High King's decree outlawing trade of Teigus to non-dwarves, humanity is not allowed to know such information unless deemed so by the High-King. Also my record banks have identified you as Dorothea Amber Carstein, you are a previous grudge offender who has since made recompense however your line of query is no longer authorized, continue this line of inquiry further and this unit will be authorized to detain and remove you from the palace" G3-86 replied, Dorothea shut up with a face of utter humiliation and a blush that could light a room and invoked laughter from nearby people namely Leone and Nancy.

"Carstein?" Tatsumi asked.

"That is my family name, rather prestigious one but like my family nonexistent in the Empire anymore: though technically any of our offspring could take up that name if you wish but it's a formality: anyway droid update your memory banks and that of the global Dwarf Network, the name is now Dorothea Amber 'Carstein' Gildenstrom, I am married to Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom the seventh of that name in the Imperial dynasty but first of the new Empire: so he is both Tatsumi the VII and Tatsumi the I at the same time, note that for records" Dorothea replied, the droid as Dorothea stopped for the moment its eyes flashed green then back to the blue they were before.

"Global Databank updated to correspond to new information; let us continue" G3-86 replied and led them further. As they passed thru Cosmina was constantly going "Ooh!" and "I like it!" as they passed thru rooms about various objects. When they arrived at the throne room Cosmina was absolutely giddy.

"Tatsu-kitty can I be the herald please!?" Cosmina begged insistently.

"Ok just this once" Tatsumi replied, hoping mentally Cosmina acted with grace and respect not wanting to offend the Dwarven King. His fears were not to be realized as they entered the room Cosmina carried herself with an extremely refined grace and calm demeaner smiling her eyes shining with kindness behind her glasses, clad in what had to be the most purple gown he'd ever seen her wear and with the grace of an empress she outstretched her hand in his direction.

"Presenting his Imperial majesty Emperor Tatsumi Gildenstrom, the seventh of his family name, Golden Dragon Emperor, Bane of the Revolutionary Army, prince consort of Nova Atlantea, rightful ruler of the Empire from the Western Borderlands to the Eastern Seas and from the Icy North to the Farthest Southern Jungles of Mukulmukan, Emperor of the Golden Dragon Empire and liberator the Imperial territory, Dwarf Friend to the Eastern Clans and the Silverblood Clan, Demonslayer Protector of Civilization and Shield of Eden" Cosmina introduced and added the remaining titles to name.

In response a Dwarf stepped up from his throne, his beard was snow-white and he wore armor made of blue adamantine and over that a cloak that had clearly been made from dragonhide with the head of a small drake on his right shoulder his eyes were blue as ice and his expression was both stern and cold, his crowned helm was made of silver fair with dark blue sapphires shining like stars in the winter sky and at his side was a massive great axe and in his hand a large book, the king breathed in then made a reply. "I welcome ye to my halls Emperor Tatsumi, I am King Frori Icebeard, forth of my family name, King of the Icebeard Clan and of Kraka Azgul Drakka along with any lesser holds in my domain, slayer of the Drakk Volgador the Ravager whose hide I where as a cloak to this day, Guildmaster of the Miner's guild and engraver of Zogothul the tablet of runes, Master Runesmith and mightiest of the North's rulers; now I here tale from your emissaries: you have my ear, I know that the demons threaten our world now tell me before I commit to any pact I must know your measure and ask what are you willing to do to save our world" King Frori replied

"King Frori, on my honor I swear that I will do whatever it takes to save our world to secure a future for my family along with every other family to live in peaceful times" Tatsumi replied.

"Well young Emperor you've given me your word and I'll hold you to it, now I have a task for ya I've heard tale of your deeds but words are not the measure of an individual their actions are and I want you to prove yourself, I know you wield Teigus and they say you are the best warrior the Empire has seen in centuries, Umgi I want you to prove it, a test of your strength and skill, there is a great monster that broke one of our greatest holds: the name of the hold is Karak Gurstokk, the Golden Mountain, the mountain holds the richest gold mines the world has to offer yet it fell in ages past to a monster unknown; now the men of north call it Tyrant Peak and my scouts have tracked a monster to that peak. That monster is called an Ijirok by Umgi and Dwarf, it is large and formidable and it has been a menace to our merchants, we have lost much in trade with our friends the Giants and the lands of your Empire to this beast which has also destroyed many a village of men and mining outpost of our own kind beneath its feat: I want you to head to Tyrant Peak and slay this monster, the peak is far to the Far North where the cold reigns year round and the suns rarely shine, it is a harsh land inhabited by monsters both Umgi and Danger Beast and it is a killer to the unwary or those not native to it" King Frori explained.

"I see, I'll accept this task, I need a guide, do any of your people explore those lands?" Tatsumi asked, Frori chuckled.

"I know one guide who'd be able to lead you thru that snowy hell, or rather my nephew Hrothgar knows him, he is Umgi like you, from the Empire but he was enslaved by the Northerners of that Far North, he is a hardy sort a freed slave who survived the cold wastes of that land and was taken in by Hrothgar after he found him on a patrol, near death from frostbite and trench foot but he has since recovered and thrived here and we consider him one of our own" King Frori replied, the door opened and Tatsumi turned to notice Hrothgar but also a very tall human man, about 6'8 and- he had bright blue ice eyes, bright blue hair, eyelashes and eyebrows and walked with a familiar posture but had a stern cold expression on his face which while handsome was marred by scars the largest of which was across his brow, his attire was dwarven but his coat was made of the fur of a rather large animal and he wore the head of a dead animal on his shoulder and at his side was a large battle-ax dwarven in make but decorated with the bones of his kills.

Esdeath turned too and her jaw dropped.

"Ah speak of Hrothgar and Hrothgar will come" King Frori remarked.

"Indeed Uncle" Hrothgar replied. "Emperor Tatsumi this is my son in all but blood Yandral Stonehammer; he is the best tracker in the north and the greatest guide you could ever have, and he has an obsession with hunting the great beasts of these lands" Hrothgar replied.

"Yandral?" Esdeath asked confused and took a good look at him and he looked back at her in amazement, then quicker then Tatsumi could breathe the two had run across the room and hugged. "YANDRAL!" Esdeath cheered.

"Esdeath!" Yandral replied. "I thought you were dead" Both said at the same time.

"No way" Mine remarked, Tatsumi feigned surprise as best as he could knowing this would happen thanks to the Mirror of Time, but this was not too hard as Tatsumi has a knack for doing so.

"Little Brother!" Esdeath cheered hugging him and bringing him into a glomp and bear hug.

"Nii-san" Yandral said muffled, Esdeath loosened her grip and let him go. "That's definitely you Esdeath-nii-san your hugs always are painful and likely to kill someone" Yandral remarked. "I thought you were dead, and I was the last Patras, and what have you made of yourself?" Yandral added.

"Well I've made a lot of myself, now- wait a minute why didn't you seek me out when I was conquering the north?" Esdeath replied.

"You conquered the north?" Yandral replied confused. "I heard the Empire had moved in but I didn't ask questions about it, what happens to those idiot tribes that attack the Empire isn't the business of anyone here and- to be honest I long gave up hope of any other Patrassi being left on Eden apart from my wives and children" Yandral explained.

"I see, well I was much the same- now you asked what I've made of myself, well I'm the Empire's Finest, no military mind on all of Eden can defeat me in battle, I'm also Grand Marshal of the Empire's Armies, conqueror of both South and North, and Ice Empress of the Golden Dragon Empire this is my husband Tatsumi the Golden Dragon Emperor and I'd love to tell you at length everything but there is pressing business that must be attended to less the world end in demonic domination" Esdeath explained, Yandral looked at Tatsumi looked him over, smelled him, and regarded him with that same gaze that Esdeath had given Tatsumi when he first met her.

"Tatsumi" Yandral began after a minute. "That's an ancient name, a name I bet you know the significance of it to, as for your title you must have either thought you would be Empire's best Emperor and thus worthy of it or you'd die and the world would blow up so no one would remember you" Yandral remarked, Tatsumi grinned at that. "My sister chose you as her husband correct?" Yandral replied.

"Indeed, I did brother, after he proved himself in a tournament, I held to find the right husband" Esdeath explained. "He slew every other combatant and fit perfectly the description inscribed on the scroll that went with the Demon's Blood Teigu which resides in me" Esdeath replied Yandral winced at mention of that particular weapon.

"You drank that? Esdeath I took you for strong but really that has got to be the craziest thing you've ever done" Yandral replied.

"Stronger then you think Yandral, I drank the whole thing" Esdeath replied at this he looked like he was going to faint, but he recovered.

"That explains how you were able to conquer so much with that power no army of men could oppose you much less in the North where you can turn the land itself against its defenders" Yandral replied.

"Indeed, now the King said you were the greatest tracker in the North, my husband needs to find and kill the Ijirok, we need to get to Tyrant Peak can you lead us there?" Esdeath explained getting down to business.

"Oh that I can certainly do, just be aware that you'll be marching into the harshest North, also that every monster that we were told about by the shaman as kids is as real as you or me and we need to treat them with caution and skill" Yandral explained then indicated the large head on his shoulder it was of a large beast with long horns on the sides of its head and covered in white fur with sharp teeth. "That my sister is a Wendigo, a dead one, they are real, and they are extremely dangerous, they hide in the icy gales and attack with speed, the unwary are swiftly dispatched Esdeath, this one was unwary and thus weak and perishes at my hand" Yandral replied

"I'm surprised, I expected the head to be bigger" Esdeath replied with wonderment. "How many have you killed?" Esdeath asked.

"Wendigos? About 76 that attacked me, twice that number I was actively hunting; there are nastier things out there big sister, Cun Annun run rampant the further you go and they roam in packs those vile hounds the snow makes them hard to spot, also there Ickyaks giant looming behemoths of fur and tusks, Thunderhorns which are even bigger mammoths then there are south of here, the Ijirok which while rare and you hunt are monsters that can lay low entire villages if left uncheck, and things best left undisturbed, but you said you're seeking Tyrant Peak, that is a dangerous place, it's near the mighty city of the Far North's most vile tribe the White Bears Trondhehm: those men are large in stature and feast on the flesh of men I know a good deal about them and they are not to be taken lightly: they were the ones who destroyed our clan, they were warriors who slaughtered our people that the Saika's barely kept on a leash; if they wore one at all" Yandral explained. "The White Bears are led by a giant of a man Oskak Svengold, he- enslaved me and our aunts, they died allowing me to escape" Yandral explained. "Also, I've seen demons moving about their lands of late and the number of warriors they can muster is great" Yandral added.

"A large number? How many? I thought I slew most of the North's warriors during my conquest" Esdeath asked.

"About 10,000 that can be mustered on notice, their tribes haven't gone south in years; you'll need thrice their number to have a chance" Yandral replied. "And that's not even mentioning Tyrant Peak itself, people who go there and get too close don't come back and large mountains of bones from the largest creatures in the north dot the valley even during blizzards some unknown horror dwells there" Yandral added.

"Are you weak or strong Yandral? Do you fear this place?" Esdeath replied

"I am no such person I'm strong I had to be to survive here, if you thought your life was harsh Esdeath mine was way harsher because at least you didn't have to deal with being abused I can see it in your walk, I have and for me survival of myself and my clan takes foremost, but I will guide you to Tyrant Peak I'm not sure how much use I can be beyond that, though I do know the weaknesses of an Ijirok mind you this beast is hard to kill, it is able to project images of the familiar things lost by a person to lure them in, its hide is thick with layers of fur concealing it, this monster also is able to regenerate: best advise kill it with fire" Yandral replied.

"That is enough for me" Tatsumi replied. "We'll slay this monster anything you want me to bring back to show as proof?" Tatsumi asked.

"The tusks of the creature, they are strongest part of the body, they have many uses; bring them back and we'll make good use of them" King Frori explained, Tatsumi nodded.

Shortly… Tatsumi after his audience immediately sought out a largest dwarven library in the city to learn more about Ijiroks, but also to learn about the particular history of this dwarf clan and some other things he could do. To put a long story of a detour short he found little more about the Ijiroks then Yandral had already told him but he found a great deal about the Northern Dwarves, dwarves that set themselves apart from even other Dwarves by their remote dwellings, what he did learn however was that despite centuries of war with the human tribes that dwelled in the North and lusted after Dwarven riches they had not lost a hold to their external enemies, records did report wars with Skaven and other hostile peoples that dwelled beneath the world but those had been sporadic and holds that fell to these had since been reclaimed in recent years and as such no Dwarven hold remained that wasn't in their hand save one: Tyrant Peak and not for lack of trying as according to records many expeditions had been sent and none returned with the bones that pilled in the vale beneath the mountain rose higher: underground expeditions fared no better as Skaven had infested the deeps beneath the mountain and their numbers were vast and allowed them to contest the ways into the hold both apparent and secret.

Even further knowledge about Tyrant Peak told similar stories, many had gone missing over the years and even an expedition that brought Dwarven Juggernauts and a War Sentinel had gone missing and thus was presumed wiped out by whatever horror dwelt there; the Dwarven King had given him what in all intents and purposes was a near impossible task. "Near impossible not impossible" Tatsumi thought to himself and reminded that doubting part that it was do or the world dies and everyone with it which was enough to keep him optimistic after all there had to be at least a snowball's chance of hell in succeeded but likely those chances were higher than that analogy suggested. "What a stupid analogy: where would you get the snow to make the ball in the first place? Besides I've got way better odds then that, remember I was told that it was impossible to defeat the Empire well look how that turned out" Tatsumi thought, then poured thru more books learning whatever he could and even then he was uncertain of the endgame: too much was at stake for him to take needless risks and he wasn't going to charge in without doing as much preparation as possible, he knew that an army would be needed, well he had a small one but there was a lot of snow and ice and he had Esdeath to turn that ice into more soldiers.

Esdeath looked at Tatsumi. "I need you to make me a massive army of ice soldiers don't care how many but a lot of them, how long will it take you?" Tatsumi asked.

"A few days to build something comparable to my ice legions that helped take the north but those were multiple armies I'll need about five hours to make a sizeable force; I want an exact number though" Esdeath replied.

"About 50,000 no less but feel free to add in more" Tatsumi replied, Esdeath smirked.

"With all this ice and snow, I could make fifty million and still have more" Esdeath replied, Tatsumi grinned.

The following day they left the hold and marched north, because of the climate they left behind anything that was liable to get bogged down and they dressed for the cold as best they could and marched north, Tatsumi noted that they only had to travel two days before the temperature was below zero. "It gets worse the further north we go, up there the nights are fatal so we need to find shelter by midafternoon, once it starts getting dark it gets real cold really quickly" Yandral explained, he fortunately had maps of this area that he had made himself and he had traveled this place before. "I'm one of the few people who've been near to Tyrant Peak and survived granted though I never got too close to the place" Yandral had told him before leaving. As the day began to fade, they took shelter in a large cavern that they evicted a family of Cave Bears from and made camp: the ice warriors had taken care of the beasts so they hadn't lost anyone.

The following day they went further north and noted movement on the plains. "Methreki: Cat people they live here and are the only people in this part of the lands that won't try to kill and eat you outright which is better than I can say of the human tribes in these parts: up here they eat what they can and anything that doesn't survive the cold, no tombs are built for those who die here they eat their dead down to the marrow and use the bones for all sorts of things, the Methreki are civil by comparison" Yandral explained.

"You think they'd help us?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not with Ijirok they fear those creatures and avoid them like the plague, but with the Northman yes they'd be eager to do so, the tribes of men up here hunt them for sport and for their pelts: they'd be more then eager to take up arms, but if you want their aid against demons that's another angle entirely they are ritualistic and superstitious to the extreme and take things very seriously, but I'd wager they'd help if you can convince them but I'll not they aren't a unified people and they are nomadic not unlike the Patrassi were and they tend not to linger in one place so you'd have to treat with each tribe: be grateful they know the differences between use and a locals; the attire is a dead giveaway" Yandral replied.

"Should we approach them now?" Tatsumi asked.

"Not while they are moving: they are very defensive when on the move so best to approach them when they are encamped: I'm betting a good number of their merchants know about the Empire moving in and have spread word of the good intentions of its ruler: I doubt they believe it but at least they won't shoot you where they would shoot Saikas, Icebloods and White Bears but they have good reason to: speaking of best not mention the word Saika to anyone up here; the name is regarded as piss to them and people that speak it are likely to be in the dinner pot later" Yandral explained, with that advise Tatsumi led his force in a different direction away from the Methreki.

Their journey took another five days and they came unto the valley of bones by the afternoon of the sixth day the weather however was horrible and while it wasn't a full blown blizzard it was near close and trying to keep together would have been a whole lot harder if not for Esdeath using her powers to keep the weather in check somewhat: the cold however was not dispelled and Tatsumi had dawned the Dragon Armor to keep warm and that armor itself was covered in frost that melted on contact every second thus putting up a flow of steam from him. "At least I need to stay warm and ready" Tatsumi thought, then noted the reason why the valley was called the Valley of Bones, in spite of the snowfall massive mounds of bones peaked thru the snowfall and a the smell of a dead mammoth was in the air.

"Mammoth, couldn't have died less than a few hours ago, beware we're near the den of the monster" Yandral warned, Tatsumi took a step forward.

"Tatsumi" a voice stated, a voice too familiar, and Tatsumi noted in the snow ahead was his mother Akame which by all means was impossible as she was about 3000 miles away at least if not more he knew immediately that the Ijirok was there and waiting for him.

"Mom? I don't think you should be here" Tatsumi replied.

"Oh, why not my son?" the fake Akaa replied

"Because you're not her, I know for a fact my mother is in the Southern Empire acting as my diplomat you're not her unless she's managed to travel 3000 miles and fancies freezing her ass off in this biting cold in that dress" Tatsumi replied, the fake Akaa smiled.

"I've not feasted on an Emperor before: this will be quite fun" the Ijirok replied and the lure vanished and from near behind came a massive behemoth about twice the height of the largest giant in his company: the monster walked on four legs and had massive blue tusks from its jaw of vast amounts of teeth the size of grown men the eyes blue and full of knowing venom but Tatsumi noted at the same time its weakness, huge tracks of white fur.

"Smaug: Grand Inferno!" Tatsumi declared conjuring up a massive fire ball flames burning outwards into a large ball the size of a meteorite and a massive fire blast hit the creature setting it alight.

The Ijirok's screams that followed were in Tatsumi's mind the most horrifying sound he'd ever heard a creature make when mortally injured and they echoed thru the valley, but as suddenly as those screams had given the echo something else happened, massive amounts of snow began falling as the valley shook as if the screams caused an earthquake. "Quake!" Tatsumi shouted and moved about to avoid the falling snow with the rest of the people with him following suit to find some semblance of cover from the masses of ice falling down the mountain with the party shortly taking cover behind a bone pile.

"Look up" Valruost warned Tatsumi and he did as a loud sound like a massive bell tolling echoed, Tatsumi looked up and saw something he really wished he were not seeing that something being the mountain moving or what had seemed part of the mountain. A loud stomp was heard and a primordial roar of the kind that had not been heard in the Empire for five centuries. The Mountain rose or rather the monster that had been sleeping on the mountain to the point of becoming blanketed beneath the snow rose, the Ijirok's pained cries still echoed as the monster stumbled to the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

The Monster towards huge, rising about 1000 stories into the air, its head was draconic and its maw was filled with teeth the size of towers, eyes were red and as it rose it spread forth massive bat-like wings that caused the wind to change direction as it stretched the, the feet of the monster were the size of houses connected to legs that rivaled skyscrapers but this thing then loomed over with the most intimidating feature, two massive claws attached to two massive arms: Tatsumi had only heard stories and read books on this creature, had seen the armor made from one used by his mentor and good friend Bulat, he knew what it was.

"Tyrant" Tatsumi stated with surety, it was a Tyrant: a Type SSS Danger Beast: the largest known species of Danger Beast and something he thought had was extinct. Thoughts of it being a dream in his mind were shattered when one of those claws grabbed Ijirok: it was screaming still, and its screams became more to begs of mercy.

"Mercy! Mercy!" the Ijirok begged.

"You: food" The Tyrant replied in a beastial voice and brought the Ijirok to its maw and chomped; screams were silenced as the lower half of the Ijirok was chomped and swallowed, the other half was thrown to the ground on a pile in the distance, the Tyrant then looked out then made a loud sniffing noise.

"Humans" the Tyrant said. "I smell you humans; I see you not in the snowstorm, but I know you're there, I heard your voices a" the Tyrant continued. "I've not fed on humans in many weeks, and men of the Empire, not in centuries: humans: you- all of you- vermin! What did you think you could achieve by coming here, did the Dwarves send you to claim their mountain: I HATE DWARVES! Their kind took my mate from me, killed her and then trapped her soul in one of their vile abominations: I shall not suffer the same fate: I killed all the dwarves that lived here and every dwarf that has returned since, they killed my mate took my Krertschi! Made her into suit, I will not suffer the same fate I will not suffer you to live I am Godroussil! I am God! And you mortals will suffer the same fate as all who come here!" The Tyrant ranted and then looked down.

In the valley bellow suddenly barrages of ice went up the Tyrant roared as it blocked the ice, on the ground Esdeath looked at Tatsumi. "Get back everyone except those who can fly I've got a plan now hide" Esdeath ordered and the party split up with most hiding under the bone pile. Esdeath looked at the Tyrant. "Tyrant! Vakuvakul Gulga Galboroth Imga Echia: Inagai Rockthi Esdeath! VATURE UNSUUTH!" Esdeath yelled in her language. "Demon's Blood: Ice Titan!" Esdeath declared and suddenly the snow and ice closed in from around Esdeath pulled upward into an icy sphere which was then surrounded by a massive construct, a looming colossus of ice shaped in the form of Esdeath herself with a massive sword of ice.

"PATRAS! MONSTER! EGG BREAKER! ABOMINATION! OF ALL THE FUCKING HUMANS TO FACE ME FATE YOU THREW A PATRAS AT ME?! A PATRAS WITH THE DEMON'S BLOOD! I'LL DESTROY YOU!" Godroussil shrieked and charged Esdeath.

(Song begin: Live and Learn by Crush 40)

Esdeath sidestepped the charge with rapid speed, beneath her on the ground bellow the cyclopes and giants retreated to a high ridge, while Tatsumi and Sayo took off into the air followed by Susanoo and Amaterasu.

"Alright what's the plan?" Sayo asked Tatsumi over the wind.

"We kill the Tyrant, we need to target it while Esdeath distracts it, we need to hit weak spots like the joints we'll divide and conquer the main target will be the head, if we take out the brain we take out the threat" Tatsumi replied.

"I will destroy you PATRAS!" the Tyrant yelled and Esdeath made the first strike after letting the Tyrant take an initial swing that missed, from the center of her titan's body Esdeath controlled it like a puppeteer would control the strings mixed with a series of movements that to the untrained eye would look like dances but were actually the katas of the fourth ring of the Imperial Fist, the fourth ring was meant for countering a single opponent and used aggressive blows intermixed with any weapon that the wielder had, the blows were meant to be swift and effective targeting parts of the body. This style of fighting was unknown to the Tyrant as his species had no such need for such movements as they had no natural predators.

The effects of Esdeath attacks were quickly apparent: strike one was a punch to the upper torso near the right shoulder where the arm connected to the torso, this blow stopped the momentum from the Tyrant and Esdeath followed up with a slice from the ice blade which dealt a minor laceration across the midsection, this strike did not draw blood but it did cause pain. The third strike from Esdeath was not dealt by the ice titan but by a barrage of Wiesschneil ice spiked spears Esdeath conjured from the mountain glaciers that had been left unscathed by the awakening of the Tyrant, the spears tore the back and wings of the Tyrant penetrating the outer layers of skin causing the Tyrant to lurch forward in pain as Esdeath struck again punching in the gut staggering him backwards and crashing the beast into the mountain side the blow opening the doors of the Dwarf Hold from the force.

By this point Susanoo and Amaterasu had managed to fly to an advantageous position near Tyrant's upper hip. "Mirror of Yata!" Susanoo declared and the giant mirror appeared.

"Righteous wrath of the Sun!" Amaterasu declared and a blast of focused plasma was fired by her thru the mirror and into the side of the Tyrant causing extreme damage and pain for the Tyrant which lurched to the side as Esdeath drove an icy spiked punch into stomach.

At the same time Tatsumi and Sayo had managed to navigate to the rear of the Tyrant. "You go left I go right: focus on the Tyrant's arm he seems to be favoring it, put as many arrows as you can into this monster" Tatsumi ordered, Sayo grinned.

"While you try and get to the top of the matter; look don't try a repeat of your trick with the Dreadsaurian, I don't want you literally jumping into the jaws of death a second time" Sayo replied.

"I had no intention of doing that, besides the Tyrant is way smarter and you know me I don't do crazy shit like that twice: I'm going for the eye this time" Tatsumi replied, Sayo smirked.

"Your extremely brave and extremely ballsy Tatsumi, come back to me alive" Sayo replied then both flew to their attack paths

With Sayo… "Icarus, I need pointers, the most effect arrow attacks here" Sayo asked mentally.

"Use the Hawkstorm Barrage and Wild Gambit and when you break an opening use the arrow of Galleom: it will do major damage" Icarus advised, Sayo then flew towards the her target the elbow, the Tyrant was using its claw to hold back the blade of Esdeath's Titan and Sayo both noted that it was good because she knew where she had to hit it to break leverage, the goal wasn't to sever the limb with her attack but to weaken the Tyrant's grip so Esdeath could bring the icy blade down thru the claw and limb.

Seeing her target Sayo took a deep breath and focused her grey eyes on her target looking for a weak spot which she found as a number of the monsters scales had been broken off when Esdeath had slammed it into the mountain side. "Bingo: Now let us see how deep my arrows will go" Sayo thought and declared presently "Hawkstorm Barrage!" Hundreds of golden colored arrows made of pure energy were loosed by Sayo her hand pulling the strings with the speed of sound and in that moment those arrows flew, some missed the mark but many more struck true burning holes in weaker inner scales, to the Tyrant this was not felt any more than a person feels the skin cells that they lose with every movement, the holes however did expose actual skin. "Wild Gambit!" Sayo declared and with that she did a battle-dive towards the opening divided the bow into the two Khopeshes and carved thru the exposed skin like it was a stuffed goose, the slices were extremely fast with hundreds of them per minute and each tore deep.

The Tyrant would have noticed this pain if not for that moment Esdeath had decided use her magic to create an ice blade from the fallen snow bellow and sent that blade into the groin of the Tyrant which let out an ear wrenching shriek, pain was added to as the Giants and Cyclopes were now unleashing firepower from their high powered cannon sized rifles into the exposed legs causing the Tyrant to get knocked of balance and slam into the mountain side again if not for the fact it maintained the grip on the icy blade it would have taken serious damage.

That grip was soon lost. "Arrow of Galleom!" Sayo declared after having flown back as her onslaught had revealed the nerves, and fired from her bow and arrow that while small at first grew to enormous size rather quickly, the arrow by the time it made contact was comparable in size to a 40 story building and it impacted with the force of about 400 mps. Rather quickly the Tyrant lost its grip and the ice blade tore thru first the claw and then the rest of left arm and wing behind it before Esdeath drew the blade back and drove it into the exposed midsection of the Tyrant directly thru the stomach, the Tyrant however still lived.

Tatsumi had in the meantime flown to the right side which had taken longer they he would have liked but he was flying against the wind. "Smaug: Flaming Sword of Rhuin!" Tatsumi declared and both his blades let up.

"Tatsumi 12 o clock high!" Valruost yelled and Tatsumi flew up as a pained random strike from the right claw came his way.

"Valruost: Bloodbind!" Tatsumi declared and the limb force in its tracks.

"Smaug: Inferno blast!" Tatsumi declared and a fiery ball flames surrounded him and went forward before Tatsumi flew back and then forward, the velocity was brutal and the momentum as Tatsumi flew right towards the second talon of the claw and flew right thru phalange amputating the digit as the fire seared the other four, then Tatsumi flew upwards along the arm towards the neck tell he was right in front of the Tyrant's eyes. "YOU WON'T STOP ME FROM SAVING THE WORLD!" Tatsumi yelled. "YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO EDEN AND MY POLICY IS THIS: EXTINCTION TO ALL TRAITORS!" Tatsumi declared and flew right into the left eye of the Tyrant which saw only a fiery blast as the eye saw nothing more Tatsumi then flew forward right to the brain.

"Now time for your trump cards" Tatsumi explained mentally. "Valruost! GRAND BLOOD INFUSION!" Tatsumi yelled and assumed the form of a bloody-handed god. "Smaug! GRAND INFERNO OF AQSHY!" Tatsumi declared and out from him came a massive explosion, the blast fried the Tyrant's brain and sent fire down the entire nervous system as Tatsumi flew out the back of the creature's skull with the momentum and dived backwards over it before flying away to freedom. The Tyrant let out one more pained bellow before it collapsed forward Esdeath then declared "Mahāpadma!" and time froze as she grabbed the Tyrant's body and smote it into the side of the mountain itself using the ice from her titan to bind it firmly in place as time resumed she then descended to the valley below on wings of ice with Tatsumi and Sayo landing at her side before she collapsed to the ground exhausted.

"Sleep my Ice Queen you need it" Tatsumi remarked after feeling her warm body for a pulse, having resealed the energy of his Teigus.

"So Tatsumi which of us is going to carry her sexy ass while we find the others" Sayo replied.

"Look up Sayo" Tatsumi replied and looked amazed at the sight of the Tyrant its face frozen in death along with its body to the mountain like it was a trophy on the wall.

It took less than 20 minutes to get everyone back together with the fortunate news that no one had died bar the Ijirok and the Tyrant in that battle. Speaking of the former's half eaten body lay nearby the snow having yet to completely burry it and unable to cover the massive tusks. Four Cyclopes took on the task of removing and carrying one while four more did the same to the other, Tatsumi was glad that he had such allies to carry those trophies he thought it would take a hundred men just carry one of those tucks. "One hundred men or four Cyclops? I'll take the later" Tatsumi thought then chuckled.

The real trouble was that he was now going to be carrying Esdeath as he was not going to let her out of his sight, he knew by looking at her that she had spent A LOT of her power on that fight and she'd need rest to recover, so in order to make sure she got it they first needed shelter and fortunately the doors to the mountain were wide open having been opened by the impacts from the fighting, with that they made their way inside to the first deep and readied warm fires, the first to be lit in those halls for about 500 years.

The first deep of the hold had a number of buildings that had were still fully furnished with Dwarven furniture which was made mostly out of stone but also of gold that had been shaped into chairs, while they lacked any bedding that was no issue as Tatsumi's company had brought plenty of bedding; once the night began falling they barred the gates which while they had been knocked ajar by the fighting hadn't been broken so they could be sealed, and with those gates shut the entire expedition slept soundly with Tatsumi having his first peaceful night's sleep since leaving the Dwarves before.

The next morning Tatsumi awoke to find Esdeath sitting on a chair opposite the bed he had been sleeping on. "I take it you carried me to this wonderful place, how does it feel to be the first Emperor to enter this hold of the Dwarves which hasn't seen an Emperor of the Empire ever visit because of the distance involved in addition to being among the first expedition to set foot inside this hall in 500 years" Esdeath greeted, Tatsumi sat up and stretched noting the warmth of the room.

"Personally I'm not sure how to feel, besides I'm less concerned about this place let the Dwarves deal with it as far as I'm concerned: there may be treasure here but I'm not going to either risk offending the Dwarves by taking anything or risk the lives of my people in this place: I only chose to have us rest here because the door had been opened when you pinned the Tyrant to the Mountain, no sense in looking for caves when night was falling" Tatsumi replied.

"I see, good I wasn't even going to mention Dwarven treasure: Sayo told me you carried me here, that was rather gentlemanly of you" Esdeath replied.

"Speaking of are you alright? That fight must have taken a good deal out of you" Tatsumi asked.

"Tatsumi my dear Tatsu-bunny you need not trouble yourself with worry about me, I'll admit that was by far the most I've ever used my powers and I hope I won't have to use them again on that scale any time soon: but as to how I'm feeling at the moment: I'm well rested, I've had breakfast and I'm ready to begin our journey south" Esdeath explained, Tatsumi smiled at that, Aria walked in carrying breakfast.

"Good you're awake I made you breakfast" Aria explained to Tatsumi and put his breakfast on the nearby stone table: freshly cooked pork jerky and some waybread. Tatsumi got up and sat down at the table.

"Thanks, my Capital Angel, hey why did you let me sleep in?" Tatsumi asked.

"Because you just did something that hasn't been done in centuries my dear Tatsumi-kun, you dealt the killing blow to a Tyrant and what may have been the last Tyrant in the known world, that entitles you to having extra sleep and breakfast made for you by yours truly" Aria explained, Tatsumi grinned and then ate up. Afterwards he changed from his pajamas into his imperial attire, Aria and Esdeath helped with his armor, then put on the furs needed to keep him warm.

From there on it was smooth traveling heading back south to Kraka Azgul Drakka, but on the way there Tatsumi took time to interact with his protectors…

In a cavern not too far from Tyrant Peak or Tatsumi's Peak as the expedition had taken to calling it much to Tatsumi's irritation, Tatsumi wasn't a fan of having places named after him but given the fact there was absolutely no way to get people stop and because it gave them some small hope in a dark world on the edge of destruction he let them do so afterall what did it matter much like his title it could easily be meaningless if he died before he saved the world. "Even then I'd hate to die having saved the world to leave my children without a father: I refuse to let that happen" Tatsumi thought, he was sitting in a portable chair that had come with his tent (The cave was large enough to set up a few) reading a book on the Dwarves of the Stonehammer Clan who were the other great clan of the North, those dwarves were renowned for their cold demeanors but jolly laughs along with red-hair and beards which were a dominant trait amongst the Dwarves that clan, they were also according to the book found of making simpler crafts like toys, furniture, tools, watches and other items one would expect to find in a home.

Tatsumi's reading was interrupted when Esdeath's two former subordinates Hiromi and Osawa walked in. "Greetings your majesty" Hiromi greeted.

"Hi Tatsumi" Osawa greeted cheerfully, then smiled at Hiromi's reaction of shock that she had greeted him so informally. "Esdeath said we should talk to you, because- well you'd be interested in what I have to say" Osawa replied.

"What do you have to say Osawa" Tatsumi asked relaxed.

"Oh just- you know uhh—Hiromi adores you, she has a massive crush on you, she adores you and it's so funny at night the things she says in her sleep" Osawa blabbed, Hiromi looked at her with even more shock and then shook with anxiety before recovering her composure.

"I mean no disrespect but- Osawa you're one to talk you get giddy like a schoolgirl whenever he's not looking in your direction" Hiromi replied, Osawa blushed at this her face a cherry red. "Anyway that is one way of getting around to the elephant in the room- we- love you my emperor, we really do, our duty to you as your Elite Seven requires the utmost faith and trust and- well Esdeath once told me the story of a city that faced invasion by a superior foe so in response the cities defenders raised an elite unit of soldiers who were all lovers: it was said that their love made them an unbreakable force and because the rest of your protectors have made the commitments of love to you we figured its high time for us to do the same" Hiromi explained diplomatically.

"Tatsumi will you have us, we really love you we do and we'll do whatever you want, anything you ask we'll do, I'm just worried you don't want us to be like that, we- just can't be willing to let you go, I'd happily lay my life down to save you: to swear myself to you and bare your children and help bare your burdens, I just don't want to die without knowing you felt the same or otherwise" Osawa explained, Tatsumi took a look at them and with the expressions on their face he couldn't help but laugh. "My liege did I displease you in some way, did I speak above my station?" Osawa asked seriously.

"No not at all, I accept your offers my sworn swords, I'm just surprised it took you so long and the fact that you put all this effort in well I found the whole thing amusing: don't worry I accept your feelings and gladly welcome you to my harem, only one stipulation though" Tatsumi replied.

"Name it my Emperor" Hiromi replied and bowed to the ground.

"That you two restrain yourself from spreading your legs for me until after we finish off our enemies up here: I want to have complete focus on finishing our goals here, if you prove you have the patience for that as you have so far and that you love me not just because of my physical traits but for other reasons then you will have earned my love and affection, also if you want to go the extra mile prove yourself as my defenders just do me one other favor: Don't DIE dying is not allowed at all for any of my protectors" Tatsumi replied, both agreed and then laughed at the final statement, they then spent the rest of the evening talking about themselves.

During this time Tatsumi found out about the two and their experiences regarding Esdeath, they weren't much older than him but they had quite the amount of stories; they had actually been under Esdeath's personal command for a long while in fact before she even commissioned the Three Beasts, Hiromi told him details about those three: Tatsumi noted that from theirs and Esdeath's opinions really only Liver would have gotten along with him if they had lived, Nyau was as cold and vicious as a razor and was mainly kept by Esdeath in his position to keep him from causing trouble as Esdeath viewed Nyau as a safety hazard to other commanders while Daidura was little more than a direct towards the enemy and let him loose and he'd do whatever he wanted to. Liver on the other hand had been a decent soldier but had been disgraced and subordinated to Esdeath after he had suffered a horrible defeat during the Robber Baron war two and half years prior and had been force to leave after his troops mutinied in the aftermath: Tatsumi had heard of that incident from Bulat and Spear the former actually having been under his command during the mutiny and the real reason for it according to Bulat was that Liver had actually left behind a good partition of the supplies and thus had taken more rations for himself and the more elite troops, Spear had told him though that the mutiny occurred due to a lack of faith in Liver personally, in either case it had ruined his career and if not for Esdeath's interest in him as he had been her military mentor his career would have ended after that fiasco and for all intents and purposes it was over and he would essentially serve as Esdeath's advisor and vanguard commander until his death at the hands of Spear during his failed attempt with the other three beasts to assassinate her father.

Osawa and Hiromi speculated Liver's reasoning for following Honest's orders over Esdeath's was out of fear for his own life after the disgraceful defeat and the mutiny and it had been meant out a desire to save his career. "That was rather selfish and foolish of him" Tatsumi remarked after that.

"To be fair I doubted he expected Spear and her father to be the target let along you and Night Raid to come to their defense" Osawa commented.

"Still though it was stupid of him to follow Honest's orders Esdeath could have easily invoked her authority as Grand Marshal- you know what forget it, Liver's death is the chief reason I've come as far as I have" Tatsumi replied.

They eventually went to sleep, the following morning they resumed their journey back to the Dwarves, during which they were attacked by Wendigos, the creatures were rather ferocious and came by surprise in the snow if not for the fact they had attacked Esdeath there might have been some actual damage done, but they foolishly attacked Esdeath who used Mahāpadma and cut down the attacker as time was frozen along with a few nearby ones, this confused them and allowed Esdeath the time to skewer the remained with ice spikes. After that Esdeath insisted on skinning all 20 of the creatures before they moved on and fortunately that left a clear impression on nature and nature decided not to send anymore of her aggressive fauna or horrid weather their direction for the rest of their journey south.

That journey lasted five days and was without further incidents or hardship and they arrived at the gates of Kraka Azgul Drakka, the one thing Tatsumi had done before they left was to make sure he took one of the many broken Tyrant scales in addition to the Ijirok tusks, that was an extra workload for the two Giants tasked with carrying it but they weren't hindered by the task nor was in trouble for them: Tatsumi thought that at least a hundred men would have been needed to move that scale but two giants did the job well enough. The Dwarven sentries including Hrothgar who had been waiting for their return were amazed.

"I knew you'd return it was in my gut Emperor Tatsumi but I didn't expect you to bring that thing, the Ijirok Tusks yes but that massive scale what creature produced such a thing?" Hrothgar asked.

"A Tyrant" Tatsumi replied then looked the Dwarf clear in the eye and said "Hopefully the last of its kind, and I'm fairly certain it is the reason the hold fell, why every expedition has failed too and why it's called Tyrant Peak" Tatsumi elaborated.

"A Tyrant? Such a beast has not been seen for centuries, not in my years not for over 1800 years" Hrothgar explained, Tatsumi looked surprised.

"I'm sure the King will be quite amazed by my accomplishment and we can seal the pact am I right?" Tatsumi replied rather curtly and in a down to business tone of voice.

"Ye'll have to talk with the king on that, but he'll accept, his word is as good as Oathgold: anything you've got in mind?" Hrothgar replied.

"A lot" Tatsumi replied.

At the same time Esdeath looked at Yandral who looked at her solemnly. "Sister this is where we go our separate ways for now: as much as I'd enjoy joining you on your quest my place is here: you and I both have the sworn duty to restore the Patra Clan, you have your future but my family is here now and my duty as you know is to them first though I'll be honest with you sister when all this is over and the demons are beaten we'll visit often but until then I must stay here and protect my children to help them become strong: also my duty is to my clan and I must provide food to feed them" Yandral explained.

"I understand brother you have your duties I will return though and visit in about a year and you'll meet your new nieces or nephews" Esdeath explained.

"Nieces or Nephews?" Yandral asked confused.

"Oh, didn't I mention I'm carrying twins" Esdeath replied, at this her brother grinned like a sheep.

Trondhehm one week later… the Blackstone fortress of Trondhehm loomed tall and ominous over an otherwise white plateau, Tatsumi took a firm look at the fortress. "That is by far the biggest Blackstone structure I've ever seen" Tatsumi remarked.

"Ai there is no grander abomination in the North and no more dangerous one; the Nexus there is live and you can see the demons moving about intermixed with the Northerners: we can destroy the rest of the Ruins on our own but this bastion we'll need the aid of the willing" King Frori replied.

"Be grateful then the Old Alliances are upheld" Dianne replied.

"And new allies have joined since" A newcomer replied, that newcomer was the Methreki chieftain Kordus Longtail, his species were a cross between the saber-cats that roomed the north and humans, he was average height for his race and wore bronze armor as was typical of his warriors: the Methreki eagerly joined the Alliance of Order as it had been called when given the chance to face their enslavers and wipe them out once and for all.

The armies arrayed that day consisted of about 40,000 Imperial soldiers brought up from the Northernmost Imperial forces, 60,000 allied Northern auxiliaries largely Yetis but some humans, 50,000 Dwarves not counting their Automatons, 5000 Giants with 10,000 Cyclopes and 20,000 of their human subjects that were spared for battle in the North, and about 30,000 Methreki as well as 200,000 Ice soldiers that Esdeath had been producing in the course of the time it took them to journey there, the forces would have been larger had it not been that Tatsumi insisted on sending the bulk of all of the forces south to aid his forces in reclaiming the Empire from both the forces of Volgoth and Renegade Imperial Warlords that had taken arms in what they saw as a power vacuum.

That said the Alliance army was against an extremely formidable adversary, the White Bears had not been ideal when the North had fallen and had subdued all the other tribes in the far north, at Trondhehm they had 200,000 Northern warriors against them: Tatsumi wondered where that army had been when Esdeath invaded but his knowledge of affairs noted that Oskak Svengold who led the White Bears did not recognize the Saika clan's authority after Numa's failed first war against the Empire and his humiliating capture at the hands of Najenda: this also in turn drew a number of other Far North clans away too and since then every Northerner who wanted to continue the practice of the Old Ways which had been outlawed by Esdeath's command as they were practicing human sacrifice, cannibalism and anarchic acts of raiding raping and murdering for sport, while the bulk of the Northern manpower under the Saika's had been decimated and destroyed by Esdeath there were still survivors that clung to the old ways and those of the Far North had not spent any strength in that conflict and did not immediately invade the newly conquered Imperial provinces out of a manpower disparity. But since then they had gathered their strength and had acquired new allies according Syura; the Arch-Devil General Daeva had been sent North by Volgoth and had reactivated the Far Northern Nexi allowing demons to pour in somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 million at minimum fortunately however most of that was spread out and they were weaker demons that only offered quantity rather than quality due to wards that held back the tide of dark energy.

Trondhehm's nexus was the largest of the five ones in the region and armies from the other Dwarf Clans and the Giants had marched to destroy those while Tatsumi and the leaders of the Alliance had taken their troops and marched on Trondhehm with the goals of killing the Northern leadership and banishing Daeva. This siege was different from others Tatsumi had been thru, but this was because artillery was now readily available, but not of the conventional or imperial type. The artillery was provided by the Dwarves and the Giants, the Dwarves brought highly advanced batteries of heavy guns that were automated and easy to move and rapidly deploy, the Giants brother their own artillery in the form of the average rifle used by a Giant soldier. In addition to the artillery other siege engines in the form of Massive Dwarven constructs, mobile fortresses and aerial vehicles were there to commence various attacks with their massive array of weapons. There were also the living Siege engines in the form of every single Giant and Cyclops on the field, especially the older ones which were as big Zogothal had been.

"Our forces are outnumbered but not outmatched: the main target is a central nexus, their leadership will undoubtably be defending it at all cost; this where our elites need to be focused, we'll attack from multiple directions our main attack will come from the least expected area of attack the one that also happens to be the harder of the routes to the Nexus in the central citadel it won't be easy and will take time but it's the best way; the rest of army has the job of drawing attention away from our main force which will be led by me personally: I'm not going to shrug off the responsibility, myself and my honor guard will be the first ones in and the last ones out: we need to win or we all die and our planet with us" Tatsumi explained to the other leaders.

"I see who will command the diversion?" King Frori asked

"Empress Esdeath Patras Gildenstrom will be in overall command of diversion attack, I want you to put your best commanders with her, we as the leaders of this alliance will lead our best into the heart of the enemies bastion: they won't be expecting that" Tatsumi replied, Frori smirked for it was a bold and unexpected tactic but also one that had its risks.

The following hours were spent finalizing the attack plans and giving out orders: after those orders were distributed the battle began with a barrage of artillery the Blackstone walls that had stood for centuries were shattered in various locations the broken structures faded out of existence, Northern Warriors charged out of their broken walls to an attempt to avoid being thinned by further bombardment, this is where they were at their most gallant as dark iron armored warriors with great axes charged towards the amassed legions of the alliance each race been distinct from the rest. But as gallant and bold as the ferocious charge was it was not going to reach its destination as the frontlines erupted ranged fire at them, arrows, bolts, bullets, shells, rockets, missiles, plasma energy bolts and other ranged projectiles were unleashed and poured into the charging Northerners as their valiant charge was stopped in its tracks with bodies quickly piling up as hundreds fell from the first volley, then more came until the Northerners fell back, with their forces in retreat the proper attack began in earnest, the ranged lines behind the foot troops as the artillery tore into the city behind.

The order of the day was simple kill any Northerner that resisted, anyone that surrendered was to killed too Tatsumi wanted their warriors slaughtered to the last to avoid them rising up and in this case these people had thrown their lot in with the demons any innocents left had been sacrificed as some bloody offering to the demons to a vain attempt insure victory there were no civilians left, no children or elderly to save all that was against them were the warriors of the Far North out for blood. The first into the breach were the Dwarven Juggernauts and Sentinels that while not designed with the paths of the fortress in mind opened new ones as the order was to raze the city to the cold hard ground and let that ground remain forever buried beneath snow, as such any structure was regarded as being scheduled for demolition and the machines along with the Giants and Cyclopes that followed them smashed wide open fields that allowed the full formations of the attackers to be used as if on an open plain.

Tatsumi's elite vanguard had broken thru resistance arrayed against them easily; demons had been deployed throughout the city but their numbers had been focused as Tatsumi had wanted on the main attack: Tatsumi noted the Northern warriors that had been quick to rush against them now ran in terror as these had been the green troops, an actual force of veteran warriors backed up by a type of Demon Tatsumi hadn't yet seen now marched towards him led by a rather large man though he was not Oskak Svengold but some minor warlord that was in charge of this group.

Tatsumi attacked him first not giving a chance for the man to speak as his head was decapitated by Valruost following that he looked at shocked Northerners and yelled "Smaug: BURNING HEAD!" and summoned a massive fiery screaming skull that charged at the enemy in a line incinerating man after man for a good 20 seconds and good distance before disappearing, Tatsumi had in that single act killed about 500 enemy soldiers and his soldiers were amazed by the act but let not their amazement linger long as the demons had not been phased by the attack and thus began to charge at them; the demons were by contrast much hardier however they still were slain easily enough as while they had been of a stronger type then the imps and horned enforcers that were the bulk of the army these creatures were still outmatched by their opponents, few fell on Tatsumi's side less than two dozen and only a third were actually dead but the demons had been defeated and his forces pushed on not even the wounded dared linger they kept pressing on so fervent was their devotion with the leaders of their army so close at hand their pride did not allow them to linger regardless of pain.

The fight continued as Tatsumi and his bodyguards hewed legions of northern warriors cutting thru their iron armor like it was butter and continuing to push forward thru the city streets with the largest of the Giants breaking down every building their path, centuries old structures made of dark material were shattered and destroyed forever, a bastion that hadn't been assaulted in such a matter for thousands of years was fast becoming smaller with each advance as more energy was released back to hell where it belonged with demons and the damned souls of Northerners following it, as for every Alliance soldier slain 20 foes fell down with them and that number went up when Giants were factored into the count.

Hours of fighting later and they had reached the Citadel of Trondhehm, a massive black circular stoned pyramid with one gate which was allowed only the lesser Cyclopes and those smaller than them entry as the Giants held back to reinforce the rest of the battle. The inside of the citadel proved rather linear with few branching paths and Tatsumi needed to make little turns sending squads off to each one, the heart however was massive.

At the center of the Citadel Pyramid was a massive room the size of Melitine's central bazaar with the centerpiece being a massive circular portal that poured forth demons, standing in front with utter discipline and in lockstep were the best of enemies armies and above them stood their leaders: Daeva looked down from her chair yawned and sat up and applauded. "Oh goody you're here Emperor Tatsumi, I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival now can you do me a favor and free me of this dull planet, the way I see it either two things happen in this fight either I kill you and your friends and I can go home or you're allies kill me and I get to go home too It's a win-win for me either way" Daeva replied.

"Surrender I'm giving you one chance to leave and return home to hell of your own volition" Tatsumi replied.

"I'd love to return home the only issue is I can't flee like a coward I have a reputation to uphold especially if I hope to impress Darkar with my accomplishments so I'll need to fight unfortunately but it will be exciting compared to the rest of my day so I hope you and your allies put up a fun effort" Daeva replied.

"I am Oskak Svengold Chosen of the Old Gods: I will desecrate your body rape your women and make a cup from your skull" Oskak Svengold yelled at Tatsumi. "Starting with that silver haired looker there" Oskak added looking at Najenda.

"Susanoo, defense order 67! Target Oskak Svengold you know the drill" Najenda ordered.

"Yes, my lady" Susanoo replied his eyes took on a red hew.

"Chew Chew Koro!" Seryu shouted and threw a ball at the nearest soldier

"Kill them!" the northerner shouted before Koro tore his face off and with that the throne room fight began.

(Song begin: White Death: Sabaton) The room quickly became a battle, the charge came quickly Tatsumi, his bodyguards along with Najenda, Aria and Seryu and their protectors charged the center: first however came a clearing of the grunts if you could call elite Northern Housecarls grunts, for this Susanoo and Amaterasu along with Koro did the job moving faster than the average warrior on both sides the three organic Teigus tore a path thru the enemies: Kuro after Seryu threw a barrage of Chew Chew balls at the enemies, Susanoo with his giant spiked mace and Amaterasu with her twin blades, these three cleared the room out slightly allowing the rest of the force room to maneuver: Tatsumi and his vanguard followed Susanoo who had been given a focused kill order on Oskak and by extension every enemy in his path, his mace grinding thru fully armored warriors like they were made of wax and pulverizing demon knights into pancakes that faded out after being smashed.

Tatsumi then was set upon by five Hell Knights that were armed to the teeth and yelled "For Valtor!" before coming in his direction; to his sides however Mez and Akame leaped forward followed by Kurome and Suzuka, his four champions then each engaged a hell knight while Tatsumi engaged the remaining one, a series of rapid sword fights broke out with blows by the two combatants in each duel meeting each other blow for blow, but this was a ruse for while the Hell Knights were distracted the Three Sacred Blades along with Nui and Shastavi each flanked that target and dispatched the hell knights with strikes thru the necks where their armor was weak before moving onto the next targets. To the side more Northerners charged at Aria and her honor guard, but those northerners were abruptly surprised by the Angel Empress vanishing from sight. Fatality! The first rank were cut by a slice from Razordawn as Aria reappeared, she then did a flip off of one the falling corpses jumping onto the shoulders of the Northerners rapidly dispatching each one. "Einz Zwie Drei!" Aria yelled as she dashed from target to target, her bodyguards by this point having charged into the shocked enemies which before had numbered about fifty were now about a dozen shattered souls that put up minimal resistance before Aria and her guards finished the rest of them.

This opening Aria made was what Tatsumi and those nearest to him needed to get to Oskak, Daeva and the other leaders. A familiar form of Graal came charging towards Tatsumi. "GRAAL SMASH TATSUMI!" The demon yelled, Tatsumi sidestepped the axe which glanced a hit the side of his armor. During the exposed momentum Graal has thrown aside his guard and was quickly decapitated by Womyn who had long since learned her lesson about two-handed axe users attacking her courtesy of Tatsumi who told her the best tactic is wait for them to commit their strike then when their momentum was committed to the downswing bypass their guard and Womyn's Teigu blade easily bypassed that guard.

Another angry demon charged Tatsumi only to fall over with an energy arrow in each of its eyes courtesy of Sayo who was flying above the room raining death from above onto the enemies, Tatsumi then cut down two elite demon lords before having to parry strikes with Daeva who danced passed him with a rapiers grace towards an unready Balluck. But fortunately, at that moment Hiromi blocked her strike crashing her Teigu great-mace onto the demonic blade.

"Oh you just made this interesting: two vs one I like those odds" Daeva commented drawing a second blade and locked blades with the two women in front of her Balluck countered her sword strikes with parries while Hiromi pressed Daeva to dodge power attacks, things got more interesting when Balluck threw one of her needle daggers at Daeva who blocked the blade with the grace of a coin-toss.

"Nice" Balluck complimented and then attacked, both women had Daeva where they wanted her, completely away from their Emperor and distracted from the true threat. That threat was Osawa who had in the time that the two had been distracted Daeva crept up behind Daeva after she and Nui carved thru a few very determined Northern Warchiefs: Osawa grinned and drove her daggers into Daeva's throat slitting it grinning the grin of a yandere who just successfully protected her senpai.

"Thank you for the fun" Daeva thanked.

"Your welcome" Osawa replied before the demoness departed in flame, Oskak aimed a swing at the distracted Osawa with his great axe only to have Tatsumi cleave the axe in two and both his arms off, at the same time Susanoo drove down his mace grinding the man into a crushed pulp of iron and gore.

(Song End)

With that the enemies panicked and were cut down full slaughter demons retreating into the portal tactic fully as the portal itself hummed. "Now how are we going to destroy that?" Seryu asked.

"Junko, Najenda with me: everyone else begin to the leave the room" Tatsumi ordered, the two women who were covered with blood on their luxurious armor walked over to him as the rest of the people cleared out slaughtering the dying or wounded northerners on the ground as they left with the exception of Amaterasu and Susanoo who came to their mistresses' sides.

Shortly… "Alright I'm worried that we are going to need more than the usual amount of force to take down this live sucker; we've not actually destroyed a live nexus yet the ones we've been taking out were inactive but this is a live portal and we're going to need some serious power to bring it down" Tatsumi explained.

"I see and what do we have to do with that hubby-bubby?" Junko asked.

"Not you specifically my dears but rather your Teigus: I'm fairly certain Susanoo and Amaterasu can destroy that thing" Tatsumi explained.

"And why have them do that and not plant explosives?" Najenda inquired.

"Because by the time we clear the room to set off said explosives demons could have come back and removed them: this is a sure-fire way without the risk also I'm fairly certain those two can withstand the energy" Tatsumi replied.

"Very well Susanoo, do you think that you and your sister can survive this?" Najenda asked.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing so mistress Najenda, I once had mountain vault collapse on me: this will be no problem" Susanoo replied, the three of them

"Then you have your orders give us 10 minutes to get out of here and then blast the thing back to Hell where it belongs" Najenda ordered, at this Susanoo nodded. Tatsumi took on last look at the ruined pulp where Oskak had been.

"Yandral missed out on an epic fight" Tatsumi replied.

"He did indeed but he did say he was staying with his family" Najenda replied, then lurched over as the baby decided to kick her. "The Battle isn't over: don't do that or you'll get both mommy and you killed" Najenda lectured her belly as Tatsumi picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. "You know that's not necessary" Najenda stated.

"Yeah and I bet you our little girl will kick you again, I swear we need to finish this war faster; knowing our luck our child will decide it wants to be born during a battle" Tatsumi replied.

Momentarily… Susanoo and Amaterasu took deep breaths and noted their mistresses and those that had come with them were now a good half mile away from the pyramid citadel. "Mirror of Yata" Susanoo declared summoning a giant mirror.

"Disc of Helios" Amaterasu declared summoning a second in front of the first the two then faced the mirror.

"Light of the Three moons" Susanoo declared projecting a beam of energy

"Light of the Two Suns" Amaterasu declared projecting a second beam of energy, the two beams crossed and infused thru both mirrors merging into one massive beam of energy that impacted the portal to Hell, the portal cracked like it was a mirror and the two Teigus quickly blasted holes into the ceilings flying out them as the portal collapsed draining the energy from the ruin.

Across the city black stone went flying harmlessly past ordinary beings into the rift that was draining anything and everything demonic in nature into it like a bathroom drain that had been unplugged: hundreds of thousands of demons were torn kicking and screaming into the hole as spaghettified masses, also too were dragged the northerners that remained as the devil was now calling for his due wasn't going to let the fact that some of those in service to him were still living stop him from dragging them into his domain. This spectacle occurred for about ten minutes before the portal collapsed inward as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

That Evening… Tatsumi found himself once more inside the mountain that was once called Tyrant Peak but was now called to annoyance Tatsumi's peak, as soon as the battle had ended he and his forces had followed the Dwarven army to aid them in reclaiming the upper deeps which according to the Dwarves would only take two days with the aid of his troops and because the mountain offered warmth and safety from the icy wastes around it. The body of the Tyrant still was above the mountain side as he had arrived frozen in its death for as long as the world would last as Esdeath's power had made it a permanent fixture, Tatsumi had smiled when he thought of what stories he'd be able to tell his kids with that encounter; in fact that desire to be able to tell his children and grandchildren stories was what drove him.

The Dwarves despite their dour and serious nature along with their practical mindset had done their best to make him feel at home taking the liberty of furnishing his quarters for his stay in advanced, despite having just fought a massive battle and marched ten miles Tatsumi was not remotely tired and was expecting to just have to lie down and let sleep take him, that was until…

Hiromi and Osawa walked into his room after having Nui and Shastavi take their places out front. "You're still full of energy my Emperor?" Hiromi asked.

"Yes" Tatsumi replied, the two of them removed their kimonos to reveal nothing underneath save their garter belts and stockings.

"Then allow us to relieve you of that energy just relax and enjoy" Osawa replied and the two removed his clothing. Osawa was first as she had gotten the killing blow on Daeva and she moaned loudly as her barrier was snapped: Hiromi sat on Tatsumi's face and Tatsumi worked his tongue to its best and from that point on his energy was devoted into rewarding the ladies who'd just won him the north.

"Tatsumi-kun" Hiromi moaned, Osawa fondled her breasts then kissed her friend.

"Just let him take care of you- oh- this is big I've never felt anything like this before" Osawa commented.

"He's as much your first as he is mine" Hiromi commented. "Besides I'm just- OH! Waiting for the roles to reverse and it will be my pussy his cock is in" Hiromi replied.

"Indeed well you're going to have to wait five minutes" Osawa replied, five minutes later Tatsumi filled Osawa to the brim, Osawa danced off and started licking his length, Hiromi didn't hesitate and moaned as Tatsumi entered her, her hymen snapped and Tatsumi gently pulling her down into a kiss while Osawa licked his balls then smirked as things got all the more interesting from there because Tatsumi had all sorts of things he wanted to teach them and all the energy to do that.


End file.
